The WWE was coming off a very strong effort last week. I personally wasn't that big of a fan of that show, but it was something different. I feared that because they had buried the roster all year to build around Roman as the only choice they would suffer for it now and they did. This show was a bomb and promptly stopped the WWE's momentum from the prior week dead in it's tracks.
The Good
Seeing Seth Rollins was pretty cool. They did a great job of teasing that he wasn't there and then suddenly he was, which was a relief considering those that were not to receive awards. I thought he played his part well.
The Owens win was a nice bump for him. Since losing the IC title he has been portrayed as stronger. His speech was also pretty good, and probably pretty true. How is he not the break out star of the year?
Announcing the return of Cena next week and booking a match a week off was a good move. Anytime the WWE hypes something that is a good thing. They need to do more of this.
I like the Slammy's as a change of pace show. It gives things a different feel....that being said.
Stephanie going off at the end of the show was pretty cool. It continues her endless push, but at some point they have to blow off this heat on a female star. They could make a huge baby face out of a full timer if it's done right.
The Bad
How could they not have a few more guys there to accept their awards. Why would you have an awards show fully knowing a majority of the winners and not have them there? Especially if you're not going to have HHH and Vince on the show? It was draining and the few people they did have including Seth did not make up for it. The WWE could have had a winner if Cena returned, or Sting or Brock. How about Heyman saying something of substance like Brock is after the belt or is going to enter the Rumble?
We got none of that. Although I was happy with Cena's match announcement, why not have him be there to accept his award and have Del Rio come out to shit on it. Causing Del Rio to get some real heat and stoke the match for next week? It's befuddling to say the least.
Stephanie booked two matches to hurt Roman. First she stacked the deck against the USO's, but they still won beating the New Day, which is awful. Then Ambrose got destroyed by the League of Nations and Reigns didn't come out until the end of the match to sort of make the save. He was also smiley and happy. Well wait how could you be all happy knowing that the USO's just got trashed back stage. Shouldn't you be more vile and pissed off?
It gives Reigns that John Cena feel of never really being there for his friends until it suits him. It's the WWE writing poorly and getting the little things wrong. It's almost like they think nothing through before executing it. It makes for bad TV and mixed emotions by the fans. Reigns should have been featured on the outside the entire match. That probably would have prevented fans from chanting boring mid-match. He should have also been pissed and shown some concern for the USO's. By doing so fans would connect with him more. Instead of him just smiling off everything and getting in his howl.
The Ugly
The WWE suddenly decided to push the League of Nations. They had a bunch of poorly received segments that got them very little heat with the crowd. Yet despite all they did the entire show to get over the WWE squashed it by the finish of the show. So what was the point?
It feels like they were trying to legitimize Sheamus for a rematch at the Rumble with Roman. A match probably no one wants to see in that spot. What was so frustrating was that it seemed like common sense for them to instead book that match for tonight on there live smackdown and just get it over with. If you turn that live smackdown into a big deal you might pop a rating against zero competition on TV tonight and set the tone for the Smackdown move to USA.
All you would have to do is have that rematch, let Roman go over and show Stephanie and Vince not happy with the outcome paving the way for more intrigue next week. This shit is so easy to book, but they just can't get to it and it's mind numbing.
It was also hilarious that in the last 30 seconds of the show they hyped a few good matches for tonight. Why couldn't they do this during the show and have guys cut promos selling those matches for tomorrow? Why is this so hard?
The WWE took a few major steps forward last week, but seemed like they wanted to rest on there laurels this week. I think they figured they could get by on the Slammys, but then had such a lack of turn out of Superstars it wasn't enough. When you add in lack of development of the Reigns angle it felt like a lazy show. I feel that the ratings will be down, but better than they have been lately. I think next week will be ok because that John Cena portion of the audience will have a week to find out they need to tune in next Monday. WWE likely knew all this and decided that it was ok to, put a bunny of a show out there and there in lies the problem. Instead of trying to put out a consistently good product they are constantly relying on parlor tricks to keep people viewing.
The show does need to be shocking at times, and there need to be surprises, but what fans really want is a consistently fun show. That's a show where faces are cutting fun promos and heels are plotting the down fall of those same faces. There should be good match action, and lots of things going on in the back. The commentating should be fun and there should always be that sense of what's going to happen next.
Sting does not have to pop out of a case, or the title doesn't have to change hands, or the Rock does not have to be there. Instead the show just needs to be good because of the regular cast of characters. WWE has so marginalized their roster that the show feels drab.
Let's face it there is a lot wrong with the WWE, and they are an easy target for criticism, but it's annoyingly frustrating to watch them push Roman Reigns to the moon, but never let anyone else really connect to the audience. Dean Ambrose didn't cut a promo last night. His direction with the belt is not clear. They tossed together a triple threat for him tonight that makes very little sense. Why not just give people that? Why not just give people something to be excited about?
I will close basically where I started. The WWE has nowhere to turn for a real foil for Reigns. Sure they can use the Authority to prop up any heel, but at this point that's not doing them any good. John Cena and Roman combined, but mostly Cena, crushed the entire heel roster from Mania on. This is again why it made so much sense for Roman to flip heel. With the pending return of Cena perhaps the WWE will finally gamble and flip him heel allowing him to pay off Roman as the top guy at WM32. It's perplexing to say the least. What is certain is this.
Roman as a face versus Cena as a face is not a big time match at WM32. Roman vs. HHH at WM32 is not a big time match. Roman vs. Brock was done last year and it would be hard for the WWE to get Roman any love in that spot. So with those things being obvious who in the world does face Roman take on a WM32? It's a tough question. WWE really needs to get this one right if they want to spring board Roman to new heights.
I can't honestly tell you what I would do because I don't believe in any of it. I put my scenarios together a few months back and often dumped Roman, Seth, and Dean out of the title picture and into a triple threat. I honestly believe the best match WWE can produce is Cena and Brock for the title. I think a close second is a heel Cena vs. Roman or flip that around. Again though none of that is breaking attendance records.
The WWE's going to have to rely on the depth of the card...yikes...to make this card any good. They have to get a Zayn Owens Match on course and they have to figure out how to get one more match out of the Undertaker. My suggestion stands as this. The night after the Rumble the Undertaker comes out to announce that WM32 will be his last. He has not mountains left to climb and no deserts to cross.
Suddenly the lights go out. Finn's music hits and he makes a slow entrance to the ring and the two have a face off the with Finn painted as a Demon. If Finn Balor wins that match he is a made man and a much needed top star for WWE. That's how you pass the torch.
When you look at HHH and Stephanie you have seen two years of characters that don't know how to do that.
Tonight should be worth a look. Live product is a precious commodity in this business, so when WWE gives it to you take a watch. I'm not sure why Owens has to be in a triple threat to get his title back after he beat Dolph clean last night, but that's typical WWE booking as of late.
Until next time.
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Roman Rant and Matches of the Year
I posted a controversial Facebook rant on Roman Reigns a few days back. I was not a big fan of Monday, but I could see why people would like it. What annoyed me was the massive amount of people that took a 180 and starting claiming that the WWE had gotten him over. I was probably a bit annoyed when I wrote it, but I want to set the record straight.
I don't hate Roman Reigns. I just think he's a guy that's not ready for what WWE wants him to be and further more I don't think he ever will be. The WWE could have made him into a Goldberg like guy and he would have done pretty good for a few years, but instead they have tried to turn him into a new John Cena who talks. Let's face it folks. Roman cannot work the mic. He's also an average worker at best at this point. He works a very limited move set and his sell style is a bit annoying.
I will admit that WWE has not put him in the correct position to succeed. They told the Bryan story before the Rumble and had this guy doing promo's that perhaps even the Rock couldn't get over. They put him in corny ring gear, even Cena looks better, and they kept him coming through the crowd. Someone should do a video of the non-pops this guy got all year while coming through the crowd. This was all working against him and was not his fault.
If WWE wanted to make Roman look good they needed to start having him win feud after feud, since his return in December last year. They should have kept him out of the title picture and the last match at WM31. If they would have kept him off the mic as well that would have helped. Just imagine Roman in the background winning feuds and have solid singles matches. It would have been done wonders for him and right now all the angst might not even be on him.
Through this year he didn't improve greatly on promos. He didn't have any epic match ups. He didn't get better ring gear. He just kept being what he was to start the year and they just kept on pushing and pushing. This after I've been watching years and years of other guys get squashed after the WWE believed their push had failed. This after I saw CM Punk hold the title for over a year, but hardly main event anything. The WWE has never pushed someone that the crowd was dead to for so long like they did Roman and it annoyed me to no end.
In the course of doing this they have ruined their roster. I mean who's left? They had Seth be about the worst title holder in the history of their company for a guy that held the belt as long as he did. I've never seen a Champion lose so many matches. His best feud was with a well past his prime Kane!
Other than Cena being Cena the rest of this roster on both sides of the aisle is dead. I think Lesnar is an answer for them, but if WWE had Roman beat Brock after all Brock has done then it would further be giving a guy opportunity that others have never been given. The guy who finally beats Brock clean the next time has to be way hotter.
What I think happened on Monday was this. The TLC ended with everyone wondering hey what are they going to do with Roman now? Where is the title picture shifting too? That's good story telling. That's what gets fans tuning in. Then WWE went right to VKM with that show open which hooked people. When Vince came out and set the match that hooked people even more. Let's also not forget VKM was back! He's the greatest villain in WWE history and he's been destroyed on every message board from here to China for his booking the last few years. So he's got major heat with the fans. Dare I say epic heat.
So, Monday was all about seeing how the WWE was going to get out of the corner they painted themselves into. Fans naturally got more invested with Vince in the picture and Roman winning was not the worst thing the WWE could do, but....then there was that overreaction. Their was an overreaction by many WWE followers yes, but I'll let them have that if they want it. I'm more focused on the overreaction by WWE.
The WWE posted a video of post Raw when the USO's and Ambrose finally came out to help Roman. Roman got the mic and thanked the Philly crowd and said that it had been a hard road since the Rumble, but thank you for tonight. He talked about how he had improved all year and how it got him to this moment.
That statement was crazy stupid. When did Roman improve??? The WWE degenerated down to it's lowest ratings in history. What was Roman doing when all that was going on? A good portion of pundits, including SCSA, were calling for him to turn heel, which is still probably needed. I think this was the WWE and Roman thinking they had won everybody over and it was because of Reigns. I'll bet almost any money that you could have hotshotted about 10 guys in that spot Monday in the same angle they would have gotten the same, if not greater reaction.
And that is where I want to end this. Roman in the end got hotshotted to the WWE title! That's something usually reserved for someone the company has not been pushing or just signed. In any event only time will tell on this situation. If Roman pulls the ratings the WWE needs for the next few months and fills Dallas up to the brim with Roman on top then god bless them. My money is not on either happening.
Matches of the year
When I look back at matches I don't just look at the in ring work, but I consider and give a ton of credit to story, characters, fun factor, and situation. It's pretty unlikely that I'm ever going to rate a match from Raw very highly no matter how great the technically skill. I always feel the best matches are hyped and built too and often the Raw matches are thrown together that night.
I think for a match to be great it has to have a big fight feel on a big show, but you will see with my match of the year that's not always the case. Again I weight all the factors. First let's start with some honorable mentions.
Okada vs. Styles.
Okada wins the title back from Styles with a finish that needs to be seen to be believed.
Bayley Vs. Sasha Iron Man Match
A great in ring match, but the air of knowing that Bayley was winning no matter what kept this off my list. That matters people. Great match otherwise.
Owens and Zayn's 2 matches
If they would have had better endings they make the cut, but very few matches this year inspired as much passion.
Becky Vs. Sasha May Takeover Special
This match was great because it just seemed like it would be Sasha going over Becky and ended up making you believe that Becky could win. Stole the show that night.
Pretty much every Lucha Underground main event this year!
So here's the list in no order other than my favorite being the last match.
Nakamura vs. Ibushi for the IC Belt at WK9
When you combine great story with great in ring work with great characters with great commentating you get this. Ibushi had challenged Nakamura for the belt on NJPW's biggest show as the the second from the last match. The story being told was that Ibushi held a win over Nakamuri and could possibly dethrone him as IC Champ. Jim Ross called this match for NJPW and put Nakamura over as one of the greatest of all time and Ibushi as a guy for the future looking to make a name for himself. I felt like you had to favor Nakamura huge here the way it was all laid out.
What happened in the match was the performers told that story as well, but suddenly out of nowhere they seemed to turn the tide into this being about Ibushi breaking through right down to the very end. That rollercoaster was hard to get off of. It was excellent booking and I thought impossible to top.
Okada vs. Tanahashi for the IWGP Title WK9
The story was again well laid out here. Okada was going to finally dethrone the John Cena of NJPW on their biggest stage. It was clearly Okada's time. He had lost in a similar spot two years ago and Jim Ross put this match over as a passing of the torch. It felt like that. Instead Tanahashi pulled off the win and cemented himself as an all time great.
Jim Ross also put over the Okada drop kick and when Okada hit it the magnitude of it was off the charts. He also put over the Rainmaker clothesline and when Tananashi kicked out of it the drama was only further enhanced.
What made this match so great was that it followed a match of the year candidate on the same show, dispelling the belief that you can't have two great matches back to back. This was all created by HHH as a myth following his WM25 match with Randy Orton where WWE got the booking all wrong.
Brock vs. Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble
Nobody was really excited about seeing Brock and Cena yet again so WWE added in Seth. Many though this was just so that Seth could eat the pin. He did eat the pin, but on the way to doing that Seth stamped himself as a legit main event-er. He arrived that night and all three men contributed to what was an awesome match.
The WWE did not follow this up well with Seth. They really botched his run into WM31. His cash in would have been so much more memorable if he had been protected him off this performance. They were just too focused on Reigns to do that.
Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber
For a minute there the WWE had put on a major push for Kevin Owens. He was a red hot heel and he was getting the booking WWE rarely gave anyone. This match was the first hot match the WWE had had in quite some time. If Owens went over Cena it was going to mean something and could setup a feud that could last a long time.
Owens did go over Cena and beat him clean. He then delivered an awesome in ring promo. You can't get much better than that! A star was born, but the WWE ran to toss cold water on it all as quickly as possible. They had Cena get his win back only 2 weeks later. Owens then had to drop the NXT title and was turned into a whiner leading up to their 3rd match in 45 days, which he lost.
This could have been huge if WWE would have kept Owens in NXT a little longer. Had him lose the title at Brooklyn and then built to a John Cena rematch for later in the year. Owens has slowly recovered, but isn't regarded nearly as well as he should be at this time.
Still this was a great match.
Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro Ultimo Lucha
Ultimo Lucha was a pretaped show. Vampiro was retired, and when he was wrestling was never considered all that great. Pentagon was a Mexican star that no one had ever heard of before this show debuted and held no really major wins and during his push lost clean to a woman. So, you ask how did this match make my list? Story people story!
They put Vampiro over as legend. They made Pentagon into a bad ass. Despite his loss to Sexy Star he was pretty well protected. They cut cool vignettes that built the story and added a mystery around who was Pentagon's master and why did he want the head of Vampiro? It didn't even seem likely that Vampiro who had not wrestled on the show at all would actually go back and compete.
They took their time and build this feud over weeks and it paid off in a big way. Vampiro's entrance as an evil Bishop was off the charts. This was not a classic wrestling match, but a violent war. They did a flaming table, spots off the top rope, and light tubes. In the end Pentagon went over and Vampiro revealed to him that he was his master all along and this was all a test. This turned Vampiro into a major heel and elevated Pentagon to new heights.
Great stuff!
Bayley vs. Becky at Brooklyn Takeover for the NXT Women's Title
Many point out that the build up to this match was great selling Bayley as this major underdog who was being left behind by her friends. I didn't see it that way. I thought NXT had waited too long with Bayley and had not really done enough with her to make her feel like the one, but instead it was like she was getting the push by default since the other girls were leaving.
Where I was won over here was the fact that everything that was done here was right, if you can look past the unnecessary Stephanie McMahon promo. Bayley had a great intro and this was the first time she got one on a big stage. That really helped her. She was outdone, by Sasha's Esclade entrance. That was probably the best female entrance of all time. It was also a massive heel entrance. It made Bayley seem like a bigger underdog.
They then went to task telling just an amazing in ring story. You never felt like for a second this was a women's match on par with the garbage Raw had been putting out for years. It felt like a real wrestling match. They had to top Sasha and Becky from the May PPV and they did it. Bayley really upped her game and Sasha delivered as classic heel. This was great stuff. It didn't elevate Women's wrestling, but instead elevated the NXT brand.
Again the follow up match was great, but it was too obvious of a finish. I wouldn't have been surprised if Sasha had won here, but clearly this was Bayley's time to go over. This worked on many levels.
Great match!
Sleeper Match. Emma Vs. Asuka at NXT London
So sometimes expectations can be low, but great things can happen and this was case here. The story for this was just ok. Emma and Dana Brooke are being used to get Asuka over, which is fine. Dana got run over by Asuka in their previous match and this looked like it would be no different, but instead Emma held her own for most of the match. Asuka did not take the entire match and we were treated to some great back and fourth action.
It wasn't technically perfect by any means as their were some botches, but the well thought out ending had me believing that Emma was going to actually win. Emma tried to Eddie Guerrero Asuka by pretending she had been hit with a foreign object, which was great. Dana Brooke was able to cause the ref to not see Emma tapping which lead to Asuka thinking she had won, which in the moment made me think oh wow Emma's going to steal this, but then Asuka still won.
It is so rare these days in the WWE for a performer to lose, but get elevated off it. This was one of those cases. Asuka won, but Emma really established herself here. If NXT decides to push Emma from here I think it's justified. This match stole the entire London show.
Grave Consequences. Fenix Vs. Mil Muertes on a regular episode of Lucha Underground
My match of the year.
This match was not part of the LU finale show. This match was not live. This match was not between two wrestling legends. So, how in the world does it top all the other matches on my list???
The story for this was not the reason. The story did setup of the match, but it wasn't that great of a story. Mil was portrayed as an evil force flanked by his manager Katrina who played a black widow like character. When Katrina got a bit out of line Mil got violent with her. Katrina reacted to this by romancing Fenix. Katrina went to Fenix's side and told him that he must defeat Mil in a casket match in order to truly win her over, or avoid Mil basically killing him, which yes did happen once on this show.
This was yet another example of a match that other company's do that LU did better. They took the casket match concept to an entirely different level. They had a bunch of actors come out with the casket to open the match, which gave the impression that it was really bad to end up in that casket.
This seemed like a setup where Katrina was going to turn on Fenix, but in the end that did not happen. The two these men instead engaged in a war. There was some wrestling, and some really cool moves, but what it will most be remembered for is the violent spots they executed. The casket, which did not look light was actually used a weapon in the ring. The funny part was they used it more than once.
Mil beat Fenix all over the arena. He tore his mask and bloodied him as well. They fought through the crowd more than once as well. In the end Fenix was able to turn the tides and put Mil into the coffin. The action here was what made this so great. Rarely do you see a match that stays a solid pace without going to fast and keeps you engaged. I never expected Fenix to win.
Grave consequences was an amazing effort and kept me watching LU all summer long.
So that's my list.
I don't hate Roman Reigns. I just think he's a guy that's not ready for what WWE wants him to be and further more I don't think he ever will be. The WWE could have made him into a Goldberg like guy and he would have done pretty good for a few years, but instead they have tried to turn him into a new John Cena who talks. Let's face it folks. Roman cannot work the mic. He's also an average worker at best at this point. He works a very limited move set and his sell style is a bit annoying.
I will admit that WWE has not put him in the correct position to succeed. They told the Bryan story before the Rumble and had this guy doing promo's that perhaps even the Rock couldn't get over. They put him in corny ring gear, even Cena looks better, and they kept him coming through the crowd. Someone should do a video of the non-pops this guy got all year while coming through the crowd. This was all working against him and was not his fault.
If WWE wanted to make Roman look good they needed to start having him win feud after feud, since his return in December last year. They should have kept him out of the title picture and the last match at WM31. If they would have kept him off the mic as well that would have helped. Just imagine Roman in the background winning feuds and have solid singles matches. It would have been done wonders for him and right now all the angst might not even be on him.
Through this year he didn't improve greatly on promos. He didn't have any epic match ups. He didn't get better ring gear. He just kept being what he was to start the year and they just kept on pushing and pushing. This after I've been watching years and years of other guys get squashed after the WWE believed their push had failed. This after I saw CM Punk hold the title for over a year, but hardly main event anything. The WWE has never pushed someone that the crowd was dead to for so long like they did Roman and it annoyed me to no end.
In the course of doing this they have ruined their roster. I mean who's left? They had Seth be about the worst title holder in the history of their company for a guy that held the belt as long as he did. I've never seen a Champion lose so many matches. His best feud was with a well past his prime Kane!
Other than Cena being Cena the rest of this roster on both sides of the aisle is dead. I think Lesnar is an answer for them, but if WWE had Roman beat Brock after all Brock has done then it would further be giving a guy opportunity that others have never been given. The guy who finally beats Brock clean the next time has to be way hotter.
What I think happened on Monday was this. The TLC ended with everyone wondering hey what are they going to do with Roman now? Where is the title picture shifting too? That's good story telling. That's what gets fans tuning in. Then WWE went right to VKM with that show open which hooked people. When Vince came out and set the match that hooked people even more. Let's also not forget VKM was back! He's the greatest villain in WWE history and he's been destroyed on every message board from here to China for his booking the last few years. So he's got major heat with the fans. Dare I say epic heat.
So, Monday was all about seeing how the WWE was going to get out of the corner they painted themselves into. Fans naturally got more invested with Vince in the picture and Roman winning was not the worst thing the WWE could do, but....then there was that overreaction. Their was an overreaction by many WWE followers yes, but I'll let them have that if they want it. I'm more focused on the overreaction by WWE.
The WWE posted a video of post Raw when the USO's and Ambrose finally came out to help Roman. Roman got the mic and thanked the Philly crowd and said that it had been a hard road since the Rumble, but thank you for tonight. He talked about how he had improved all year and how it got him to this moment.
That statement was crazy stupid. When did Roman improve??? The WWE degenerated down to it's lowest ratings in history. What was Roman doing when all that was going on? A good portion of pundits, including SCSA, were calling for him to turn heel, which is still probably needed. I think this was the WWE and Roman thinking they had won everybody over and it was because of Reigns. I'll bet almost any money that you could have hotshotted about 10 guys in that spot Monday in the same angle they would have gotten the same, if not greater reaction.
And that is where I want to end this. Roman in the end got hotshotted to the WWE title! That's something usually reserved for someone the company has not been pushing or just signed. In any event only time will tell on this situation. If Roman pulls the ratings the WWE needs for the next few months and fills Dallas up to the brim with Roman on top then god bless them. My money is not on either happening.
Matches of the year
When I look back at matches I don't just look at the in ring work, but I consider and give a ton of credit to story, characters, fun factor, and situation. It's pretty unlikely that I'm ever going to rate a match from Raw very highly no matter how great the technically skill. I always feel the best matches are hyped and built too and often the Raw matches are thrown together that night.
I think for a match to be great it has to have a big fight feel on a big show, but you will see with my match of the year that's not always the case. Again I weight all the factors. First let's start with some honorable mentions.
Okada vs. Styles.
Okada wins the title back from Styles with a finish that needs to be seen to be believed.
Bayley Vs. Sasha Iron Man Match
A great in ring match, but the air of knowing that Bayley was winning no matter what kept this off my list. That matters people. Great match otherwise.
Owens and Zayn's 2 matches
If they would have had better endings they make the cut, but very few matches this year inspired as much passion.
Becky Vs. Sasha May Takeover Special
This match was great because it just seemed like it would be Sasha going over Becky and ended up making you believe that Becky could win. Stole the show that night.
Pretty much every Lucha Underground main event this year!
So here's the list in no order other than my favorite being the last match.
Nakamura vs. Ibushi for the IC Belt at WK9
When you combine great story with great in ring work with great characters with great commentating you get this. Ibushi had challenged Nakamura for the belt on NJPW's biggest show as the the second from the last match. The story being told was that Ibushi held a win over Nakamuri and could possibly dethrone him as IC Champ. Jim Ross called this match for NJPW and put Nakamura over as one of the greatest of all time and Ibushi as a guy for the future looking to make a name for himself. I felt like you had to favor Nakamura huge here the way it was all laid out.
What happened in the match was the performers told that story as well, but suddenly out of nowhere they seemed to turn the tide into this being about Ibushi breaking through right down to the very end. That rollercoaster was hard to get off of. It was excellent booking and I thought impossible to top.
Okada vs. Tanahashi for the IWGP Title WK9
The story was again well laid out here. Okada was going to finally dethrone the John Cena of NJPW on their biggest stage. It was clearly Okada's time. He had lost in a similar spot two years ago and Jim Ross put this match over as a passing of the torch. It felt like that. Instead Tanahashi pulled off the win and cemented himself as an all time great.
Jim Ross also put over the Okada drop kick and when Okada hit it the magnitude of it was off the charts. He also put over the Rainmaker clothesline and when Tananashi kicked out of it the drama was only further enhanced.
What made this match so great was that it followed a match of the year candidate on the same show, dispelling the belief that you can't have two great matches back to back. This was all created by HHH as a myth following his WM25 match with Randy Orton where WWE got the booking all wrong.
Brock vs. Cena vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble
Nobody was really excited about seeing Brock and Cena yet again so WWE added in Seth. Many though this was just so that Seth could eat the pin. He did eat the pin, but on the way to doing that Seth stamped himself as a legit main event-er. He arrived that night and all three men contributed to what was an awesome match.
The WWE did not follow this up well with Seth. They really botched his run into WM31. His cash in would have been so much more memorable if he had been protected him off this performance. They were just too focused on Reigns to do that.
Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber
For a minute there the WWE had put on a major push for Kevin Owens. He was a red hot heel and he was getting the booking WWE rarely gave anyone. This match was the first hot match the WWE had had in quite some time. If Owens went over Cena it was going to mean something and could setup a feud that could last a long time.
Owens did go over Cena and beat him clean. He then delivered an awesome in ring promo. You can't get much better than that! A star was born, but the WWE ran to toss cold water on it all as quickly as possible. They had Cena get his win back only 2 weeks later. Owens then had to drop the NXT title and was turned into a whiner leading up to their 3rd match in 45 days, which he lost.
This could have been huge if WWE would have kept Owens in NXT a little longer. Had him lose the title at Brooklyn and then built to a John Cena rematch for later in the year. Owens has slowly recovered, but isn't regarded nearly as well as he should be at this time.
Still this was a great match.
Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro Ultimo Lucha
Ultimo Lucha was a pretaped show. Vampiro was retired, and when he was wrestling was never considered all that great. Pentagon was a Mexican star that no one had ever heard of before this show debuted and held no really major wins and during his push lost clean to a woman. So, you ask how did this match make my list? Story people story!
They put Vampiro over as legend. They made Pentagon into a bad ass. Despite his loss to Sexy Star he was pretty well protected. They cut cool vignettes that built the story and added a mystery around who was Pentagon's master and why did he want the head of Vampiro? It didn't even seem likely that Vampiro who had not wrestled on the show at all would actually go back and compete.
They took their time and build this feud over weeks and it paid off in a big way. Vampiro's entrance as an evil Bishop was off the charts. This was not a classic wrestling match, but a violent war. They did a flaming table, spots off the top rope, and light tubes. In the end Pentagon went over and Vampiro revealed to him that he was his master all along and this was all a test. This turned Vampiro into a major heel and elevated Pentagon to new heights.
Great stuff!
Bayley vs. Becky at Brooklyn Takeover for the NXT Women's Title
Many point out that the build up to this match was great selling Bayley as this major underdog who was being left behind by her friends. I didn't see it that way. I thought NXT had waited too long with Bayley and had not really done enough with her to make her feel like the one, but instead it was like she was getting the push by default since the other girls were leaving.
Where I was won over here was the fact that everything that was done here was right, if you can look past the unnecessary Stephanie McMahon promo. Bayley had a great intro and this was the first time she got one on a big stage. That really helped her. She was outdone, by Sasha's Esclade entrance. That was probably the best female entrance of all time. It was also a massive heel entrance. It made Bayley seem like a bigger underdog.
They then went to task telling just an amazing in ring story. You never felt like for a second this was a women's match on par with the garbage Raw had been putting out for years. It felt like a real wrestling match. They had to top Sasha and Becky from the May PPV and they did it. Bayley really upped her game and Sasha delivered as classic heel. This was great stuff. It didn't elevate Women's wrestling, but instead elevated the NXT brand.
Again the follow up match was great, but it was too obvious of a finish. I wouldn't have been surprised if Sasha had won here, but clearly this was Bayley's time to go over. This worked on many levels.
Great match!
Sleeper Match. Emma Vs. Asuka at NXT London
So sometimes expectations can be low, but great things can happen and this was case here. The story for this was just ok. Emma and Dana Brooke are being used to get Asuka over, which is fine. Dana got run over by Asuka in their previous match and this looked like it would be no different, but instead Emma held her own for most of the match. Asuka did not take the entire match and we were treated to some great back and fourth action.
It wasn't technically perfect by any means as their were some botches, but the well thought out ending had me believing that Emma was going to actually win. Emma tried to Eddie Guerrero Asuka by pretending she had been hit with a foreign object, which was great. Dana Brooke was able to cause the ref to not see Emma tapping which lead to Asuka thinking she had won, which in the moment made me think oh wow Emma's going to steal this, but then Asuka still won.
It is so rare these days in the WWE for a performer to lose, but get elevated off it. This was one of those cases. Asuka won, but Emma really established herself here. If NXT decides to push Emma from here I think it's justified. This match stole the entire London show.
Grave Consequences. Fenix Vs. Mil Muertes on a regular episode of Lucha Underground
My match of the year.
This match was not part of the LU finale show. This match was not live. This match was not between two wrestling legends. So, how in the world does it top all the other matches on my list???
The story for this was not the reason. The story did setup of the match, but it wasn't that great of a story. Mil was portrayed as an evil force flanked by his manager Katrina who played a black widow like character. When Katrina got a bit out of line Mil got violent with her. Katrina reacted to this by romancing Fenix. Katrina went to Fenix's side and told him that he must defeat Mil in a casket match in order to truly win her over, or avoid Mil basically killing him, which yes did happen once on this show.
This was yet another example of a match that other company's do that LU did better. They took the casket match concept to an entirely different level. They had a bunch of actors come out with the casket to open the match, which gave the impression that it was really bad to end up in that casket.
This seemed like a setup where Katrina was going to turn on Fenix, but in the end that did not happen. The two these men instead engaged in a war. There was some wrestling, and some really cool moves, but what it will most be remembered for is the violent spots they executed. The casket, which did not look light was actually used a weapon in the ring. The funny part was they used it more than once.
Mil beat Fenix all over the arena. He tore his mask and bloodied him as well. They fought through the crowd more than once as well. In the end Fenix was able to turn the tides and put Mil into the coffin. The action here was what made this so great. Rarely do you see a match that stays a solid pace without going to fast and keeps you engaged. I never expected Fenix to win.
Grave consequences was an amazing effort and kept me watching LU all summer long.
So that's my list.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
Roll Call WWE!
Ok, so I don't know if it's Roll Call or Row Call, but you get the point. I think the key thing that people fail to understand about WWE product is that for it to be good you have to have 9 keys spots filled at all times. When those 9 spots are filled the company is doing well. Now filling those spots all comes down to booking, angles, talent, product presentation, and match quality. There's no doubt, but even when WWE has been bad at some of those they've had enough in these 9 spots to keep the company rolling along.
A look right now reveals that they are basically on life support. So, let's take a look at my key 9 spots. Those spots are broken into three categories. Top 3 Heels, Top 3 Faces and Top 3 Draws. The draws are either part time guys or non-wrestling personalities. This is often managers or guys like Jericho that float in and out of the company from time to time. All this is being judged by whether or not guys can move the needles as far as interest and ratings go. Can they create a positive buzz for the company.
Top 3 Faces
1. Roman Reigns
This is a bad start, but Roman is the #1 needle mover as far as a face goes at this time. The ratings are in the toilet, but I'm still smart enough to know that people are interested to see how the Roman situation plays out. He's basically at the top of this list because WWE has decimated their face roster on purpose so he will be the only option. For the product to get better WWE's going to have to get some people ahead of him in a hurry. Him winning the title isn't going to help anything at all. If he were to do it at TLC then he would become John Cena 2.0, but way worse.
2. Dean Ambrose
Dean is probably getting the biggest face pop, but WWE continues to try to bury the guy to make Roman look better at every turn. The night the League of Nations was formed Dean ate the pin in the main event when teaming with the USO's. The fact that the USO's couldn't eat that pin says something. WWE wants to keep his pop under control. Don't be fooled by his feud with Kevin Owens. Dean was given a bag of popcorn and a coke this week instead of a mic to sell the second biggest feud in the company right now. The fucking show is three hours!!! He lost to Roman in under 10 minutes at Survivor Series and the end came out of the blue like no big deal. That was also done on purpose. That tells you that they just don't want to take any chances of him growing a stronger following. What's worse is he probably loses at TLC because WWE wants to keep him down and Zayn Owens long term for the IC title makes more sense, but where does that leave Dean after TLC? Now realize we are talking about the second guy on the list.
3. Ummmm, Uh, Ummmmm Uh....
It can't be Ziggler because he loses every other week. He lost to Tyler Breeze at Survivor Series, then won against him on Raw a week later. Then he lost this week to Owens. Ryback is a 1980's Superstar lost in the 2010's. Although I'll give him credit for his youtube work. WWE presents him so poorly on TV though. Why would anyone care? I might have put Charlotte here, but they turned her heel. The USO's? They can't even get a straight up match with the New Day. So yes right now I can't even put someone in the third spot and tell you with a straight face they move the needle at all. That's a big problem when you consider the two guys above this spot are struggling.
Honorable Mentions....c'mon really. Here's all I can say. If Daniel Bryan were to come back he would occupy the top three spots on his own. His story now looms very large for WWE, but they don't even mention the guy or use him in any kind of support role. That again would detract from Roman.
Top 3 Heels
1. Sheamus
Ok, so what's sad here is that Sheamus doesn't even rate in the top 3 if he's not Champ. I considered putting him below #1 just because, but the WWE Title carries some weight. Sheamus is a B- wrestler. WWE did a good job repackaging him post WM31, but then as soon as he won that briefcase they got their shovels out and started burying him. So, what did they really expect when they put the strap on him? There's always a difference between hate and heat. Sheamus is narrowly walking that line. When he defends the WWE title it's always going to be a big deal as was proven last week. The title match with Reigns moved the needle a little in these three weeks of hell for WWE. Maybe I should have just started at #2. I think WWE has to have him dump the title to Brock or Cena at the Rumble. Losing it to Roman would only further make things worse, unless they had a plan to turn Roman heel....doubtful.
2. The New Day
I strongly considered the New Day at #1, but they are a bit too much comedy and the only thing they do consistently is hold the belts. They don't strike fear into anyone. That being said they are fun to watch and Big E is owning twitter right now. What I would say is that Big E is a hidden gem. WWE had a decision to make (or at least in their minds they did) two years ago. Vince and HHH were feuding behind the scenes about who to push, Big E or Roman. They ultimately decided on Roman, but I think that Vince was actually right. Big E has proven to have more Charisma by far than Roman and he has major confidence on the mic. His ring work is solid, but too sparse to say it's great. If WWE wanted to flip Big E face and have Xavier manage him they might have something big there. I just don't think they can do it right though.
3. Kevin Owens
Owens should be higher on this list, but since his feud ended with John Cena the WWE has made sure of one thing. Don't give Owens a mic on Raw in the ring. This guy was on fire during the summer in NXT and on Raw cutting promos and having emotionally charged matches that fans were invested in. Since then he's had one in ring mic segment on Raw with Ryback. The WWE must have feared he would become a face by default and would go over Roman, so they have been holding him down. The bottom line is Owens could move up quick if they featured his promos on Raw in the ring and treated him like a bigger deal. He's the last true heel in a lot of ways. If he drops the belt to Ambrose where does that put him? Very far from a match with Brock Lesnar, but in truth the money is in Zayn Owens. They have a year long feud that the NXT audience is invested in and an excuse to make non-NXT fans watch the show to get caught up. Only the brain dead would steer away from a WM32 match between the two.
Honorable Mentions:
Alberto Del Rio looks like a million bucks and got to beat Cena for the US Title, but WWE has acted like that was not a big deal and the pairing with Zeb made no sense. WWE didn't want to make Cena look bad. That's hilarious thinking considering Cena was going away for a time. It would not have hurt John at all to put ADR over a bit more. Tyler Breeze has been doing nothing. The Wyatts just keep losing. C'mon you really can't consider them.
Top 3 Draws
1. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman
They are part time and Brock isn't scheduled for TV until the new year from what I hear. Heyman has gotten a little repetitive with his promos and they continually don't do what you think they would do which is destroy the title holder and hold the belt hostage until someone can actually give Brock a real challenge. That's why the fall of 2014 was better with no Champion than the fall of 2015 with Sheamus. Brock means something. He's a big deal despite these short comings, but even he has had trouble moving that ratings needle. It just goes to show that the 50/50 feud with the Taker wasn't what people wanted. They don't want to pick who to root for. That really just put everyone in a bad spot. Lastly, why hasn't Heymen popped up and cut a promo or two? Especially given the ratings situation...because Brock getting more over hurts...Roman Reigns.
2. John Cena
If John Cena ran down to the ring next week beat Sheamus for the title out of the blue there would be a bunch of people really upset and a bunch of people really happy. Ratings would probably recover a little, but no one would think the solution had been found. That's why John floated over from being a face or heel to a draw for me. He's always going to be someone to consider, but since he's hated by the live crowd, but somewhat followed by a good portion of the audience you can't consider him anything other than a draw. WWE botched the second part of Cena's career whether they care to admit it or not. After Roman botched that promo on Monday I think it assured the fact that either Cena or Lesnar will get the title soon. I honestly think WWE needs to go Cena Lesnar for the belt at WM32. It's safe even though it's been done a few times and you can build on it. The problem will be Cena is not a long term fix and Brock will still be very part time.
3. The Authority
They should be off the list for Sting, but since he was hurt by Seth it's hard to put him on the list. If Sting appeared he would pop a better rating and at this point the Authority have worn out their welcome. HHH and Steph probably don't realize how bad this entire angle has really been. People probably forget as well because they still can cut a good promo, but otherwise they NWO Hollywood bad. They flip heel and face all the time and like a bad slot machine they never pay off. They sucked up a ton of heat off guys through the past 2 plus years and decided the only ones they wanted to throw that off on was Ronda Rousey and the Rock, two extremely part time talents. This angle has done nothing for anyone. Bryan was never accepted by management, and Seth was treated worse than heel Bob Backlund as Champion. That being said because they are mouth piece of the WWE they still move the needle slightly.
Honorable Mention:
Sting as noted. The Rock if he came around more, but that seems unlikely. The Undertaker, but after being made to look that bad against Lesnar who he had already elevated what can he really do at this point?
So there it is. I think it's fairly obviously why WWE has a ratings crisis, and eventually will have an attendance crisis and then eventually a stock crisis. It's rough times. What's so funny to me is how much they are doing to help Roman Reigns, but the guy just can't deliver for them. One thing the WWE has always embraced is a guy that stands up for himself. If Roman had a clue he would do that and demand his push be handled differently. Yet, I think he's just going along for the ride and as he is I feel it makes people like him less. Here's a guy that's truly motivated the wrong way.
I truly believe that Roman has never has to earn it. He trained at the fancy performance center and he's always been paid good money to work for WWE. He's never been a middling low level guy. He's always been a bull. That lack of seasoning, or feeling of earning $20 dollars for working a bingo hall is probably what this guy is missing.
A look right now reveals that they are basically on life support. So, let's take a look at my key 9 spots. Those spots are broken into three categories. Top 3 Heels, Top 3 Faces and Top 3 Draws. The draws are either part time guys or non-wrestling personalities. This is often managers or guys like Jericho that float in and out of the company from time to time. All this is being judged by whether or not guys can move the needles as far as interest and ratings go. Can they create a positive buzz for the company.
Top 3 Faces
1. Roman Reigns
This is a bad start, but Roman is the #1 needle mover as far as a face goes at this time. The ratings are in the toilet, but I'm still smart enough to know that people are interested to see how the Roman situation plays out. He's basically at the top of this list because WWE has decimated their face roster on purpose so he will be the only option. For the product to get better WWE's going to have to get some people ahead of him in a hurry. Him winning the title isn't going to help anything at all. If he were to do it at TLC then he would become John Cena 2.0, but way worse.
2. Dean Ambrose
Dean is probably getting the biggest face pop, but WWE continues to try to bury the guy to make Roman look better at every turn. The night the League of Nations was formed Dean ate the pin in the main event when teaming with the USO's. The fact that the USO's couldn't eat that pin says something. WWE wants to keep his pop under control. Don't be fooled by his feud with Kevin Owens. Dean was given a bag of popcorn and a coke this week instead of a mic to sell the second biggest feud in the company right now. The fucking show is three hours!!! He lost to Roman in under 10 minutes at Survivor Series and the end came out of the blue like no big deal. That was also done on purpose. That tells you that they just don't want to take any chances of him growing a stronger following. What's worse is he probably loses at TLC because WWE wants to keep him down and Zayn Owens long term for the IC title makes more sense, but where does that leave Dean after TLC? Now realize we are talking about the second guy on the list.
3. Ummmm, Uh, Ummmmm Uh....
It can't be Ziggler because he loses every other week. He lost to Tyler Breeze at Survivor Series, then won against him on Raw a week later. Then he lost this week to Owens. Ryback is a 1980's Superstar lost in the 2010's. Although I'll give him credit for his youtube work. WWE presents him so poorly on TV though. Why would anyone care? I might have put Charlotte here, but they turned her heel. The USO's? They can't even get a straight up match with the New Day. So yes right now I can't even put someone in the third spot and tell you with a straight face they move the needle at all. That's a big problem when you consider the two guys above this spot are struggling.
Honorable Mentions....c'mon really. Here's all I can say. If Daniel Bryan were to come back he would occupy the top three spots on his own. His story now looms very large for WWE, but they don't even mention the guy or use him in any kind of support role. That again would detract from Roman.
Top 3 Heels
1. Sheamus
Ok, so what's sad here is that Sheamus doesn't even rate in the top 3 if he's not Champ. I considered putting him below #1 just because, but the WWE Title carries some weight. Sheamus is a B- wrestler. WWE did a good job repackaging him post WM31, but then as soon as he won that briefcase they got their shovels out and started burying him. So, what did they really expect when they put the strap on him? There's always a difference between hate and heat. Sheamus is narrowly walking that line. When he defends the WWE title it's always going to be a big deal as was proven last week. The title match with Reigns moved the needle a little in these three weeks of hell for WWE. Maybe I should have just started at #2. I think WWE has to have him dump the title to Brock or Cena at the Rumble. Losing it to Roman would only further make things worse, unless they had a plan to turn Roman heel....doubtful.
2. The New Day
I strongly considered the New Day at #1, but they are a bit too much comedy and the only thing they do consistently is hold the belts. They don't strike fear into anyone. That being said they are fun to watch and Big E is owning twitter right now. What I would say is that Big E is a hidden gem. WWE had a decision to make (or at least in their minds they did) two years ago. Vince and HHH were feuding behind the scenes about who to push, Big E or Roman. They ultimately decided on Roman, but I think that Vince was actually right. Big E has proven to have more Charisma by far than Roman and he has major confidence on the mic. His ring work is solid, but too sparse to say it's great. If WWE wanted to flip Big E face and have Xavier manage him they might have something big there. I just don't think they can do it right though.
3. Kevin Owens
Owens should be higher on this list, but since his feud ended with John Cena the WWE has made sure of one thing. Don't give Owens a mic on Raw in the ring. This guy was on fire during the summer in NXT and on Raw cutting promos and having emotionally charged matches that fans were invested in. Since then he's had one in ring mic segment on Raw with Ryback. The WWE must have feared he would become a face by default and would go over Roman, so they have been holding him down. The bottom line is Owens could move up quick if they featured his promos on Raw in the ring and treated him like a bigger deal. He's the last true heel in a lot of ways. If he drops the belt to Ambrose where does that put him? Very far from a match with Brock Lesnar, but in truth the money is in Zayn Owens. They have a year long feud that the NXT audience is invested in and an excuse to make non-NXT fans watch the show to get caught up. Only the brain dead would steer away from a WM32 match between the two.
Honorable Mentions:
Alberto Del Rio looks like a million bucks and got to beat Cena for the US Title, but WWE has acted like that was not a big deal and the pairing with Zeb made no sense. WWE didn't want to make Cena look bad. That's hilarious thinking considering Cena was going away for a time. It would not have hurt John at all to put ADR over a bit more. Tyler Breeze has been doing nothing. The Wyatts just keep losing. C'mon you really can't consider them.
Top 3 Draws
1. Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman
They are part time and Brock isn't scheduled for TV until the new year from what I hear. Heyman has gotten a little repetitive with his promos and they continually don't do what you think they would do which is destroy the title holder and hold the belt hostage until someone can actually give Brock a real challenge. That's why the fall of 2014 was better with no Champion than the fall of 2015 with Sheamus. Brock means something. He's a big deal despite these short comings, but even he has had trouble moving that ratings needle. It just goes to show that the 50/50 feud with the Taker wasn't what people wanted. They don't want to pick who to root for. That really just put everyone in a bad spot. Lastly, why hasn't Heymen popped up and cut a promo or two? Especially given the ratings situation...because Brock getting more over hurts...Roman Reigns.
2. John Cena
If John Cena ran down to the ring next week beat Sheamus for the title out of the blue there would be a bunch of people really upset and a bunch of people really happy. Ratings would probably recover a little, but no one would think the solution had been found. That's why John floated over from being a face or heel to a draw for me. He's always going to be someone to consider, but since he's hated by the live crowd, but somewhat followed by a good portion of the audience you can't consider him anything other than a draw. WWE botched the second part of Cena's career whether they care to admit it or not. After Roman botched that promo on Monday I think it assured the fact that either Cena or Lesnar will get the title soon. I honestly think WWE needs to go Cena Lesnar for the belt at WM32. It's safe even though it's been done a few times and you can build on it. The problem will be Cena is not a long term fix and Brock will still be very part time.
3. The Authority
They should be off the list for Sting, but since he was hurt by Seth it's hard to put him on the list. If Sting appeared he would pop a better rating and at this point the Authority have worn out their welcome. HHH and Steph probably don't realize how bad this entire angle has really been. People probably forget as well because they still can cut a good promo, but otherwise they NWO Hollywood bad. They flip heel and face all the time and like a bad slot machine they never pay off. They sucked up a ton of heat off guys through the past 2 plus years and decided the only ones they wanted to throw that off on was Ronda Rousey and the Rock, two extremely part time talents. This angle has done nothing for anyone. Bryan was never accepted by management, and Seth was treated worse than heel Bob Backlund as Champion. That being said because they are mouth piece of the WWE they still move the needle slightly.
Honorable Mention:
Sting as noted. The Rock if he came around more, but that seems unlikely. The Undertaker, but after being made to look that bad against Lesnar who he had already elevated what can he really do at this point?
So there it is. I think it's fairly obviously why WWE has a ratings crisis, and eventually will have an attendance crisis and then eventually a stock crisis. It's rough times. What's so funny to me is how much they are doing to help Roman Reigns, but the guy just can't deliver for them. One thing the WWE has always embraced is a guy that stands up for himself. If Roman had a clue he would do that and demand his push be handled differently. Yet, I think he's just going along for the ride and as he is I feel it makes people like him less. Here's a guy that's truly motivated the wrong way.
I truly believe that Roman has never has to earn it. He trained at the fancy performance center and he's always been paid good money to work for WWE. He's never been a middling low level guy. He's always been a bull. That lack of seasoning, or feeling of earning $20 dollars for working a bingo hall is probably what this guy is missing.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Raw the Morning After 12-1-15
Raw was yet another lack luster effort by WWE last night. They are putting a ton of energy into the Roman Sheamus feud as they should, but they are not finding a creative way to get the feud or the participants anymore over. I really think having that title match last night hurt this feud badly. It just lowers expectations. The League of Nations is probably going to flop, but it's really going to if Sheamus drops the title at TLC.
One good take away was the Charlotte turn. I didn't like the setup, but I loved the match execution of the turn. If I would have told you about it you would say, meh nothing to get excited about, but seeing it happen inspired some emotion, which is why it's so hard to fantasy book.
I still think the turn was poorly timed out. They could have done this after the Paige feud, but WWE is so quick to rush angles it's not a surprise. I think overall this is building towards Charlotte Sasha, which is where the money is.
I had a thought this morning. Daniel Bryan must be done as far as wrestling in WWE is concerned. If he needed clearance and couldn't get it I'm pretty sure he would know by now. By process of elimination I have to assume that he didn't get or can't get cleared. So I guess he's just going to wait out his contract.
I don't believe Bryan is done wrestling, but perhaps he is for WWE. I'm not sure the current term of his contract, but in the right situation Bryan could really help a company like ROH. This is far fetched, but bare with me for a moment.
I don't believe Bryan is done wrestling, but perhaps he is for WWE. I'm not sure the current term of his contract, but in the right situation Bryan could really help a company like ROH. This is far fetched, but bare with me for a moment.
Imagine if DB leaves WWE and goes to ROH. ROH then goes out and gets a TV deal with a legit company like Spike TV. Let's say Samoa Joe bails on WWE and a few TNA guys head over and maybe AJ Styles stays part time with ROH. Then you toss in the wildcard. CM Punk bails on UFC after losing a few matches and debuts in ROH. If ROH could get some investors they could become a successful #2 brand where TNA has failed.
ROH isn't going over the top with their product lately. They aren't overdoing sex or exploiting women, but they are far more rugged then WWE. I think they could become a legit brand if they were to get Bryan and I think a company like Spike would have to seriously consider a good deal if one could be reached. I think ROH needs some outside money to improve their production value though and have the ability to do live TV at least once a month.
At the end of the day I'm convinced that Bryan is probably done wrestling in WWE, but they might work hard to keep him on the sidelines.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Raw 11-30-15
I don't have high expectations for this show going in. WWE should make a push to do some good here because the MNF game is a stinker. I just don't know if they have the firepower to do anything.
The show opens with the New Day out to celebrate Sheamus's big title win. Sheamus comes out in a suit and tie. There is confetti, but far less than at Survivor Series. The WWE isn't concerned about the dead crowd after the Reigns win.
Big E is hilarious doing Sheamus's pose. IF you don't follow Big E on twitter you are missing out. I have no problem admitting that I thought the WWE was right to push Roman instead of Big E, but now I realize I'm wrong. Big E is a far better all around performer.
The segment nose dives fast as Sheamus plays up the cheap heat with the crowd and the New Day leave the ring to allow him to enjoy more confetti and pyro, until he gets Superman punched by Roman out of nowhere. The crowd was mostly dead for this. Roman went to the back with the belt.
When we return from commercial Roman is showing the belt off to Ambrose and the USO's. HHH and Steph make their approach and Roman shuns HHH by giving the belt back to Stephanie. HHH then tells Roman that he will get a shot at the WWE title tonight against Sheamus, but he has only 5:15 seconds to do it.
Well that's a bad move. Why take the anticipation off of the PPV match? It's almost certain Roman will not win, so this is a pure ratings ploy that will only drain the feud further of what little life it has.
Tyler Breeze is out to take on Dolph Ziggler. Breeze does not get his entrance shown on TV. One of the best parts of Tyler is his entrance and they have skipped it twice. Also, why in the world are we having this rematch 8 days removed from Survivor Series. Can't we just move on to a new feud for both guys or at worst have the rematch at the TLC PPV? I feel some even Steven booking about to be served up.
It's worth noting that Dolph got a very weak response from the crowd during his entrance. He gets the win here and we are all left to wonder what's the point of Tyler Breeze. He just traded wins with a guy that's dead as a door nail. I don't blame the NXT guys that want to skip the main roster. I wonder if they would skip Finn's entrance as well?
Rusev is out to do MizTV. He introduces Lana and she explains that she...ah who cares shes back to a heel who is in love with Rusev. Ryback comes out because he is a face and challenges Rusev to a match. Rather than build some anticipation for later in the show we just get the match straight away. This is like a battle between displaced 1980's WWE Superstars.
Rusev gets counted out after Lana takes a bump and Rusev shows concern for her. Why should anyone care about any of this?
HHH meets with Ambrose in the back. He informs Dean that if Roman fails to beat Sheamus tonight that he will also lose his IC title shot against Kevin Owens. He also makes it clear Roman will lose his chance at the title at TLC if he loses....huh??? This is confusing as hell.
The Dudley's are out next and they challenge the Wyatts to a match. They have a bunch of tables they plan to put the Wyatt's through. When the Wyatt's hit the ring the Dudley's announce a surprise third partner...Tommy Dreamer. The crowd pops mildly for this. It's good to see Dreamer who is a legend, but this is a battle between two dead teams. The WWE has always mistreated Tommy, so I hope he's getting paid a lot for this appearance.
The match ends...I don't even know what happened, but Bray gets knocked through a table and the Dudley's and Dreamer run off. I guess this incredibly hot feud will blow off at the PPV.
Alberto Del Rio is out next for a match with Goldust. It's a squash that's way to evenly booked. Alberto takers liberties and Jack Swagger runs out to make the save. Swagger has as new hair style this week and he looks a lot like a blonde haired version of Solomon Crowe...ugh...that didn't end well.
Becky tells Charlotte that the best thing to get her mind off Paige is a match with Charlotte. She says she will go to the Authority and request the match. Charlotte doesn't like the idea, but agrees after Becky says it's fine if Ric Flair escorts Charlotte to ringside. They pinky shake and the segment is over.
There's so much wrong here. Becky comes off like a mid carder by begging for a match. How does two friends fighting get anyone's mind off anything. Why would friends fight if they don't have too? Why is Charlotte asking permission to bring Ric Flair to ringside...he's Ric Flair. As for asking the Authority for permission...they should say no in all cases. They are heels. This is just all kinds of dumb, and it's soft booking that appeals to no one.
The USO's and the Lucha Dragons are out for a #1 contenders match for the tag titles. The New Day are out on commentary. The New Day talk over each other too much and it's really not a good segment. They cause a double DQ and claim post match that neither team will get a shot at TLC. There will be no title match at the PPV in their opinion.
The USO's and Lucha Dragons are back talking to Stephanie are upset about there being no winner in their match. She decides to make a triple threat tag match at the PPV, but the USO's are only in if Roman Reigns win against Sheamus tonight. They are really try to buy sympathy for Roman by throwing his friends into the equation. So dumb.
Up next is Brie Bella versus Sasha Banks. This match is ok. Nothing really great. Sasha gets another win, but Brie is about as dead as they come in this division so it really does little to raise her profile all that much. When will this team stuff end?
Roman tells his friends that he has their backs and not to worry. The match is up next, which clearly means we aren't getting a Roman win tonight since their is an hour left in the show. Sheamus gets on his bike and mostly runs. After four minutes they are both selling like they have been in a 20 minute match.
Roman gets ready to go for the spear, but Rusev stops him and the match ends with a dq. I can only assume this means the other guys get to keep their title shots and so does Roman. So what was the point of any of this? Oh yeah, cheap ratings ploy that diminishes the value of the feud. Barrett and Del Rio also came down to ringside and Sheamus announces that Roman will have to wait until TLC to get another chance at the title.
So isn't Roman really a winner here? He got to inflict some punishment on Sheamus and had a chance at the belt. Why would he be upset about that? This match never felt in doubt and the live crowd never bought into any of it. Reigns lack of popularity doesn't help at all. If WWE was wondering about heat at the PPV they just got their answer...there is none.
Sheamus continued talking on the mic and introduced his new group the League of Nations consisting of Rusev, Sheamus, Del Rio, and King Barrett. Also known as the league of midcarders. The USO's and Ambrose come out to support Reigns, but nothing really happens here.
Paige is out to commentate on the next match between Becky and Charlotte. After a pretty even back and forth match Charlotte feigns an ankle injury. Becky shows concern and Ric Flair jumps up on the apron. Charlotte then pops up and rolls up Becky for the win. Charlotte owns it post match and acts semi heel. So Charlotte is turning heel now as well? Paige, Charlotte, and Sasha are heels?
It's more likely this is a transition for Charlotte to be heel so they can flip Sasha. It's not the worst thing ever. Why did they keep Paige in the picture if they were going to do this though? They should have moved Paige into a feud with Becky. Wait, I'm putting energy into figuring out things logically, sorry.
The announce team let us know that a new Main Event has been added. So, I guess that title match wasn't that big of a deal. The newly formed League of Nations vs. Roman, Dean and the USO's. The match that couldn't wait for next week. I'm so pumped.
We cut to Charlotte and Becky talking in the back. Charlotte is continuing the heel turn saying that it's the big leagues and you have to step up like Paige. She was just showing Becky some tough love and they are still buds. Paige appears and tells Becky that she doesn't think this loss will affect her friendship with Charlotte.
So, not for nothing, but that was a non-title match. Did Charlotte really need to cheat to win? They could have done this; Becky could have given Charlotte a close match, but Paige should have interfered. Then they could have rematched the next week with Becky getting a savvy win. This would cause a mild rift between the two and cast doubt that Charlotte could beat Paige at the PPV. Then you have the match where Charlotte cheats to win a few weeks down the road and start the slow heel turn. Wait that might build anticipation and draw people's attention away from Roman...never mind.
Adam Rose debuted his new segment the Rosebush where he traced over the Rusev, Ziggler, Lana, and Summer Rae love square from a few months back. He poked a lot of fun at everyone, so it wasn't clear if this was a heel or face segment. The downside being it covered a stale angle. I was surprised at some of the non-PG comments and suggestions he made. It was a dumb segment, but compared to everything else on the show I'll give it a few weeks because it's different.
Stardust does another weird segment with Titus. That is all.
The tag match is up next. After everyone is out for the match the New Day's music hits and they announce that they are going to join the League of Nations making this a 7 on 4 handicap match. Reigns gets a hot tag and really is made to look far to strong, but eventually the numbers game catches up to him. In the end Ambrose eats the pin...really Ambrose had to eat that?
Reigns is holding back tears yet again. He runs into the ring to save a beating on Dean, but get's beat up for his troubles and we leave air with the League of Nations hoisting Sheamus on their shoulders.
This is two weeks in a row that the crowd was dead, but what did they really have to root for? The same faces going nowhere trading wins? The WWE is going to ignore the fact that Reigns isn't all that over, so no use bitching about that.
The Charlotte turn was well a nice twist. Hopefully they can take that to the right place. Otherwise no Kevin Owens tonight. That's not always a bad thing, but if they wanted to make something of that of the IC match they needed to start tonight. Maybe they did him a favor. He's from Canada and he might have been tossed into the League of Midcarders doom.
It was shocking how dead the crowd was for the title match, but the WWE has made this whole situation far too obvious. They also overbooked all the stipulations for that match and placed it on the show in a spot where a title change was not likely to occur. This isn't going to build any new fans and this show is a continued step backwards. Just no stories worth caring about. They buried Tyler Breeze a little bit and the Rusev/Lana stuff was just dumb.
The show opens with the New Day out to celebrate Sheamus's big title win. Sheamus comes out in a suit and tie. There is confetti, but far less than at Survivor Series. The WWE isn't concerned about the dead crowd after the Reigns win.
Big E is hilarious doing Sheamus's pose. IF you don't follow Big E on twitter you are missing out. I have no problem admitting that I thought the WWE was right to push Roman instead of Big E, but now I realize I'm wrong. Big E is a far better all around performer.
The segment nose dives fast as Sheamus plays up the cheap heat with the crowd and the New Day leave the ring to allow him to enjoy more confetti and pyro, until he gets Superman punched by Roman out of nowhere. The crowd was mostly dead for this. Roman went to the back with the belt.
When we return from commercial Roman is showing the belt off to Ambrose and the USO's. HHH and Steph make their approach and Roman shuns HHH by giving the belt back to Stephanie. HHH then tells Roman that he will get a shot at the WWE title tonight against Sheamus, but he has only 5:15 seconds to do it.
Well that's a bad move. Why take the anticipation off of the PPV match? It's almost certain Roman will not win, so this is a pure ratings ploy that will only drain the feud further of what little life it has.
Tyler Breeze is out to take on Dolph Ziggler. Breeze does not get his entrance shown on TV. One of the best parts of Tyler is his entrance and they have skipped it twice. Also, why in the world are we having this rematch 8 days removed from Survivor Series. Can't we just move on to a new feud for both guys or at worst have the rematch at the TLC PPV? I feel some even Steven booking about to be served up.
It's worth noting that Dolph got a very weak response from the crowd during his entrance. He gets the win here and we are all left to wonder what's the point of Tyler Breeze. He just traded wins with a guy that's dead as a door nail. I don't blame the NXT guys that want to skip the main roster. I wonder if they would skip Finn's entrance as well?
Rusev is out to do MizTV. He introduces Lana and she explains that she...ah who cares shes back to a heel who is in love with Rusev. Ryback comes out because he is a face and challenges Rusev to a match. Rather than build some anticipation for later in the show we just get the match straight away. This is like a battle between displaced 1980's WWE Superstars.
Rusev gets counted out after Lana takes a bump and Rusev shows concern for her. Why should anyone care about any of this?
HHH meets with Ambrose in the back. He informs Dean that if Roman fails to beat Sheamus tonight that he will also lose his IC title shot against Kevin Owens. He also makes it clear Roman will lose his chance at the title at TLC if he loses....huh??? This is confusing as hell.
The Dudley's are out next and they challenge the Wyatts to a match. They have a bunch of tables they plan to put the Wyatt's through. When the Wyatt's hit the ring the Dudley's announce a surprise third partner...Tommy Dreamer. The crowd pops mildly for this. It's good to see Dreamer who is a legend, but this is a battle between two dead teams. The WWE has always mistreated Tommy, so I hope he's getting paid a lot for this appearance.
The match ends...I don't even know what happened, but Bray gets knocked through a table and the Dudley's and Dreamer run off. I guess this incredibly hot feud will blow off at the PPV.
Alberto Del Rio is out next for a match with Goldust. It's a squash that's way to evenly booked. Alberto takers liberties and Jack Swagger runs out to make the save. Swagger has as new hair style this week and he looks a lot like a blonde haired version of Solomon Crowe...ugh...that didn't end well.
Becky tells Charlotte that the best thing to get her mind off Paige is a match with Charlotte. She says she will go to the Authority and request the match. Charlotte doesn't like the idea, but agrees after Becky says it's fine if Ric Flair escorts Charlotte to ringside. They pinky shake and the segment is over.
There's so much wrong here. Becky comes off like a mid carder by begging for a match. How does two friends fighting get anyone's mind off anything. Why would friends fight if they don't have too? Why is Charlotte asking permission to bring Ric Flair to ringside...he's Ric Flair. As for asking the Authority for permission...they should say no in all cases. They are heels. This is just all kinds of dumb, and it's soft booking that appeals to no one.
The USO's and the Lucha Dragons are out for a #1 contenders match for the tag titles. The New Day are out on commentary. The New Day talk over each other too much and it's really not a good segment. They cause a double DQ and claim post match that neither team will get a shot at TLC. There will be no title match at the PPV in their opinion.
The USO's and Lucha Dragons are back talking to Stephanie are upset about there being no winner in their match. She decides to make a triple threat tag match at the PPV, but the USO's are only in if Roman Reigns win against Sheamus tonight. They are really try to buy sympathy for Roman by throwing his friends into the equation. So dumb.
Up next is Brie Bella versus Sasha Banks. This match is ok. Nothing really great. Sasha gets another win, but Brie is about as dead as they come in this division so it really does little to raise her profile all that much. When will this team stuff end?
Roman tells his friends that he has their backs and not to worry. The match is up next, which clearly means we aren't getting a Roman win tonight since their is an hour left in the show. Sheamus gets on his bike and mostly runs. After four minutes they are both selling like they have been in a 20 minute match.
Roman gets ready to go for the spear, but Rusev stops him and the match ends with a dq. I can only assume this means the other guys get to keep their title shots and so does Roman. So what was the point of any of this? Oh yeah, cheap ratings ploy that diminishes the value of the feud. Barrett and Del Rio also came down to ringside and Sheamus announces that Roman will have to wait until TLC to get another chance at the title.
So isn't Roman really a winner here? He got to inflict some punishment on Sheamus and had a chance at the belt. Why would he be upset about that? This match never felt in doubt and the live crowd never bought into any of it. Reigns lack of popularity doesn't help at all. If WWE was wondering about heat at the PPV they just got their answer...there is none.
Sheamus continued talking on the mic and introduced his new group the League of Nations consisting of Rusev, Sheamus, Del Rio, and King Barrett. Also known as the league of midcarders. The USO's and Ambrose come out to support Reigns, but nothing really happens here.
Paige is out to commentate on the next match between Becky and Charlotte. After a pretty even back and forth match Charlotte feigns an ankle injury. Becky shows concern and Ric Flair jumps up on the apron. Charlotte then pops up and rolls up Becky for the win. Charlotte owns it post match and acts semi heel. So Charlotte is turning heel now as well? Paige, Charlotte, and Sasha are heels?
It's more likely this is a transition for Charlotte to be heel so they can flip Sasha. It's not the worst thing ever. Why did they keep Paige in the picture if they were going to do this though? They should have moved Paige into a feud with Becky. Wait, I'm putting energy into figuring out things logically, sorry.
The announce team let us know that a new Main Event has been added. So, I guess that title match wasn't that big of a deal. The newly formed League of Nations vs. Roman, Dean and the USO's. The match that couldn't wait for next week. I'm so pumped.
We cut to Charlotte and Becky talking in the back. Charlotte is continuing the heel turn saying that it's the big leagues and you have to step up like Paige. She was just showing Becky some tough love and they are still buds. Paige appears and tells Becky that she doesn't think this loss will affect her friendship with Charlotte.
So, not for nothing, but that was a non-title match. Did Charlotte really need to cheat to win? They could have done this; Becky could have given Charlotte a close match, but Paige should have interfered. Then they could have rematched the next week with Becky getting a savvy win. This would cause a mild rift between the two and cast doubt that Charlotte could beat Paige at the PPV. Then you have the match where Charlotte cheats to win a few weeks down the road and start the slow heel turn. Wait that might build anticipation and draw people's attention away from Roman...never mind.
Adam Rose debuted his new segment the Rosebush where he traced over the Rusev, Ziggler, Lana, and Summer Rae love square from a few months back. He poked a lot of fun at everyone, so it wasn't clear if this was a heel or face segment. The downside being it covered a stale angle. I was surprised at some of the non-PG comments and suggestions he made. It was a dumb segment, but compared to everything else on the show I'll give it a few weeks because it's different.
Stardust does another weird segment with Titus. That is all.
The tag match is up next. After everyone is out for the match the New Day's music hits and they announce that they are going to join the League of Nations making this a 7 on 4 handicap match. Reigns gets a hot tag and really is made to look far to strong, but eventually the numbers game catches up to him. In the end Ambrose eats the pin...really Ambrose had to eat that?
Reigns is holding back tears yet again. He runs into the ring to save a beating on Dean, but get's beat up for his troubles and we leave air with the League of Nations hoisting Sheamus on their shoulders.
This is two weeks in a row that the crowd was dead, but what did they really have to root for? The same faces going nowhere trading wins? The WWE is going to ignore the fact that Reigns isn't all that over, so no use bitching about that.
The Charlotte turn was well a nice twist. Hopefully they can take that to the right place. Otherwise no Kevin Owens tonight. That's not always a bad thing, but if they wanted to make something of that of the IC match they needed to start tonight. Maybe they did him a favor. He's from Canada and he might have been tossed into the League of Midcarders doom.
It was shocking how dead the crowd was for the title match, but the WWE has made this whole situation far too obvious. They also overbooked all the stipulations for that match and placed it on the show in a spot where a title change was not likely to occur. This isn't going to build any new fans and this show is a continued step backwards. Just no stories worth caring about. They buried Tyler Breeze a little bit and the Rusev/Lana stuff was just dumb.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
What If WWE Booked Bray Wyatt Correctly?
Bray Wyatt is the key to the WWE avoiding booking issues and putting out a better product over the past few years. I figured it out the other day. If the WWE would have just kept him on a collision course with the Undertaker for WM30, a whole lot of things would have went a lot better and made more sense and drew more money. Here's how it goes.
So Wyatt debuts and beats Kane, which has everyone believing his long term target is the Undertaker. The WWE only has Wyatt wrestle on PPV's and he wins match after and keeps cutting rocking chair promos in the ring making suggesting about the Undertaker, but never saying his name.
Wyatt is entered in the 2014 Royal Rumble and about half way through the match his number comes up. He clears the ring with the help of Harper and Rowan. He takes the mic and announces he's not after the WWE Title for now, but something bigger and more important instead. He then leaves the ring and eliminates himself, but at the same time making a statement.
The next night on Raw he finally directly calls out the Undertaker. Since he has teased it so long the crowd eats it up. The Taker doesn't respond, but hints are dropped over the next few weeks that he will respond at the Elimination Chamber PPV. At some point during that PPV the place goes dark and the Druids come out for a massive entrance, but instead of the Undertaker Wyatt comes out and in a very strong show of dominance proclaims the Undertaker is afraid of him and has let down all the sheep that make up the WWE Universe.
The next night on Raw the Taker comes back. The match is made. The most important thing here is the WWE puts over the idea that Bray will be getting this win and becoming the new face of fear by ending the Streak. They even suggest that his could possibly be it for the Taker. The WWE could leak this out through the dirt sheets and wrestling news sites. It would create a more viable perception that Bray's going to win. The two have an epic match at WM30, but the Undertaker narrowly wins.
Following that match Bray goes away from TV for a few months so he can re-emerge as dangerous as ever. When you have been built up so well and have such a great gimmick a loss to the Undertaker at Wrestlemania will not hurt you that much. If anything fans will fear you more for taking him to the limit.
Lesnar and Cena would not have opponents in this scenario for WM30, so they are pitted against each other with Lesnar seeking retribution for his 2013 Extreme Rules loss.
Lesnar beats Cena badly similar to the way that he did in reality at Summerslam 2014. Lesnar is then positioned to take on Bryan at Summerslam. As we all know Bryan gets hurt, but you don't know that just like they didn't at the time. So Cena gets subbed in and the spin here is Cena won't lose to Lesnar twice and the WWE won't put the title on Lesnar because he's part time. You leak that to every dirt sheet and wrestling site you can so the perception is that Cena's going to win.
During that match Cena looks like he's going to overcome Lesnar who destroyed him at WM30, but out from the back pops HHH. He costs Cena the match putting the belt on Lesnar. Now we have a better setup for the Survivor Series match. Cena has a more legit reason to want the Authority gone. Lesnar does not defend his title at Night of Champions. He instead takes on a different pushed baby face at Survivor Series. He wins of course and that keeps the WWE from falling so flat at the end of 2014. That Survivor Series PPV is made better with Brock on it and there is not a huge gap between is matches like there was in reality. NOC is a terrible PPV anyway.
Lesnar then goes on to defend the title against Cena and Rollins at the Rumble, but retains the strap and we get the same match they really had. The Rumble takes place. The WWE is reluctant to put over Bryan do to injury concerns, and Roman is not ready. So entrant #30 is the Undertaker. He enters and cleans house winning the Rumble and challenging Lesnar at WM31. The wrestling world goes bat shit crazy.
The WWE takes advantage of the hype created by their UFC shouting match and plays up the idea that the Undertaker and Brock is a dream match of sorts. The world has to try to determine if the Streak will end, which seems way more plausible since the Taker is near the end and the title is on the line, but at the same time this is the Streak. How could it end here?
Part of the problem with the actual WM30 match between the Undertaker and Lesnar was the match seemed to be business as usual. The Taker was going to win and the Streak would go on. Having people really questioning the outcome would add so much more to the match.
So in my dream world Lesnar does win ending the Streak and retaining the title. The Taker retires the following year at WM32 after taking on Sting in a dream match that's well received. Also Sting doesn't lose to HHH and wins a few match along the way bolster some of the B PPVs that don't have Lesnar. Imagine if Sting had beaten HHH and the fans clamored for him. A few matches here an there would probably make some PPV's more excited, but HHH didn't see it that way apparently.
In this world the WWE gets more value out of the streak. Bray Wyatt gets way more protection and re-emerges in 2014 as a stronger heel. Cena stays as strong as he was after all this happened to him. HHH and Cena have way more of a legit beef. Lesnar comes out of WM31 as an absolute monster with the title. He defends it against Dean Ambrose at MITB in June and then Roman Reigns at Summerslam.
Maybe he loses it to Reigns there because in this world the 2015 Rumble debacle hasn't happened and the WWE is free to push and build Roman for another 7 months. He gains popularity with the fans by dismantling the Authority a piece at time. Dean Ambrose can win the MITB briefcase off Seth at WM31 and use it to get his match at MITB 2015, just cashing in under the wire.
Maybe he loses it to Reigns there because in this world the 2015 Rumble debacle hasn't happened and the WWE is free to push and build Roman for another 7 months. He gains popularity with the fans by dismantling the Authority a piece at time. Dean Ambrose can win the MITB briefcase off Seth at WM31 and use it to get his match at MITB 2015, just cashing in under the wire.
So all this was possible if the WWE would have just stayed the course and went with Bray Wyatt versus the Undertaker at WM30. Hey next time maybe I'll mix in some CM Punk doesn't leave in January 2014 stuff. That will really mess with your head.
Monday, March 9, 2015
Dissecting The Brock Lesnar Situation
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar was scheduled to appear on Raw the night after WWE Fastlane. He did not appear after having a reported disagreement with WWE CEO Vince McMahon. Rumors circulated that Lesnar was upset about a failed drug test by WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. Reigns is scheduled to face Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 the companies signature event for the title on March 29th in Santa Clara California. That rumor was quickly squashed and WWE actually acknowledged the rumor by commenting that it was completely false. It is believed that the disagreement was over a new contract for Lesnar.
It seems unlikely that this disagreement is over the money involved with that contract. If Lesnar had a number and Vince and him could not agree on that number then they would simply finish up their business and move on. Lesnar has been open to returning to UFC where he would likely get a big contract to return. Of course he would be at greater physical risk, but he would likely receive more than the WWE could offer him. For Lesnar to grand stand over a number seems silly. It has to be related to something from a creative direction.
While the Reigns drug theory seems pretty off the wall this issue very well could be related to their match. It had been reported prior to that Raw that Brock and WWE had reached terms on a new one year deal, so that would assume the money was agreed upon. Often the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is very likely that Brock went to Raw to sign the deal and asked Vince what his plans were for WM31.
Vince probably explained, and this should be no surprise based on the extreme push they are giving him, that Reigns would be winning the belt from Brock. It would make perfect sense for Lesnar to have an issue with that. Lesnar could probably see for himself that Reigns has not gone over with the crowd at all. Why would Lesnar the guy who stopped the streak and whipped the floor with John Cena drop his title to a virtual newbie with very few big time singles wins? Also, he has Heyman in his corner who completely understands the business and could have been, and should have been, in Brock's ear about the reception Reigns has been getting.
Brock might have refused to do the job feeling it was not best for business or him personally. A loss to Reigns would diminish Brock as a draw greatly. That would hurt his ability to create revenue for himself and make himself less valuable for WWE going forward. Something the WWE may not mind, as it probably better to invest in talent they have 100% control over.
With that being said it also could have simply been the fact that Lesnar thought he would remain champion if he was signing that deal and didn't plan or figure on losing to anyone until Dallas next year. Lesnar might have felt that he was going to remain Champion until his run was completely over. It may have nothing to do with Reigns at all.
It's easy to see WWE's side of the story with not keeping Lesnar as Champion. If he has the same deal he did before then he would probably only wrestle 2 more times this year past WM31. That means WWE would have to fill a gap from WM31 to Summerslam without a title match on any PPV event. This theory failed badly in the fall for them this past year and caused a lot of fan angst. If they had a match in the summer and then at Summerslam they run the risk of not having Brock back in the ring until 2016.
It's possible for them to have Lesnar participate in one other summer PPV and then drop the title at Summerslam, but that probably isn't something Brock wants to do. He would probably want to carry the title into Dallas and headline WM32. Being in Dallas that event has the ability to be one of the best WM's of all time.
It should be noted that Lesnar has not shown a history of not doing what's asked of him, but this is in relation to whether he stays, so he could be refusing to do the job because it would make staying not worthwhile to him. Vince could have felt Brock was wrong and that he would still be a huge draw no matter what happened at WM31. Many would probably disagree with Vince there. Reigns is likely to suck the heat off of anyone he beats. Many have commented that Daniel Bryan has lost some of his popularity since his short feud with Reigns over the #1 contender spot.
While fans may never know the truth they are being denied to this point a proper build for the top match on the card at WM31. WWE will have to do something in the next three weeks to address this. You still have to wonder with Reigns not receiving a strong positive crowd reaction if the WM31 main event might be the biggest bomb in the companies history.
The next few weeks, even going past Summerslam promise to be some of the the most interesting both in front and behind the camera for WWE. Stay tuned!
It seems unlikely that this disagreement is over the money involved with that contract. If Lesnar had a number and Vince and him could not agree on that number then they would simply finish up their business and move on. Lesnar has been open to returning to UFC where he would likely get a big contract to return. Of course he would be at greater physical risk, but he would likely receive more than the WWE could offer him. For Lesnar to grand stand over a number seems silly. It has to be related to something from a creative direction.
While the Reigns drug theory seems pretty off the wall this issue very well could be related to their match. It had been reported prior to that Raw that Brock and WWE had reached terms on a new one year deal, so that would assume the money was agreed upon. Often the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is very likely that Brock went to Raw to sign the deal and asked Vince what his plans were for WM31.
Vince probably explained, and this should be no surprise based on the extreme push they are giving him, that Reigns would be winning the belt from Brock. It would make perfect sense for Lesnar to have an issue with that. Lesnar could probably see for himself that Reigns has not gone over with the crowd at all. Why would Lesnar the guy who stopped the streak and whipped the floor with John Cena drop his title to a virtual newbie with very few big time singles wins? Also, he has Heyman in his corner who completely understands the business and could have been, and should have been, in Brock's ear about the reception Reigns has been getting.
Brock might have refused to do the job feeling it was not best for business or him personally. A loss to Reigns would diminish Brock as a draw greatly. That would hurt his ability to create revenue for himself and make himself less valuable for WWE going forward. Something the WWE may not mind, as it probably better to invest in talent they have 100% control over.
With that being said it also could have simply been the fact that Lesnar thought he would remain champion if he was signing that deal and didn't plan or figure on losing to anyone until Dallas next year. Lesnar might have felt that he was going to remain Champion until his run was completely over. It may have nothing to do with Reigns at all.
It's easy to see WWE's side of the story with not keeping Lesnar as Champion. If he has the same deal he did before then he would probably only wrestle 2 more times this year past WM31. That means WWE would have to fill a gap from WM31 to Summerslam without a title match on any PPV event. This theory failed badly in the fall for them this past year and caused a lot of fan angst. If they had a match in the summer and then at Summerslam they run the risk of not having Brock back in the ring until 2016.
It's possible for them to have Lesnar participate in one other summer PPV and then drop the title at Summerslam, but that probably isn't something Brock wants to do. He would probably want to carry the title into Dallas and headline WM32. Being in Dallas that event has the ability to be one of the best WM's of all time.
It should be noted that Lesnar has not shown a history of not doing what's asked of him, but this is in relation to whether he stays, so he could be refusing to do the job because it would make staying not worthwhile to him. Vince could have felt Brock was wrong and that he would still be a huge draw no matter what happened at WM31. Many would probably disagree with Vince there. Reigns is likely to suck the heat off of anyone he beats. Many have commented that Daniel Bryan has lost some of his popularity since his short feud with Reigns over the #1 contender spot.
While fans may never know the truth they are being denied to this point a proper build for the top match on the card at WM31. WWE will have to do something in the next three weeks to address this. You still have to wonder with Reigns not receiving a strong positive crowd reaction if the WM31 main event might be the biggest bomb in the companies history.
The next few weeks, even going past Summerslam promise to be some of the the most interesting both in front and behind the camera for WWE. Stay tuned!
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Wednesday Night's Deliver Again
Lucha Underground shows it's maturity in some ways while NXT continues to put out great wrestling. Both shows had some high points while there were some things that were not all that well done. In the end Wednesday's continue to rule wrestling by a wide margin.
LU gave us the Texano Patron match a few weeks sooner than I thought they would. Dario tried to ask Alberto for time to promote the match. I gotta be honest here. I agree with Dario. They shouldn't just put that match out their unannounced. Still it served a purpose. The value of it tells viewers that every show is must see. They aren't hurt by that because they don't build to PPV's at this time.
The match was good, but the screwy finish where Alberto took a DQ was a bit mindless. The announce team acted like he had somehow triumphed, but he actually lost. Clearly they want that story to play out in AAA, and they didn't even mention if the title was on the line. I guess that's fine, but why have that match here unless you are trying to draw some AAA fans to this show as well. So maybe I'm answering my own question.
Alberto teased that he wants the next shot at the title after Cage. They didn't promote it for next week, but I'm assuming we could see that Cage/Puma match this coming week. I would say they should at least put that out there a week ahead of time, but it wouldn't surprise me to see it next week. Cage Puma is an absolute treat of a match. They have to go for a pinfall finish in the next match. I'm not sure what Konan's plan is, but they hype video they ran makes me think he has something up his sleeve.
Cueno and Mundo will do battle in the cage next week. This will be the first cage match on LU and I'm interested to see how they utilize it. This should be an excellent match and that has me sold on next week alone.
Mil and Fenix had a great match. Really good action in that match with the exception of the odd finish, but Fenix came out looking really good despite losing. Anyone that gets Catrina in the end is doing pretty well for themselves.
Dario was awesome in all of his segments. A lot of his decisions are not about only supporting bad guys, but also running a good wrestling company. I'm all for LU being a brand people are proud to follow like WWE in the late 90's and ECW. Dario can't just be all heel trying to hurt the faces. He needs to be impartial in a lot of ways. He's my favorite part of the show and considering how great the matches are that's saying something.
Last note on this. The Sexy Star Big Ryck match wasn't bad at all. Big Ryck could have punished her, but that would make little sense since he is a face at this time. They also didn't take the time to make him look bad. He did the logical thing and held her down for the pinfall. WWE needs to embrace logic.
On NXT Kevin Owens continues to prove he knows how to be a heel. When I watch the show I'm always rooting for something bad to happen to him or for things to wrong, but when I'm away from the show I think Kevin Owens is such a badass. Kevin Owens is drawing money. He's making you want to watch him for the reason of seeing him get his and he's being entertaining and not annoying.
This is different from the Authority in WWE who at this point are just annoying. Sure Steph and HHH can get heat, but most of their behavior is just annoying, which is a turn off for the most part.
Owen was all over Alex Riley again, which caused Riley to quit his announcing job, but I liked how Regal didn't just let him have a match. They will build to Owens/Riley. This will be a good comeback feud for Riley and another good feud for Owens.
The Zayn thing was a let down. It's almost like a repeat of what happened to him after the last Takeover where he was recovering and did an online video. I think it's ok for now and it helps build that Owen Balor situation, but I would have gone a different route. I would have brought him back next week and had him attack Owens. Then I would have said he can't wrestle until he's medically cleared.
I know this probably also related to their tapings schedule and that might be why he did that to appease his fans, but make up for being away for these last few tapings.
I'm a bit confused about the Balor/Owens match on the 25th. Is that going to be a live event? Is that a takeover special? Is that a longer than usual show? Is that already a taped match? That seemed like a non-committal promo and there was zero info online about that today. I have a feeling it's a taped match and it's probably because Balor is going to the main roster the night after WM31.
I previously commented that I think WWE should Nakamura the IC title with Daniel Bryan. For those of you who don't know Nakamuraing is when you take a lesser belt and put it on an absolute superstar. Then you pair that superstar in feuds against great workers thereby lifting the belt to a new status level. WWE needs to treat the IC title like it was as valuable as the World title they just retired (the big gold belt). In doing so they can elevate a second tier mid card that appeals to the smart fans.
Balor would be perfect in that role. He could engage Bryan in a nice feud. For all the baby face appeal they have had on Balor in NXT, don't be surprised if he goes heel. I think he is naturally more suited to be in that role. Whatever they do they just need to keep him away from that poison know as Roman Reigns.
Another side note. I caught an excerpt from what I believe was the second CM Punk Colt Cabana podcast. In the excerpt on youtube Punk talks about how WWE brass wanted him to make Roman look good in a match. It's funny how even that far back they were so protective of Roman. Imagine if they protected Balor in the same way? He would become ten times the start that Roman could ever be. We will see.
I liked the Women's match. Flair and Banks have gotten to know each other so well in the ring that they just click. They have put a ton into that match and it just keeps getting better. Again I know Flair is moving up, and I expect Banks to hold the belt through the summer before dropping it to Bayley. Then I expect her to move up as well. That feud has a lot of life left in it. That match will be even better in a year on the main roster.
I was disappointed by Solomon Crowe. He's got a unique look and I'm sure he can work, but his match was not all that good. They had him work from underneath too much in this spot. I think they would have done better to get him a jobber so he could get all his stuff in and look strong. He seemed to be chasing the match. His finish doesn't impress me all that much and has to be setup, so I think that he might want to go a different direction. That splash from the second rope is unique, but it seems like the Lion Salt, which almost never got a pinfall.
This is going to sound nuts, but I love Dempsey's music and I think that he could pass for Kevin Smith if he wanted too. The thing about Bull is that he will probably never be a top top guy, but he can work and has a unique look. I would love for WWE to bring him up and use him as a tag partner with Big Show. They have hat similar make up. He's almost like a little show. I would have it be a half serious half comedy team. Big Show knows how to be funny. I just think if you keep him funny as a heel you might actually get something out of him and Bull would do well as his protege.
People often try to make too much of everyone. Sometimes you just have to see that some guys are made for certain slots and in those slots they can make the product better. WWE doesn't seem to understand that. They tend to think any guy who can't get way over is a failure and chase them away after a couple of years.
That's all for now.
LU gave us the Texano Patron match a few weeks sooner than I thought they would. Dario tried to ask Alberto for time to promote the match. I gotta be honest here. I agree with Dario. They shouldn't just put that match out their unannounced. Still it served a purpose. The value of it tells viewers that every show is must see. They aren't hurt by that because they don't build to PPV's at this time.
The match was good, but the screwy finish where Alberto took a DQ was a bit mindless. The announce team acted like he had somehow triumphed, but he actually lost. Clearly they want that story to play out in AAA, and they didn't even mention if the title was on the line. I guess that's fine, but why have that match here unless you are trying to draw some AAA fans to this show as well. So maybe I'm answering my own question.
Alberto teased that he wants the next shot at the title after Cage. They didn't promote it for next week, but I'm assuming we could see that Cage/Puma match this coming week. I would say they should at least put that out there a week ahead of time, but it wouldn't surprise me to see it next week. Cage Puma is an absolute treat of a match. They have to go for a pinfall finish in the next match. I'm not sure what Konan's plan is, but they hype video they ran makes me think he has something up his sleeve.
Cueno and Mundo will do battle in the cage next week. This will be the first cage match on LU and I'm interested to see how they utilize it. This should be an excellent match and that has me sold on next week alone.
Mil and Fenix had a great match. Really good action in that match with the exception of the odd finish, but Fenix came out looking really good despite losing. Anyone that gets Catrina in the end is doing pretty well for themselves.
Dario was awesome in all of his segments. A lot of his decisions are not about only supporting bad guys, but also running a good wrestling company. I'm all for LU being a brand people are proud to follow like WWE in the late 90's and ECW. Dario can't just be all heel trying to hurt the faces. He needs to be impartial in a lot of ways. He's my favorite part of the show and considering how great the matches are that's saying something.
Last note on this. The Sexy Star Big Ryck match wasn't bad at all. Big Ryck could have punished her, but that would make little sense since he is a face at this time. They also didn't take the time to make him look bad. He did the logical thing and held her down for the pinfall. WWE needs to embrace logic.
On NXT Kevin Owens continues to prove he knows how to be a heel. When I watch the show I'm always rooting for something bad to happen to him or for things to wrong, but when I'm away from the show I think Kevin Owens is such a badass. Kevin Owens is drawing money. He's making you want to watch him for the reason of seeing him get his and he's being entertaining and not annoying.
This is different from the Authority in WWE who at this point are just annoying. Sure Steph and HHH can get heat, but most of their behavior is just annoying, which is a turn off for the most part.
Owen was all over Alex Riley again, which caused Riley to quit his announcing job, but I liked how Regal didn't just let him have a match. They will build to Owens/Riley. This will be a good comeback feud for Riley and another good feud for Owens.
The Zayn thing was a let down. It's almost like a repeat of what happened to him after the last Takeover where he was recovering and did an online video. I think it's ok for now and it helps build that Owen Balor situation, but I would have gone a different route. I would have brought him back next week and had him attack Owens. Then I would have said he can't wrestle until he's medically cleared.
I know this probably also related to their tapings schedule and that might be why he did that to appease his fans, but make up for being away for these last few tapings.
I'm a bit confused about the Balor/Owens match on the 25th. Is that going to be a live event? Is that a takeover special? Is that a longer than usual show? Is that already a taped match? That seemed like a non-committal promo and there was zero info online about that today. I have a feeling it's a taped match and it's probably because Balor is going to the main roster the night after WM31.
I previously commented that I think WWE should Nakamura the IC title with Daniel Bryan. For those of you who don't know Nakamuraing is when you take a lesser belt and put it on an absolute superstar. Then you pair that superstar in feuds against great workers thereby lifting the belt to a new status level. WWE needs to treat the IC title like it was as valuable as the World title they just retired (the big gold belt). In doing so they can elevate a second tier mid card that appeals to the smart fans.
Balor would be perfect in that role. He could engage Bryan in a nice feud. For all the baby face appeal they have had on Balor in NXT, don't be surprised if he goes heel. I think he is naturally more suited to be in that role. Whatever they do they just need to keep him away from that poison know as Roman Reigns.
Another side note. I caught an excerpt from what I believe was the second CM Punk Colt Cabana podcast. In the excerpt on youtube Punk talks about how WWE brass wanted him to make Roman look good in a match. It's funny how even that far back they were so protective of Roman. Imagine if they protected Balor in the same way? He would become ten times the start that Roman could ever be. We will see.
I liked the Women's match. Flair and Banks have gotten to know each other so well in the ring that they just click. They have put a ton into that match and it just keeps getting better. Again I know Flair is moving up, and I expect Banks to hold the belt through the summer before dropping it to Bayley. Then I expect her to move up as well. That feud has a lot of life left in it. That match will be even better in a year on the main roster.
I was disappointed by Solomon Crowe. He's got a unique look and I'm sure he can work, but his match was not all that good. They had him work from underneath too much in this spot. I think they would have done better to get him a jobber so he could get all his stuff in and look strong. He seemed to be chasing the match. His finish doesn't impress me all that much and has to be setup, so I think that he might want to go a different direction. That splash from the second rope is unique, but it seems like the Lion Salt, which almost never got a pinfall.
This is going to sound nuts, but I love Dempsey's music and I think that he could pass for Kevin Smith if he wanted too. The thing about Bull is that he will probably never be a top top guy, but he can work and has a unique look. I would love for WWE to bring him up and use him as a tag partner with Big Show. They have hat similar make up. He's almost like a little show. I would have it be a half serious half comedy team. Big Show knows how to be funny. I just think if you keep him funny as a heel you might actually get something out of him and Bull would do well as his protege.
People often try to make too much of everyone. Sometimes you just have to see that some guys are made for certain slots and in those slots they can make the product better. WWE doesn't seem to understand that. They tend to think any guy who can't get way over is a failure and chase them away after a couple of years.
That's all for now.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
WWE Talk
WWE Raw last night was not that bad because it was entertaining, but not in the way WWE wants to be entertaining. WWE if dealing with so many issue both in front and behind the scenes it's intersting to see how they are struggling to deal with them all. In most cases they are falling short.
I think a lot of the problem is they are misusing the slow burn. HHH talked about the slow burn working, but often WWE has gone over the top with it. We are three weeks away from WM31. The Undertaker should have been back in February. He doesn't have to be on the show every week, but we needed that moment to happen already.
Sting should have said something by now. The Cena Rusev match should be booked. Orton probably should have turned on Rollins. The IC match should be finalized already. The next three weeks should just be hyping all these matches. Instead WWE is still trying to put them together. I'm a huge fan of the slow burn for the big pay off, but this is ridiculous.
I'm perhaps must frustrated by the Sting/HHH match. Some have said they have enjoyed HHH's promo's and Sting's silence has been good. I'm on the other side. Sting not talking back in November and January was ok, but at Fast Lane he should have broken his silence already. This is beyond ridiculous. The way HHH is portraying the angle is beyond dumb, which is why I'm not a huge fan of his promos. He's painting Sting as a guy who is fighting for WCW and that probably isn't the case, but HHH and the announce team are trying to drive that point home.
His actions have indicated that he's really there to put the Authority out of business. Sting needs to do the very simple promo I have laid out to get the heat really going for this match.
"HHH I'm not here about WCW. I gave my heart and soul for that company, but I'm well over that ending and I have moved on. You weren't the reason that WCW went out of business. I think it has to do more with what WCW didn't do more so than what you, HHH, did. Also, if we are claiming credit I think the Rock, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin might have an opinion on that. But again I'm here not to defend the honor of WCW, but to stop you from wrecking the WWE. I've been watching these past few years and I've seen how you have been the constant in the WWE. How so many times you have held up and coming talents down. Last year you and your wife spent every Monday Night trying to stop the crowd from supporting Daniel Bryan. Then you threatened to fire people who stood up to you. Hard working guys like Dolph Ziggler who you stepped over and suppressed. So HHH I'm here not to defend WCW, but instead to save the WWE from you! Because getting rid of you has no become best for business."
Can you imagine how hot that would be? That plays right into the smart fan belief that HHH is always putting himself over, which makes it hot. After that promo you set a stipulation that the Authority be removed from power if Sting should win and Sting will leave the WWE forever if he loses. That would up the stakes.
The Roman Reigns project continues. I'm going on record. Reigns will never get over like other top guys. A lot of pundits are afraid to say that, but I'm not. He's just not the guy everyone thinks he is. The move set will improve, but the complete lack of natural charisma won't. I see in him a guy that has no sense of what is going on around him. He's basically trying to, as he said, get rich! That's fine and all, but have some back bone and push back at these writers.
Anyone with half a brain would have shot down that finish last night. All it did was bring both Rollins and Reigns down. Reigns gets the cheap win. That's fine. Set up a steel cage rematch for next week where that kind of interference can't happen. Having Roman destroy everyone makes you question why he would have ever lost in the first place, but ruins any heat that Rollins got from the win. So why give him the win? Instead just give Reigns the win and be done with it. Doing it this way hurt Reigns or did nothing for him and didn't help Rollins, who needs help, at all.
The best part about the Jon Stewart segment was how he rehashed how Rollins won the case. Kane tossed Ambrose and Rollins got the win. This was a rare moment when the WWE tried to recall history back further than the last months PPV. This is what gives your characters some depth. This is what drives feuds, but WWE likes to pretend that anything that happened a few months ago didn't happen. They do this because of all the losses they drop on guys. They want you to forget those loses so you stay engaged in a character they might be pushing. It's hard to get behind a guy that loses all the time.
WWE has suddenly become all about forcing us to think a certain way so that they can fit it in their plans. When I saw that WWE had produced a WM31 action figure set with Lesnar and Reigns I realized how many eggs they had put in one basket. Those were clearly ordered well before Fast Lane. This was their plan from the summer and that's ok, but when they saw the writing on the wall they should have changed course. So we only use history in WWE when it suits us, but boy does it help when you use it correctly. Kudos to Jon Steward for doing a good face segment on Raw, which is a rare site. He's lucky Steph didn't come down to run him down and suck the life out of the building.
Speaking of WWE trying to control everything, I want to make it perfectly clear that the reason the crowd seemed dead at Fast Lane, but was lively to those in attendance, was because they purposely controlled the crowd noise. They had the building mic'd in a way that allowed them to keep the boo'ing under control. That's why everything seemed so dead. In the final match between Bryan and Reigns you could not hear the YES chant very loudly during Bryan's intro. Yet, during the match it was very loud. You could also hearing the booing for Reigns, that you did not hear post match until they turned the mics up for the Bryan speech to him.
That was yet another slimy move to protect Reigns. Last night Reigns got dead reactions or booing. It's amazing that WWE thinks this is all going to change in the next three weeks. With Lensar certainly all, but gone it's almost for sure that Reigns is going over...like a lead balloon. To those holding out hope for a cash in, how could that seem believable the way Rollins has been treated the past few weeks and how that match was booked to make him look so bad last night. It won't work.
Speaking of Lesnar I think you can all, but set his ship to sea. I don't think Vince can give Brock what he wants. I think there is more to the story as well. It seems odd that he would just leave Raw like that and they probably leaked it's about the contract to quell rumors. I don't think it's the drug story BS with Reigns, but probably more something along the lines of him not wanting to lose to Reigns. The truth in these situations is always somewhere closer to the middle.
I don't think people realize that Heyman will probably be gone if Lesnar is and that would be horrible, but at this point I think Heyman can write his own ticket. He could probably go to the highest bidder, but considering he's got a successful promotional business I think he will probably not run a company. Imagine if Heyman took over TNA right now or got behind Bullet Club in NJPW? Yet, it would still be sad to see him leave WWE.
I felt like that Heyman promo was a good bye promo last night. He was edgier than he usually is and I'm not 100% sure that's not why they were cutting his mic. He protected Brock and put the match over big time. I just don't think even Heyman can save the Reigns end of this deal. It's actually hurting Reigns when he brings up Austin. Fans are not all smart, but not even the casual fan respects Reigns enough to think he's greater than Steve Austin. Especially when you consider how brief his run as a singles has been.
The WWE has a strange feel to it since the Royal Rumble. It feels like the fans have their eyes open to what WWE is all about these days and they don't like it. WM31 might be more interesting for how the crowd reacts then the actual results themselves. That in itself is worth noting.
WM31 will be highly rated because it's Mania. But just like this Raw I think many will tune in for the reaction as much as the show itself.
I think a lot of the problem is they are misusing the slow burn. HHH talked about the slow burn working, but often WWE has gone over the top with it. We are three weeks away from WM31. The Undertaker should have been back in February. He doesn't have to be on the show every week, but we needed that moment to happen already.
Sting should have said something by now. The Cena Rusev match should be booked. Orton probably should have turned on Rollins. The IC match should be finalized already. The next three weeks should just be hyping all these matches. Instead WWE is still trying to put them together. I'm a huge fan of the slow burn for the big pay off, but this is ridiculous.
I'm perhaps must frustrated by the Sting/HHH match. Some have said they have enjoyed HHH's promo's and Sting's silence has been good. I'm on the other side. Sting not talking back in November and January was ok, but at Fast Lane he should have broken his silence already. This is beyond ridiculous. The way HHH is portraying the angle is beyond dumb, which is why I'm not a huge fan of his promos. He's painting Sting as a guy who is fighting for WCW and that probably isn't the case, but HHH and the announce team are trying to drive that point home.
His actions have indicated that he's really there to put the Authority out of business. Sting needs to do the very simple promo I have laid out to get the heat really going for this match.
"HHH I'm not here about WCW. I gave my heart and soul for that company, but I'm well over that ending and I have moved on. You weren't the reason that WCW went out of business. I think it has to do more with what WCW didn't do more so than what you, HHH, did. Also, if we are claiming credit I think the Rock, Mick Foley, and Stone Cold Steve Austin might have an opinion on that. But again I'm here not to defend the honor of WCW, but to stop you from wrecking the WWE. I've been watching these past few years and I've seen how you have been the constant in the WWE. How so many times you have held up and coming talents down. Last year you and your wife spent every Monday Night trying to stop the crowd from supporting Daniel Bryan. Then you threatened to fire people who stood up to you. Hard working guys like Dolph Ziggler who you stepped over and suppressed. So HHH I'm here not to defend WCW, but instead to save the WWE from you! Because getting rid of you has no become best for business."
Can you imagine how hot that would be? That plays right into the smart fan belief that HHH is always putting himself over, which makes it hot. After that promo you set a stipulation that the Authority be removed from power if Sting should win and Sting will leave the WWE forever if he loses. That would up the stakes.
The Roman Reigns project continues. I'm going on record. Reigns will never get over like other top guys. A lot of pundits are afraid to say that, but I'm not. He's just not the guy everyone thinks he is. The move set will improve, but the complete lack of natural charisma won't. I see in him a guy that has no sense of what is going on around him. He's basically trying to, as he said, get rich! That's fine and all, but have some back bone and push back at these writers.
Anyone with half a brain would have shot down that finish last night. All it did was bring both Rollins and Reigns down. Reigns gets the cheap win. That's fine. Set up a steel cage rematch for next week where that kind of interference can't happen. Having Roman destroy everyone makes you question why he would have ever lost in the first place, but ruins any heat that Rollins got from the win. So why give him the win? Instead just give Reigns the win and be done with it. Doing it this way hurt Reigns or did nothing for him and didn't help Rollins, who needs help, at all.
The best part about the Jon Stewart segment was how he rehashed how Rollins won the case. Kane tossed Ambrose and Rollins got the win. This was a rare moment when the WWE tried to recall history back further than the last months PPV. This is what gives your characters some depth. This is what drives feuds, but WWE likes to pretend that anything that happened a few months ago didn't happen. They do this because of all the losses they drop on guys. They want you to forget those loses so you stay engaged in a character they might be pushing. It's hard to get behind a guy that loses all the time.
WWE has suddenly become all about forcing us to think a certain way so that they can fit it in their plans. When I saw that WWE had produced a WM31 action figure set with Lesnar and Reigns I realized how many eggs they had put in one basket. Those were clearly ordered well before Fast Lane. This was their plan from the summer and that's ok, but when they saw the writing on the wall they should have changed course. So we only use history in WWE when it suits us, but boy does it help when you use it correctly. Kudos to Jon Steward for doing a good face segment on Raw, which is a rare site. He's lucky Steph didn't come down to run him down and suck the life out of the building.
Speaking of WWE trying to control everything, I want to make it perfectly clear that the reason the crowd seemed dead at Fast Lane, but was lively to those in attendance, was because they purposely controlled the crowd noise. They had the building mic'd in a way that allowed them to keep the boo'ing under control. That's why everything seemed so dead. In the final match between Bryan and Reigns you could not hear the YES chant very loudly during Bryan's intro. Yet, during the match it was very loud. You could also hearing the booing for Reigns, that you did not hear post match until they turned the mics up for the Bryan speech to him.
That was yet another slimy move to protect Reigns. Last night Reigns got dead reactions or booing. It's amazing that WWE thinks this is all going to change in the next three weeks. With Lensar certainly all, but gone it's almost for sure that Reigns is going over...like a lead balloon. To those holding out hope for a cash in, how could that seem believable the way Rollins has been treated the past few weeks and how that match was booked to make him look so bad last night. It won't work.
Speaking of Lesnar I think you can all, but set his ship to sea. I don't think Vince can give Brock what he wants. I think there is more to the story as well. It seems odd that he would just leave Raw like that and they probably leaked it's about the contract to quell rumors. I don't think it's the drug story BS with Reigns, but probably more something along the lines of him not wanting to lose to Reigns. The truth in these situations is always somewhere closer to the middle.
I don't think people realize that Heyman will probably be gone if Lesnar is and that would be horrible, but at this point I think Heyman can write his own ticket. He could probably go to the highest bidder, but considering he's got a successful promotional business I think he will probably not run a company. Imagine if Heyman took over TNA right now or got behind Bullet Club in NJPW? Yet, it would still be sad to see him leave WWE.
I felt like that Heyman promo was a good bye promo last night. He was edgier than he usually is and I'm not 100% sure that's not why they were cutting his mic. He protected Brock and put the match over big time. I just don't think even Heyman can save the Reigns end of this deal. It's actually hurting Reigns when he brings up Austin. Fans are not all smart, but not even the casual fan respects Reigns enough to think he's greater than Steve Austin. Especially when you consider how brief his run as a singles has been.
The WWE has a strange feel to it since the Royal Rumble. It feels like the fans have their eyes open to what WWE is all about these days and they don't like it. WM31 might be more interesting for how the crowd reacts then the actual results themselves. That in itself is worth noting.
WM31 will be highly rated because it's Mania. But just like this Raw I think many will tune in for the reaction as much as the show itself.
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Where I fall on Reigns
Reigns has not taken a step foward for me despite his win at Fast Lane. He's doesn't have the resume or any proof that he can carry a match. Bryan lead him around well and made him look good, but Brock will not do the same thing.
For those who think the crowd is softening on him I saw you are crazy. He can't even get a bigger pop that Mizdow right now? He's being booed constantly. During the Fast Lane match it was audible booing on Reigns while Bryan got the Yes chants. Post match WWE muted the freaking crowd! They also didn't give you much in the way of crowd shots because no one was all that excited. Watch the TLC match where Dolph wins the IC belt back. That's a freaking pop.
I don't consider Dolph to be all that great, but I think he could be, yet he shouldn't be getting a better pop than the top baby face in the company! Reigns is still getting some boos! That's a bad sign. The last guy this happened too was John Cena and that era was pretty flat and never rose to the level of an Austin, Rock or Foley.
I just take major issue with getting behind a guy who can't even get a face pop in his early run. HHH plays it up to it's hard to be a face these days. I think he has it backwards. It's hard to get a heel over. They just keep wanting to push the wrong faces and blame it on the fans when it doesn't work.
For those people that want to give HHH so much credit for NXT. I want to point out that he is the head of creative (listed title right now) and talent relations of WWE. I believe Vince makes all the major calls, but I have to believe HHH has some influence. He could probably shape at least one or two mid card angles.
As I've stated before I think he's purposely trying to let Vince take a ton of heat to the point where there is an outcry from fans that HHH should at least really make the calls. Then Vince can step aside gracefully while HHH, who has gotten all that NXT praise, can slide in. This is better than Vince dropping dead as general public still feels it's Vince in charge or that company is done.
If that's not the case then legit HHH either wants to see him fail or has zero sense for the business because he would have done something to make these angles work and be more believable
In any event I'm not on Team Reigns at this time. I'm of the belief that he still has a lot to prove and this booking is wrong. If I was Brock I would refuse to drop the strap to him at WM31 because Brock has done way more in the past two years than Reigns could ever hope. The circumstances just don't even out. It's not as they say "money".
For those who think the crowd is softening on him I saw you are crazy. He can't even get a bigger pop that Mizdow right now? He's being booed constantly. During the Fast Lane match it was audible booing on Reigns while Bryan got the Yes chants. Post match WWE muted the freaking crowd! They also didn't give you much in the way of crowd shots because no one was all that excited. Watch the TLC match where Dolph wins the IC belt back. That's a freaking pop.
I don't consider Dolph to be all that great, but I think he could be, yet he shouldn't be getting a better pop than the top baby face in the company! Reigns is still getting some boos! That's a bad sign. The last guy this happened too was John Cena and that era was pretty flat and never rose to the level of an Austin, Rock or Foley.
I just take major issue with getting behind a guy who can't even get a face pop in his early run. HHH plays it up to it's hard to be a face these days. I think he has it backwards. It's hard to get a heel over. They just keep wanting to push the wrong faces and blame it on the fans when it doesn't work.
For those people that want to give HHH so much credit for NXT. I want to point out that he is the head of creative (listed title right now) and talent relations of WWE. I believe Vince makes all the major calls, but I have to believe HHH has some influence. He could probably shape at least one or two mid card angles.
As I've stated before I think he's purposely trying to let Vince take a ton of heat to the point where there is an outcry from fans that HHH should at least really make the calls. Then Vince can step aside gracefully while HHH, who has gotten all that NXT praise, can slide in. This is better than Vince dropping dead as general public still feels it's Vince in charge or that company is done.
If that's not the case then legit HHH either wants to see him fail or has zero sense for the business because he would have done something to make these angles work and be more believable
In any event I'm not on Team Reigns at this time. I'm of the belief that he still has a lot to prove and this booking is wrong. If I was Brock I would refuse to drop the strap to him at WM31 because Brock has done way more in the past two years than Reigns could ever hope. The circumstances just don't even out. It's not as they say "money".
Monday, February 23, 2015
WWE Fastlane Hits Some Speed Bumps
I was not happy with Fastlane on a whole last night. I could do a blow by blow of the many poor decisions. How the obvious lack of build hurt the Rhodes match. How Ziggler should never be pinned by Kane. How I legit fell asleep during the Cena match. I will take a pass on a blow by blow review and instead choose to focus on the the two things that really took the show to the pits for me and the one thing I thought was well done.
Side note. Many people ripped the crowd in Memphis for being flat. I found them to be muted, which is a great representation of how the WWE fanbase feels these days, muted. Also, all the crowds have been strange since the forced return of the Authority. There is a general lack of passion for the product at this time. WWE can ignore it all they want, but that's what it is.
For me this PPV had all the makings of what I like to call a trap PPV. One that looks good on paper and probably should play out fine even if rooting interests lose. Then when I watch it and it's executed very poorly I realize the WWE has trapped me again. I can't tell you how many times WWE has done this to me over the years.
One really bad takeaway from this PPV was the Sting segment. This was something you could hardly mess up. It would take some effort to have this sequence come across as bad. Yet, WWE found a way to get there. To me the match is a foregone conclusion. Everyone knows it's going to happen. What we all wanted to hear was Sting speak.
Now I realize for WWE you don't give everything away all at once. You don't make the match and then have Sting speak all in one night. The WWE often, and annoyingly, gets these situations wrong. Sting should speak first. Then later on Raw set a match for WM31 with Hunter. Why? Because we need to establish why Sting has a beef with HHH. Otherwise we are lead to believe it's really because of WCW being put out of business, which is beyond stupid.
If WWE were smart Sting would have hit the ring grabbed the mic and the crowd, as dead as they were, would have popped. He could explain to HHH that he doesn't live in the past, but from what he remembers WCW put itself out of business. Sting is here because he's trying to make sure that HHH doesn't put the WWE out of business. He's watched the actions of HHH as he's held down stars like Ziggler, Bryan, and Cena over the past two years and it reminds him of abuse of power. The same type of thing he saw in WCW.
This all should work with fans because WWE has made a huge deal about their Monday Night Wars show and how WCW really fell apart. So all the pieces should fit in nicely. Sting should state that he is here to take down the Authority and return the WWE to being a place where people get rewarded for the their fighting spirit. The fans would pop. HHH would go angry heel about how he is the WWE the fans would eat it up more and they would scuffle. I probably have HHH go for the sledge and Sting go for the bat, but don't actually have them do what they did.
I instead have HHH back out with his sledge and say another time. This allows HHH to cut a promo where he challenges Sting to a match at WM31 on Raw. Then Sting can accept under the Stipulation that the loser sort of leaves town.
Instead the WWE went bland. We have a match that we really don't have the reason for yet. Sting hasn't talked in the 4 months that he has been around and with the match already made everything will seem a bit dry from here. I guess WWE can fix it all by adding the stipulation after Sting talks in the coming weeks. I like slow burns, but this is ridiculous. If they really play he's defending the pride of WCW, my god.
The other major drop off for me was the main event. It was a solid match, but once Bryan hit the knee and Reigns kicked out I was sold on the fact that he would go for another one and get speared. That's ok, but they could have done a little better. I would have Bryan kick out of the Spear, but have Reigns land another one to get the win, so it feels really earned.
Here's my issues. First and foremost Bryan is not an aging star passing the torch to the next guy. Bryan was barely the guy and they are only a few years apart in age. Bryan did this to himself because it's well documented that he doesn't fight for himself backstage. He's happy to go with the flow. That's why WWE doesn't mind burying him at every turn.
The truth is Bryan is way more over than Reigns. Bryan is a believable superstar and Reigns is a guy that's still very green. The only reason Bryan would get booed is because WWE had him execute promo's to make the crowd react adversely to him. Last night Bryan worked that match as a heel to help Reigns look more like the big time face, but the crowd ignored it.
Reigns is so far beyond not ready that the mere suggestion that this guy could hang with Lesnar is laughable. If they really put Reigns over Lesnar at WM31 they are kidding themselves. I don't think they should worry about fans canceling the network, but instead fans losing interest in the product all together. Cena has been slapped on down everyone's thoughts for years. No disrespect to his work ethic, but he can't elicit a positive crowd response.
Now we are going to take a guy who's really bad on the mic to this point and have him go over a guy that has the best manager in the business and a track record of success the past year that is off the charts? Lesnar will be the babyface and get audible support from the crowd. It's just the way it is. That's not a good thing for anyone or the WWE.
Also, the match will not deliver. How can it? Reigns is limited and Lesnar is a spot guy that works really well off other good workers. Remember the 16 german suplexes Lesnar gave Cena? That's because Lesnar doesn't have that creative of a move base himself so they went for same move over and over. So now you match him with a guy the fans are down on who is also limited and think it's going to have the crowd excited?
It's like common sense has left the WWE. I know they think Reigns can be this huge star and many pundits are even supportive of that for the future, but I really believe he's not the guy everyone thinks he is. He's got some great ring speed and a good look, but beyond that he's an unfinished product and WWE needs to realize this. Hogan made up for his limited move set with Charisma and good match story telling. Reigns doesn't demonstrate that he can do anything more, but take direction from Daniel Bryan really well.
It's not a knock on Reigns the person, but his character which is months, maybe years, from being ready to lead this company. A knock on him personally is the lack of humility and knowledge he demonstrated on the Sam Roberts show a few weeks back. The one where he claimed to have invented everything and that he's going to be richer than you and me. If he's not even ready for softball media how can he be ready for it all?
The Reigns project is going to bomb and it's not going to be because of a hashtag about canceling the network. The formula for failure is simple. John Cena came into the WWE and became the new face of the company. Instead of addressing the mix crowd reactions to him the WWE had him pretend like they weren't important. So for years the fans continued to boo. The ratings of the main shows hit a steady point and were down from the Attitude Era. Only when CM Punk cut his promo and got hot for WWE did things change.
With Reigns expect the same mixed crowd reactions. Just like Cena many fans will tune out and I expect ratings on the TV shows to drop. As they do subscriptions will go flat. I just see people losing interest because they don't have a passion for a guy that was thrust on to them as being centrally important over other guys that appeared to be working much harder. Your basically telling people that looks, and family ties get you ahead. Hard work doesn't. Is that really a message that works?
Lastly and possibly most shamefully the WWE did something that I thought demonstrated a new low. They played with the crowd noise during the main event. When Bryan was introduced his Yes chant was not very audible. Even if the crowd was split I thought it would be louder than that. During the match the chants were strong. At the close there was a positive pop for Reigns, but it went away quickly. I think the cheers were piped in by WWE. They flashed to one happy fan and a wide shot of a few fans reacting positively while some were leaving. You heard boos when they did the handshake, but otherwise you heard nothing.
Here's why. The WWE drained out the negative crowd reaction to Reigns at the end of the match. They are trying to control their crowd. They muted the fans. That really got under my skin. Is that really where they are at? Do they not get that it's not just smart fans who upset about this Reigns push? That it's a majority of fans that feel it's not organic and rushed. That many actually want the Bryan story to shine through?
There in lies the problem. Good booking is all about eliciting reactions from the fans. When they don't go for it you try something different. When Kevin Nash bombed as champ of WWE they went another direction. When fans chanted for Stone Cold over Brett they went another direction. When fans wanted Bryan last year they went another direction. Apparently now WWE is tired of doing that.
This PPV, while free for some, was a trap PPV. It only served to further make me treat WWE main roster product as a DVR material that I can quickly fast forward through.
The one bright spot was the tag title match where Kidd and Cesaro won. Two really talented guys getting a much deserved win. Yet, would it be too much to ask for them to have a some of that mic time HHH wasted for 30 minutes at the start of each show?
Thumbs way down WWE.
Side note. Many people ripped the crowd in Memphis for being flat. I found them to be muted, which is a great representation of how the WWE fanbase feels these days, muted. Also, all the crowds have been strange since the forced return of the Authority. There is a general lack of passion for the product at this time. WWE can ignore it all they want, but that's what it is.
For me this PPV had all the makings of what I like to call a trap PPV. One that looks good on paper and probably should play out fine even if rooting interests lose. Then when I watch it and it's executed very poorly I realize the WWE has trapped me again. I can't tell you how many times WWE has done this to me over the years.
One really bad takeaway from this PPV was the Sting segment. This was something you could hardly mess up. It would take some effort to have this sequence come across as bad. Yet, WWE found a way to get there. To me the match is a foregone conclusion. Everyone knows it's going to happen. What we all wanted to hear was Sting speak.
Now I realize for WWE you don't give everything away all at once. You don't make the match and then have Sting speak all in one night. The WWE often, and annoyingly, gets these situations wrong. Sting should speak first. Then later on Raw set a match for WM31 with Hunter. Why? Because we need to establish why Sting has a beef with HHH. Otherwise we are lead to believe it's really because of WCW being put out of business, which is beyond stupid.
If WWE were smart Sting would have hit the ring grabbed the mic and the crowd, as dead as they were, would have popped. He could explain to HHH that he doesn't live in the past, but from what he remembers WCW put itself out of business. Sting is here because he's trying to make sure that HHH doesn't put the WWE out of business. He's watched the actions of HHH as he's held down stars like Ziggler, Bryan, and Cena over the past two years and it reminds him of abuse of power. The same type of thing he saw in WCW.
This all should work with fans because WWE has made a huge deal about their Monday Night Wars show and how WCW really fell apart. So all the pieces should fit in nicely. Sting should state that he is here to take down the Authority and return the WWE to being a place where people get rewarded for the their fighting spirit. The fans would pop. HHH would go angry heel about how he is the WWE the fans would eat it up more and they would scuffle. I probably have HHH go for the sledge and Sting go for the bat, but don't actually have them do what they did.
I instead have HHH back out with his sledge and say another time. This allows HHH to cut a promo where he challenges Sting to a match at WM31 on Raw. Then Sting can accept under the Stipulation that the loser sort of leaves town.
Instead the WWE went bland. We have a match that we really don't have the reason for yet. Sting hasn't talked in the 4 months that he has been around and with the match already made everything will seem a bit dry from here. I guess WWE can fix it all by adding the stipulation after Sting talks in the coming weeks. I like slow burns, but this is ridiculous. If they really play he's defending the pride of WCW, my god.
The other major drop off for me was the main event. It was a solid match, but once Bryan hit the knee and Reigns kicked out I was sold on the fact that he would go for another one and get speared. That's ok, but they could have done a little better. I would have Bryan kick out of the Spear, but have Reigns land another one to get the win, so it feels really earned.
Here's my issues. First and foremost Bryan is not an aging star passing the torch to the next guy. Bryan was barely the guy and they are only a few years apart in age. Bryan did this to himself because it's well documented that he doesn't fight for himself backstage. He's happy to go with the flow. That's why WWE doesn't mind burying him at every turn.
The truth is Bryan is way more over than Reigns. Bryan is a believable superstar and Reigns is a guy that's still very green. The only reason Bryan would get booed is because WWE had him execute promo's to make the crowd react adversely to him. Last night Bryan worked that match as a heel to help Reigns look more like the big time face, but the crowd ignored it.
Reigns is so far beyond not ready that the mere suggestion that this guy could hang with Lesnar is laughable. If they really put Reigns over Lesnar at WM31 they are kidding themselves. I don't think they should worry about fans canceling the network, but instead fans losing interest in the product all together. Cena has been slapped on down everyone's thoughts for years. No disrespect to his work ethic, but he can't elicit a positive crowd response.
Now we are going to take a guy who's really bad on the mic to this point and have him go over a guy that has the best manager in the business and a track record of success the past year that is off the charts? Lesnar will be the babyface and get audible support from the crowd. It's just the way it is. That's not a good thing for anyone or the WWE.
Also, the match will not deliver. How can it? Reigns is limited and Lesnar is a spot guy that works really well off other good workers. Remember the 16 german suplexes Lesnar gave Cena? That's because Lesnar doesn't have that creative of a move base himself so they went for same move over and over. So now you match him with a guy the fans are down on who is also limited and think it's going to have the crowd excited?
It's like common sense has left the WWE. I know they think Reigns can be this huge star and many pundits are even supportive of that for the future, but I really believe he's not the guy everyone thinks he is. He's got some great ring speed and a good look, but beyond that he's an unfinished product and WWE needs to realize this. Hogan made up for his limited move set with Charisma and good match story telling. Reigns doesn't demonstrate that he can do anything more, but take direction from Daniel Bryan really well.
It's not a knock on Reigns the person, but his character which is months, maybe years, from being ready to lead this company. A knock on him personally is the lack of humility and knowledge he demonstrated on the Sam Roberts show a few weeks back. The one where he claimed to have invented everything and that he's going to be richer than you and me. If he's not even ready for softball media how can he be ready for it all?
The Reigns project is going to bomb and it's not going to be because of a hashtag about canceling the network. The formula for failure is simple. John Cena came into the WWE and became the new face of the company. Instead of addressing the mix crowd reactions to him the WWE had him pretend like they weren't important. So for years the fans continued to boo. The ratings of the main shows hit a steady point and were down from the Attitude Era. Only when CM Punk cut his promo and got hot for WWE did things change.
With Reigns expect the same mixed crowd reactions. Just like Cena many fans will tune out and I expect ratings on the TV shows to drop. As they do subscriptions will go flat. I just see people losing interest because they don't have a passion for a guy that was thrust on to them as being centrally important over other guys that appeared to be working much harder. Your basically telling people that looks, and family ties get you ahead. Hard work doesn't. Is that really a message that works?
Lastly and possibly most shamefully the WWE did something that I thought demonstrated a new low. They played with the crowd noise during the main event. When Bryan was introduced his Yes chant was not very audible. Even if the crowd was split I thought it would be louder than that. During the match the chants were strong. At the close there was a positive pop for Reigns, but it went away quickly. I think the cheers were piped in by WWE. They flashed to one happy fan and a wide shot of a few fans reacting positively while some were leaving. You heard boos when they did the handshake, but otherwise you heard nothing.
Here's why. The WWE drained out the negative crowd reaction to Reigns at the end of the match. They are trying to control their crowd. They muted the fans. That really got under my skin. Is that really where they are at? Do they not get that it's not just smart fans who upset about this Reigns push? That it's a majority of fans that feel it's not organic and rushed. That many actually want the Bryan story to shine through?
There in lies the problem. Good booking is all about eliciting reactions from the fans. When they don't go for it you try something different. When Kevin Nash bombed as champ of WWE they went another direction. When fans chanted for Stone Cold over Brett they went another direction. When fans wanted Bryan last year they went another direction. Apparently now WWE is tired of doing that.
This PPV, while free for some, was a trap PPV. It only served to further make me treat WWE main roster product as a DVR material that I can quickly fast forward through.
The one bright spot was the tag title match where Kidd and Cesaro won. Two really talented guys getting a much deserved win. Yet, would it be too much to ask for them to have a some of that mic time HHH wasted for 30 minutes at the start of each show?
Thumbs way down WWE.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Must See Wednesday's Continues
I've been away from the column for longer than I should so lots to share today. NXT kicks off the Kevin Owens era the right way and Lucha Underground continues to blow the doors off. I've also got some thoughts on Reigns/Bryan, Samoa Joe, and more.
Lucha Underground delivered another stellar show last night, but for the first time I have a minor criticism. The matches on a whole were very short and I think we only got bell to bell about 15 minutes of in ring action out of a roughly 45 minute show. I was ok with it for two reasons. Each match had a reason for it's length as I will get too and the backstage vignettes that ate up the show were off the charts good.
Our opening match between and Mil and Chavo has some heat, but it's hard to get to excited considering they are both heels. The finish saw Catrina distract Mil while Chavo used a chair on him to no avail. Some might be upset that Chavo got DQ'd and it was a dusty finish, but really it doesn't matter. They were just setting up the Fenix stuff. The Mil Catrina interaction before Fenix made the save was really well done. I don't trust that Catrina is actually leaving Mil and I think that's the long term play, but do they really need to trap Fenix? He doesn't hold the title or anything they can take from him. They could just beat him in a match.
Not knowing the answer to that question keeps me intrigued by this angle. That's where I have to give Lucha so much credit. Each week they are pushing something new that will make you watch next week.
Dario puts over the crew and has them booked against Pimpy, the little guy, and Sexy Star. Dario is beyond good. Any Dario time is time well spent on this show. It's pretty obvious Big Ryck will be returning during that match.
Ivelesse takes on Angelico. Ivelesse has great confidence on the mic and her baddest bitch in the building line is pretty cool. Soon they will have to aim her against Sexy Star in a feud that matters because that would probably be pretty good. Angelico is a total star. I thought he was kind of just some guy when he debuted, but the guy looks like a taller Dean Ambrose that can actually do even more. He also worked the mic post match with great confidence and didn't take the loss to heart at all.
I want to point out how that is excellent booking. You put a female over a male, but you let the male get the last laugh and not just act dejected by losing. I hope the WWE is taking notes.
The Black Lotus eventually finds that caged up guy and then gets a bag put over her head. This played out over a few segments. When it was over I was like man I want to know who this guy is. I want to see where this goes. I'm thinking they are going to use the Great Khali in this role because I can't think of a more imposing huge guy, but hopefully they surprise me. Dario's key to that cage the guy is in is more over than the Authority right now.
Dario and Cage have an interaction where Cage gets a non-title match with Puma next week. That's probably the second best match Lucha can book and we are getting it for the second time. Again they are giving you a simple reason to watch next week and it's not happening in the last five minutes of the show. Chavo also came to Dario's office, and quit the company. I think this is not the end of Chavo, but a way to give him a new direction.
Texano takes on Superfly. Before the match gets underway they show an interview with Texano and give you some back story on him and his feud with Alberto. Well done here as you feel more connected with this guy and why he hates Alberto. This guy is the classic looking wrestling villain. He reminds me of Stan Hansen. The difference is he wrestles a modern style and does it very well. The Alberto attack post match is no surprise and they sent the crew out there to break them up before Alberto go too much the best of him. Very well done. Texano is built up very well here. Alberto radiates charisma that WWE never tapped into.
Just a quick aside. It's pretty clear to me that WWE looked at Del Rio and thought heel rich Mexican guy. They made very little effort to be creative with him. I thought Del Rio pulled the gimmick off well, but it also boxed him in. Just more poor booking by WWE.
Our main event is the six man tag. The crew dispatch Pimpy and the little guy quickly and are set to pound out Sexy Star. She fights them off for a time, which was good. At a point I forgot she was a female it was so convincing. Eventually the numbers game starts to catch up to her, but Big Ryck enters the Temple, which allows Sexy to get the well placed (for once) distraction roll up for the upset win. The Crew scurry away.
Very solid show. I was entertained the whole time. Lucha continues to prove that you don't have to have a show that features the champion every week or pushes that story line to open and close the show. Cage was on for under 2 minutes to setup his match with Puma. That was in the middle of the show. This focus on other things raises the quality of everything that is happening on the show. Remember these guys have five times less air time than WWE does right now.
Lucha is not putting all their eggs in one basket. Puma has not been on the show in three weeks. He's like the Brock Lesnar of Lucha...lol. That being said it keeps him fresh just like it keeps everyone else fresh on this roster.
What they are doing is really investing you in multiple angles. It's not just about the title or Dario. It's about an interesting story that sets up a match that delivers a pay off. This show is money right now and I'm looking for to next week.
NXT returned to the airwaves for the first time since the big title change. I had some spoilers on this show, so I knew what was coming, but not everything and thankfully I knew nothing about that main event. Again a minor criticism that could become a bigger issue for them if not addressed. Some of the promo's on the show were lacking big time.
A word on promo's. I think the proper way for a promo to be cut is around talking points. I don't mean minimal ones like tell the crowd how much you hate Seth Rollins. I think they need to be creative thoughts that give the talent a direction and a few lines they can create out of an idea. The Finn Balor promo was dreadful. Here's a guy capable of so much more, but he's so used to being a heel and hasn't been established as a face on the mic he really has nothing creative to say.
You can tell that Finn was not comfortable and so the promo didn't establish much. It's got to be more and it should be happening in the ring and not back stage when your talking to the new #1 contender. Allow him to get comfortable in front of the bright lights.
Rhyno debuted and then teased something between him and Balor. A lot of guys have been solo acts in NXT so far. Adding Rhyno to a Kevin Owens crew would not be a bad idea. That hasn't been the MO of NXT, but I don't think it's a bad direction at all.
An aside here. The rumor is Samoa Joe is possibly going to get a tryout in NXT. Why he would need to try out is beyond me. I think HHH has to know what he's getting at this point as the guy is on TV every week and decide whether he can do anything or not. Brian Kendrick also will be returning. I think what HHH is doing by bringing in these guys is building a foundation of guys that don't have to go main roster, but can help him fill the gaps.
NXT's problem is that they are trying to develop talent. They can't feed everyone jobbers, but they also can't make everyone a .500 wrestlers. The tag match last night demonstrated that. The Vaudevillians have a good gimmick, but they wanted to put Enzo and Cass over. That's fine, but the Villians take their third TV loss in a row. They have done nothing, but be very good, but when you beat them all the time they heat comes off of them.
By adding in guys that they don't have to necessarily worry about putting over, but who are also great workers HHH is filling in the gaps. He can make great matches with all three guys. Specifically Joe and Kendrick are capable of great in ring work. I'm not saying they should be glorified jobbers, but you can use them with less concern about the outcome. This helps protect guys like the Villains from having to put over Enzo. (BTW, I'm not saying that Kendrick and Joe would have put over Enzo last night just guys along those lines. Good in ring workers that are not going to move up in theory.)
I suggested a few years back that WWE should bring in middling talents that are great in ring workers off the indy scene and out of TNA. Guys that never have to cut promo's or be over, but can sell and put on compelling matches. That way almost no pushed talent ever has to lose on Raw or Smackdown in anything less than a main event. By doing this you preserve the top workers to only lose on PPV, so the match out comes are harder to figure out and the PPV's have more value. The TV shows still have great in ring quality.
This is how WWE used to function. Only PPV's and specials actually featured matches where top guys lost. The difference being though that they used jobbers to put guys over. Fans are passed squash jobber. That's why you have to bring in good mechanics. They sort of use R Truth in this roll. In my opinion you need a lot of them so that they aren't losing on TV every week and you can mix it up. There's a place for these guys in today's 5 hour a week WWE.
Some would say this strategy is flawed because of the predictable outcomes, but I counter that with even the way the show is booked now with top talents constantly battling it's pretty clear who's coming out on top unless they are going to get screwed in each match. If you give good match quality and let guys get their moves in and look good more often then you would have a better overall product.
So, I hope HHH is following this game plan for NXT. That way he can keep guys hotter, and he's building around guys that can help his up and coming talents. If he does bring Joe I say put him with Owens as well. Rhyno and Joe could be the two hired guns that roadblock Zayn from Owens and make the chase even better.
For all the bad promo's cut on the show CJ Parker did an excellent job of showing that he's developing well on the mic. Yet, he was squashed by the debuting Solomon Crowe. I get that Parker's gimmick is not that great, but he's a good worker and can work the mic. Find him a new gimmick and stop making him the squash guy.
Crowe is a live wire. I know he can work. I would have thought you could have allowed him to have a bit more mic time to establish his character, but he was impressive.
The Banks promo was one that I found lacking. It didn't establish anything and the match she had was scary main roster style short. They didn't establish the next feud for her, which seemed odd. Bayley and Lynch established they were going to take on each other, but again very bland promos.
Enzo and Cass got the win over the Villains and apparently Blake and Murphy went heel. As stated earlier I hated that the Villains had to lose, but I liked the direction of this fresh feud. Enzo and Cass could probably get that intro over in the main roster, but they couldn't get beat every other week and stay hot...sorry had to say it.
Our main event was a non-title match between Owens and Neville. It was pretty clear that Owens was going over, but this match was a display of a couple of things. One that Owens and Neville are masters of knowing how to work a match that keeps the crowd on the edge of their seat. Owens is absolutely a massive star and this match helped him get even more established. Both guys are probably better than 95% of the main roster right now.
This match had an indy feel to it. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but it didn't feel like a match where they were going through the motions like you often see in a big Raw main event. They did new things and Owens was allowed to show heel fighting spirit by kicking out of some crazy spots.
Dare I say that I enjoyed that match as much as the Zayn one? I think it's time Neville moved up.and hope Owens doesn't stay too long as well...or maybe I hope they both stay.
I think WWE has to consider building NXT into a bigger thing. Stop talking like it's developmental and start acting like it's a brand. For now it is exclusive on WWE Network, which obviously doesn't allow everyone to see it (I realize it's on Hulu as well), but I think I would look to replace Smackdown with NXT eventually. How do you do this and not piss off the execs at Syfy?
Simple. Have the next Takeover special be a live two hour event on Syfy. Just say airing in the place of Smackdown is NXT for this week only. See how it goes. Maybe do it once a month. If the ratings start popping and reaction is good you convince Syfy that it will now be NXT Smackdown. If it doesn't work then you just stay the course with regular old Smackdown and keep NXT small and on the network.
If it did get over you have to do it right and keep running it the same way it has been. Many might claim that you are adding that extra hour and that might put too much strain on the product, but because it's regular TV the commercials would eat into the time. So you would probably only be adding 30 minutes. The commercials on WWE network are only taking away 10 minutes a week tops.
Also, it would allow some matches and segments to stretch a little. If it worked it would be a huge win win for WWE. You could would slice 2 hours of main roster TV time, which would probably make the 3 hour Raw's a lot easier to book. If you gave NXT 6 specials a year then every two months then you are giving people 6 more reasons to subscribe. Especially the new fans that would logically start watching with the show on regular TV.
Also, with NXT I would start booking small Arena's for the Takeover events. Similar to how ECW did PPV back in the day. 3 or 4 thousand max. I probably would keep the regular show to Full Sail, but those bigger events should get a little big crowd. A big secret to NXT is the Full Sail smart crowd. If they continue to put people over then viewership would better accept characters. Adam Rose would have been over in Raw if NXT was a show more people could watch. Instead fans were confused by the gimmick that never got fully explained or allowed to breathe. WWE basically said hey you should like this because of the weak vignettes we showed you and it bombed.
I think NXT could become that second brand that WWE tried to develop with Smackdown years back. It would probably work better this time because you are presenting a different product altogether that is being directed by different people, but you have that WWE production quality. A big reason for the Heyman success with Smackdown was that he developed a different product from Raw.
I want to close this column with my thoughts on Reigns/Bryan. I may not have a chance to share my thoughts before the PPV, so I want to get some stuff out there. I was looking forward to this match for weeks. I didn't buy into the belief that many experts had that Reigns was going over. I think WWE wanted to feel out that decision over the past few weeks.
They have basically pushed both guys more heel than face. I think they are trying to gauge how the fans feel about that. Also, it's not what you would expect, which is typical WWE. Do something that is different from what they normally do. That doesn't often go well.
I think it's a big waste. I think I would have played this to be a face face situation all the way until that last Raw where they could have had the same blow up. I wouldn't have done things that hurt Bryan or Reigns in the eyes of some fans. If they would have stayed face face with this and had these guys get along until they had a mishap in the ring to set them off then fans might have better accepted a Reigns clean win and gotten off his case.
I think WWE will put Reigns over Bryan or setup a triple threat match at Mania. I think that both are huge mistakes. I think that the Bryan fans will eat Reigns up for the entire run up to WM31 and during the match itself, which is problematic. I also don't have any faith Reigns and Brock can pull off an entertaining match especially if it leaks that Brock is leaving. You will have WM20 all over again with Brock.
If they go triple threat it feels like a vain attempt to appease fans. It saves the match quality, but it's not the epic match we all want. That would also require some kind of a dusty finish at Fastlane, which won't endear them to anyone. I say go clean or go home. They just had Brock in a triple threat and it renders the last few weeks as just a big swerve. I would have rather they made it a triple threat match already and just said the last one was so good let's put out another.
You could go this direction. Brock is pissed it's another triple threat, so he tells HHH that he's leaving the company post WM31 and he's taking the belt with him. That gets some of the hate off Brock for leaving if he is. That's how they could have used that appearance they wasted a few weeks back. The Fastlane main event could still be Bryan and Reigns in a grudge match. For those who say who cares about that I say the freaking PPV is free this month so WWE isn't obligated to go all out. They simply need to hype WM31 main event with it.
They missed their chance and now they have major pressure on themselves for this weekend.
Here's what I would do at Fastlane, but knowing WWE it likely won't happen. I would have Bryan go over clean against Reigns at Fastlane. Post match Bryan goes for the code of honor handshake. Reigns attacks him. He rips off the flack jacket, which he needs to stop wearing, and goes to town on Bryan. Reigns is established as a super heel. Bryan is out injured and misses the Raw the next night.
Reigns goes heel the next night and Ambrose tries to reason with him. He gets attacked by Reigns as well. In the coming weeks Rollins tries to befriend Reigns again, but finds that Reigns wants no part of his friendship, but does want his briefcase. He accuses Rollins of being a coward and never cashing in because he was afraid of Lesnar. He gets him to put the case on the line at WM31. Rollins ego allows him to agree. Later Ambrose returns and gets involved in the match as well. All the Shield marks get a logical reason why the Shield will meet at WM31 in a triple threat and Reigns wins.
Bryan returns to Raw and highlights that he was really banged up by the Reigns attack. He is not cleared to wrestle yet. Lesnar and Heyman pounce and talk up Bryan's frailty. That's played up for weeks instead of the typical you attack me I attack you BS they love to do. Bryan promises he will be at WM31 whether he's 100% of not. The stuff writes itself, but Bryan becomes an even bigger underdog.
Bryan goes over at WM31 in the best match of his career. Think Angle Lesnar WM19 for those who don't think it could happen. Reigns comes out post match, but due to an injury he suffered earlier in the night he will not cash in. The show ends with a stare down between the new champ and Reigns. This is ok because the previous year Bryan really got that celebration moment. Cole says I think we are looking at the future of WWE.
I'll save where I go from there for another time, but I think that's the biggest money WWE can draw. That helps Reigns go on this path to becoming a mega star and gives Bryan his run with the title that the WWE could really squeeze for everything it's worth while they can. Hey it's what most fans want. I fear that they damaged Bryan with the heel tactics and he's going to have lost some of the crowd in Tulsa because of it thought. They need the Reigns flip to endear Bryan again and slingshot him to the top baby again.
Until next time....
Lucha Underground delivered another stellar show last night, but for the first time I have a minor criticism. The matches on a whole were very short and I think we only got bell to bell about 15 minutes of in ring action out of a roughly 45 minute show. I was ok with it for two reasons. Each match had a reason for it's length as I will get too and the backstage vignettes that ate up the show were off the charts good.
Our opening match between and Mil and Chavo has some heat, but it's hard to get to excited considering they are both heels. The finish saw Catrina distract Mil while Chavo used a chair on him to no avail. Some might be upset that Chavo got DQ'd and it was a dusty finish, but really it doesn't matter. They were just setting up the Fenix stuff. The Mil Catrina interaction before Fenix made the save was really well done. I don't trust that Catrina is actually leaving Mil and I think that's the long term play, but do they really need to trap Fenix? He doesn't hold the title or anything they can take from him. They could just beat him in a match.
Not knowing the answer to that question keeps me intrigued by this angle. That's where I have to give Lucha so much credit. Each week they are pushing something new that will make you watch next week.
Dario puts over the crew and has them booked against Pimpy, the little guy, and Sexy Star. Dario is beyond good. Any Dario time is time well spent on this show. It's pretty obvious Big Ryck will be returning during that match.
Ivelesse takes on Angelico. Ivelesse has great confidence on the mic and her baddest bitch in the building line is pretty cool. Soon they will have to aim her against Sexy Star in a feud that matters because that would probably be pretty good. Angelico is a total star. I thought he was kind of just some guy when he debuted, but the guy looks like a taller Dean Ambrose that can actually do even more. He also worked the mic post match with great confidence and didn't take the loss to heart at all.
I want to point out how that is excellent booking. You put a female over a male, but you let the male get the last laugh and not just act dejected by losing. I hope the WWE is taking notes.
The Black Lotus eventually finds that caged up guy and then gets a bag put over her head. This played out over a few segments. When it was over I was like man I want to know who this guy is. I want to see where this goes. I'm thinking they are going to use the Great Khali in this role because I can't think of a more imposing huge guy, but hopefully they surprise me. Dario's key to that cage the guy is in is more over than the Authority right now.
Dario and Cage have an interaction where Cage gets a non-title match with Puma next week. That's probably the second best match Lucha can book and we are getting it for the second time. Again they are giving you a simple reason to watch next week and it's not happening in the last five minutes of the show. Chavo also came to Dario's office, and quit the company. I think this is not the end of Chavo, but a way to give him a new direction.
Texano takes on Superfly. Before the match gets underway they show an interview with Texano and give you some back story on him and his feud with Alberto. Well done here as you feel more connected with this guy and why he hates Alberto. This guy is the classic looking wrestling villain. He reminds me of Stan Hansen. The difference is he wrestles a modern style and does it very well. The Alberto attack post match is no surprise and they sent the crew out there to break them up before Alberto go too much the best of him. Very well done. Texano is built up very well here. Alberto radiates charisma that WWE never tapped into.
Just a quick aside. It's pretty clear to me that WWE looked at Del Rio and thought heel rich Mexican guy. They made very little effort to be creative with him. I thought Del Rio pulled the gimmick off well, but it also boxed him in. Just more poor booking by WWE.
Our main event is the six man tag. The crew dispatch Pimpy and the little guy quickly and are set to pound out Sexy Star. She fights them off for a time, which was good. At a point I forgot she was a female it was so convincing. Eventually the numbers game starts to catch up to her, but Big Ryck enters the Temple, which allows Sexy to get the well placed (for once) distraction roll up for the upset win. The Crew scurry away.
Very solid show. I was entertained the whole time. Lucha continues to prove that you don't have to have a show that features the champion every week or pushes that story line to open and close the show. Cage was on for under 2 minutes to setup his match with Puma. That was in the middle of the show. This focus on other things raises the quality of everything that is happening on the show. Remember these guys have five times less air time than WWE does right now.
Lucha is not putting all their eggs in one basket. Puma has not been on the show in three weeks. He's like the Brock Lesnar of Lucha...lol. That being said it keeps him fresh just like it keeps everyone else fresh on this roster.
What they are doing is really investing you in multiple angles. It's not just about the title or Dario. It's about an interesting story that sets up a match that delivers a pay off. This show is money right now and I'm looking for to next week.
NXT returned to the airwaves for the first time since the big title change. I had some spoilers on this show, so I knew what was coming, but not everything and thankfully I knew nothing about that main event. Again a minor criticism that could become a bigger issue for them if not addressed. Some of the promo's on the show were lacking big time.
A word on promo's. I think the proper way for a promo to be cut is around talking points. I don't mean minimal ones like tell the crowd how much you hate Seth Rollins. I think they need to be creative thoughts that give the talent a direction and a few lines they can create out of an idea. The Finn Balor promo was dreadful. Here's a guy capable of so much more, but he's so used to being a heel and hasn't been established as a face on the mic he really has nothing creative to say.
You can tell that Finn was not comfortable and so the promo didn't establish much. It's got to be more and it should be happening in the ring and not back stage when your talking to the new #1 contender. Allow him to get comfortable in front of the bright lights.
Rhyno debuted and then teased something between him and Balor. A lot of guys have been solo acts in NXT so far. Adding Rhyno to a Kevin Owens crew would not be a bad idea. That hasn't been the MO of NXT, but I don't think it's a bad direction at all.
An aside here. The rumor is Samoa Joe is possibly going to get a tryout in NXT. Why he would need to try out is beyond me. I think HHH has to know what he's getting at this point as the guy is on TV every week and decide whether he can do anything or not. Brian Kendrick also will be returning. I think what HHH is doing by bringing in these guys is building a foundation of guys that don't have to go main roster, but can help him fill the gaps.
NXT's problem is that they are trying to develop talent. They can't feed everyone jobbers, but they also can't make everyone a .500 wrestlers. The tag match last night demonstrated that. The Vaudevillians have a good gimmick, but they wanted to put Enzo and Cass over. That's fine, but the Villians take their third TV loss in a row. They have done nothing, but be very good, but when you beat them all the time they heat comes off of them.
By adding in guys that they don't have to necessarily worry about putting over, but who are also great workers HHH is filling in the gaps. He can make great matches with all three guys. Specifically Joe and Kendrick are capable of great in ring work. I'm not saying they should be glorified jobbers, but you can use them with less concern about the outcome. This helps protect guys like the Villains from having to put over Enzo. (BTW, I'm not saying that Kendrick and Joe would have put over Enzo last night just guys along those lines. Good in ring workers that are not going to move up in theory.)
I suggested a few years back that WWE should bring in middling talents that are great in ring workers off the indy scene and out of TNA. Guys that never have to cut promo's or be over, but can sell and put on compelling matches. That way almost no pushed talent ever has to lose on Raw or Smackdown in anything less than a main event. By doing this you preserve the top workers to only lose on PPV, so the match out comes are harder to figure out and the PPV's have more value. The TV shows still have great in ring quality.
This is how WWE used to function. Only PPV's and specials actually featured matches where top guys lost. The difference being though that they used jobbers to put guys over. Fans are passed squash jobber. That's why you have to bring in good mechanics. They sort of use R Truth in this roll. In my opinion you need a lot of them so that they aren't losing on TV every week and you can mix it up. There's a place for these guys in today's 5 hour a week WWE.
Some would say this strategy is flawed because of the predictable outcomes, but I counter that with even the way the show is booked now with top talents constantly battling it's pretty clear who's coming out on top unless they are going to get screwed in each match. If you give good match quality and let guys get their moves in and look good more often then you would have a better overall product.
So, I hope HHH is following this game plan for NXT. That way he can keep guys hotter, and he's building around guys that can help his up and coming talents. If he does bring Joe I say put him with Owens as well. Rhyno and Joe could be the two hired guns that roadblock Zayn from Owens and make the chase even better.
For all the bad promo's cut on the show CJ Parker did an excellent job of showing that he's developing well on the mic. Yet, he was squashed by the debuting Solomon Crowe. I get that Parker's gimmick is not that great, but he's a good worker and can work the mic. Find him a new gimmick and stop making him the squash guy.
Crowe is a live wire. I know he can work. I would have thought you could have allowed him to have a bit more mic time to establish his character, but he was impressive.
The Banks promo was one that I found lacking. It didn't establish anything and the match she had was scary main roster style short. They didn't establish the next feud for her, which seemed odd. Bayley and Lynch established they were going to take on each other, but again very bland promos.
Enzo and Cass got the win over the Villains and apparently Blake and Murphy went heel. As stated earlier I hated that the Villains had to lose, but I liked the direction of this fresh feud. Enzo and Cass could probably get that intro over in the main roster, but they couldn't get beat every other week and stay hot...sorry had to say it.
Our main event was a non-title match between Owens and Neville. It was pretty clear that Owens was going over, but this match was a display of a couple of things. One that Owens and Neville are masters of knowing how to work a match that keeps the crowd on the edge of their seat. Owens is absolutely a massive star and this match helped him get even more established. Both guys are probably better than 95% of the main roster right now.
This match had an indy feel to it. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but it didn't feel like a match where they were going through the motions like you often see in a big Raw main event. They did new things and Owens was allowed to show heel fighting spirit by kicking out of some crazy spots.
Dare I say that I enjoyed that match as much as the Zayn one? I think it's time Neville moved up.and hope Owens doesn't stay too long as well...or maybe I hope they both stay.
I think WWE has to consider building NXT into a bigger thing. Stop talking like it's developmental and start acting like it's a brand. For now it is exclusive on WWE Network, which obviously doesn't allow everyone to see it (I realize it's on Hulu as well), but I think I would look to replace Smackdown with NXT eventually. How do you do this and not piss off the execs at Syfy?
Simple. Have the next Takeover special be a live two hour event on Syfy. Just say airing in the place of Smackdown is NXT for this week only. See how it goes. Maybe do it once a month. If the ratings start popping and reaction is good you convince Syfy that it will now be NXT Smackdown. If it doesn't work then you just stay the course with regular old Smackdown and keep NXT small and on the network.
If it did get over you have to do it right and keep running it the same way it has been. Many might claim that you are adding that extra hour and that might put too much strain on the product, but because it's regular TV the commercials would eat into the time. So you would probably only be adding 30 minutes. The commercials on WWE network are only taking away 10 minutes a week tops.
Also, it would allow some matches and segments to stretch a little. If it worked it would be a huge win win for WWE. You could would slice 2 hours of main roster TV time, which would probably make the 3 hour Raw's a lot easier to book. If you gave NXT 6 specials a year then every two months then you are giving people 6 more reasons to subscribe. Especially the new fans that would logically start watching with the show on regular TV.
Also, with NXT I would start booking small Arena's for the Takeover events. Similar to how ECW did PPV back in the day. 3 or 4 thousand max. I probably would keep the regular show to Full Sail, but those bigger events should get a little big crowd. A big secret to NXT is the Full Sail smart crowd. If they continue to put people over then viewership would better accept characters. Adam Rose would have been over in Raw if NXT was a show more people could watch. Instead fans were confused by the gimmick that never got fully explained or allowed to breathe. WWE basically said hey you should like this because of the weak vignettes we showed you and it bombed.
I think NXT could become that second brand that WWE tried to develop with Smackdown years back. It would probably work better this time because you are presenting a different product altogether that is being directed by different people, but you have that WWE production quality. A big reason for the Heyman success with Smackdown was that he developed a different product from Raw.
I want to close this column with my thoughts on Reigns/Bryan. I may not have a chance to share my thoughts before the PPV, so I want to get some stuff out there. I was looking forward to this match for weeks. I didn't buy into the belief that many experts had that Reigns was going over. I think WWE wanted to feel out that decision over the past few weeks.
They have basically pushed both guys more heel than face. I think they are trying to gauge how the fans feel about that. Also, it's not what you would expect, which is typical WWE. Do something that is different from what they normally do. That doesn't often go well.
I think it's a big waste. I think I would have played this to be a face face situation all the way until that last Raw where they could have had the same blow up. I wouldn't have done things that hurt Bryan or Reigns in the eyes of some fans. If they would have stayed face face with this and had these guys get along until they had a mishap in the ring to set them off then fans might have better accepted a Reigns clean win and gotten off his case.
I think WWE will put Reigns over Bryan or setup a triple threat match at Mania. I think that both are huge mistakes. I think that the Bryan fans will eat Reigns up for the entire run up to WM31 and during the match itself, which is problematic. I also don't have any faith Reigns and Brock can pull off an entertaining match especially if it leaks that Brock is leaving. You will have WM20 all over again with Brock.
If they go triple threat it feels like a vain attempt to appease fans. It saves the match quality, but it's not the epic match we all want. That would also require some kind of a dusty finish at Fastlane, which won't endear them to anyone. I say go clean or go home. They just had Brock in a triple threat and it renders the last few weeks as just a big swerve. I would have rather they made it a triple threat match already and just said the last one was so good let's put out another.
You could go this direction. Brock is pissed it's another triple threat, so he tells HHH that he's leaving the company post WM31 and he's taking the belt with him. That gets some of the hate off Brock for leaving if he is. That's how they could have used that appearance they wasted a few weeks back. The Fastlane main event could still be Bryan and Reigns in a grudge match. For those who say who cares about that I say the freaking PPV is free this month so WWE isn't obligated to go all out. They simply need to hype WM31 main event with it.
They missed their chance and now they have major pressure on themselves for this weekend.
Here's what I would do at Fastlane, but knowing WWE it likely won't happen. I would have Bryan go over clean against Reigns at Fastlane. Post match Bryan goes for the code of honor handshake. Reigns attacks him. He rips off the flack jacket, which he needs to stop wearing, and goes to town on Bryan. Reigns is established as a super heel. Bryan is out injured and misses the Raw the next night.
Reigns goes heel the next night and Ambrose tries to reason with him. He gets attacked by Reigns as well. In the coming weeks Rollins tries to befriend Reigns again, but finds that Reigns wants no part of his friendship, but does want his briefcase. He accuses Rollins of being a coward and never cashing in because he was afraid of Lesnar. He gets him to put the case on the line at WM31. Rollins ego allows him to agree. Later Ambrose returns and gets involved in the match as well. All the Shield marks get a logical reason why the Shield will meet at WM31 in a triple threat and Reigns wins.
Bryan returns to Raw and highlights that he was really banged up by the Reigns attack. He is not cleared to wrestle yet. Lesnar and Heyman pounce and talk up Bryan's frailty. That's played up for weeks instead of the typical you attack me I attack you BS they love to do. Bryan promises he will be at WM31 whether he's 100% of not. The stuff writes itself, but Bryan becomes an even bigger underdog.
Bryan goes over at WM31 in the best match of his career. Think Angle Lesnar WM19 for those who don't think it could happen. Reigns comes out post match, but due to an injury he suffered earlier in the night he will not cash in. The show ends with a stare down between the new champ and Reigns. This is ok because the previous year Bryan really got that celebration moment. Cole says I think we are looking at the future of WWE.
I'll save where I go from there for another time, but I think that's the biggest money WWE can draw. That helps Reigns go on this path to becoming a mega star and gives Bryan his run with the title that the WWE could really squeeze for everything it's worth while they can. Hey it's what most fans want. I fear that they damaged Bryan with the heel tactics and he's going to have lost some of the crowd in Tulsa because of it thought. They need the Reigns flip to endear Bryan again and slingshot him to the top baby again.
Until next time....
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