Flair vs. Stratton Suddenly Got Good, Projecting Rusev's WWE Return, More

While the Road to WrestleMania 41 hasn't been without its issues, WWE took a significant step in the right direction in improving the build for multiple 'Mania matches this past week, most notably Charlotte Flair vs. Tiffany Stratton.

The WWE Women's Championship feud had been dying on the vine for weeks and was in desperate need of a serious shakeup. Thankfully, they managed to salvage their storyline with an intense war of words on Friday's SmackDown that had the online wrestling community buzzing in the days that followed.

The company's efforts to make matters more personal with a number of their programs heading into WrestleMania also extended to Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena and especially Gunther vs. Jey Uso with the two strong segments those Superstars had on the March 31 edition of Raw.

The star-studded card for this year's Show of Shows was always expected to deliver from an in-ring standpoint, but WWE being back on United States soil following a lengthy international tour has somehow translated to a much more meaningful attempt to heat up the event's biggest bouts.

This week's Quick Takes will analyze WWE's renewed focus in the final stretch of WrestleMania season, projecting Rusev's trajectory upon returning to the promotion, early picks for All Elite Wrestling's 2025 men's and women's Owen Hart Cup winners, and more.

For a feud that felt like such a slam dunk upon Charlotte Flair's long-awaited return to the ring, almost everything about the WWE Women's Championship program fell short of fans' lofty expectations up until Friday's SmackDown.

Tiffany Stratton and Flair didn't exhibit any clear chemistry during previous meetings on the mic, and the cookie-cutter, basic booking of their rivalry in general hardly helped matters.

The show-stealer they're sure to have at WrestleMania 41 was believed to be the light at the end of the tunnel, but there was no reason for their interactions to lack authenticity and excitement as much as they did.

However, their latest verbal battle was exactly what their feud needed to be taken to that next level. They finally honed in on the more personal aspects of their program and making their bad blood feel real—possibly because it is.

Stratton has successfully gotten over with the audience in her rookie year on the main roster, but she has still struggled to adapt to her new babyface role.

Having a heel as hated as The Queen as her foe should make the transition more seamless, but standing up for herself by firing back with insults that sometimes break the fourth wall have proved to be incredibly effective.

A casual viewer should believe these two are archrivals in every way and genuinely detest each other. That amount of animosity is far and few between nowadays in wrestling and can be invaluable when tapped into, no matter how messy it becomes.

The controversial war of words between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair from Friday's SmackDown—a segment that reportedly got derailed by unscripted shots, per PWInsider—was talked about by fans more than anything else on the episode, which also included Rey Fenix's WWE debut and CM Punk revealing his "favor" from Paul Heyman.

WWE has had much better talking segments throughout its illustrious history, but regardless of what was planned and what wasn't, the WrestleMania rivals getting legitimately heated with each other made for must-see television.

That's something SmackDown has been missing as of late, particularly during the three-week international tour where an ample amount of time was wasted on crowd chants instead of meaningful storyline progression.

It was a similar story on Raw that prior Monday with Gunther and The Usos.

Nothing about the World Heavyweight Championship feud has been remotely out of the ordinary since Jey's Royal Rumble win, yet their out-of-the-box angle where Gunther bloodied Jimmy with Jey being forced to watch while tied to the middle rope immediately sparked interest in their 'Mania match.

There were even elements of the exchange between John Cena and Cody Rhodes on that same show that didn't feel as manufactured or sanitized as usual. That segment also proved WWE is at its best when it doesn't play it safe.

The Attitude Era doesn't need to be back in full swing for the company to take risks and catch viewers off-guard with compelling, unpredictable programming.

For the fourth consecutive year, the men's and women's Owen Hart Cup tournaments promise to deliver exhilarating action that will carry AEW TV through Double or Nothing on May 25, the uncertain outcomes of each tourney only adding to the excitement.

Will Ospreay and Mercedes Moné emerging victorious in their respective quarterfinal matches at Dynasty make them early favorites to win the whole thing, though they'll have tough opposition on both sides of their brackets.

Ospreay is expected to face Konosuke Takeshita in the semifinals, which will obviously result in a win for The Aerial Assassin. Meanwhile, "Hangman" Adam Page should get past whoever the wild-card entrant ends up being with ease and meet Ospreay in the finals at Double or Nothing.

Of the two, the Englishman feels like more of a lock to challenge for the AEW World Championship at All In.

The women's Owen Hart Cup should see Jamie Hayter beat Billie Starkz in the opening round followed by Kris Statlander in the semifinals, setting her up for a match in the finals against Moné.

With The CEO and Athena about to feud, Hayter clinching the cup and punching her ticket to All In looks to be the best-case scenario.

The Death Riders continue to be AEW's worst act by a fairly wide margin, and more damage is done with every month that passes with Jon Moxley having a stranglehold on the AEW World Championship.

The promotion had the perfect opportunity to pivot at Dynasty by booking Swerve Strickland to unseat Moxley as champ and begin building toward him defending against Adam Page in the main event of All In.

AEW instead went with arguably the worst possible outcome: The Young Bucks returning to cost Strickland the strap.

Not only did the development lack logic, it doesn't leave viewers anxiously awaiting what's next. The Bucks' failed hostile takeover of the company last year caused them to lose whatever mystique they had left, and having this serve as the setup for yet another Anarchy in the Arena or an All In match against Strickland and Page isn't enough.

All signs point to Moxley vs. Will Ospreay headlining Globe Life Field this July, and although that's a main event-caliber contest on paper, it means at least another three months of The Death Riders running roughshod on AEW.

Strickland vs. Page would have been the better fit for that spot given their extensive history.

No matter where he's worked, Rusev has long been a victim of start-and-stop pushes. His career seemingly peaked with his WrestleMania match against John Cena a decade ago, but he's had a handful of standout moments in the years since in both WWE and AEW.

Despite catching fire at various points as both a babyface and a heel, neither company ever completely capitalized on his hot momentum and utilized him to his full potential. Nothing suggests it will be much different during his second stint in WWE, but Triple H being in creative control this time should inspire some confidence.

Rusev's best work came in AEW when he was The Redeemer, specifically in 2021 when he had his dominant reign as TNT champion. An injury halted his push at that point, but if he can stay healthy, he has a solid chance of recapturing that magic in WWE at the upper-midcard level.

Of course, Andrade is a prime example of a returning talent who hasn't amounted to much under the Triple H regime and is relegated to the sidelines most weeks without any direction.

There's no guarantee Rusev will be booked anywhere near the main event scene or world championship pictures, but the combination of already being established from his previous run and having reinvented himself as a force to be reckoned with should ultimately bode well for him.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.