This week’s episode of Monday Night RAW featured a controversial finish in the match between Ricochet and Samoa Joe in the King of the Ring tournament. Both Ricochet and Joe pinned one another at the same time, ending the match in a draw.
It was revealed later in the episode that both Ricochet and Joe will be advancing in the tournament. They will now be facing Baron Corbin in a triple threat match on RAW next week.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, this controversial finish was designed to showcase Ricochet next week. Here is what he said (h/t to Sportskeeda for the quotes below):
“The Ricochet match was designed to build up a match, a three-way match, for next week. It’s like, they had to get to a certain destination. The nature of how they got there wasn’t going to be as exciting as Cedric Alexander doing every cool thing that he knows and Baron Corbin being in the match.
So we’re doing a three-way, which actually makes no sense, but that’s what they are doing. The idea there is to showcase Ricochet, which is not saying that he is necessarily winning, he might be. But the idea is that in the match at the Garden, Ricochet is going to be the babyface against two heels and two big heels. And he’s not a big guy. So the dynamic is supposed to work for him.
I mean the match is for him. Just like the match with Cedric Alexander and Baron Corbin was clearly for Cedric Alexander but the nature of where they were going, which was the Garden with Ricochet in there against two heels necessitated that the heel wins, which was Baron Corbin. So that’s kind of the deal.”
My Take: I think it was a smart finish. It protects both Joe and Ricochet from taking a loss. Plus, Ricochet can pin Corbin next week to advance, which also saves another Joe vs Ricochet match for down the road. Smart booking by WWE in my opinion.
Let me know what you think in the comment section below or on Twitter.
In other news, check out our Wrestlemania 38 predictions.
On a related note, check out my predictions for the Clash of Champions card here.