It's fair to say that the WWE hasn't exactly been great in 2015. Most of the heat has been directed at WWE Creative and understandably so. 2015 has features pretty mediocre story lines that no one has really been able to get behind and support. However in 2016 there could be some brighter things on the horizon for WWE. Here's why...
It can't get any worse...
The WWE can't exactly get into a worse situation than it is right now. People are irritated with the product in its current state which is reflected in the viewing figures. This year for the first time in 19 years the show dropped below 3 million viewers. That would be understandable if they had some worthy competition, but they don't. If they had some meaningful competition maybe they would step up their game as without it they seem to have become complacent. All in all any change that WWE make in 2016 will be seen as a good move. It's not like they could make things any worse for people.
Roman Reigns is over...Sort of...
In the eyes of WWE, 2015 was Roman Reigns' time. In the eyes of the WWE Universe, it was not. Roman Reigns has been the man chosen to replace John Cena and has been given a major push since then. People don't agree however and they have rebelled against this. How dare they. Despite the major backlash WWE have continued to try and push Reigns and near the tail end of 2015 at TLC they seem to have succeeded to a certain extent making him the badass, no nonsense, ass kicking machine we all knew he should be portrayed as six months ago. Creative still can't seem to make their mind up however, making him switch between badass to bad joker. No one really likes the talkative, jokey Roman Reigns but they really enjoy the "I'll shut up and kick your ass" Roman Reigns although Creative still think that they can get us to love him. Good luck with that one then.
NXT Call ups...
Jordan and Gable, Enzo and Cass, Bayley, Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Asuka. All great wrestlers in NXT that we would love to see on the main roster, providing that they were booked properly of course. Getting called up to the main roster isn't exactly a promotion for some (Don't believe me? Go and Tweet The Ascension and see what they think) but seeing these guys on the main roster would be a great thing in 2016. Sami Zayn has already been seen on RAW in an awesome US Open Challenge match against John Cena so it's likely we will see him in 2016. The great thing about NXT is that if a few people are called up it doesn't affect the show. In 2015, Kevin Owens, Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch were all called up to RAW. Some of them have had more success than others but NXT has still thrived in their absence.
NXT forces RAW to work harder...
Staying with NXT, their continued excellent output on a regular basis is forcing the people behind Creative decisions on RAW to take notice. NXT has probably been a more enjoyable show to watch this year, how do you think that makes Vince McMahon feel? his precious RAW being outperformed by a show that is only on the WWE Network. Actually thinking about it probably pretty good seeing as it means people have to pay for the Network. Either way, RAW looks terrible in comparison to NXT and needs a lot of work to get back above the Full Sail Show.
Injury Returns...
To be fair the WWE there isn't much they could've done about this one. WWE has been shook by a wave of injuries this year. Sami Zayn, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Cesaro, Seth Rollins, Sting and Tyson Kidd. All of them suffered devastating injuries this year which has forced WWE to rethink and reshuffle in their absence. They will all be welcomed back in 2016 and rightfully so. The saying is true, you don't know what you have until its gone.
Continued push for womens wrestling...
The Diva's Revolution may have been a total failure and awful to watch so far but it represents something else on a larger scale. The WWE are pushing womens wrestling on a larger scale on RAW. On NXT the women are setting the standard and the WWE are finally starting to take notice and push women into proper 10-15 minute matches on RAW that actually mean something in the long run. Putting the belt on Charlotte was a good idea to begin with. Now all they need to do is get rid of the title and replace it with something that doesn't look like a badly constructed headpiece in a crap role playing game.
Thursday 31 December 2015
Tuesday 29 December 2015
What should Creative really be doing with the Big Show?
I'll start this off by admitting that I understand where the "Please Retire" chants are coming from when they're directed at Big Show. I don't agree with them, but I do understand the irritation that people have when they see the Big Show.
Last night on RAW during Miz there was an array of superstars who came out. All of them had a different impact, Zack Ryder especially got a big pop, however when the Big Show came there was a collective groan all over the world. People just don't want to see the Big Show anymore thus we have the "Please Retire" chants every time he's on our TV screens. Despite this, it doesn't matter how hard people want him to retire, it wont happen. He's sitting on a lucrative contract with WWE and to be fair, anyone else in his situation would do the same thing. Just because he has that big contract however, this doesn't mean that WWE can't use him properly.
Show is 43 and he's done pretty much all there is to do. So the fact that Creative still continue to book him as strong as they do is a mystery. Case in point is at Wrestlemania 31 in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. It's already a pretty pointless trophy to fill time at the moment but still, why have Big Show win it? what does he gain from it? nothing. Despite the fact that the trophy doesn't mean all that much (it should give someone a mid-card title match) they could've at least had someone different win it to give them some momentum. Bo Dallas or Jack Swagger for example. Most recently on the last episode of RAW in 2015 Big Show came to ring, kicked everyone out, and then walked away from Ryback during their match. This entire thing was completely confusing.
Being at the point in his career that he is, it's understandable that Creative have issues when booking the Big Show but it's actually pretty simple. Use him to put guys over. With the injuries they're suffering right now the WWE need some people to step up. Having people go over someone as large as the Big Show would give them much needed momentum. Chris Jericho would be an example of this. He barely wrestles anymore due to other commitments but when he does it's mainly to put other guys over.
When Superstars get older they get used less and less frequently. This is the case with many at the moment including Big Show, Kane and Mark Henry. None of these guys will win any points for going over the younger guys so let people go over them. When/If Finn Balor does eventually come up to the main roster having "The Demon" feud with Kane would be a believable angle.
My point is that the booking of Big Show is all wrong. Obviously he needs to win a feud now and then so that he doesn't look completely weak, but nine times out of ten guys should be going over him in order to gain credibility. At least that way Show is being used beneficially and not just hindering other people.
Last night on RAW during Miz there was an array of superstars who came out. All of them had a different impact, Zack Ryder especially got a big pop, however when the Big Show came there was a collective groan all over the world. People just don't want to see the Big Show anymore thus we have the "Please Retire" chants every time he's on our TV screens. Despite this, it doesn't matter how hard people want him to retire, it wont happen. He's sitting on a lucrative contract with WWE and to be fair, anyone else in his situation would do the same thing. Just because he has that big contract however, this doesn't mean that WWE can't use him properly.
Show is 43 and he's done pretty much all there is to do. So the fact that Creative still continue to book him as strong as they do is a mystery. Case in point is at Wrestlemania 31 in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. It's already a pretty pointless trophy to fill time at the moment but still, why have Big Show win it? what does he gain from it? nothing. Despite the fact that the trophy doesn't mean all that much (it should give someone a mid-card title match) they could've at least had someone different win it to give them some momentum. Bo Dallas or Jack Swagger for example. Most recently on the last episode of RAW in 2015 Big Show came to ring, kicked everyone out, and then walked away from Ryback during their match. This entire thing was completely confusing.
Being at the point in his career that he is, it's understandable that Creative have issues when booking the Big Show but it's actually pretty simple. Use him to put guys over. With the injuries they're suffering right now the WWE need some people to step up. Having people go over someone as large as the Big Show would give them much needed momentum. Chris Jericho would be an example of this. He barely wrestles anymore due to other commitments but when he does it's mainly to put other guys over.
When Superstars get older they get used less and less frequently. This is the case with many at the moment including Big Show, Kane and Mark Henry. None of these guys will win any points for going over the younger guys so let people go over them. When/If Finn Balor does eventually come up to the main roster having "The Demon" feud with Kane would be a believable angle.
My point is that the booking of Big Show is all wrong. Obviously he needs to win a feud now and then so that he doesn't look completely weak, but nine times out of ten guys should be going over him in order to gain credibility. At least that way Show is being used beneficially and not just hindering other people.
Tuesday 22 December 2015
RAW Review 21/12/2015
We had high hopes for RAW. Despite the fact that it was the Slammy awards and therefore almost certain that their would be more awards than matches we still thought that the WWE would continue their good work from last week. Oh how we were so wrong. Last week was the best episode of RAW in a long time. Last night? probably one of the worst in recent memory. Overall the show was disjointed and lacklustre. Living in England makes it difficult to stay up and watch RAW every Monday although it is a good gauge on how good an episode is. For example, last weeks RAW I had absolutely no trouble staying awake until RAW finished. I even watched an episode of Breaking Ground afterwards. Last night I was drifting in and out about 3 am.
The first thing that was bad about last nights RAW were the winners of the Slammy awards. Outside of ones such as Superstar Of The Year, Diva Of The Year and Rivalry Of The Year, most of the awards went to the wrong people. The biggest injustice was the fact that somehow The Usos managed to win Tag Team Of The Year, despite the fact they've been out for most of the year and New Day have been the best thing on RAW. Breakout Star was another that was completely wrong. Neville, while not having a horrible year, has had nowhere near as good a year as Kevin Owens who was rightly baffled that he didn't win. It's pretty obvious that our votes mean nothing so the whole concept of getting people involved in the voting to begin with is pretty pointless.
The show was pretty devoid of wrestling. There were a few matches here and there. Kane, The Dudleyz and Dreamer vs The Wyatts...again....with the exception of Rhyno who has evidently come to his senses and gone back up to NXT. The Wyatts need to look strong but if the WWE continue to book them against The Dudleyz this doesn't make them look strong, rather The Dudleyz look very weak. Kane's Pyrotechnics should never be spoken of after the terrible miscues.
Becky Lynch vs Brie Bella near the end of the show was also pretty meaningless. Becky picked up a win. That is pretty much all. Team B.A.D continue to just watch the matches instead of going to creative and demanding an explanation as to their piss poor booking for some reason. Everything about the women last night pretty much seemed like it was put there to kill another week before the Rumble instead of actually putting a convincing story-line in. Way to push women WWE! Someone needs to be held accountable for this.
In order for Roman Reigns to be liked by the WWE universe as a whole, WWE Creative need to make sure they don't book him like some sort of Superhuman freak. So what do they do? book him as a Superhuman freak. The League Of Nations did a good job of making themselves look like strong heels, beating down the likes of Swagger, Neville, The Usos and Dean Ambrose. They were very good, right up to the point where Reigns decided to get involved and decimate the entire group. I know that WWE are trying to make Roman Reigns look like a badass but come on really? 4 on 1 and he still takes them all down with relative ease. This makes everybody look bad and it's really the wrong way to go about things for Roman and the rest of The League Of Nations. No wonder the WWE are lacking top Heels if Reigns is going to make them all look like mid-carders.
Last week WWE managed to somehow provide us with an entire 3 hour show that was entertaining. Unfortunately all this week has managed to do is make it seem is that last week was simply a fluke and we'll be going back to lacklustre programming yet again. Maybe the quality will pickup once major stars start to come back.
The first thing that was bad about last nights RAW were the winners of the Slammy awards. Outside of ones such as Superstar Of The Year, Diva Of The Year and Rivalry Of The Year, most of the awards went to the wrong people. The biggest injustice was the fact that somehow The Usos managed to win Tag Team Of The Year, despite the fact they've been out for most of the year and New Day have been the best thing on RAW. Breakout Star was another that was completely wrong. Neville, while not having a horrible year, has had nowhere near as good a year as Kevin Owens who was rightly baffled that he didn't win. It's pretty obvious that our votes mean nothing so the whole concept of getting people involved in the voting to begin with is pretty pointless.
The show was pretty devoid of wrestling. There were a few matches here and there. Kane, The Dudleyz and Dreamer vs The Wyatts...again....with the exception of Rhyno who has evidently come to his senses and gone back up to NXT. The Wyatts need to look strong but if the WWE continue to book them against The Dudleyz this doesn't make them look strong, rather The Dudleyz look very weak. Kane's Pyrotechnics should never be spoken of after the terrible miscues.
Becky Lynch vs Brie Bella near the end of the show was also pretty meaningless. Becky picked up a win. That is pretty much all. Team B.A.D continue to just watch the matches instead of going to creative and demanding an explanation as to their piss poor booking for some reason. Everything about the women last night pretty much seemed like it was put there to kill another week before the Rumble instead of actually putting a convincing story-line in. Way to push women WWE! Someone needs to be held accountable for this.
In order for Roman Reigns to be liked by the WWE universe as a whole, WWE Creative need to make sure they don't book him like some sort of Superhuman freak. So what do they do? book him as a Superhuman freak. The League Of Nations did a good job of making themselves look like strong heels, beating down the likes of Swagger, Neville, The Usos and Dean Ambrose. They were very good, right up to the point where Reigns decided to get involved and decimate the entire group. I know that WWE are trying to make Roman Reigns look like a badass but come on really? 4 on 1 and he still takes them all down with relative ease. This makes everybody look bad and it's really the wrong way to go about things for Roman and the rest of The League Of Nations. No wonder the WWE are lacking top Heels if Reigns is going to make them all look like mid-carders.
Last week WWE managed to somehow provide us with an entire 3 hour show that was entertaining. Unfortunately all this week has managed to do is make it seem is that last week was simply a fluke and we'll be going back to lacklustre programming yet again. Maybe the quality will pickup once major stars start to come back.
Friday 18 December 2015
NXT London shows us all how it's done
Roman Reigns beat Sheamus to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion on Monday Night RAW. That is great. Pretty much the entirety of RAW was great. However, I watched NXT Takeover: London on the WWE Network (Which by the way is only 9.99 if you didn't know) on Wednesday and now I can hardly remember anything about what happened on Monday.
Takeover: London is exactly what sport is about, Passion. Every single one of the the people in attendance at the SSE Arena gave everything they had from the audience to the performers hell probably even the cameramen if that's possible. There wasn't a moment in which I wasn't completely entranced by what was happening on my TV screen. It was proof that wrestling outweighs entertainment.
The first thing that has to be said is that the crowd was magnificent. Anyone who's ever been to a football game in England knows that England crowds can cause quite a noise when they want to, and boy did they want to. Some of the chants on Wednesday night were some of the most creative you've ever heard. "Hey Bayley" was a particularly standout one but overall this crowd proves that the WWE need to expand their PPV's. No one has any interest in a PPV like Payback so why not just host it at Wembley? At that time next year England will be off preparing for the World Cup so just imagine the amount of noise that the crowd would make in a 90,000 seater stadium. Obviously they wouldn't be able to sell that many tickets but there's no reason they couldn't shut off the top row of seats and keep it confined.
All 5 of the matches were extremely entertaining. The pop that Enzo and Cass received when their music hit was awesome but every single one of the superstars got a pretty good reaction. Asuka showed which she's most likely next in line to hold the Women's Championship with her unique style of offense. It was a little disappointing from a fan Point of View to see Enzo and Cass lose, but credit to Dawson and Dash, they were excellent and showed great chemistry and psychology for a Tag Team. Maybe Enzo and Cass are close to a call up/down to RAW? The crowd were more noticeably quite for Corbin vs Crews but it was still an OK match nonetheless. Nia Jax vs Bayley played out perfectly. Jax was understandably cocky due to her physical presence but Bayley matched that with heart and a particularly fierce Guillotine. Not a nice hug for Nia. Finn Balor and Samoa Joe did what they do best. Wrestled a great match. Finn's body paint yet again adding to the drama. The whole thing with the doctors at the end, whether it was a work or they genuinely needed help was a great addition to show what a match it had been.
It was very difficult to come out of Wednesday night and find something wrong with NXT Takeover: London. Obviously Triple H appearing at the start has kind of smothered the story line with Roman Reigns a bit. He didn't exactly look like he was coughing up blood. But Wednesday wasn't about RAW. Wednesday night was about NXT and boy was it a great night to be a wrestling fan.
Takeover: London is exactly what sport is about, Passion. Every single one of the the people in attendance at the SSE Arena gave everything they had from the audience to the performers hell probably even the cameramen if that's possible. There wasn't a moment in which I wasn't completely entranced by what was happening on my TV screen. It was proof that wrestling outweighs entertainment.
The first thing that has to be said is that the crowd was magnificent. Anyone who's ever been to a football game in England knows that England crowds can cause quite a noise when they want to, and boy did they want to. Some of the chants on Wednesday night were some of the most creative you've ever heard. "Hey Bayley" was a particularly standout one but overall this crowd proves that the WWE need to expand their PPV's. No one has any interest in a PPV like Payback so why not just host it at Wembley? At that time next year England will be off preparing for the World Cup so just imagine the amount of noise that the crowd would make in a 90,000 seater stadium. Obviously they wouldn't be able to sell that many tickets but there's no reason they couldn't shut off the top row of seats and keep it confined.
All 5 of the matches were extremely entertaining. The pop that Enzo and Cass received when their music hit was awesome but every single one of the superstars got a pretty good reaction. Asuka showed which she's most likely next in line to hold the Women's Championship with her unique style of offense. It was a little disappointing from a fan Point of View to see Enzo and Cass lose, but credit to Dawson and Dash, they were excellent and showed great chemistry and psychology for a Tag Team. Maybe Enzo and Cass are close to a call up/down to RAW? The crowd were more noticeably quite for Corbin vs Crews but it was still an OK match nonetheless. Nia Jax vs Bayley played out perfectly. Jax was understandably cocky due to her physical presence but Bayley matched that with heart and a particularly fierce Guillotine. Not a nice hug for Nia. Finn Balor and Samoa Joe did what they do best. Wrestled a great match. Finn's body paint yet again adding to the drama. The whole thing with the doctors at the end, whether it was a work or they genuinely needed help was a great addition to show what a match it had been.
It was very difficult to come out of Wednesday night and find something wrong with NXT Takeover: London. Obviously Triple H appearing at the start has kind of smothered the story line with Roman Reigns a bit. He didn't exactly look like he was coughing up blood. But Wednesday wasn't about RAW. Wednesday night was about NXT and boy was it a great night to be a wrestling fan.
Tuesday 15 December 2015
Raw Review 14/12/15
So WWE have been largely criticized for the way they have managed to ruin the majority of 2015. But you have to give them credit when they do well. Yes it was pretty much a desperate move to try and garner some interest back but they did it well and the majority of the show overall was good viewing, at least I thought so.
The show opened with Stephanie McMahon doing what she does and just being generally annoying. Out comes Roman Reigns to a pretty OK reaction. They did well to limit Reigns time on the mic to less than what they have done in previous weeks. Playing to your strengths is obviously a difficult thing to understand for some. Steph announces that Vince McMahon is on his way to try and save the ratings not unlike New Day attempting to save the tables. Overall not a bad way to open the show but it didn't set the world alight.
Next was Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler and personally I was jumping around like a child inside when I saw Dean enter with the IC title. It's great to see the title around Deans waist and he put on a good match with Ziggler. KO interfered and hit Ambrose with two Popup Powerbombs as well as another to Ziggler. Good way to end the match because it makes Owens still look a little strong after his loss last night and sets up the feud to potentially go for a Triple Threat match.
This is where it started to get weird. R-Truth vs Bo Dallas on RAW? I had to check I wasn't watching an episode of superstars and yes they actually put this on RAW. At first it didn't make sense but then we see them cutting backstage to Vince arriving and interrupting this match and it all made sense from there. It wasn't great to be honest because they interrupted a match for the purpose of a more important story line. It doesn't matter how insignificant the match is, I hate it when this happens.
After a quick ad break Reigns comes down to the ring to meet McMahon (actually using the ramp this time which I thought made him look quite badass) they cut a promo and Sheamus comes out and the main event is announced. Reigns wins the title or gets fired. Not the worst main event ever because it keeps people entertained but the whole firing shtick is old. People know that they're just going to return in a couple of weeks if they do get fired.
The next two matches are in the same paragraph for a good reason. They were both meh. So far the show had been pretty good but then came Swagger and Ryback vs Del Rio and Rusev as well as Tyler Breeze vs Neville. These matches just felt like they were there to kill time, yet another indication of the fact that the show needs to be two hours. There was part of a story developing between Miz and Neville but it was average at best.
I hate when you get rematches of matches that just happened the night before on PPV. I hate it. I really hate it. It just makes the match the night before seem completely pointless. On this occasion however the match wasn't half bad. This is probably because it was Philly, there were weapons and former ECW guys but it was still an entertaining match. Tommy Dreamer sold everything like he always does, as a pro, and they managed to avoid 50/50 booking and the Wyatts still look strong.
This next segment was just strange. The New Day came out as they normally do and they were very serious and offered an Olive branch to their TLC opponents, The Usos and The Lucha Dragons. It was all very nice and cuddly until they left and New Day went back to being New Day and danced around in the ring. The FACES then proceeded to attack the HEELS and lay them out in the ring. Since when did it become a good thing to beat up people 4 on 3? Not much sense and beating up poor defenseless unicorns is just wrong.
Becky and Charlotte vs Brie and Alicia Fox was next and this was a let down for me. The match itself wasn't bad but you've got Sasha Banks standing in the crowd watching. People want Sasha involved but the WWE are holding her off for some reason. Ric Flair got involved in the match, AGAIN. It's understandable that he's Charlotte's father and he has to be involved somehow but having interfere with the matches time and time again just keeps the focus on him and not the women, which is where the focus should solely be. The women won't be able to start progressing properly until all outside interference's from anyone are banished and they just have wrestling matches. For example Becky vs Sasha on the TLC pre-show was a good show of ability, but Team B.A.D just ruined the whole thing by continuously getting involved and making Sasha look weak.
The main event. Roman vs Sheamus. It was a pretty good main event. Not amazing but by no means was it terrible. The League of Nations came out to try and assist Sheamus and Del Rio proceeded to get Superman Punched into oblivion followed shortly by Rusev. This just made the League look weak. A nice false finish after Sheamus' Brogue kick to Roman and after Superman Punching a 70 year old man, Roman Spears Sheamus and wins the title. We all knew it would happen eventually and having a WWE title change hands on RAW is a good change for the show. People will be interested to see where it goes from here. Reigns got a very good reception from the Philadelphia crowd. The same crowd that completely boo'ed him and The Rock out of the building at the start of the year. The WWE are finally starting to book Reigns correctly as a guy who does less talking and just destroys people. However they have to be careful not to book him like a superhuman freak like Cena is now. They need to keep it believable.
Overall, while some of the segments tonight were obviously just attempts at trying to garner higher ratings. They were thorougly entertaining and I enjoyed the majority of RAW for the first time in a little while. Living in England and watching RAW from 1 am 'till 4 am in the morning makes it difficult to stay awake when the content is dreadful but that wasn't the case last night. My eyes were wide awake and I even managed to get through the newest episode of Breaking Ground afterwards. Good Job WWE.
The show opened with Stephanie McMahon doing what she does and just being generally annoying. Out comes Roman Reigns to a pretty OK reaction. They did well to limit Reigns time on the mic to less than what they have done in previous weeks. Playing to your strengths is obviously a difficult thing to understand for some. Steph announces that Vince McMahon is on his way to try and save the ratings not unlike New Day attempting to save the tables. Overall not a bad way to open the show but it didn't set the world alight.
Next was Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler and personally I was jumping around like a child inside when I saw Dean enter with the IC title. It's great to see the title around Deans waist and he put on a good match with Ziggler. KO interfered and hit Ambrose with two Popup Powerbombs as well as another to Ziggler. Good way to end the match because it makes Owens still look a little strong after his loss last night and sets up the feud to potentially go for a Triple Threat match.
This is where it started to get weird. R-Truth vs Bo Dallas on RAW? I had to check I wasn't watching an episode of superstars and yes they actually put this on RAW. At first it didn't make sense but then we see them cutting backstage to Vince arriving and interrupting this match and it all made sense from there. It wasn't great to be honest because they interrupted a match for the purpose of a more important story line. It doesn't matter how insignificant the match is, I hate it when this happens.
After a quick ad break Reigns comes down to the ring to meet McMahon (actually using the ramp this time which I thought made him look quite badass) they cut a promo and Sheamus comes out and the main event is announced. Reigns wins the title or gets fired. Not the worst main event ever because it keeps people entertained but the whole firing shtick is old. People know that they're just going to return in a couple of weeks if they do get fired.
The next two matches are in the same paragraph for a good reason. They were both meh. So far the show had been pretty good but then came Swagger and Ryback vs Del Rio and Rusev as well as Tyler Breeze vs Neville. These matches just felt like they were there to kill time, yet another indication of the fact that the show needs to be two hours. There was part of a story developing between Miz and Neville but it was average at best.
I hate when you get rematches of matches that just happened the night before on PPV. I hate it. I really hate it. It just makes the match the night before seem completely pointless. On this occasion however the match wasn't half bad. This is probably because it was Philly, there were weapons and former ECW guys but it was still an entertaining match. Tommy Dreamer sold everything like he always does, as a pro, and they managed to avoid 50/50 booking and the Wyatts still look strong.
This next segment was just strange. The New Day came out as they normally do and they were very serious and offered an Olive branch to their TLC opponents, The Usos and The Lucha Dragons. It was all very nice and cuddly until they left and New Day went back to being New Day and danced around in the ring. The FACES then proceeded to attack the HEELS and lay them out in the ring. Since when did it become a good thing to beat up people 4 on 3? Not much sense and beating up poor defenseless unicorns is just wrong.
Becky and Charlotte vs Brie and Alicia Fox was next and this was a let down for me. The match itself wasn't bad but you've got Sasha Banks standing in the crowd watching. People want Sasha involved but the WWE are holding her off for some reason. Ric Flair got involved in the match, AGAIN. It's understandable that he's Charlotte's father and he has to be involved somehow but having interfere with the matches time and time again just keeps the focus on him and not the women, which is where the focus should solely be. The women won't be able to start progressing properly until all outside interference's from anyone are banished and they just have wrestling matches. For example Becky vs Sasha on the TLC pre-show was a good show of ability, but Team B.A.D just ruined the whole thing by continuously getting involved and making Sasha look weak.
The main event. Roman vs Sheamus. It was a pretty good main event. Not amazing but by no means was it terrible. The League of Nations came out to try and assist Sheamus and Del Rio proceeded to get Superman Punched into oblivion followed shortly by Rusev. This just made the League look weak. A nice false finish after Sheamus' Brogue kick to Roman and after Superman Punching a 70 year old man, Roman Spears Sheamus and wins the title. We all knew it would happen eventually and having a WWE title change hands on RAW is a good change for the show. People will be interested to see where it goes from here. Reigns got a very good reception from the Philadelphia crowd. The same crowd that completely boo'ed him and The Rock out of the building at the start of the year. The WWE are finally starting to book Reigns correctly as a guy who does less talking and just destroys people. However they have to be careful not to book him like a superhuman freak like Cena is now. They need to keep it believable.
Overall, while some of the segments tonight were obviously just attempts at trying to garner higher ratings. They were thorougly entertaining and I enjoyed the majority of RAW for the first time in a little while. Living in England and watching RAW from 1 am 'till 4 am in the morning makes it difficult to stay awake when the content is dreadful but that wasn't the case last night. My eyes were wide awake and I even managed to get through the newest episode of Breaking Ground afterwards. Good Job WWE.
Saturday 12 December 2015
Why Enzo and Cass should be brought up to the main roster
The New Day are easily the best thing in WWE right now. Everyone thinks so, even the people backstage which is evident from the increased number of segments that they're involved in. Despite this however, New Day don't really have a legitimate stable to feud with. Enter, Enzo and Cass.
Then there's the benefits to Enzo and Cass. They're extremely popular. Enzo is great on the microphone and proved recently that they can be more than just a comedy act. Carmella is a great part of it too but i'd prefer to see her stay in NXT. Not because she's bad by any stretch, just because I think a feud beteween her and close friend Bayley would be a good watch. They undoubtedly make the money men backstage happy as well with the amount of merch that they are able to shift. Losing Enzo and Cass wouldn't even be a big hit for NXT. Yes people would definetly miss them at Full Sail, but they have the equally entertaining teams of The Vaudevillains and Gable and Jordan.
Reading the reports on how NXTs live event in Newcastle went it's safe to say Enzo and Cass were pretty popular. They're one of NXTs most seasoned acts and bringing them up to feud with New Day would be perfect for all parties involved. To begin with, New Day over the past couple of months haven't really had a great team to go up against. They made their feud with The Dudleyz work as best they could and it seems that their beef with the Prime Time Players just vanished into the abyss. Now at TLC they face The Lucha Dragons and The Usos in a triple threat ladder match. On paper it may look like a potentially entertaining match, however it feels to me like its just been created to fill the card. Any rivalry has been put in the backseat to make way for the momentum less train that is Roman Reigns push to the top and it makes it difficult for The New Day to look like a legitimately good Tag Team Stable rather than just an entertaining gimmick.
Then there's the benefits to Enzo and Cass. They're extremely popular. Enzo is great on the microphone and proved recently that they can be more than just a comedy act. Carmella is a great part of it too but i'd prefer to see her stay in NXT. Not because she's bad by any stretch, just because I think a feud beteween her and close friend Bayley would be a good watch. They undoubtedly make the money men backstage happy as well with the amount of merch that they are able to shift. Losing Enzo and Cass wouldn't even be a big hit for NXT. Yes people would definetly miss them at Full Sail, but they have the equally entertaining teams of The Vaudevillains and Gable and Jordan.
Any way you look at it, this move makes sense for the WWE. The ratings are low so they need to make some changes to improve them. NXT wouldn't take a hit from losing two of their most veteran stars and both The New Day and Enzo and Cass would have great chemistry with each other, both in the ring and on the mic. Make it happen WWE.
Wednesday 9 December 2015
2015, Tables Ladders And Chairs Predictions
It's finally time for the last PPV of a lacklustre 2015 and to be honest it's not going to set the world on fire. It has potential for some particularly interesting matchups but I doubt that anyone is expecting anything amazing. So... which matches will provide us with some awesome entertainment.
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger (US Championship Chairs Match)
Alberto Del Rio's return to WWE was sudden and actually a surprise, however it has been pretty bad. He beats John Cena clean at Hell In A Cell 2 months ago but this is the first time he has defended the US title. Putting him in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament means that the US title has pretty much meant nothing. Cena must be furious inside. His MexAmerica gimmick with Zeb has been uninspiring but it looks like Swagger may reunite with Colter at TLC which will finally end that awful MexAmerican run. Del Rio winning here is the most obvious option from all angles and that looks to be the way that the WWE are going to take this. Cena will most likely be injected back into the US title picture when he returns from his break.
Del Rio to win.
Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match
With the return of The Usos and the sudden strange push for The Lucha Dragons, The Tag Team division is actually quite interesting all of a sudden. The New Day are far and away the most popular thing in the WWE at the moment and keeping the titles on them is probably the best thing to do. Having the titles on The Lucha Dragons could be a bit of a curveball but they don't have the mic skills to match New Day and RAW needs the New Day right now.
New Day to win.
The Wyatt Family vs Dudley Boyz, Dreamer and Rhyno (Table Match)
It seems like the WWE have some sort of problem with The Wyatt Family. Maybe Bray Wyatt proclaimed he would eat their children or something because the WWE seem dead set against pushing them. Losing to The Brothers Of Destruction was the wrong decision at Survivor Series. Yes it was 'takers anniversary but this made it an even better reason to put over Wyatt and start a streak. Wyatt and his family have been booked to lose so often that they just look weak. The WWE is in need of top heels right now but can't see that they have a great one right in front of them. Despite this it's more likely they will win than "Team Extreme" this time round. Team Extreme would gain nothing from winning here while The Wyatts would gain some precious momentum that they so desperately need.
The Wyatt Family to win.
Charlotte vs Paige (Divas Championship Match)
Considering the way that WWE has made this feud personal it's a surprise that this isn't a Tables match, it's not like they haven't done it before. They've made this feud very personal and honestly they haven't even done it very well. Despite that there is potential for this match to go either way. Charlotte's been teasing a Heel turn and Becky Lynch could play a potential part in this match. Personally I think Paige will walk out Champion. The WWE needs to switch this one up a bit and having Paige as champ means that they can take it any way they want. It means Charlotte can become the Heel and Paige can go back to being the Face.
Paige to win.
Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship Match)
This feud lacks any momentum due to the whole situation with the World title. It has the potential to be very good however. Kevin Owens is probably the top Heel on the roster right now and the belt will probably stay on him. It's a bit disappointing that this match isn't a ladder match or a TLC match as sparks would fly in that situation. Personally if Dean loses this match i'd like to see him put into the World title picture. Having the World title on Ambrose would be a great move as he's the most popular face on the roster right now.
Kevin Owens to win.
Sheamus vs Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Championship TLC Match)
Safe to say this has been a pretty poor feud. WWE has failed to find a good suitor for the WWE title since Seth Rollins' was sidelined and whichever man walks out champion will not be popular with anyone. Sheamus isn't over as a top Heel right now and fans are still refusing to take to Reigns. However time is probably running out for Reigns and Lesnar vs Reigns is the match I personally think will happen at WM32 so giving Reigns the title right now before the Rumble would be the best plan. People won't find Reigns as champion a popular decision but the WWE has to pull the trigger eventually. Beating Sheamus at TLC and the Rumble means that Lesnar could win the Rumble match and that feud would be started from there.
Reigns to win.
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger (US Championship Chairs Match)
Alberto Del Rio's return to WWE was sudden and actually a surprise, however it has been pretty bad. He beats John Cena clean at Hell In A Cell 2 months ago but this is the first time he has defended the US title. Putting him in the World Heavyweight Championship tournament means that the US title has pretty much meant nothing. Cena must be furious inside. His MexAmerica gimmick with Zeb has been uninspiring but it looks like Swagger may reunite with Colter at TLC which will finally end that awful MexAmerican run. Del Rio winning here is the most obvious option from all angles and that looks to be the way that the WWE are going to take this. Cena will most likely be injected back into the US title picture when he returns from his break.
Del Rio to win.
Triple Threat Tag Team Ladder Match
With the return of The Usos and the sudden strange push for The Lucha Dragons, The Tag Team division is actually quite interesting all of a sudden. The New Day are far and away the most popular thing in the WWE at the moment and keeping the titles on them is probably the best thing to do. Having the titles on The Lucha Dragons could be a bit of a curveball but they don't have the mic skills to match New Day and RAW needs the New Day right now.
New Day to win.
The Wyatt Family vs Dudley Boyz, Dreamer and Rhyno (Table Match)
It seems like the WWE have some sort of problem with The Wyatt Family. Maybe Bray Wyatt proclaimed he would eat their children or something because the WWE seem dead set against pushing them. Losing to The Brothers Of Destruction was the wrong decision at Survivor Series. Yes it was 'takers anniversary but this made it an even better reason to put over Wyatt and start a streak. Wyatt and his family have been booked to lose so often that they just look weak. The WWE is in need of top heels right now but can't see that they have a great one right in front of them. Despite this it's more likely they will win than "Team Extreme" this time round. Team Extreme would gain nothing from winning here while The Wyatts would gain some precious momentum that they so desperately need.
The Wyatt Family to win.
Charlotte vs Paige (Divas Championship Match)
Considering the way that WWE has made this feud personal it's a surprise that this isn't a Tables match, it's not like they haven't done it before. They've made this feud very personal and honestly they haven't even done it very well. Despite that there is potential for this match to go either way. Charlotte's been teasing a Heel turn and Becky Lynch could play a potential part in this match. Personally I think Paige will walk out Champion. The WWE needs to switch this one up a bit and having Paige as champ means that they can take it any way they want. It means Charlotte can become the Heel and Paige can go back to being the Face.
Paige to win.
Kevin Owens vs Dean Ambrose (Intercontinental Championship Match)
This feud lacks any momentum due to the whole situation with the World title. It has the potential to be very good however. Kevin Owens is probably the top Heel on the roster right now and the belt will probably stay on him. It's a bit disappointing that this match isn't a ladder match or a TLC match as sparks would fly in that situation. Personally if Dean loses this match i'd like to see him put into the World title picture. Having the World title on Ambrose would be a great move as he's the most popular face on the roster right now.
Kevin Owens to win.
Sheamus vs Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Championship TLC Match)
Safe to say this has been a pretty poor feud. WWE has failed to find a good suitor for the WWE title since Seth Rollins' was sidelined and whichever man walks out champion will not be popular with anyone. Sheamus isn't over as a top Heel right now and fans are still refusing to take to Reigns. However time is probably running out for Reigns and Lesnar vs Reigns is the match I personally think will happen at WM32 so giving Reigns the title right now before the Rumble would be the best plan. People won't find Reigns as champion a popular decision but the WWE has to pull the trigger eventually. Beating Sheamus at TLC and the Rumble means that Lesnar could win the Rumble match and that feud would be started from there.
Reigns to win.
Monday 7 December 2015
What the WWE got right in 2015
While there are plenty of things that the WWE has got wrong in 2015, and there is PLENTY of things that they've got wrong, it's not been all doom and gloom and there are a few things that have stood out from the lackluster content of this calendar year.
The United States Title...
Putting the title on Cena for the better part of 2015 has been a great move by the WWE. Not only has the US title become more of a worthy prize for a competitor to hold but it has also provide quality matches on otherwise uninspired episodes of Monday night RAW. Cena has put on great match after great match with people such as Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens on more than one occasion despite the fact that KO never competed in the open challenge, Neville and there are probably more that I missed. However since John Cena has taken an extended break they have put the strap on the returning Alberto Del Rio which has proved to be completely pointless. Del Rio hasn't defended once at the time of writing this and his first defense will probably be against the former champ who will just take it off him again. Del Rio's US title reign has been meaningless and undone a lot of the work that Cena has done all year. Despite this the US title has been a high point of WWE this year.
The New Day...
The New Day debuted in the tail end of 2014 and looked pretty aimless to be honest but 2015 has been New Day's year. Easily the most over act on the roster they have helped to take the focus off the other problems that the WWE are facing. Not only are the New Day hilarious to watch and listen but they're convincing in the ring and not to mention they have great merchandise. Who doesn't want a t-shirt with New Day riding a Unicorn on a Rainbow? despite New Day's awesome year they've suffered in November/December due to a long list of injuries and the group has been forced to pick up the slack. On the 30th November edition of RAW the New Day were in more segments than they should've been. Obviously watching the New Day is hilarious but watching too much New Day is like eating too much chocolate. You want to do it but when you do you kind of get sick of it.
Kevin Owens...
Similarly to the New Day, KO has had a great year. NXT champion and Intercontinental champion is a great first year for the man. He's arguably been the company's best Heel all year in both NXT and on RAW. He beat John Cena in his first match on the main roster which is a feat in itself despite the fact that he then went on to lose twice to Cena. Kevin Owens has been one of WWE's brightest sparks in 2015 and hopefully we'll see him in the world title picture next year.
The situation with womens wrestling...
Yes, the Diva's Revolution was an absolute train wreck upon a plane crash but some of the womens wrestling in 2015 has been amazing. This has mainly been confided to NXT but still it has been great to watch. The two main standout matches were between Sasha Banks and Bayley. Both were brilliant matches and even Match Of The Year contenders up there with the likes of Rollins vs Cena vs Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Despite the failure of the women so far on the main roster watching them on NXT is great and hopefully there will be even more in 2016.
NXT...
It's not just womens wrestling in NXT that's been great but the entire show in general has been arguably better to watch than RAW at times. Maybe it's because NXT has that perfect balance of Promos and Wrestling or maybe the quality is just better but whatever it is, it's working. Maybe RAW can learn a thing or two from NXT. Imagine 1 hour RAW shows, crazy right...
The United States Title...
Putting the title on Cena for the better part of 2015 has been a great move by the WWE. Not only has the US title become more of a worthy prize for a competitor to hold but it has also provide quality matches on otherwise uninspired episodes of Monday night RAW. Cena has put on great match after great match with people such as Dean Ambrose, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens on more than one occasion despite the fact that KO never competed in the open challenge, Neville and there are probably more that I missed. However since John Cena has taken an extended break they have put the strap on the returning Alberto Del Rio which has proved to be completely pointless. Del Rio hasn't defended once at the time of writing this and his first defense will probably be against the former champ who will just take it off him again. Del Rio's US title reign has been meaningless and undone a lot of the work that Cena has done all year. Despite this the US title has been a high point of WWE this year.
The New Day...
The New Day debuted in the tail end of 2014 and looked pretty aimless to be honest but 2015 has been New Day's year. Easily the most over act on the roster they have helped to take the focus off the other problems that the WWE are facing. Not only are the New Day hilarious to watch and listen but they're convincing in the ring and not to mention they have great merchandise. Who doesn't want a t-shirt with New Day riding a Unicorn on a Rainbow? despite New Day's awesome year they've suffered in November/December due to a long list of injuries and the group has been forced to pick up the slack. On the 30th November edition of RAW the New Day were in more segments than they should've been. Obviously watching the New Day is hilarious but watching too much New Day is like eating too much chocolate. You want to do it but when you do you kind of get sick of it.
Kevin Owens...
Similarly to the New Day, KO has had a great year. NXT champion and Intercontinental champion is a great first year for the man. He's arguably been the company's best Heel all year in both NXT and on RAW. He beat John Cena in his first match on the main roster which is a feat in itself despite the fact that he then went on to lose twice to Cena. Kevin Owens has been one of WWE's brightest sparks in 2015 and hopefully we'll see him in the world title picture next year.
The situation with womens wrestling...
Yes, the Diva's Revolution was an absolute train wreck upon a plane crash but some of the womens wrestling in 2015 has been amazing. This has mainly been confided to NXT but still it has been great to watch. The two main standout matches were between Sasha Banks and Bayley. Both were brilliant matches and even Match Of The Year contenders up there with the likes of Rollins vs Cena vs Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. Despite the failure of the women so far on the main roster watching them on NXT is great and hopefully there will be even more in 2016.
NXT...
It's not just womens wrestling in NXT that's been great but the entire show in general has been arguably better to watch than RAW at times. Maybe it's because NXT has that perfect balance of Promos and Wrestling or maybe the quality is just better but whatever it is, it's working. Maybe RAW can learn a thing or two from NXT. Imagine 1 hour RAW shows, crazy right...
Saturday 5 December 2015
What the WWE got wrong in 2015
It's fair to say that 2015 hasn't exactly been the most amazing year in the WWE. That's not to say that it has been completely awful because it hasn't. But most people know that there has been backlash all over the place as to the way that WWE as a whole is being run. The main evidence of this is obviously the RAW ratings which are lower than they've ever been. The performance overall this year by the WWE has been largely slacking and there are many reasons why, beginning in january...
The Royal Rumble Match...
Not many people wanted Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble so who did the WWE book to win? Roman Reigns of course. Vinnie Mac is determined to make Roman Reigns the "guy". Reigns won the Rumble and was greeted with noticeable boos from the crowd. Even The Rock couldn't salvage the result as the crowd continued to boo. People wanted Daniel Bryan and they got Roman Reigns instead and it made WWE put the brakes on their major push for Reigns.
Over reliance on Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker...
WWE are lacking stars. It's simple as that. Because of this the WWE has had to call on their part timers to try and bear some of the load of 2015. The feud between Brock and 'taker, while it wasn't awful, just felt like a rehashed feud for the sake of distracting from the fact that they don't really have anyone who can match the star status of guys like John Cena. Looking into 2016 with bad injuries to Seth Rollins, Cesaro and Randy Orton it doesn't exactly look to be all sunshines and rainbows in the near future.
King of the Ring...
This was dreadful. in 1996 the KOTR tournament was the beginning of one of the most memorable quotes of all time, "Austin 3:16 says I just whupped yer ass". In 2015 it wasn't even worth watching. Half of it was broadcast on RAW and half was broadcast on the WWE Network. The matches weren't great and there was absolutely no point to the tournament. Winning the tournament has meant nothing to Wade Barrett who continues to wallow in a poor midcard role despite headlining PPV's with John Cena and Randy Orton in the tail end of 2015 and this whole tournament was a complete waste of the audiences time and the competitors time.
The Divas Revolution...
Anyone with any common sense can tell that the WWE has completely messed up the womens situation in 2015. Thanks to continuously strong performances from all the women in NXT the main roster soon took note and a "Divas revolution" began. And then it ended. Almost immediately. 3 teams of 3 meant that people were going to be left out and too many were. The focus has been almost completely on Charlotte, Nikki Bella and Paige. The entirety of Team B.A.D has been ignored. Natalya? ignored. Becky Lynch? ignored. It's been disjointed and ruined any hopes that people had that we could see good womens wrestling on the main roster any time soon.
Sheamus as Mr MITB...
I have nothing against Sheamus winning Money In The Bank. The problem I have is the fact that after he won the WWE didn't invest in him at all. He sat there for months with the briefcase until he was called upon to cash in at Survivor Series. Thanks to the booking he recieved Sheamus just feels like a champion who shouldn't be champion.
The return of Alberto Del Rio...
Del Rio's situation is very similar to Sheamus'. His surprise return at Hell In A Cell resulted in him cleaning beating John Cena, a very rare occurence, for the US championship but since that he's done nothing of note. His storyline with Zeb Colter as part of MexAmerica is rubbish and he's hasn't even defended the US title yet. John Cena has spent the majority of 2015 trying to make the US title mean something and having the strap on Del Rio, while it could be a good thing, has been the wrong move and when Cena returns the best thing to do is give it back to him.
The Intercontinental Title...
While Cena has spent the majority of 2015 elevating the US title in regular open challenges and matches against the likes of Rollins and Owens, the Intercontinental title hasn't really done anything. The idea was to give it to Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania in order to try and mirror the Cena effect on the US title but Bryan had to vacate due to injuries and since then it's just been played with like a child's toy. In fairness the belt is now on Kevin Owens which makes it a little more prestigious but for the majority of 2015 its meant nothing to anyone.
The WWE World championship tournament...
This is the most irksome of all of the issues for me. While Seth Rollins injury was a terrible thing especially at this time the WWE had a chance to really shake things up with the WWE championship tournament. They had the chance to showcase talent that hadn't really been given a chance before this. Instead from the get-go it was boring and completely predictable that Roman Reigns would win the Title. Roman Reigns vs Cesaro in the quarter finals was a great match but apart from that their wasn't really anything for fans to sink their teeth into. Having Owens and Del Rio in the tournament made the titles they held just seem completely meaningless compared to the WWE championship which was a poor decision. Everyone already knew who was going to win each match which made the tournament pointless and a waste of time.
In short 2015 has been a large disappointment from both the point of view of the fans and from the WWE creative team. Obviously the WWE isn't completely going down the toilet but it's certainly been lacking and the company seriously needs to get their act together in order to seal the sinking ship.
The Royal Rumble Match...
Not many people wanted Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble so who did the WWE book to win? Roman Reigns of course. Vinnie Mac is determined to make Roman Reigns the "guy". Reigns won the Rumble and was greeted with noticeable boos from the crowd. Even The Rock couldn't salvage the result as the crowd continued to boo. People wanted Daniel Bryan and they got Roman Reigns instead and it made WWE put the brakes on their major push for Reigns.
Over reliance on Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker...
WWE are lacking stars. It's simple as that. Because of this the WWE has had to call on their part timers to try and bear some of the load of 2015. The feud between Brock and 'taker, while it wasn't awful, just felt like a rehashed feud for the sake of distracting from the fact that they don't really have anyone who can match the star status of guys like John Cena. Looking into 2016 with bad injuries to Seth Rollins, Cesaro and Randy Orton it doesn't exactly look to be all sunshines and rainbows in the near future.
King of the Ring...
This was dreadful. in 1996 the KOTR tournament was the beginning of one of the most memorable quotes of all time, "Austin 3:16 says I just whupped yer ass". In 2015 it wasn't even worth watching. Half of it was broadcast on RAW and half was broadcast on the WWE Network. The matches weren't great and there was absolutely no point to the tournament. Winning the tournament has meant nothing to Wade Barrett who continues to wallow in a poor midcard role despite headlining PPV's with John Cena and Randy Orton in the tail end of 2015 and this whole tournament was a complete waste of the audiences time and the competitors time.
The Divas Revolution...
Anyone with any common sense can tell that the WWE has completely messed up the womens situation in 2015. Thanks to continuously strong performances from all the women in NXT the main roster soon took note and a "Divas revolution" began. And then it ended. Almost immediately. 3 teams of 3 meant that people were going to be left out and too many were. The focus has been almost completely on Charlotte, Nikki Bella and Paige. The entirety of Team B.A.D has been ignored. Natalya? ignored. Becky Lynch? ignored. It's been disjointed and ruined any hopes that people had that we could see good womens wrestling on the main roster any time soon.
Sheamus as Mr MITB...
I have nothing against Sheamus winning Money In The Bank. The problem I have is the fact that after he won the WWE didn't invest in him at all. He sat there for months with the briefcase until he was called upon to cash in at Survivor Series. Thanks to the booking he recieved Sheamus just feels like a champion who shouldn't be champion.
The return of Alberto Del Rio...
Del Rio's situation is very similar to Sheamus'. His surprise return at Hell In A Cell resulted in him cleaning beating John Cena, a very rare occurence, for the US championship but since that he's done nothing of note. His storyline with Zeb Colter as part of MexAmerica is rubbish and he's hasn't even defended the US title yet. John Cena has spent the majority of 2015 trying to make the US title mean something and having the strap on Del Rio, while it could be a good thing, has been the wrong move and when Cena returns the best thing to do is give it back to him.
The Intercontinental Title...
While Cena has spent the majority of 2015 elevating the US title in regular open challenges and matches against the likes of Rollins and Owens, the Intercontinental title hasn't really done anything. The idea was to give it to Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania in order to try and mirror the Cena effect on the US title but Bryan had to vacate due to injuries and since then it's just been played with like a child's toy. In fairness the belt is now on Kevin Owens which makes it a little more prestigious but for the majority of 2015 its meant nothing to anyone.
The WWE World championship tournament...
This is the most irksome of all of the issues for me. While Seth Rollins injury was a terrible thing especially at this time the WWE had a chance to really shake things up with the WWE championship tournament. They had the chance to showcase talent that hadn't really been given a chance before this. Instead from the get-go it was boring and completely predictable that Roman Reigns would win the Title. Roman Reigns vs Cesaro in the quarter finals was a great match but apart from that their wasn't really anything for fans to sink their teeth into. Having Owens and Del Rio in the tournament made the titles they held just seem completely meaningless compared to the WWE championship which was a poor decision. Everyone already knew who was going to win each match which made the tournament pointless and a waste of time.
In short 2015 has been a large disappointment from both the point of view of the fans and from the WWE creative team. Obviously the WWE isn't completely going down the toilet but it's certainly been lacking and the company seriously needs to get their act together in order to seal the sinking ship.
Thursday 3 December 2015
WWE Creative must utilise the Wyatt Family more effectively
Simply put The Wyatt Family must go over The Dudley Boyz at TLC on December 13th. To say that The Wyatts have been poorly booked is an understatement. Bray Wyatt and his brethren have lost feuds against John Cena, Daniel Bryan, The Undertaker, The Undertaker (again), Roman Reigns and pretty much everyone else. This needs to change, starting with them going over The Dudleyz at the TLC PPV.
With The Undertaker most likely on his final lap with the WWE the company now needs a new creepy almost supernatural entity in their ranks. Now while Bray Wyatt is obviously no Undertaker he is, as he claims, the new face of fear, and the creative team needs to start booking him as such. Right now the WWE are lacking severely in top Heels while they have Bray Wyatt and his brethren just sitting there. Instead of them wallowing in mid-card roles have them go for titles because the fact that Bray Wyatt hasn't held a championship on RAW yet is bemusing.
Now obviously the WWE can't just insert Bray Wyatt into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture because A) writing that would be a difficult task and it's not like the creative team needs anything else on their plate and B) Absolutely nobody wants to see Bray Wyatt in a feud with Roman Reigns again. So instead of that they should start slow. Have them beat The Dudley Boyz at TLC and then move on to fresh meat, say Startdust and the Ascension or "The Cosmic Wasteland" as they like to be called. Dismantling a group that consider themselves supervillains would be a good move for the Wyatt Family as it makes them look a little stronger. Keep them on a winning streak and make them look strong and then after a few months, say the second PPV of the new WWE calendar year, have them go over everyone's favorite stable The New Day (by the way, New Day should be the champions until now because New Day rocks) adding titles to an already strongly booked group makes them look even stronger. Now is the time for Bray to becomes the WWE's face of fear. Have him win the WWE WHC at the PPV off whoever happens to have it, preferably someone who hasn't been in a feud with Wyatt before if there actually is anyone left. Now you have a strong stable with gold around their waist and the creative team can take it wherever they want from there.
There are so many angles that the WWE can take with the Wyatt Family to make them look strong but for some reason they seem to keep making them roll over for their opponents. No wonder the WWE is lacking in top heels when they refuse to actually let their heels win.
With The Undertaker most likely on his final lap with the WWE the company now needs a new creepy almost supernatural entity in their ranks. Now while Bray Wyatt is obviously no Undertaker he is, as he claims, the new face of fear, and the creative team needs to start booking him as such. Right now the WWE are lacking severely in top Heels while they have Bray Wyatt and his brethren just sitting there. Instead of them wallowing in mid-card roles have them go for titles because the fact that Bray Wyatt hasn't held a championship on RAW yet is bemusing.
Now obviously the WWE can't just insert Bray Wyatt into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture because A) writing that would be a difficult task and it's not like the creative team needs anything else on their plate and B) Absolutely nobody wants to see Bray Wyatt in a feud with Roman Reigns again. So instead of that they should start slow. Have them beat The Dudley Boyz at TLC and then move on to fresh meat, say Startdust and the Ascension or "The Cosmic Wasteland" as they like to be called. Dismantling a group that consider themselves supervillains would be a good move for the Wyatt Family as it makes them look a little stronger. Keep them on a winning streak and make them look strong and then after a few months, say the second PPV of the new WWE calendar year, have them go over everyone's favorite stable The New Day (by the way, New Day should be the champions until now because New Day rocks) adding titles to an already strongly booked group makes them look even stronger. Now is the time for Bray to becomes the WWE's face of fear. Have him win the WWE WHC at the PPV off whoever happens to have it, preferably someone who hasn't been in a feud with Wyatt before if there actually is anyone left. Now you have a strong stable with gold around their waist and the creative team can take it wherever they want from there.
There are so many angles that the WWE can take with the Wyatt Family to make them look strong but for some reason they seem to keep making them roll over for their opponents. No wonder the WWE is lacking in top heels when they refuse to actually let their heels win.
Tuesday 1 December 2015
How badly has the WWE screwed up the "Divas Revolution"
Watching Sasha Banks vs Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn and TakeOver: Respect was the some of the most fun I've had watching womens wrestling in the WWE. The match was awesome, the crowd was loving it and making it feel excellent and best of all they were allowed to go out to the ring and just show how talented they were. So like most, when Charlotte, Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks were all called up to the main roster it seemed like a great time to be a wrestling fan in general as it looked like the women were finally going to get a major push. So almost four and a half months later, what's changed? unfortunately not much. The WWE in general has really failed to give the newly promoted divas any sort of momentum and the so called "Divas Revolution" has sort of fizzled out for more than one reason.
That god awful championship belt...
I know that i'm not the only one who thinks this and how it is still around I have no idea but the fact that they still have the Divas Championship instead of the old fashioned womens title is rubbish. To put it into perspective, One looks like it should legitimately be held by the top womens wrestler in the company, the other looks like a fashion accessory for someone on a red carpet event. If you need to think about which is which then shame on you indeed. And following on from that...Total Divas...
Ah yes, WWE's attempt at Reality TV. In fairness it isn't completely awful television because I'd probably watch it if I was just flicking through my TV set and nothing else was on. The only probably with Total Divas is that I genuinely cannot take any of the "Divas" on RAW seriously when I see them hanging around like friends on a TV show. Would you see that with the men? Think back to the rivalry between HBK and HHH. Yes they were best friends but their on screen rivalry was awesome. Would it have been as awesome if we saw them going fishing together or going out for a friendly round of drinks with the rest of the Kliq as a late night TV show?Poor Creative Storytelling
How are we as fans supposed to buy into womens wrestling if they have absolutely no background whatsoever? Charlotte is the prime example of this. She is a fantastic athlete and a talented wrestler in her own right but she's reduced to saying "woooo" and simply being the daughter of Ric Flair and nothing else. I can't invest in that as a fan. Charlotte isn't the only one. Is there any diva right now who has a good back story that they can build on? No. Becky Lynch has wrestled all over the globe, use that for crying out loud WWE! Sasha Banks is a huge Eddie Guerrero fan and cousin of one of the most famous Rap Artists in the world. How can you not use that? Their best shot at storytelling so far has been the crude use of the death of Charlotte's brother Reid. It was honestly very uncomfortable to watch.
Use the damn time space...
Saying that RAW is stuck in a rut right now is probably about right. The ratings are the lowest they have been in years and the company are struggling for ideas on how to get people to tune in to RAW consistently. It's funny how the answer is right in front of them isn't it? RAW is a three hour show. That gives the women more than enough time to go out and put on good matches as well as providing depth to their story lines so why does the WWE fail to do this? maybe it's a lack of confidence in the women or from the company to take a risk but it's not exactly like it can get any worse.. wait Sheamus is champion so yes it can probably get worse.
Poor old Natalya...
How can you not feel bad for Natalya? she's a member of one of the most prestigious wrestling families in the world but she can't even get on TV. Not only is she part of the great Hart family but she's also a very gifted wrestler in her own right. She is completely underutilized at the moment and the creative team need to rectify this.
Poor old Tamina...
The fact that Tamina is overlooked as well as Natalya is again ridiculous. Tamina is everything that pure wrestling fans want to see. Someone who isn't going to show off her body to gain a following but instead show off her talent inside the ring, that is if she ever gets a chance. It's very rare that Tamina is in the ring competing and the WWE needs to use her more often. Personally i'd love to see a Tamina vs Nia Jax vs Natalya match in the future sometime. Make it happen.
The Commentary...
The Commentary team have to play a major part in the failure of the divas revolution. The only one of the three commentators who even has a slight interest in whats going on when the divas are in the ring is JBL. If the commentators are invested and energised for the matchup then how on earth are people at home supposed to do the same. Dear WWE, please put Corey Graves on Commentary from here on out. Thanks.
That feud with Rusev and Dolph Ziggler...
This one may seem strange at first but it actually one of the main things I think has affected the divas division. On one side you have the talented women trying to make headway and on the other side you have Lana and Summer Rae. This isn't to say that they aren't talented but seeing them scratch and claw at each other like a couple of... well... DIVAS starts to eat away at the work the other women are doing. To make it even worse this terrible feud didn't even end up going anywhere after Lana's engagement was leaked via TMZ, Rusev and Summer Rae vs Dolph Ziggler and Lana in a mixed tag match would've been awesome right!?...
Not bring up Bayley...
Ah Bayley, the purest of pure babyfaces and arguably the most talented womens wrestler in the company right now. Obviously Triple H had to keep at least one of the four horsewomen down in NXT to act as sort of a spearhead going forward but Bayley would've had a lot more effect on the womens division on RAW than Becky has (through no fault of her own) so why not switch them around and put Becky back on NXT television and give Bayley the reigns on RAW? obviously this would be a subtle way of WWE saying they got it wrong but they need to do something to change what is going on.
So...
Lance Storm summed it up perfectly during a Q & A session in august which you can read here. They started off well with the Divas revolution but it has been losing momentum ever since it started and the WWE seriously need to make some changes. Bring back the womens title, which by the way many of the women in WWE have openly stated they would prefer, stop calling them divas, utilise all of your damn talent and for god sake start giving them a story so that I can invest in their characters.
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