10 Positives Heading Into WWE SummerSlam 2016

With Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon taking over SmackDown Live, and Mick Foley and Stephanie McMahon being handed the reigns of Raw, many had thought that Monday nights would be seeing its stories driven by the authority figures, while Tuesdays would host the “wrestling” show.

But that’s not necessarily been the case. If anything, Bryan and Shane have had just as much input on their show as Foley and Stephanie have had on theirs. But even when the powers-that-be have stepped in, they’ve largely been peripheral figures and they’ve only acted when it’s been absolutely necessary.

We haven’t seen Raw being kicked off by 20-minute promos from the Authority or whoever else is in charge, and there’s been no heel faction abusing their power on a seemingly weekly basis.

It’s all been a very welcome shift in light of the recent brand split, and more importantly its allowed in the in-ring portion to become the primary focus, with the wrestlers themselves taking centre stage. Even Seth Rollins, Stephanie’s posterboy, has been acting largely independently in building his feud with Finn Balor.

Compare that to the days when he’d stand behind Steph and Triple H during those long, opening monologues, and once again it’s made for a far more positive picture heading into SummerSlam.