The Return Of The NFL And What It Means For The WWE

A true Clash of the Champions

If you aren't in America (let's pretend I have an international following) or you live a sport-free lifestyle, you might not know this is the first week of the NFL season. If I had to rank my favorite sports, it would probably fall into the fourth or fifth spot, and if we are separating professional from college sports, it would fall even farther. Even still, I find myself typing this with the Redskins-Eagles game on. Is it mostly being used as background noise? Yes. But I am rooting for the Redskins, and in any game that might come on, I'll pick a team to root for. I'll know at least one player on each team's roster. With all of that said, I wouldn't be surprised if I had less football knowledge than your average American. Watching football on Sundays and Mondays is done by rote by millions of us living in the USA. With Raw on Mondays and pay-per-views (should we really still call them this?) on Sundays, the next 22 weeks could be dark times for the WWE.

I try not to post edits, but this one is sick.

Judging by the next two big cards, the WWE is preparing for war. Having to put out an absurd amount of programming 52 weeks a year, the WWE Universe (or at least the internet wrestling community) has made it well known they think the company has been missing more than hitting. Then, after changing the majority of the champions, Raw started putting together the card for No Mercy. Against what many assume will be a one-sided game in Raiders vs Redskins, the WWE will have two matches you could expect to see on the card for the Big 4. Braun Strowman is challenging Brock Lesnar for the Universal title. Two thirds of The Shield are defending the tag titles. There is a fatal four-way between the four most popular healthy women on the roster. The Bray Wyatt vs Finn Balor rematch... exists.

And then there's the Wrestlemania main event. At No Mercy, we will get to see John Cena take on Roman Reigns. Let's pretend you haven't seen any of the promos between the two. This is still one of those generational matchups that you can't help but be excited for. The face of the company is taking on the face of the company. This isn't really a battle between the past and the present or the present and the future. These two are the two top dogs in the WWE, and the fact that there isn't a title involved almost goes to reinforce this fact. Reigns vs Cena puts butts in seats. No gimmickry needed.

On the Smackdown side of things, the opposition is pretty average until the NBA season. The next major show for them will be Hell In A Cell, which goes head-to-head with the Chiefs against the Texans. We'll see how those two teams look in four weeks, but Smackdown has begun to book strong enough of a card that for this writer, it won't matter. Like, not even having two screens open doesn't matter. The New Day will be taking on the Usos, Kevin Owens will be putting on a match of the night with Shane McMahon, and Shinsuke Nakamura will be most likely getting his first WWE title. Even before all of this, Smackdown has built a great show for this Tuesday.

There are three titles on the line this Tuesday. Three. Naomi will challenge Natalya in her rematch for the Women's title. The Usos will defend against the New Day in a street fight. AJ Styles will defend his title against the Perfect 10, Tye Dillinger. All of these will undoubtedly just build towards the matches each champion will have at Hell In A Cell, but I could see New Day winning, just to make Tuesday seem even bigger, and to also build to a final encounter in the Devil's Playground between these two teams. Oh yeah, Vince McMahon will be there too. This isn't to undersell last week's main event. Shinsuke Nakamura vs Randy Orton was one of the best WWE matches of the year, probably the best they've given away on cable, and definitely the best match involving either in the past year.

Going up against Week 1 of Monday Night Football, it makes sense that nothing has been announced for Raw. There is no winning that battle. People need their fix. So putting the No Mercy card together so far in advance with big names makes sense. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Smackdown having very little on paper currently built for Hell In A Cell also makes sense. Having the unopposed slot on Tuesday nights, you can build the stories. Get everyone invested, and unless you live in Kansas City or Houston, you'll be turning on the Network. Or you will at least have a hard decision to make.

Of course all of these shows will be building to the next of the Big 4. Survivor Series goes head to head with the Cowboys hosting the Philadelphia Eagles. Against that matchup, the WWE needs to bring their A-game. And hopefully the competition from the NFL will be just the kick in the pants they needed. Truth be told something had to.

NJPW: "don't forget about us killing it all year long on the
other side of the Earth!"

After a wildly disappointing Summerslam and a breathtaking G1, there is so much great wrestling hopefully coming down the pipeline. I have no doubts on the build to WrestleKingdom, but I was concerned about the rest of the year for the WWE. The Royal Rumble is always my favorite show, but what did I have to look forward to between now and then? Now that we see the NFL season competing with the WWE however, we're starting to see the WWE try much harder. ROH is still rising back towards where they once were. Clearly it is a great time to be a pro wrestling fan.

What are you most looking for? Let me know in the comments below, and until next time, stay (too) sweet!