WWE Stomping Grounds 2019: Preview and predictions

WWE United States Championship Match

Samoa Joe (c) vs. Ricochet

It was a bit surprising to see Ricochet win the fatal five-way elimination match on Raw to determine a new No. 1 contender for Samoa Joe’s United States Championship but it was certainly a nice one. Ricochet has done nothing but kill it since arriving on the main roster, first in the tag division with Aleister Black (just get him going already) and now as a singles competitor. He took a beating at Money in the Bank but was a major selling point in that match and has wowed in his brief feud with Cesaro as well.

With his first shot at singles gold, “The One and Only” now faces a big challenge in Samoa Joe, who remains one of the most talented guys on the roster. He’s shown year after year that he can mix it up and put on great matches with the big guys and the little guys both, and this could be a show-stealing type of bout if given enough time.

Prediction: I’m always a fan of fresh matchups and with Rey Mysterio on the shelf, Samoa Joe needed a new challenger and the build up to get there was well done. Everyone was thinking that Braun Strowman would just waltz in and win the five-way on Monday to set up the big man vs. big man match, but Ricochet was the better choice. This is going to be a nice back-and-forth matchup and I think they’ll tease a Ricochet win. But in the end, Samoa Joe takes it.

SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match

Daniel Bryan & Rowan (c) vs. Heavy Machinery

Is there really anyone else besides Heavy Machinery that Daniel Bryan and Rowan could face right now? The tag division on the blue brand hasn’t been the greatest, actually needing The Usos to come back from Raw for a mini-feud recently. Heavy Machinery warmed up for this tag title match by taking on The B-Team on Tuesday night.

Don’t get me wrong, Otis and Tucker deserve this shot, but the build hasn’t been that interesting and this all seems a bit rushed. But the pay-per-view needs matches and this actually could turn out to be a decent one. There’s just nothing really connecting it with the fans at the moment.

Prediction: This is another match in which the challengers will make a good showing but come up just short. Daniel Bryan has to stay relevant somehow and having a little gold on him makes that happen until he’s back on the singles side of things. So we’ll go with Bryan and Rowan to retain.