The Post’s Joseph Staszewski brings you around the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, the Post Match Angle.
Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes are giving us storytelling so unlike WWE.
Owens — captured only via fans’ viral cell phone video while leaving Bad Blood — turned on friend Cody Rhodes by viscously beating him down outside the WWE champion’s bus.
It was such a deviation from what we are used to from WWE production over the past decade-plus. It had been known for its polish, structure and simplicity — like a Broadway player where everything has to be seen on stage.
Few things occurred outside the arena and everything important that did happen — even if just captured by WWE social media accounts or GTV — was shown at some point and sometimes over and over again during WWE programming or social media.
So far, the footage from the parking lot at Bad Blood has never aired on a WWE show and Rhodes didn’t even want to speak about what happened during an appearance on Raw immediately after the premium live event, waiting to hear Owens’ side.
If fans hadn’t seen the video, they were going to have to take the time to search it out.
It’s almost like an incident between two sports teammates or rivals being captured outside the locker room or at a club or restaurant. It never will be shown on the game broadcast, but it will be talked about and be a storyline to what we see on screen.
The more reality‐based and gritty storytelling approach continued on SmackDown where a suspended Owens came out of the crowd to interrupt the start of the WWE Women’s Tag Team championship match, only to have his mic cut in the ring.
Owens needed to take Corey Graves’ headset, saying it was not he who turned his back on Rhodes but Rhodes on him — referring to the “American Nightmare” teaming with Roman Reigns at Bad Blood.
After Rhodes stormed down, Owens inadvertently struck tag team partner Randy Orton, who was holding him back, so WWE is using this to potentially set up two betrayals of Rhodes.
Orton was also attacked by Owens in the parking lot as the “security footage” could be seen on social media but not on SmackDown.
The Viper still feels like the proverbial snake in the grass playing 4D chess, waiting for Rhodes to give him a reason to strike for a chance at a 15th world championship.
Owens added to things Tuesday night, posting a video to X saying WWE is refusing to air the video he sent them with his side of the story, giving them until Friday’s SmackDown to do so or he would post it to social media himself. It’s a great way to build anticipation.
It’s all very refreshing to WWE thinking outside the box and using all the storytelling tools at it’s disposal and should leave you curious about what might be next.
Role Reversals
AEW WrestleDream was another quality pay-per-view from Tony Khan’s company, but outside of the jarring main event that ended Bryan Danielson’s full-time wrestling career, the most interesting thing didn’t happen during any clash.
AEW ran into some bad luck with Adam Cole suffering a severe ankle injury as they were paying off their Devil storyline. MJF, beating Cole up at Double or Nothing felt like that end.
But Cole officially made his return — with roles revered — to a huge babyface pop to aid Daniel Garcia, who was getting pummeled by MJF.
It felt like such a cool moment and should create plenty of anticipation for what’s to come with Cole and MJF in their proper roles. Hopefully, Garcia doesn’t get lost and we potentially see MJF forces to team with Jack Perry, whom Garcia is beginning a feud with.
The 10 Count
Being paired with Kamille may not be helping Mercedes Mone as much as it should. Too many of the TBS champion’s matches now end with Kamille interference. It takes away from Mone’s strength of being able to build drama up within the match to the finish. The interferences just aren’t getting her or Kamile enough heat in the process.
As much as I hate the idea of creating Crown Jewel championships, it has brought back the positives from the old Raw vs. SmackDown Survivor Series format by seeing the champions crossover with the pointless quest for brand supremacy.
Kelani Jordan and Trick Williams feel like they got a nice rub from working Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair and Jey Uso, respectively. They left feeling like bigger stars, especially Jordan after their tag match at The Factory, which felt like right around the size venue NXT should run outside premium live events. It looked great, despite the dark lighting, and the crowd’s energy added to the broadcast.
After Naomi was able to get a pinfall victory over Nia Jax with help from Judgment Day, Bayley is going to have to cost her the WWE Women’s championship if she is indeed going to turn heel, doesn’t she?
Big fan of Don Callis and Jake Roberts doing a talent exchange for Lance Archer, as it adds weight to the standing of managers. Not sure how Archer will fit into Callis’ family, but he is too talented not to be used better than he has been in AEW.
Jordynne Grace walking in on the photos of Masha Slamovich’s hit list with only her face not crossed out in red was really an effective way of making the Knockouts Championship challenger feel like an even bigger threat than she already is.
The pop for the first Roman Reigns’ “Yeet” is going to be incredible now that Jimmy Uso has already begun the quest to bring Jey back into the Bloodline fold.
Cody Rhodes’ storyline week couldn’t get any worse for his character, as it felt like Gunther got to cook him a bit on the mic during their face-to-face on Raw. The “Ring General” is adding the final pieces to next-level superstardom.
Ethan Page has found a really nice sweet spot in NXT, stealing another win late — this time from Je’Vom Evans to set up an NXT championship rematch at Halloween Havoc.
Three episodes into “Heels” on Netflix and I’m already hooked. CM Punk is so much fun as Ricky Rabies and the show really captures the soul of why people love and dedicate their lives to pro wrestling.
Extra: Former Ring of Honor COO Joe Koff died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. Koff helped lead the brand to new heights during the Sinclair Broadcasting era. Condolences to his family and friends.
Wrestler of the Week
Konosuke Takeshita, AEW
Not only did the 29-year-old win his first championship in AEW, he looked like he absolutely belongs in the same ring as Will Ospreay and Ricochet during their superb, all-gas-no-break triple threat match for the International championship at WrestleDream. Fans have been waiting for Takeshita to get a true push and here it as he and Kyle Fletcher appear ready to launch a feud with Ospreay and Ricochet
Social Media Post of the Week
Match to Watch
Jimmy Uso vs. Bron Breakker for the Intercontinential championship on Raw (Monday, 8 p.m., USA Network)
It’s going to be harder to take your eye off Jey Uso now that it appears he will be slowly brought back into Roman Reigns’ orbit in time for Survivor Series. He’s going to need a reason for Jimmy to convince him to do so and a reason to hate Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline. Does that come at the expense of an Intercontinental championship loss, with it being tough to see Breakker losing clean again?
