The WWE is in a zone. The momentum the promotion's built with the return of The Rock leading into Wrestlemania 40 and Cody Rhodes’ story finish has continued to skyrocket. Under the leadership of Paul Levesque, things have continued rolling despite the absence of Roman Reigns, who hasn’t returned to the ring since losing to Rhodes. A fan naturally might have concern over what was next.
Things have escalated following the Clash at the Castle, the June PLE in Glasgow, Scotland. The momentum from that event’s signature matches has led to the several storylines hitting their crescendo and a couple others getting underway. Which ones are the most intriguing? Here we rank the top plots heading into the month of July that will start with one episode each of Raw and SmackDown before Money in the Bank, from Toronto, on July 6.
5. LA Knight and Logan Paul's Wagyu beef
Brewing since the middle of 2023, the feud between one of the promotion's best mic men and the millionaire social media sensation has reached a boiling point over the last several weeks. LA Knight wants Logan Paul’s US Championship and after defeating Paul and Santos Escobar in the June 28 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, he’s now earned his way into Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
More: WWE Twitter reacts to NBA's Brunson, Haliburton involvement in Paul-Knight feud
If Knight wins MitB 2024, he’s almost assuredly going to demand Paul face him with the belt on the line. The two’s feud has not yet resulted in a solo match, with them squaring off at MitB 2023 and earlier this year in Elimination Chamber; both matches with multiple entrants and neither winning the whole thing.
Storyline Rating: 10.3
4. Liv Morgan’s Love Triangle with "Dirty" Dom Mysterio and Rhea Ripley
Insert your inappropriate Dad jokes here.
Liv Morgan is on a mission to destroy everything near and dear to Rhea Ripley. It’s a surprise Morgan didn’t show up to Ripley’s real-life wedding last week and decided to forever hold her peace. Instead she’s laser focused on the deconstruction of the Judgement Day faction that Ripley is a part of.
Out with a shoulder injury since April that led her to vacate the Women’s World Title Morgan now possesses, Ripley hasn’t been around to defend her territory and Morgan’s done bit after bit looking to earn the affection of Mysterio. This past week, she went deeper, earning JD’s Finn Balor and JD BcDonagh a tag-team title shot and then interfering to allow them to take the belts from R-Truth and The Miz. Stealing kisses, sending racy text messages and leaving hotel room keys seems just the beginning and July will see the Hawk Tua recreator going all-in.
Storyline Rating: 11.3
3. Drew McIntyre, CM Punk's Colored Contempt
#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/3dZYiWyo79
— Drew (@DMcIntyreWWE) June 22, 2024
This arc began in the spring at Wrestlemania 40 and has had a missile strapped to its back ever since. CM Punk has now interfered with McIntyre’s quest to win the heavyweight title twice, including jumping into the ring at Clash at the Castle - in McIntyre’s home country of Scotland - wearing referee gear after the real ref was knocked out cold, missing McIntyre pinning Damian Priest.
Having enough of the injured star’s trolling, McIntyre first quit WWE then moved on with his revenge plot. Adding color to the equation, his decimation of Punk in his hometown of Chicago sent the WWE community into a euphoric state, setting the stage for the next month of conflicts.
Storyline Rating: 12.3
2. The New Bloodline's Transfusion
The wrestling world hasn’t seen Roman Reigns since he lost the Universal Championship to Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania. In his absence, Solo Sikoa has moved into his role as Tribal Chief and Head of the Table of the Bloodline. The faction’s feud with Rhodes didn’t slow down much since April, but ratcheted up recently when they attacked the champion. Soon after, Rhodes was being supported by Randy Orton and Kevin Owens, and the feud was on.
That led to last week’s unveiling of Jacob Fatu who came out and cleared the ring of Rhodes and RKO, breaking Rhodes’ ribs in the process. The June 28 SmackDown featured the retaliation beatdown to begin the episode, and then the Bloodline’s Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa and Fatu “acknowledgement” of Sikoa as their faction’s leader.
Paul “The Wise Man” Heyman refused to acknowledge Sikoa, even after the latter’s proclamation that Reigns isn’t going to return, and suffered a beautifully brutal beatdown. This appears to be a long arc that could eventually end up with Reigns and The Rock returning to storyline by the next Wrestlemania.
Storyline Rating: 12.8
1. The Wyatt Sicks' Bray-Zen Debut
There is way too much backstory involved here to do this storyline full justice; fans should tap in to this intricate detailed explanation of the Wyatt Sicks 6.
The execution over these last few weeks has been phenomenal, though. First the carnage that was wreaked on the June 17 episode of Monday Night Raw as the Uncle Howdy-led faction was revealed. Then the delivery of the video tape that showed the broken brain of Howdy interviewing his alter ego.
Everything about this reveal has been top notch thus far, setting a high bar for WWE to continue. Perhaps the most interesting angle is the crew hasn’t yet identified as heels or faces, leaving the direction for the storyline very much up in the air. Things could absolutely fall flat, but for now the gimmick is top-notch cinema.
Storyline Rating: 13.0
LOOK: Here's every WWE date and location from now until the end of 2024
