Ever since WWE CEO/Chairman Vince McMahon retired two weeks ago, son-in-law Paul Levesque, aka Triple H, elevated to VP/Talent Relations and head of creative, has given fans plenty to smile about.
For openers, at Summerslam on July 30 in Nashville, Bayley (Pamela Martinez) was finally activated from the injured list after she'd been in training for months for a return from a torn ACL sustained in 2021. She didn't come back alone.
Io Shirai, now known as IYO SKY, was called up from NXT, and was herself recovering from a foot or ankle injury that had sidelined her for 3 months. Dakota Kai, a 2-time NXT women's tag team champion, was re-signed after being released in late April. Together, the trio form to faction reportedly known as Control, which lends itself to plenty of jokes about the 60's spy spoof, Get Smart, in which CONTROL was the name of the agency the title hero, Maxwell Smart, worked for.
Then again, there is a faction known as CHAOS in Japan, and.........., ah skip it.
Two nights later, Tommaso Ciampa (Tom Whitney), more recently known simply as Ciampa, earned a title match, taking place tomorrow, vs. US champion Bobby Lashley. The only downside is that Ciampa currently is being used as a stooge for The Miz (Mike Mizanin), but that shouldn't last too much longer. Ciampa is a 2-time NXT champion and a former NXT tag team champion.
Finally, on Smackdown, 2-time NXT women's champion and 3-time WWE women's tag team champion Shayna Baszler became the next challenger for Smackdown women's titlist Liv Morgan by winning a gauntlet match. Baszler, under McMahon, was treated like an afterthought, which can be blamed on a disconnect between McMahon and NXT. That same night, 2-time NXT champion Karrion Kross, five days removed from appearing at Ric Flair's Last Match (as Killer Kross), made a surprise return, attacking Drew McIntyre. Wife Scarlett placed an hourglass beneath the ropes to signal to WWE champion Roman Reigns that he was, and has been, on borrowed time. Kross was badly misused after being called up to Raw, while Scarlett remained on the sidelines, before being released in November 2021. Scarlett is also a singer, and performs her husband's theme song. It will be a treat if she's allowed to do that live at a Peacock premium live event (i.e. Clash at The Castle).
Fans are giddy with anticipation as to who's next. They're already salivating over the fact that women's tag team champions Sasha Banks (Mercedes Varnado) and Naomi (Trinity Fatu), stripped of the titles in May, could be returning after a tournament is concluded for the vacant titles. McMahon, who will be 77 later this month, has been indifferent about tag teams for years, and proving to be creatively irresponsible, taking advice from his senior advisers, including producer Kevin Dunn, deposed VP/Talent John Laurinaitis, who already has one foot out the door, and Bruce Prichard, instead of listening to what his audience wants. Levesque is going the other way. With wife Stephanie as co-CEO with Nick Khan, Levesque is looking to improve TV ratings by giving the people what they really want to see, instead of the same matches recycled ad nauseum for weeks on end.
The early returns, of course, have been substantial, but the real test begins next month with the start of football season. There will be more cuts, but this time, Khan, in charge of balancing the books for the benefit of shareholders, will be likely getting pushback if he tries to cut people favored by Levesque.
20 years ago, Levesque, as Triple H, was a base villain. After turning NXT into must-see TV, he's now a savior in the eyes of the fans. What a difference.
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