The Week In Wrestling (1/25/24): 3 Promos That Rocked & 3 That Fell Flat

If you looked up the word "unexpected" in the dictionary, you would find a clip of Drew McIntyre absolutely overshadowing CM Punk, known chatterbox and notorious pipebomb promo maker, in a verbal exchange. See also: awesome.

McIntyre has been making great strides to improve his mic skills, and it showed on Monday night. McIntyre interrupted Punk's injury announcement and relished in his opponent's pain. It's classic heel behavior to kick an opponent while they're down, but it's even more despicable to strike at an opponent as vulnerable and emotional as Punk was in that moment. McIntyre's timing was good, but what made this promo extraordinary was just how evilly charismatic McIntyre was.

It would have been easy for McIntyre to claim that he was happy in Punk's loss, and move on. Instead, McIntyre employed a sort of call-and-response in his promo. He spoke at length about how his life post-Rumble elimination was full of nothing but strife and sleepless nights. Then, he peered at Punk like a scheming hyena, and told the world that as soon as Punk's injury hit news cycles, he "slept like a baby". He claimed he was never an overly spiritual person, but his enemy's torn tricep was the answer to all of his prayers. Putting in these short before-and-after comparisons is, in the most literal sense, an act of storytelling. McIntyre took the audience along for these anecdotes, and made us feel what he was saying. If the goal is to tell stories in the ring, this is it.

Throughout all the narrative techniques was an underlying stench of vitriol. Even as McIntyre offered his sympathy, there was not one moment where his tone communicated anything but hatred, in its purest form. This unadulterated emotion commanded everybody's attention — all of a sudden, people were not focused about how Punk's injury will cause him to miss WrestleMania, but how Punk's injury was the manifestation of all of McIntyre's wishes. McIntyre made Punk's torn about himself. He didn't just shift the power dynamic between him and Punk; he wholly stole whatever power Punk had in his own narrative. It was emasculating, it was dehumanizing, and it was something that was needed to boost the heelish character that McIntyre has been slowly becoming more and more confident in.

It is saying something when McIntyre's words were more compelling than Punk's. Punk is infamous for his pipebomb promo, and to people unfamiliar with his initial WWE run, he may be better known for his inflammatory statements and genuine talking style instead of any of his actual matches. So, when McIntyre is able to verbally supersede one the industry's best talkers in a segment literally revolving around Punk, that is a serious accomplishment. Even though the crowd was chanting "CM Punk", McIntyre stole the show, and it was just one more humiliation for the guy opposite of him.

This segment provided a great springboard (pun fully intended) for multiple storylines. Obviously, as Sami Zayn came in to defend Punk after a surprise attack courtesy of McIntyre, more kindling was added to the Zayn-McIntyre fire that had been burning since December. McIntyre also put himself in the prime position to legitimately take Punk's almost-guaranteed WrestleMania spot. There are so many opportunities for McIntyre, who before this, had just been a bad guy without much of a purpose. A fire has been lit within the Scot, and we are all the forest around him waiting to be burned down.

Written Angeline Phu

Simplicity can be an effective tool in storytelling, and Becky Lynch's backstage promo on "WWE RAW" serves as a prime example of this.

Coming off her loss in the 2024 Women's Royal Rumble match, Becky Lynch was understandably disappointed. Rather than letting it deter her though, Lynch laid out an alternative plan that she hopes will guide her toward securing a spot on the card of WrestleMania 40. "I let a lot of people down on Saturday and I let myself down, but I suppose the only way I stay down is if I give up and well, that just ain't in my nature," Lynch said. "So I guess plan B is I train a little harder, I think a little smarter, I fight a little dirtier. But above all, I do not stop until I am back at the top and until I take that title back into the main event like it deserves."

As Lynch alluded to, recent years have seen her defending or challenging for a championship at WrestleMania, including 2019's historic headling triple threat title match between herself, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey. However, over the last year, Lynch's main roster work has largely revolved around the women's tag team division and various non-title programs. With that in mind, it seems that "The Man" is finally ready to put herself back in contention for singles gold on WWE's main roster, with her target being WWE Women's World Champion Rhea Ripley. Given her notion of fighting dirtier, it also appears that Lynch will be cranking up the intensity (or perhaps using some strategic maneuvering) along this pursuit — an attribute that led Lynch to many of her previous title wins.

With the 2024 Elimination Chamber event fastly approaching, it may only be a matter of time before Lynch's plan B is officially up into motion, and she is perhaps in the main event of WrestleMania once again.

Written by Ella Jay

Look, I admit that this whole thing with Chase U being shut down isn't the best story the faction has ever told. There are still several elements of it that confuse me to this day. But I still really loved this promo segment, specifically because of Jacy Jayne, who has fit into the Chase U weirdness better than I ever expected her to. The entire gimmick has strangely benefitted from the presence of a straightwoman, someone who lives a little bit closer to reality, who's able to recognize how odd Chase U is but is finds herself almost reluctantly charmed by them. It's another version of the same dynamic that got Duke Hudson into the group — he was never originally planning to earnestly become a part of Chase U, but their enthusiasm was so infectious that it changed him for the better. Jayne, like Hudson, does earnest well — though in her case, I have some suspicions about how trustworthy she actually is.

"Say what you want about me, but one thing's for sure," Jayne said during the promo. "I am fiercely loyal to the things and the people that matter the most to me." This got my alarm bells ringing. It was a reminder that Jayne was a heel prior to her time with Chase U, and specifically a heel who had just turned on her best friend, Gigi Dolin. Now, it's always possible that Jayne — who was named an official member of Chase U at the end of the promo despite Andre Chase admitting he'd had reservations about her — is just the latest heel to be charmed into a face turn by "NXT's" most lovable student body. But the hints in this promo suggest to me that Jayne is going to reveal her true colors soon, possibly as early as Vengeance Day, setting up a Stand & Deliver program with Thea Hail.

Whether Jayne reverts to her old ways or has turned over a new leaf, Hudson-style, this was a really fun performance from her to set up whatever comes next.

Written by Miles Schneiderman