The buildup for the latest WWE Premium Live Event, “Clash at the Castle”, has been nothing short of spectacular in the weeks leading up to the international showing in Scotland. Every single Monday Night RAW and SmackDown has delivered in spades, the most recent for the former including a jaw-dropping beatdown on Ricochet at the hands of Bron Breakker.
It sent Ricochet to the hospital and likely out of WWE entirely, given his contract situation, and then there’s the “I Quit” stipulation placed upon the headline match to come between WWE [Universal] Champion “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes and “The Phenomenal” A.J. Styles — taking their feud to new heights after Styles staged a fake retirement simply to put hands on Rhodes.
Date: Saturday, June 15
Time: 2 pm ET
Location: OVO Hydro (Glasgow, Scotland)
And what of WWE Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre, a fight that will not feature anyone from The Judgment Day, supposedly, and is going down in McIntyre’s hometown?
That reeks of a surprise appearance waiting to happen, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
With this week’s SmackDown now concluded, the entire fight card is known for the PLE on Saturday, and there’s no where else for any of the wrestlers to run … except right into each other in the squared circle.
In the immortal words of the late, great Mills Lane:
Let’s get it on.
Undisputed WWE Championship –
Cody Rhodes vs. AJ Styles (“I Quit” match)
It’s been the perfect rivalry to launch Rhodes’ reign as champion. Styles, a future Hall of Famer, is proving he’s still “Phenomenal” both in the ring and in his ability to sell whatever version of himself he so chooses. The latest is not simply having turned heel but, at this point, he’s the entire foot.
Faking retirement in a way that pays homage to the great Mark Henry? Then telling Rhodes to “give me what I want” as a nod to Batista??
There are levels to wrestling fandom and Styles is playing on all of them at the same time here.
😳😳😳@AJStylesOrg went there… 👀#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/MQ9173qRKD
— WWE (@WWE) June 15, 2024
Rhodes and Styles put on an instant classic in their match in London, and the former has been a sensational ambassador for the promotion and sport as a whole (see his recent gift to a wrestling promotion in Uganda for reference), and it’s time to see if Styles has what it takes to avoid saying “I quit” at the hands of Rhodes — who himself has shown that, thanks to the actions of Styles, the American Nightmare has a dark side.
And he’s gonna need it on Saturday.
Every single bit of it.
Their final confrontation on Smackdown featured haymakers from both, Styles pointing out how Rhodes “quit New Japan [wrestling]” and then “starting a new company [AEW]” and quitting that too, before Rhodes called Styles a Mark Henry wannabe and saying the reason for walking away from those outfits for to “chase greatness”.
. @CodyRhodes is fired up! 🔥
Two can play at that game, @AJStylesOrg! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/oH8NFt7zxR
— WWE (@WWE) June 15, 2024
He’s achieved it, to say the least, but legacy is a living, breathing thing.
It has to be achieved all of the time, and Styles already knows this to be true, and his beef with Rhodes is actively helping to make sure Rhodes never forgets it himself.
And, in the process, we’ll never forget this rivalry.
Predictions –
Patrik “No C” Walker: Cody Rhodes
Josh Rodriguez: Cody Rhodes
KD Drummond: Cody Rhodes
Will Steele:
World Heavyweight Championship –
Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
This has been brewing since Wrestlemania 40 and, after a slight detour to reinforce the looming and inevitable brawl between McIntyre and C.M. Punk, the train was put on the tracks for the interim leader of The Judgment Day to put his title on the line against the man he took it off of in April by way of a right fist of Punk and the Money in the Bank briefcase.
McIntyre has a gargantuan home field advantage in this one, considering he’s literally trying to reacquire the title he held for a little more than five minutes, and in not just his home country, but in his hometown of Glasgow.
There’s also the fact he defeated Finn Balor on Monday night to guarantee a banishment of TJD from ringside, and that means Priest won’t have his henchmen present in the event the match begins to get out of hand.
But that doesn’t mean they’ll listen, and it also doesn’t ban everyone from ringside, if you catch my drift.
I can’t help but feel the recent hiatus of Punk from weekly appearances has been designed to make the pop bigger for what could be a plan to have him cost McIntyre the victory against Priest on Saturday.
It would not only be the only way to sell McIntyre losing at home, his first time wrestling a PLE in Glasgow, by the way, but it would also pour gasoline all over the stick of dynamite that already sits between McIntyre and Punk.
At the same time, it would help Priest avoid being viewed as a “transitional champ”, as McIntyre called him weeks ago.
Keep your head on a swivel during this one, folks.
Predictions –
Patrik “No C” Walker: Damian Priest
Josh Rodriguez: Drew McIntyre
KD Drummond: Drew McIntyre
Will Steele:
WWE Women’s Championship –
Bayley (c) vs. Piper Niven
I’ve made no secret about my feelings — both chagrin and understanding — of the WWE’s routine decision to pander to whatever crowd they’re performing in front of, and this PLE features another round of it. From Jinder Mahal to Selina Vega and others in-between (e.g., C.M. Punk at Survivor Series in Chicago), it’s smart money, so who can blame them.
That said, it’s also true that Piper Niven, while a very good talent who has had a solid run of relevance in her tag tandem with Chelsea Green, though you have to keep in mind that she’s in that position only due to the torn ACL on Sonya Deville (who was tag champion with Green before being medically replaced by Niven), hasn’t earned the right to be the No. 1 contender yet.
What exactly does her solo run look like lately?
I can only hope this match is at least a highly entertaining one, and I believe it will be, because there’s no way Niven simply rolls over in her home country. I expect she’ll leave it all in the ring and that is all she needs to do to help her stand out as a solo act, and probably one who starts immediately wondering if she’s holding herself back by traipsing around as Green’s “spicy little margarita”.
Niven turning on Green would clear the path for Deville to reunite with Green but, no matter how you slice it, there’s a way for the WWE to make this a win for Niven even in what seems like a guaranteed loss to Bayley.
Have her push Bayley to the limit, and then watch what likely happens in the weeks to follow — especially given how impressive Niven has been on the mic and in her physical attacks on Bayley ahead of the match.
Predictions –
Patrik “No C” Walker: Bayley
Josh Rodriguez: Bayley
KD Drummond: Bayley
Will Steele:
Intercontinental Championship –
Sami Zayn (c) vs. Chad Gable
Anyone paying attention has to admit this is the best storyline going in the WWE right now, and it has us all devouring popcorn on a weekly basis with our asses glued to our seats and anxiety peaked. It was Gable who trained Zayn to do the unthinkable, dethroning Gunther as Intercontinental Champion at Wrestlemania 40, but he then promptly let his jealousy take over after losing to Zayn and subsequently assaulting him out of anger.
It appears it really does “mean more” to Chad.
That also means, to him, verbally and physically assaulting members of The Alpha Academy, including his right-hand man Otis, who has been the biggest (literally and figuratively speaking) victim of a series of slaps and beratings designed to force him into a realm of confusion and submission; and Zayn had enough.
Swooping in like the White Knight, he instead found himself being power slammed and beat up on by Gable due to an unhealthy level of Stockholm Syndrome, but Otis has lately began challenging Gable and to the point that the former Olympian retreated to a corner to plead for his well-being.
Gable is getting another shot at Zayn due to all of this abuse, so his plan worked, but it’s past time for it to backfire, and this is likely when it happens. Barring a possible curveball, which can definitely happen, Otis will have a wonderful chance at costing Gable the thing he values more than anything and anyone.
Then again, maybe the WWE milks this for a few more weeks and gets a trilogy out of it, possibly with Money In the Bank in mind (July 7).
Our panel is split on this one.
Predictions –
Patrik “No C” Walker: Sami Zayn
Josh Rodriguez: Chad Gable
KD Drummond: Chad Gable
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship –
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill vs. Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark vs. Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn
Fyre and Dawn bit off far more than their jaws were capable of chewing or their stomachs were capable of digesting when they interfered with a tag team title match and put their hands on Belair and Cargill.
Of course, their sudden push does reek of the same pandering I noted regarding Niven (it doesn’t apply at all to McIntyre, because he’s earned his title shot), but here we are, nonetheless.
Fyre and Dawn, both Scottish, are going to need the assistance of fans running into the ring to help them defeat the force that is Belair and Cargill — two deities in their own right, let alone as a team.
But, speaking of deities, enter Shayna Baszler.
While Stark is earning her stripes since joining the brand from NXT, the Queen of Spades is already a future Hall of Famer, I’d argue, and her teamwork with Stark is more than enough to be a headache for Belair and Cargill. That’s really what you should keep an eye out for here, because they could very well dethrone the champs in Scotland.
Baszler is in maniac mode after losing her NXT Underground match at Battleground to Lola Vice and, as such, nearly choked the life out of her next opponent with the Kirifuda Clutch while staring Belair and Cargill in the eyes with a chilling level of psychopathy.
And who was that opponent being brutalized? It was Alba Fyre.
Fyre and Dawn are simply in the way here, because the real war is between the other four ladies, but that means there’s a chance they do exactly that and cost someone else what they flew all the way to Scotland to achieve:
Get in the way.
And my money is on it being Baszler and Stark, with the panel agreeing that the outcome has Belair and Cargill retaining their belts written all over it. It simply doesn’t feel like it’s time for them to drop the titles, and besides, there are more explosive ways to create that end.
Like, say, one of the champs turning on the other.
*evil grin*
Predictions –
Patrik “No C” Walker: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
Josh Rodriguez: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
KD Drummond: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill
