Gunther and Ricochet Shine, a Promising New Trio and More Friday WWE and AEW Takes

With both WWE Money in the Bank and the crossover event between AEW and NJPW known as Forbidden Door on the horizon, both companies are in full hype mode.

WWE held a few matches to see who would qualify for spots in this year's two Money in the Bank matches. On Friday's SmackDown, Sheamus battled Drew McIntyre, and Lacey Evans faced Xia Li in qualifiers.

However, the blue brand didn't have anything on the card that could compete with Gunther vs. Ricochet for the Intercontinental Championship.

Over on Rampage, the main event featured Will Ospreay and Aussie Open coming to AEW to face FTR and Trent Beretta.

Let's look at these matches and the impression some of them left.

For the past couple of months, Sheamus has been running around with Butch and Ridge Holland starting fights and wearing little hats, but WWE had the perfect ally for Sheamus all along.

Watching McIntyre and Sheamus beat each other up in a Money in the Bank qualifier was so much fun that some people probably had no problem with the non-finish after the two fought until they needed to be pulled apart by officials.

As much fun as it is to see them punch, kick, headbutt and slam each other all around the ring, it might be even better to see them team up for a run in the tag team division. They have been allies before, and they should be again.

Sheamus and McIntyre are almost like throwback talents in some ways. They both have the kind of huge muscular physique that used to be commonplace in pro wrestling but has become rarer in recent years.

Think about teams like The Road Warriors and The APA. When you put two big, powerful dudes together and let them go on a rampage, it will almost always be enjoyable.

After weeks of delays, random brand switches and more video packages than anyone can stand, Evans finally made her return to the ring this week in a Money in the Bank qualifying match against Xia Li.

Let's not sugarcoat this. WWE is portraying Evans as a tough, patriotic woman who has had an uphill battle in life. That's all fine. The problem is WWE booking her against the one competitor in the WWE women's division whose entire aesthetic is based on her Chinese heritage.

The evil foreign heel has been a common trope in pro wrestling for decades. The Iron Sheik is probably the most prominent example of a time when this was successful, but the world is different than it was in the '70s and '80s. Even if that was not what WWE intended to do here, it still felt a little tone-deaf.

Li debuted as a babyface, but after WWE failed to use her properly, she was turned heel for no reason whatsoever. It's not that she can't be a great villain, but the way all of this was framed feels dated and a little xenophobic.

Having heels who are proud of their culture is in no way a bad thing, but when you specifically book them against someone like Evans who is all about stars, stripes, apple pie and the military, it sends the wrong kind of message.

This is one of those things that every fan has to decide for themselves how they feel about it. You can watch this and not think anything of it, but everyone should make an effort to understand why some people do find something like this to be inappropriate.

A lot of people questioned why WWE wouldn't put this match on the Hell in a Cell card over some of the other bouts that were included, but at least we got it.

It ended up being the best part of this week's SmackDown just six days later, so it's hard to complain about when it took place.

Ricochet's high-flying moves and quick strikes allowed him to surprise Gunther at several points during this Intercontinental Championship match, but the powerhouse still had the upper hand most of the time.

The Ring General's chops are already legendary, but everything else he does cannot be overlooked. Even something as simple as a clothesline looks like it should be a finishing move when he hits it because he puts so much power behind his impact.

The match ended with Gunther picking up the win to earn his first main roster title in WWE. If WWE continues to book him as an unstoppable bruiser, he has a good chance of being a world champion someday.

This week's episode of Rampage featured a trios match with the team of Will Ospreay and Aussie Open representing NJPW against Trent Beretta and FTR of AEW.

This bout was a random match to hype Forbidden Door, but the combination of Beretta, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler is genuinely interesting.

For as long as he has been with AEW, Beretta has been associated with Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy, with Rocky Romero joining the fold later on.

It's fun to see Roppongi Vice show up from time to time, but if AEW wanted to finally solidify that trios division fans have been talking about forever, pairing Beretta with FTR might be a good way to go.

All three men are fantastic in-ring workers who have complementary styles. FTR is already considered one of the best tag team in the business, but if they need a third member to chase a new set of titles we may or may not get at some point, they could do a lot worse than a guy like Trent.