The WWE World Heavyweight Championship Match on Saturday is guaranteed to crown a new champion, barring any interference from The Vision or Jimmy Uso or a less-hurt-than-reported Seth Rollins (It’s happened before!), and I honestly couldn’t care less. I know that it is not the fault of the people involved that Seth Rollins is hurt, and so this audible had to be called, but it doesn’t change the fact that Saturday feels like table setting, despite the massive stakes for the contest.

Do I think Jey Uso and CM Punk can have a perfectly cromulent World Heavyweight title match? Yes, I do. Do I think that either of them could be the face of the “Raw” brand without really changing anything about the current product? You bet. Do I care? Absolutely not. I just wish it didn’t feel like The Vision and Seth Rollins were hanging around in the background of all of this.

Since SummerSlam, “WWE Raw” seems to be laser-focused on two things: CM Punk getting the World Heavyweight title back, and Bron Breakker being crowned “The Next Big Thing” by either beating Rollins or Punk for the title. Jey Uso is also…you know…there…Yeet, and so on and so forth, I guess. Jimmy Uso is haunting the edges of Jey Uso’s story. The Vision is haunting the edges of CM Punk’s story. There’s no part of this title match that feels like it’s about the title. It feels like this title match is the opening chapter of whatever the road to WrestleMania has in store, and don’t forget the massive Saudi Arabian Royal Rumble that is also on the horizon. 

There have been plenty of nights where having a WWE title and a World Heavyweight title have felt like a “Wow, two cakes” situation. Everyone loves to have two cakes, but Saturday Night’s Main Event’s WHC contest feels more like inedible fondant decorations on top of SNME’s yellowcake.

Written by Ross Berman