8 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE Raw (16 Sept - Results & Review)
1. Suitable Competition
The ongoing World Heavyweight Championship storyline with Gunther refusing to face Sami Zayn for his title seems to be steaming toward a pretty obvious conclusion – with the champion either relenting and facing Sami, or Raw GM Adam Pearce just making it official for Bad Blood.
However, there’s one notable problem with this tale: If he’s not going to book Sami to face Gunther, why is Pearce struggling so mightily to find a suitable challenger for the Ring General? And why aren’t any other wrestlers beating down the Raw GM’s door to challenge for a world title?
After all, Pearce just booked a 12-man tournament to find a challenger for Bron Breakker’s Intercontinental Championship, so it’s not like he’s incapable of putting a structure in place to identify an opponent for a champ. Then again, he’s only booked one world title defense for Gunther, getting Randy Orton on loan from SmackDown to face him.
Yes, the storyline demands that Sami force his way into Gunther’s orbit, with the champion reluctant to face the only man who has beaten him on the main roster, but seeing Pearce lament to Ludwig Kaiser about the difficulty in finding a challenger – with no one knocking on his door for a title match – strained credulity.