The Post’s Joseph Staszewski covers the world of professional wrestling in his weekly column, “Post Match Angle.”
Liv Morgan ending “Monday Night Raw” with a big kiss on Dominik Mysterio means more than just waiting to see how Rhea Ripley reacts when she returns from injury.
(Some fans in the U.S. missed the live broadcast because USA Network finished broadcasting it first, but WWE quickly posted the kiss to social media.)
Because sitting in the ring was an emotional Becky Lynch after losing a championship cage match to Morgan.
Her contract with WWE reportedly ends on Saturday, and after more than two years in the ring and developing young talent that will impact the company for years to come, The Man seems ready for an extended hiatus to focus on motherhood. She posted a photo of herself coming out of a building with the caption “To be continued.”
(And no, I don’t see her appearing on Collision on Saturday or moving to AEW.)
The juxtaposition of the two events was interesting, but perhaps unrelated.
But at this point in her career, Lynch is part of the veteran wrestlers known as the Four Horsewomen, and the group have done all they can to distance the women’s division from the love triangles and teen soap opera angles that WWE is trying to develop with Morgan, Ripley and Mysterio.
This is something Lynch, Flair, Bayley and Sasha Banks (now Mercedes Monet in AEW) have avoided, perhaps fearing that any deviation would mean a return to the Divas and Attitude Era of what they had built. Case in point: in an interview before WrestleMania 40, Lynch expressed fears that WWE would promote Ripley doing a butt-out stinkface at a live event.
Lynch awkwardly tried to play a real-life couple with then-boyfriend Seth Rollins in 2019, but other than that, the four have never been at the center of a romantic relationship in WWE.
As far as I can remember, the only similarities from the Women’s Evolution era are the Mandy Rose and Otis storyline, Braun Strowman’s genuine admiration for Alexa Bliss as a mixed match challenge team, and the wife-stealing angle with Bobby Lashley, Rusev and Lana (with Lana being more of a manager than an in-ring performer).
Now, the soap opera between Ripley, Morgan and Mysterio with the Women’s World Championship on the line is set to hit the top of the card.
WWE is playing the right angle considering Ripley changed the way women are portrayed in the company, as when Ripley is around, she is the clear leader of the men in the Judgment Day faction.
Morgan will likely want to break things off with Mysterio given how Ripley injured her during the storyline. Mysterio appeared to try to take Morgan’s championship away from her at King and Queen of the Ring and RAW, but both attempts backfired.
Still, the kiss was shocking because it feels like ages since a female main event talent in WWE engaged in this kind of sexual interaction with a male talent.
The kiss wasn’t necessary to make the angle or the plot work, but it felt like something Vince Russo and Vince McMahon would argue in the late ’90s — and maybe that was the point.
Recall, as a wrestler, creative boss Triple H performed some holds backstage on a crouched Trish Stratus, but her intrusion backstage as part of a storyline in 2000 infuriated Stephanie McMahon, who featured in a famous love triangle storyline with now-wife Kurt Angle later that year.
Mysterio and Ripley, who are not a couple in real life, have never kissed on screen and have only hinted at a sensual relationship, so it will be interesting to see where the Morgan-Ripley-Mysterio pairing goes.
Is this a one-off based on the unique circumstances of the story, or does it open the door for WWE to normalize storylines based on love, lust and on-screen couples even at the top of its women’s division, especially with its upcoming move to Netflix?
Hopefully it’s the former.
If not, Lynch may return to a different creative world, if he decides to return at all.
Doubling
The announcement that SummerSlam will be a two-day event in Minneapolis in 2026 likely means a few things: One, WWE is trying to make up for choosing Las Vegas over Minneapolis to host next year’s WrestleMania, and two, WWE is trying to squeeze every last penny out of the PLE and the government subsidies that go with it.
What’s less certain is whether hosting a second two-night event will make it easier to move SummerSlam, WrestleMania or Royal Rumble outside the U.S. in coming years. TKO president Mark Shapiro said last week that WWE is looking to expand its ties with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the next six to 12 months, after hosting its first-ever SmackDown there last weekend. Consider the venue fees for the first WrestleMania held outside the U.S. Now it seems anything is possible.
10 counts
Shayna Baszler has been in better shape in NXT leading up to this week than she has been at any point in her time on the main roster, and facing off against Lola Vice dancing (reminiscent of AEW’s Daniel Garcia dancing angle) makes perfect sense, with Baszler competing in an NXT Underground match being exactly where she belongs.
In Dynamite, the scene where Swerve Strickland chases Christian Cage to the parking lot and Prince Nana comes back to stop Cage from escaping was very well done. The only thing I would tweak would be to film Swerve chasing Cage from behind more smoothly before it gets cut. Also, Darby Allin was thrown out of the car by Tony Khan and went into the arena too fast. He must have taken his skateboard.
Three headline matches were promised for the King of the Ring and Queen of the Ring tournament, but so far none have been announced: Jade Cargill vs. Bianca Belair, Gunter vs. Ilya Dragunov, and Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton at SummerSlam.
For more information and an explanation of the Uncle Howdy’s Return QR Code, we recommend following or checking in with @brunoradke6 on X. Finally, it looks like the June 17th episode of Raw has been teased as a possible date for Taylor Rotunda to put on his mask and hat once again and debut the new Wyatt Family, which is rumored to include Alexa Bliss, Erik Rowan, Joe Gacey and Dexter Lumis.
Roxanne Perez has made the perfect transition from super babyface phenom to sassy heel, and is currently defending the NXT Women’s Championship against TNA Knockouts Champion Jordynne Grace in a historic crossover at Battleground.
I’d love to see Trick Williams or Oba Femi cross over into TNA next.
AEW packed so much into Double or Nothing that the show lasted over four hours.
The two things I would save for Dynamite are extended MJF promos because people tune in to hear him talk.
The other was Kris Statlander upsetting Willow Nightingale, which I think took the attention away from Mercedes Mohn winning the championship.
I liked the scene where Iyo Sky was furious in the Damage CTRL locker room after Kairi Sane lost to Lyra Valkyrie on RAW. Damage CTRL has been feeling a bit withdrawn and it’s good to see someone in the group upset about it.
WWE made the right decision to give Otis and Alpha Academy a bit more time before splitting off from Chad Gable because it needs to be a PLE match, but it looks like it will be a while before he finally loses his patience when Gable pulls out the belt and hits Otis with it, Gable is up against Christian Cage for the Father of the Year title.
The Owen Hart Cup winner will compete in a World Championship match at All Out at Wembley Stadium, with early favourites likely to be Will Ospreay and a returning Jamie Hayter.
Former AEW star Ethan Page made his NXT debut by attacking Trik Williams at the end of the show, and hopefully NXT will give him a chance to become more than just a champion’s heel of the month.
Additional Info: Having the AEW Championship belt on “Inside The NBA” feels like something that needed to be done a long time ago, but with the show and AEW’s future with Warner Bros. Discovery still up in the air, the timing was right.
Wrestler of the Week
Darby O’Lean, AEW
AEW has produced a number of true MVPs during its five-year run, and Darby Allin’s name is on that list. The former TNT champion broke his leg in March and his nose in April after being hit by a bus in New York City, but he filled in for an injured Eddie Kingston at Anarchy in the Arena.
He appeared on a bus with Jack Perry and made some amusing use of a flamethrower permit before tying himself up and hanging upside down above the ring, becoming a major attraction of the match.
Social Media Post of the Week
Matches to watch
MLW 40-Man Battle Riot, Saturday, 9 p.m., YouTube
An MLW Street Fight version of the Royal Rumble where participants are eliminated by pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope. The winner advances to the MLW World Championship match.
A lot of intriguing names have been announced, including Matt Riddle, Sami Callihan, Paul Walter Hauser, Bobby Fish, Mistico and Ernest “The Cat” Miller, and we’re expecting a lot of surprises as well.
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