Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week ahead.
WWE Raw preview – Monday, June 13, INTRUST Bank Arena, Wichita, KS
The Judgment Day received a big shakeup last week, with Finn Balor joining and then immediately assisting with the ouster of Edge from the group. Now Edge is out with a (storyline) injury, so there’s no fear of immediate reprisals. That leaves the stable free to plot a new course, which WWE says it will do Monday night.
Speaking of injuries, Cody Rhodes suffered one of the more notable ones in recent memory, and he’s now out recuperating from successful surgery to repair his torn pec. But while the American Nightmare said he was ready to move on from Seth Rollins, the Visionary had different ideas, attacking Rhodes one last time for now. WWE says Rollins will “answer” for his attack, so look for him to possibly be booked against some tough competition.
AEW Dynamite Road Rager preview – Wednesday, June 15, Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis
Once upon a time it felt like AEW was getting a little carried away with themed episodes of Dynamite, but it’s cut back on them to the point where Road Rager is a bit of a breath of fresh air. The card is suitably loaded, headlined by a three-way Ladder Match for the tag team titles, with Jurassic Express defending against both The Hardys and Young Bucks.
Chris Jericho is also putting something on the line against Ortiz … but it’s his hair, not a championship. The former Inner Circle teammates turned bitter rivals will do battle, and someone will be bald when it’s over.
Also advertised for Wednesday night:
- An All-Atlantic Championship qualifier sees Miro go head to head with Ethan Page.
- Wardlow battles 20 of the plaintiffs in the security guard class action lawsuit. No, really.
WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, June 17, Target Center, Minneapolis
This is a big one. After jumping through several hoops to get the attention of Roman Reigns, Riddle finally got what he wanted by defeating Sami Zayn last week in a match that stipulated he’d get a Undisputed WWE Universal Championship shot if he won. Can Riddle get some payback for his buddy Randy and win some serious gold? Probably not, but you won’t want to miss it just in case he pulls it off.
Also expected for this week’s show:
- Madcap Moss and Happy Corbin will meet in a Last Laugh Match, which we assume will end the feud between them, one way or another.
- After running into travel issues last Friday, Max Dupri will reveal his first recruit for Maximum Male Models.
AEW Rampage preview – Friday, June 17, Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis (taped)
Rampage has been live more often than not the past few weeks, but this week’s episode reverts to its more typical pattern of being taped at the Dynamite show for the week, which in this case is in St. Louis.
AEW hasn’t officially announced anything yet for this episode, but we’ll update this post as soon as there’s something set.