As I mentioned in an article at the end of last summer, WWE’s fall months can often be more forgettable than any other time of year. With a large gap between Summerslam and the Royal Rumble (the largest gap of that size in WWE’s calendar between big four PPVs – approximately 5 ½ months or so – and also not counting Survivor Series, as it lacks the same feel as the rest), WWE’s writing tends to get lazy and repetitive until the Road to Wrestlemania kicks in. Last year, Triple H’s first fall at the helm of WWE Creative, saw one of the more entertaining Autumns in WWE’s recent memory. Sami Zayn’s pursuit of joining, and gaining acceptance from, the Bloodline, the return to prominence of the United States and Intercontinental Championships, and the Judgement Day’s emergence atop WWE, things were firing on all cylinders for the most part last fall. Now that we have more than a year of Triple H’s booking underway, what could be in store is yet another fun Fall with more twists and turns that will only thicken the plot ahead of Wrestlemania. Let’s see what some of those options are.
First and foremost, what happens next with the Bloodline will be at the forefront of every WWE broadcast for months to come, especially if the rumors of stretching it out to Wrestlemania are true. Regardless, after Jimmy Uso turned on his twin brother at Summerslam, and Jey subsequently “quit” WWE, there are so many ways to take this story going forward. How does Roman Reigns figure into it, along with his Universal Championship and his place as the Tribal Chief? Where do Solo Sikoa’s thoughts lie as his family continues to fall apart? What will Jimmy do now that Jey has not forgiven him and quit? Also, what does Jey Uso do now that he has absolutely no one to watch his back? As much as one could argue things are reaching desperate times and desperate measures to keep things intriguing within this story, it will 100% keep everyone tuned in to see where it leads. All the while, the days tick higher on Reigns’ legendary run as champion, inching towards 1,100 days already, with no signs of an end arriving much before Wrestlemania 40 at the earliest.
Beyond the Bloodline saga’s ongoing drama, elsewhere on the card, another superstar is inching closer to some history of his own. GUNTHER’s legendary run as Intercontinental Champion is less than one month away from breaking the record for the longest ever. The Ring General is one of the most exciting parts of TV week in and week out, and there’s no sign of GUNTHER’s reign coming to an end, not at the hands of Chad Gable, or anyone else. He will likely exceed the record, probably the 500-day mark as well, and continue through the fall making the Intercontinental Championship more important than it has been in years. This record chase, the dominance of the champion, and the potential challengers for him still remain endless. Long may the Ring General reign through the Fall of 2023!
LA Knight is another one to watch. His meteoric rise in popularity has made his place on the card something very important to watch, and he very well could find himself in a much more important place by the time Wrestlemania season comes along. He is now entering into a feud with the Miz, which will certainly be a great way to enhance his place on the roster and continue pushing him up the card with a win. Hopefully, an eventual win of either the US or IC Titles will further propel him into the main event scene of WWE, and hopefully one day, he can be a great title contender for either of WWE’s world titles as well. Figure to see a lot more LA Knight this Fall…YEAH! Speaking of the United States Championship, Austin Theory’s lengthy reign just came to an end very recently on Smackdown, and now the title is in the hands of Rey Mysterio. Rey will likely have to contend with Santos Escobar, as the LWO may very well turn on Rey and try to take the title from him in due time. Theory could very well transition into a babyface role that would need to be played slowly in my book. Beyond that, along with Rey and Santos, Theory, the aforementioned LA Knight, and others over on Smackdown really need to put in the work, as the title has felt much more non-existent since Theory battled John Cena at Wrestlemania earlier this year.
As for the remaining titles on the main roster, Rhea Ripley’s title has gotten much the same treatment as Theory’s, seeming non-existent. Hopefully, that changes course and they can find footing with the title again as she is poised to face Raquel Rodriguez sometime soon for the gold. Iyo Sky has just cashed in Money in the Bank to win the Women’s Title on Smackdown, and now she adds some freshness to the title picture that will hopefully not revert back to the status quo. She has plenty of challengers to fend off in her Fall, with former champions Asuka and Bianca Belair, along with perennial contender Charlotte Flair also being around. Don’t discount Bayley eventually turning on Iyo to try and win the title she feels belongs to her. As for the tag team titles, Kevin Owens’ injury casts doubt over the division just months after it was a focal point of WWE TV and in the main event Wrestlemania Night 1. If KO cannot continue as champion, the division suffers a major setback with still only one set of titles, a lack of teams to contend, and no major stories going on with the titles, as the champions have been contending with the Judgement Day of late. The New Day’s return does allow for some depth and potential future feuds though. After some time, Seth Rollins has moved on from his feud with Finn Balor and now contends with a very fun and fresh challenger in Shinsuke Nakamura. The title enters its first WWE Fall with still so many potential opportunities lying ahead. Rollins will likely dispatch of Nakamura, but plenty of more challengers await. He will likely reign until Wrestlemania, and I for one am very excited to see what great matches the title brings out in the Fall months that lie ahead. Finally, Cody Rhodes’ Fall remains the most uncertain. After his fun and serviceable feud with Brock Lesnar came to an end at Summerslam, it seems he has reignited his feud with the Judgement Day to kill some more time and develop more of a gritty side as he prepares to (hopefully) finally finish the story and unseat Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania 40 next April. He will likely have some more filler feuds (potentially against the likes of a heel Drew McIntyre, GUNTHER, Seth Rollins, and others) until we get to Mania season, but we shall see where things go from here.
No matter where WWE goes, let’s hope for another fun Fall of entertaining WWE content to come!
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