Last night was an interesting night to say the least. It's the first time in a while that I really enjoyed the show from start to finish. I also mildly enjoyed the Stone Cold Podcast. That's a tough situation for both Steve and Hunter to be in honestly. They had so much they could have talked about, but it got sprayed around over so many different topics. In any event here are a few takeaways I thought were worth noting.
The crowd didn't boo Reigns out of the building, but he got made to look like a complete ass. I'm not sure WWE is doing the wrong thing here by putting the shot on the line, but again execution is everything. Having Reigns fall into a trap and then having Bryan act somewhat heel like didn't do either guy any favors. That exchange could have been done better to help both guys. Beating Reigns was senseless. He was mad enough and didn't need that pin to stir him up even more. WWE has to stop pinning everyone. Even off interference it hurts perception.
WWE is making this move and admitting to there mistake if Bryan beats Reigns because obviously this was not the plan. I think what those against this need to realize is WWE probably had to look back at the Rumble and realize how much praise they got for that Triple Threat and then wonder how is Reigns Lesnar going to come close to that? Reigns doesn't have the work rate for it so it's like impossible to book that successful and the match might get booed out of the building if he wins. Remember Lesnar is got a baby face following going. Only an underdog is going to get those fans off him. That surely isn't Reigns.
I think at this point you flip Reigns either leading up to or after the match that Bryan should win. Give him a run as a heel to develop his character and improve his work. Also, this company is loaded with faces and it would inject some options into their legit heels. Even if the crowd is starting to get behind him a little bit, or at least last nights crowd did, they need to realize that will only make the turn better.
The bottom line is that if Reigns loses and stays face I don't think they are doing him any favors. People are hot for Bryan right now. WWE needs to watch how they have him approaching this angle and his future dialogue so the perception on Bryan doesn't change. For those suggesting that maybe Bryan turning would be cool, I say no shot at this point. He's exposed as being to nice a guy.
The main event and the Cesaro match were the two best of the night for me. Give Jimmy Uso credit and the booker of that match credit. The finish was really good. The next natural step is to give the USO's some kind of win, probably in a mix tag and then let Cesaro and Kidd win the belts off them at Fast Lane. The stage was set by Cesaro yelling at Nattie for her to screw up a mixed tag.
The last match of the night is why Bryan gets so much love. He puts on a insanely good matches and that fact only gets amplified when he works with someone as good as Rollins. This is something WWE needs to realize. Good matches happen when both guys can work. That's why Reigns Lensar scares me a lot.
Stardust and Goldust are breaking up and that's totally fine. I only wonder if they will bring Cody back or continue to push Stardust. I really like what they are doing here and they deserve a Mania match. If that is the curtain call for Goldust then he has earned it.
Mizdow and Miz are finally showing real cracks. This whole thing has simmered long enough. I just hope they have a good plan for Mizdow after this feud. Honestly I think they could do a few months where Mizdow tries to play a better version of Miz.
So then there was the Stone Cold Podcast. Here's the thing about these. Austin wouldn't have handled this podcast the same way if it was just on his show. He's excellent at what he does and he was really good for the first 30 minutes of this interview, but it was like trying to cram 5 lbs of shit in a 10 lb bag. WWE has some say in how this goes, don't kid yourself. Why they don't make it a two hour show on a network that they control is beyond me. I would love to just hear these two guys BS about things. It doesn't all have to be about the product. I felt like they only got a chance to really breathe in the closing 10 minutes or so.
Also, it's ridiculous for anyone to think that HHH is going to say something that makes himself look really bad or feeds the hatred there is out there for him. He's not going to say that he hates CM Punk and his real feelings. There's no money in that. If that was something they did if Punk ever came back then totally different story.
The farthest he towed the line was when he spoke about Chyna. In reality if we are looking back at things people did in their past then let's look back at some of the stuff HHH did and address the fact that he dated her for a long time and probably supported all the surgeries she had. I mean we all know what the SUCK IT chants represents.
Again I'll defend him because that was a tough spot, but he didn't completely dodge it. He did dodge a lot of questions and probably most noticeably the Undertaker, but Steve didn't hit him with the simple follow up like just give me a yes or no. I think that was Steve's major failing. He didn't hit him with hard follow ups. That's where you would get some really interesting stuff. It's knock on Steve, but also probably part of the deal when doing this with WWE involved.
Not to harp on that too much, but I would have liked the follow with Punk to have been something like do you understand why he left? Or why did you call him before his wedding? What did you want to talk about? I think that could have been interesting.
Overall it's just never going to be what people want it to be. If we ever truly want to get a sense for what HHH is really like it will take someone like Shane McMahon shooting on him. I think that HHH is a polarizing figure. He's very ambitious, he's not near as good as he thinks he was, or as big as he was pushed, but he's still pretty good. I have personally blamed him for a lot of the WWE's failings since 2002 because I felt like he didn't want to step aside and let other shine and there are lots of accounts to back that up.
That being said maybe he's just not my cup a tea. I think the biggest issue I have with him is that he really protects himself in the Authority roll and hardly does anything to really help another talent involved in the angle. Steph is guilty of this too. Sure we want to keep the Authority hated, but not so much that guys like Ziggler and Rybak can't gain something from it. It's been almost a year and a half and we barely have seen anyone get the better of them. Remember even Bryan was booked to fail against them until plans changed.
I think ultimately HHH in front of the camera is a bad thing. When he was face COO he once had all the heels in the ring and came out to individually run them all down. Yes it was a legit segment and it did all those guys no favors. When he was heel COO on multiple occasions he made the entire roster, or all mid carders, stand on the stage while he belittled them. Those situations can't be unseen. They happened and they again did no one any favors. So ultimately HHH needs to get and stay behind the camera.
He made some excellent points about how he would improve the show and I can't say that I don't think the WWE would be a better place with him behind the scenes in charge. I think some would worry that he might play favorites, but if those favorites are the top guys in NXT right now then hey I'm all for it. So, as much as I dislike HHH, and believe me I disdain the man, I realize that he probably deserves a chance to run the show.
I really figure what's the worst that can happen in many ways. Unless he decides to stay in front of the camera and constantly put himself over or worse tries to get the title I'm pretty sure he could be effective. I think Cena laid the seeds last night for the Authority to be ousted soon. A quick note on that. Cena's promo was interesting, but at the same time all over the place. It made me think heel in face clothing. No one deserves a break from being on TV for like 6 months more than John Cena.
What really won me over is the fact that he feels like angles need a slow burn. I totally agree with that way of thinking and have for a long time. Angles work better when the payoff is months off and we have our desire for it enhanced. Too often WWE gives it away too quickly.
I also agree that there's no reason that the Women's division can't be more entertaining and it's just booked poorly. I don't think the Bella's are bad or anyone beyond Cameron and Eva are terrible. I just think WWE puts so little effort into them that the perception is there for this. The effort in story telling here is below standard and that's not the performers fault.
Lastly I agree that Raw should be two hours, but if the network wants three a compromise needs to be struck. The first hour should be a studio recap show that looks at the shows from the prior week and hypes scheduled matches for Raw and Smackdown that week. Maybe a few backstage interviews would help as well. Probably not as high a ratings grab, but it involves way less booking and probably makes Smackdown a much better show for WWE.
So here's what I'm saying. HHH is going to get his chance one day regardless of what I think. Last night didn't change my opinion that he does self serve a bunch, but at this point I'm willing to put the past in the past and support the guy if he's going to run the company. If he flops then I'll hope somehow someone comes and does a better job. What I can agree on is the current product is never fully going to get where it needs to be with the current formula.
If that's Vince then it's Vince. The current formula of start and stop pushes, rushed matches, over scripted characters, and .500 record wrestles needs to change. Also the belief that WWE needs to somehow be Hollywood needs to stop. If HHH can execute that then he has my support.
I will close with this. HHH and many have pointed out that times have changed and fans don't like when certain guys get pushed. Fans are harder to please and there is not kayfabe. Well those statements to me are way off. First there is no kayfabe when you don't protect kayfabe. HHH and Steph constantly break character. The WWE launch was a huge example of this. If WWE put more effort into protecting Kayfabe then we would still have it, but they don't for selfish reasons.
Also, the only two fan angles that have been rejected were Batista and Reigns. That was all because of bad bad booking. Batista didn't want to be a face and WWE positioned him to be one. They wanted that for the Hollywood connection. They knew that movie was coming out and they wanted to ride that wave. Fans were invested in Daniel Bryan. So, don't let PPV buys and t-shirt sales sway you. WWE wanted to push Batista because he was in Guardians of the Galaxy.
This year WWE picked a guy that was bumbling over himself in promo's and barely wrestling matches to beat a guy that has the best promo man in the business out front for him and has delivered over the past year every time. They also had Bryan with the perfect story and the fans primed for him to get his belt back. You combine it with the Rumble being so poorly booked and all the efforts to over protect Reigns and yes you get your angle rejected.
This isn't the fans being smart this is the fans saving your ass. Fans reject angles all the time by not cheering or getting upset by what they are seeing on TV. Yet, WWE ignores them and plunges ahead. This was just an instance where fans really got pushed over the line. As I mentioned earlier WWE sees cross over appeal with Reigns while their fan base saw a guy who can't wrestle. It's a wrestling show so that's what fans want. They don't want movie stars.
If WWE thinks so highly of Reigns star power then why not have him make movies for the company and not win titles? The Rock made it in the movies because he's good in some of his roles. He got noticed because of his time in WWE, but he made it in WWE because he could WORK! So this notion that the fans are hard to please and are much smarter holds very little water. We will go along for the ride, but don't insult us the whole way.
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