The thing that I don't get about this situation is why WWE seems to already be ok with Reigns immediately turning into a Cena situation, having half the crowd (way more in reigns case, as he is nowhere near as over as John cena was when he started his babyface run) hate the guy. Is having half or more of the crowd hating your #1 Face now just an accepted part of WWE? It's bizarre. The "people can pay to hate me, it's cool" part of Reigns' interview was kinda shocking actually in the sense that I can't believe WWE is fine with that being the norm.
Especially since there's no way it will work for Reigns in the way it did for Cena.
John Cena as the dopey, goofy face who doesn't care if the adult males in the crowd hate his guts and does everything with a smile kinda worked because 1) It was the first time we'd ever seen that from a #1 face, and B) It fit John cena's cartoon goofball look/personality. But doing that same routine with Roman reigns is an absolute character killer. This supposedly cool badass Samoan dude is all smiles that every dude in the crowd boos and mocks him? It makes no sense, and won't work at anywhere the level it does for Cena.
I think a lot of the motivation behind this is fear. There's been some murmuring that Cena's starting to show wear, and they're scared that he's going to break down or start to lighten his load and leave them with nothing to cover their ass (them not seeing Bryan as a viable Cena replacement).
So that more than anything is why Vince is so anxious to strap the rocket to Reigns now. As for the crowd stuff, I think they believe Reigns looks like an action figure, if he says nice things, kids will like him and want his merch, and kidless adults will hate him and want to see him lose and either way both groups are paying to see it at the end of the day.
Where they run into a problem with Reigns is Cena busted his ass to get good and be able to carry that role in the ring and on the mic. Reigns isn't very good. So they're booking him as Cena without any of Cena's skill.
And as to why they're specifically line for line trying to make him an exact replica of Cena in his promos: Vince is just out of touch. That's all that is.
I cannot come up with a single way they can salvage this main event doing it the way they want to do it.
The heel turn is the only answer.
There's just no way that crowd will buy this match as is no matter what they do. The best case scenario is the crowd doesn't chant Daniel Bryan and CM Punk through the entire match and just cheers Lesnar and boos Reigns. Again, that's best case.
Worst case? "Daniel Bryan" "CM Punk" "You can't wrestle" "Same old shit" And on and on and on
And it could get really ugly if Brock mails it in because he doesn't want to risk getting hurt since he's not coming back, which is a distinct possibility because they'll turn on him too if he's not in beast mode.
The difference between Reigns and Cena is that people are willing to pay money to see Cena. At this point booing Cena is the cool thing to do. People would pay just to boo Cena because it is part of the show and the experience. Nobody is spending money to see Reigns and at a certain point instead of just booing Reigns people are going to stop paying to see the show altogether.
How does turning him heel "save" the main event? It sounds just like the "turn Cena heel!" argument when it will just flip who is booing and cheering him (he is getting over with women and kids, and was with some of the adult males before he started getting a big push).
If Heyman joins Reigns and he goes back at least somewhat to being the cool Shield guy, won't the fans who are now booing him cheer Reigns, especially if Brock doesn't resign?
If Heyman screws Brock during the match, the crowd (in theory, but reasonably likely given 'Mania crowds) will have been booing Reigns the whole time, so only the final moments will get the "good" response.
Is Reigns capable of leading a match as a heel? How many main event-level (even on Raw or Smackdown) singles matches has he had as a heel?
Yeah, having Brock squash Reigns is a great idea. Also completely reasonable that Reigns would get killed but Dolph "FameAsser" Ziggler could beat Brock.
If they go heel turn, they completely and utterly wasted him superman punching the rock Kevin Owens-style right when the Royal Rumble was going off the air
I've said this before, the only way to effectively turn Reigns heel is to place him with Stephanie. Otherwise, you're right, it'll just flip the script and he'll be a heel that won't get enough heel heat with Heyman.
Totally, and hey they absolutely SHOULD be building the next guy to take over from Cena and hey, long term it doesn't have to be Bryan. The dude is 33 or 34 and has lots of wear and tear on his body, totally get that. And hey, Roman Reigns COULD very well be that next guy, I get that too. But the problem is he's absolutely not ready yet and the fanbase is far from ready for him yet.
Bryan, in combo with Ambrose and Ziggler, absolutely could have held the fort down for another year or two while Roman gets built for that spot. Give fans a full year of Bryan on top trading the belt with someone like Rollins, while Roman carries say the US belt for a year underneath. It'd let fans get teh Bryan title run "out of their system" and give Roman a chance to actually create a character and learn how to work a fucking singles match.
Instead they rushed through everything and now Roman isn't ready, the fans aren't ready, and they've turned a huge portion of the crowd against the guy in a way that absolutely will taint his big babyface run.
Exactly. It's crazy how unover and unproven as a draw Roman Reigns is going into being the WWE champ at Mania. There's never been anyone going into the same spot who's been at as a low a level as Roman is right now.
Even Bret and HBK and DIesel--- the holy trinity of the mid 90s WWF recession--- were infinitely more over with the fanbase and more proven as drawing cards than Roman is right now. It's nuts.
I'm pretty sure the most likely best case scenario is Brock getting cheered by a majority of the fans. Reigns, not so much. I don't think it'll be a repeat of Brock/Goldberg where the entire match is just crapped on. At the time, WWE hardcore fans were more likely to consider anyone leaving WWE as a traitor. Nowadays, WWE itself is seen as the traitor.
If Bryan/Ziggler go near ***** earlier in the show does that whet the fans appetite and maybe suppress the Daniel Bryan chants unless Reigns/Brock truly stink up the place?
Christ that stuff will go over like a led balloon in front of crowds who give jackshit about the Samoan Swat Team or even Yokozuna and company. Sorry dude but nobody's gonna get over simply because they're related to Rikishi.
He really needs to be the main roster, face counterpoint to a Kevin Owens-type character, or maybe even a Baron Corbin (it's a sad sight when the development league could teach the main roster something). But whatever they do character-wise, Reigns needs to spend every available moment at Full Sail training up in the ring. His in-ring work is lackluster at best, and he really needs to be able to wrestle a 25-30 minute match without relying on three spots to get through. If his in-ring work improves, it'll help his overall credibility.
At this point the question for me is, do they want the 70,000 people to be booing/chanting for Daniel Bryan? Do they think that that draws interest and increased buys? In other words, are they intentionally putting on an infuriating product because they think that's what's "Best For Business"?
Brock destroys Roman for 20 minutes as he did Cena at Summerslam. Won't happen but does answer the question as to how to salvage it without turning Reigns heel - the crowd would love every second
Exactly, it's just not gonna work. Especially since honestly, Roman's not even the most popular guy amongst the kiddie fans. Guarantee he's way behind Cena and Bryan even in that demo.
The Austin podcast where he mentioned that neither is really able to call a match kinda scared me. Do they put out an experienced wrestler like Scott Armstrong as the ref to call the match for them? Script it out and rehearse? Hooboy.
But also the most unlikely of all possible scenarios, because it's essentially writing off Reigns. Cena was well enough established to take that beating and survive it perception wise. Reigns would be on the fast track to Luger town.
I want them to rehash the Lance Von Erich angle, with Reigns coming out and saying he ISN'T related to the Rock, and only faked the relation to further his career.
Then I want Heyman to go on a 2 week journey searching for his birth certificate.
I love WWE. Scratch that, I eat, sleep, breathe, and live WWE. To me, it is the ultimate amalgam of sport and entertainment, technique and showmanship, art and fun. However, there is a very real side to the business, and I take it very seriously...do we honestly think they'll be a WM 40 with a business model predicated on cannibalizing itself?
Just Goldberg him for the next two months. Have him slaughter everyone in intense, 90-second squashes. Have him encounter heels backstage and walk up to them, and say nothing more than, "Next week. You." And then have him murder that heel. Don't have him talk beyond that. Don't have him cut promos. Have him be the silent badass who fucks your girl and eats your dinner.
This doesn't have to be as hard as WWE is intent on making it.
Yeah, it makes no sense, that's why they've pretty much been universally crushed this week. You've had stories on the front pages of Deadspin and Grantland, probably the two biggest mainstream sports sites that overlaps with WWE's potential audience just crushing the Rumble. Pretty much all the industry specific sites panned the show and the booking.
I don't know what the hell they're doing. They had guys to buy them another year at least.
I don't think that the WWE is cannibalizing itself, so much as it's shooting itself in the foot to spite its nose. There's no reason why we should be in such a dark age right now with the level of talent, both in and out of the ring that they have on the roster: Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, Cesaro, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Big E, the Usos, Sandow... Plus your developmental league is stocked, too (Neville, Zayn, Itami, Balor, Breeze, Owens, Corbin).
Ah. But that's not the type of guy WWE wants. WWE wants a combination of The Rock (hence the fairy tale promos and descriptions of himself as Superman) and John Cena (guy who smiles).
Check, that's essentially what they did with Bob Backlund. He was picked to be the next guy after Bruno Sammartino but instead of giving him the belt immediately they gave the belt to Superstar Billy Graham for 10 months while grooming Backlund for his eventual title reign. Once he was exposed to the WWWF crowd he won the title and held it for five years.
Unless he comes out the next night and says the reason he lost is because people didn't believe in him. And those that did believe didn't cheer loud enough. So he'd decided to find someone who does believe in him.... Bo Dallas? Nope - The Shield! Ambrose and Rollins comes out and we get a heel Shield reformation, and all our brains explode because suddenly Reigns is a heel and we want to like him
People don't mark for Bryan just because of how he looks and works. There's a backstory there with Bryan that there isn't with Reigns. Bryan wasn't supposed to make it. He was the indy guy considered to be the best in the world, but he was expected to occupy that workhorse position, helping other guys get over. It was inconceivable that he would be in WWE, and just as unthinkable that he would ever be a top guy. Longtime fans realize this. They get behind him because it's the story of a guy making it when forces were aligned against him getting to that point.
What forces have aligned against Reigns other than the fans? Hell, fans would have probably been fine with Reigns if 1) they hadn't stupidly brought back Bryan a month early, and 2) they didn't try so hard to make him Samoan John Cena.
They haven't helped by having him booked with Big Show, Rusev, Brock, Kane, and even The Rock. Maybe it's just me but I don't find him that imposing. He's not overly tall, quite lean in build, and not explosive in his ring work. He doesn't fit the Goldberg mould like Lesnar or even Ryback, and at present he's interacting with way more imposing figures.
The sneaky good thing about Sheamus, and I say this with the caveat that it's never cool for anyone to be hurt, is that Sheamus has been on TV so infrequently the last two years that he's really fresher than he would've been otherwise. A heel turn may provide an instant spark for his career.
I don't know if his ring work drops off, but there's an underlying problem with a heel turn right now. For us sitting here postulating a perfect set-up, he'd do really well. But Creative's track record is beyond abysmal with their heels. Would Sheamus be allowed to be the ass-kicking monster heel he needs to be? Or would he become a chicken shit?
Well they've got 2 months to build it, which is an eternity in WWE time. Plus they may have been conflicted as Brock was feuding with Rollins who Reigns is supposed to hate
Yes Dolph is more "show-off-y" and Bryan likes kicks more (and is better all around), but I can see them not clicking because they like to play the same role in the match.
Maybe if they go full Indy (in the good way, not the Davey Richards way) they can avoid that but WWE style? It's a potential styles clash
It's possible, but realistically if Bryan calls the match, they'll be okay in the end. Bryan has proven an innate ability to adjust his style to match the guys he's working with. If you can get something awesome out of Randy Orton, Batista, Triple H, Sheamus, and CM Punk (a very diverse range of workers in style and quality), Dolph Ziggler shouldn't be a problem.
I'd be down, so long as they 'do' find a way to stop him. Bryan or Ziggler really need to win at WrestleMania in a triple threat scenario, more so than the heel would in that picture.
Unless this is calculated tolling for the heel turn. WWE fans have progressively panned 2nd and 3rd generation acts which get "too much, too soon." With Randy Orton & Ted Dibiase Jr, the relationship is obvious. Roman Reigns doesn't sound related to any of the Somoans, so they are establishing that fact for the casual fans who will think, "oh, he has connections in the business. Nepotism!*" Plus, Heyman is establishing HIS past relationship with Roman's family, possibly with the subtext of having a plan for him.
* Note - most wrestling fans won't know what this word is, but they get the concept.
You know, no disrespect is meant towards this community... but it's a fucking travesty that bloggers at 11 AM can spitball a better creative direction for the WWE in five minutes than an army of 'Creative' team members can in six months.
They've got a couple months to prepare for this. They have to assume its likely that the fans are going to shit on the Reigns/Brock match at WM. The WWE I'd like to think still exists has to come up with some way to turn this in their favour.
The year after Bret's big win at Mania 10, he was ina midcard Mania match against a Bob Backlund who already meant nothing.
The year after Benoit and Eddie's big wins at Mania 20, Eddie was in a face vs face flippitty floppitty opener against Rey and Benoit was in a multi-man ladder match.
So Bryan vs Ziggler in an opener feels about right, I guess.
"WWE has made a rule that talent and office people and talent and production people are not allowed to date. They do not want staff and talent interaction past the professional level."
Unless you're a Greenwich blue blood with aspirations of taking over the company. Then it's okay to fuck the higher ups.
Wow, what a shit storm that would be. If Cena is going over, you have the same problem that you'd have with Lesnar/Reigns: people booing the shit out of the big winner.
I'd prefer it to be a singles match, whichever opponent it is.
I will say, however, that I think Ziggler is a better worker than some around here give him credit for. I think his moveset isn't as lacking as his critics say and yeah, he's mostly a bump machine, but he's phenomenal at it. That said, I wouldn't argue too much that Sheamus is a better pure workrate guy.
Actually, if Rollins can take the title from Brock, the Reigns/Rollins and Lesnar/Bryan is still on the cards. And that way, both matches would have a participant who can lead the match.
Awesome, awesome fucking match. I love the privileging of psychology over spots, although I thought the finish was the tits. Both guys should have been made after that.
I am so fucking pissed. I was promised a promotion a year ago when a coworker quit and, despite them making no effort to train me on my new duties, they just took it away from me and gave it to someone else.
I think Bret and Shawn were more guys that he saw as bench warmers rather than someone that could grow the audience. Bret was his guy in '94, but I don't think Vince ever saw him as anything but a transitional guy.
Obviously they hit on The Rock, but that was ONLY after Rock reinvented himself, which I seriously doubt Vince had any input on.
In a perfect world, 1993-1996 is dominated by Luger and Diesel, then The Rock comes in as Smiling Babyface and takes over the universe.
I think it's debatable at the very least between Ziggler and Sheamus. But I think a face/face match between Ziggler and Bryan is a better match than face Bryan v. heel Sheamus.
Sheamus is one of those catch-22 guys wherein he's a better worker as a face and a better character as a heel.
I kind of like Dolph to regain the title, then start becoming more and more desperate to hold onto 'his' title, ala Adrian Neville's run as NXT Champion against the Bryan onslaught.
Ugh, the fact that two months out from Wrestlemania they don't have an angle for their most over guy is embarrassing. And I'm no fan of Ziggler, so the match doesn't appeal much either.
Huh, that's exactly what Scott wrote about Triple H about fifteen years ago. Honestly, if Sheamus goes go heel again, he's gonna need to alter his style to a relentless, monster brawler type rather than that pseudo-strong style thing he does. And the 10-count punches to the chest would have to go, of course.
And on Sheamus/Ziggler - Sheamus has better spots and offense, Ziggler's got better pacing. And his selling seems like it's gotten less exaggerated, too.
Or this is has been building for a long time, and internally it will be referred to as the "Bella Rule."
Hell, I'm a confirmed, no-shame feminist who would usually never assume this, but even I think the Bellas are talentless slugs who slept their way to success.
I think the difference is that Sheamus already had his shot and flopped as a #1 babyface, whereas Reigns hasn't done that yet. (Though he's sure on his way!)
Another thing that has been mishandled about the Roman Reigns deal is that there's no storyline progression for Reigns. I mean the guy wins the Rumble and challenges Brock when there's no reason for them to fight. Roman is only fighting Brock because he's champion, not because he wants to get his hands on him and wants to kick his ass unlike most of the past WM main events that have been built on hatred and animosity.
As much as I enjoy Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, and Triple/Nipple H looking like fools on TV with their product getting shat on, WrestleMania season and the two months immediately following it are really the peak of quality for the shows. If WrestleMania season tanks hard, then we're going to be in for an even worse year creatively than 2014.
I don't even know if Sheamus is "done" as a face. I liked him quite a bit in 2014 as a midcard face having great matches just for the sake of some good ol' fashioned Euro fisticuffs, for the secondary titles.
I am not, however, interested in babyface Sheamus getting another main event push, whereas I would be highly interested in heel Sheamus in the 2015 main event picture.
I used to work for a Big 5 (now Big 4?) accounting firm, and I can tell you, if a publicly traded company has a press release that includes numbers, those numbers are vetted by their auditors before the announcement is released to the press.
I think sheamus is well past ziggler as a worker. Ziggler can bump but that's it. What's the best singles match he's had? A TLC match vs cena with a thousand bells and whistles. Sheamus has one of the best offensive move sets in wwe, he sells really well and does lots of it (I'd say he sells better than Dolph, just without one or two wild bumps) plus he called all those awesome raw matches vs Cesaro and sandow. Maybe all those injuries have taken something from him but otherwise I think he's clearly the better wrestler. Dolph is far more over than sheamus has ever been though, and I like Dolph but I'd like to sheamus get involved in this.
I agree about sheamus. I have no clue what Roman Reigns has done better than sheamus to warrant pushing him miles out of that top spot, but I know its not reading wwe creative scripts better.
Then again, for all we know Sheamus might turn out to be an awesome heel worker. It's been almost four years since we've seen him as a heel, and at that time he was still pretty green (at least in the WWE). Maybe he's just overall way better on either side of the fence now.
If Cena has to beat Rusev, I don't oppose him becoming the reigning and defending United States Champion, because it instantly makes that belt more prestigious than it's ever been.
I hope that someone other than Vince books that ziggler vs Bryan angle. Could be worth watching if it's well done. Hopefully they give them Benoit/Angle mid card match time. Also I wouldn't be opposed to tossing sheamus in it and making it a 3 way between 3 guys who can fucking go. I'd also say (unpopular opinion alert) sheamus is better worker than ziggler so it would probably make the match better.
He chose Bret, and he chose Shawn. And those guys helped keep the company propped up in some pretty dark times. But yeah, his major, mainstream successes (Austin, Rock, even Cena) have largely been accidents. Vince gets way too much credit for being a booking genius.
I'm an old school guy, really. Every top worker you have who's not directly or tangentially involved in the main event / world title picture should be in the Intercontinental or U.S. Title picture. The I.C. Title should represent the best pure wrestler in the world, and the U.S. Title represent a promising, future world champion ala the WCW U.S. Championship.
I think Barrett, Cesaro or Sheamus would all be ideal guys to hold it. Unify the US and IC titles between two of those guys, and then have it defended in 3-4 star matches on a monthly basis.
If you remind wrestling fans something matters and present it to them in entertaining fashion, it can be salvaged.
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus: four-way ladder match for the Briefcase at WrestleMania anyone? (Sheamus is somewhere cowering in fear)
He needs to be in a top tier match. It has to be Rollins vs Bryan for the briefcase; it maintains the undercurrent of the Authority feud, it'll be *****, and there are real stakes.
Imagine if they came out of Mania with Bryan as IC champ and Rusev or Cena as US champ. You'd actually have main event level guys holding the titles and like you said, you could use those champions to headline TV and live events.
Well yeah, it would have helped matters if they gave them a reason to fight BEFORE the Rumble instead of having Reigns win the Rumble as WWE tries to scamble together a storyline for them.
With no brand split, the UC and IC titles need to be unified like three years ago, in my opinion.
I think the IC title should, as it traditionally did, represent a blend of what you're saying the IC and US titles should represent: the pure wrestling title, on someone who's on the way up to the world title level. Someone like Daniel Bryan, who just won the main event of WrestleMania and is a multi-time world champ, just seems way beyond someone who would be interested in the secondary title. It would be like if Kentucky went nuts for winning the SEC hoops title.
That said, if they wanted to make it an IC title match as part of a storyline where Daniel Bryan is cruelly forced to start all over by the Authority, I'd absolutely get down with that.
There's been no real storyline or character progression for Reigns since the Shield split. Well, he talks more but we've all seen how that turned out. Plus he was injured a long time. But actually I think winning the Rumble is a good enough reason on its own to want to fight Brock, and as we saw on Raw I'm sure Heyman will do a great job in building it up even though it still seems like a nightmare scenario.
It's obvious that HHH and Stephanie came up with the no-dating policy to prevent history from repeating itself when Bret Hart's son marries Aurora Levasque and takes over the company while HHH solemnly watches with tears in his eyes.
John Cena forming a Megapowers style superteam with someone like Dolph Ziggler would be an excellent use of Cena, totally. Give them the tag belts for a year, let them destroy the heel tag teams and some super team combos. It allows Cena to stay sorta main event level (headline a Night of Champions B-PPV with Cena/Ziggler defending the tag belts) while getting his partner over as a huge star, and also it keeps Cena away from squashing rising heel singles guys.
I mean, instead of having Cena go over Rusev, you do your Cena/Rusev program with Cena & Ziggler defending the tag belts against Rusev & Barrett, and Barrett's the one who loses.
Absolutely. There's a ton of different ways you can do things with the midcard titles to give them meaning. Creating tournaments or gauntlet-style matches to win the right to challenge the Intercontinental or U.S. Champions would be a huge step in the right direction as well, because it gives each wrestler's character motivation to want the titles. As is, just getting a random title match on RAW does little. Put two world-class workers in as champions, then devote significant time to wrestlers who want to earn the right to challenge them? Easy as 1-2-3.
I hadn't seen this post before I made mine just a bit below, but you're right. For all we know he has drastically improved in the ring overall regardless of face/heel alliance.
Its been a joke for so long it would devalue d Bryan and whatever mania feud he is in by having that belt stink up everything. Plus they would job the fuck out of Bryan because "it wouldn't matter since he was the ic champ." It would be sad to see.
If they intend on bringing parity to the brands without having a physical split again, I don't mind two titles because it keeps you from burning through storylines so quickly. Having one title to focus on through five hours of main level TV a week will lead to a far faster churn rate for storylines. Two titles, each with equal focus on separate shows lets you slow-burn things more readily, and also helps you avoid repetitious booking.
And the option of Sting-Triple H isn't much better. The match is likely to be quick and/or suck. They had a chance to strip Brock of the World HW title and could have had Ziggler-Bryan go for that but nope.
Btw, for anyone suddenly amped up for Reigns/Brock now after just one decent promo, PTBN just helpfully pointed out Reigns has had one singles match so far this entire year. One. And he's going to beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the title. Vince is a genius. This can't POSSIBLY fail, esp. with 9 weeks to go!
You would think that the WWE corporate types would know how international Mania is. Rusev would get pops. Reigns must win last; Vince's chickens must come home to roost.
God Reigns came across so awful next to the Rock backstage after the Rumble. Rock even sounded ridiculous the whole thing came off entirely forced.
And there's the core of the problem. Its so overly forced that u could hear & see the desperation. Reigns appears to not be ready for all this.
I would love to know how much it cost Vince to bring the Crock to Philly for all this.
The people clearly want Bryan v Lesnar, & if it was even possible Lesnar is picking up even more steam with hot crowd reactions. So if he's dipping again after Mania the fans deserve the match they want, Lesnar v Bryan, the champion who never lost his title versus the champion who can't be beat it truly writes & sells itself.
What if Brock beats Reigns when Heyman spits coca-cola in Reigns' eyes, and Cena, coming down to check on his buddy, is challenged to an impromptu title match by Heyman, and Cena gets into the ring and is held by Lesnar for Heyman to spit more coca-cola, but Cena ducks the Coca-cola and it gets in Brock's eyes, and Cena wins the title to end the show.
The only problem with having a storyline with Reigns and Brock before the Rumble, is that it would make it more obvious (if it wasn't already) that Reigns would win.
that sounds like a decent idea: Reigns wins as a result of a screwjob finish, but not obvious cheating. a huge portion of the crowd is already p*ssed off because of that. Rock is doing the endorsement cheer .... and gets knocked out.
I get the feeling the crowd would shit on the match no matter how it goes down and regardless of its quality, so just have Patterson or somebody craft a 15 minute hard-hitting power match with a bunch of shortcuts to hide both guys' weaknesses.
I have no problem with a guy earning a title shot, then getting it. Not every big match has to be personal. In fact, if more feuds were developed and built upon such natural ideas, the WWE might be a bit more entertaining right now. The whole problem with Reigns is the way he has been presented UP UNTIL this point.
If Bryan vs Ziggler at Mania was the plan, how much more satisfying would that feud AND the Rumble have been if Ziggler & bryan had started #1 and #2 at the Rumble, last to close to the end, and did some kind of double elimination spot. Would have saved people's enjoyment of the Rumble (at least a while longer) and given their program a better start than "let's have a match on Twitter."
I really hope we see a bunch of names @Mania, quality matches or not. The Dudleyz, RVD, Jericho, Batista, Sting, Goldberg, Taker, HHH....bring 'em all back in. I don't care. The product has been so bland, boring & repetitious that some fantasy booking cud be enticing, even with the lack of a 5* match. An epic showdown with a hot crowd makes up for a few missing *'s.
They especially gonna need all these cats for Mania @Dallas to sell out 100,000 seats. You would think Austin has to perform, & maybe even the Rock, unless Austin wants to be the focus because the Rock kinda overshadows him.
Shit....Rock v Austin one more time at one more Mania might pack the joint.
I think the card will affect the buyrates more than the ticket sale. there are people all over the world that are coming to see WrestleMania, it's totally different from any other of their ppvs.
could have easily been solved if the Rumble title shot had been give to Ambrose or Ziggler (the title match isn't the most important thing about that ppv anyway).
things like this make me question if the WWE even "gets" their own product. there are literally dozens and dozens of examples on what "works" in terms of getting fans behind a wrestler.
Cole mentioned Cena v Rusev was booked for Mania but it got bumped to Fast Lane, so can't see it at Mania too.
I think either way whether it be Cena or Reigns closing, they both are probably gonna win so the boo's will be there. No way Bryan closes, especially if its Bryan v Ziggler which wud 100% open.... Bryan v Ziggler Rusev v Jericho or Sheamus Rollins v Orton Wyatt v Taker or Y2J Sting v HHH Cena v Ambrose Lesnar v Reigns
Hey, this is all Daniel Bryan's fault. Apparently he didn't want that brass ring hard enough to magically grow eight inches, put on 50 pounds of muscle and be related to The Rock.
they should at least try to throw a huge load of money (and I guess even more important: an apology) at CM Punk and try to get him to do a match against Stone Cold.
Oh Vince, *PLEASE* try to Big Show the YES! chant onto Reigns. I am begging this dirigible to explode.
ReplyDeleteBut don't you get it? He watched matches of his cousin at the Omni! He was around backstage at the TV tapings in Allentown!
ReplyDeleteBelieve... That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That!
ReplyDeleteThe thing that I don't get about this situation is why WWE seems to already be ok with Reigns immediately turning into a Cena situation, having half the crowd (way more in reigns case, as he is nowhere near as over as John cena was when he started his babyface run) hate the guy. Is having half or more of the crowd hating your #1 Face now just an accepted part of WWE? It's bizarre. The "people can pay to hate me, it's cool" part of Reigns' interview was kinda shocking actually in the sense that I can't believe WWE is fine with that being the norm.
ReplyDeleteEspecially since there's no way it will work for Reigns in the way it did for Cena.
John Cena as the dopey, goofy face who doesn't care if the adult males in the crowd hate his guts and does everything with a smile kinda worked because 1) It was the first time we'd ever seen that from a #1 face, and B) It fit John cena's cartoon goofball look/personality.
ReplyDeleteBut doing that same routine with Roman reigns is an absolute character killer. This supposedly cool badass Samoan dude is all smiles that every dude in the crowd boos and mocks him? It makes no sense, and won't work at anywhere the level it does for Cena.
The CONTROVERSIAL world champion, Roman Reigns, who always evokes a PASSIONATE response from the WWE Universe.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the motivation behind this is fear. There's been some murmuring that Cena's starting to show wear, and they're scared that he's going to break down or start to lighten his load and leave them with nothing to cover their ass (them not seeing Bryan as a viable Cena replacement).
ReplyDeleteSo that more than anything is why Vince is so anxious to strap the rocket to Reigns now. As for the crowd stuff, I think they believe Reigns looks like an action figure, if he says nice things, kids will like him and want his merch, and kidless adults will hate him and want to see him lose and either way both groups are paying to see it at the end of the day.
Where they run into a problem with Reigns is Cena busted his ass to get good and be able to carry that role in the ring and on the mic. Reigns isn't very good. So they're booking him as Cena without any of Cena's skill.
And as to why they're specifically line for line trying to make him an exact replica of Cena in his promos: Vince is just out of touch. That's all that is.
How many shortcuts will that match get?
ReplyDeleteBarricade Smashing,Table Breaking are 2 shoo-ins.
Fighting in the crowd/backstage area?
Spear through the set ala Y2J/Rhyno but a 100 times bigger?
Colour?
Basically all the same bells and whistles they used for the HHH/Brock match at Mania 29 that the crowd sat on their hands for.
ReplyDeleteSpecial Guest Referee Stone Cold?
ReplyDeleteI cannot come up with a single way they can salvage this main event doing it the way they want to do it.
ReplyDeleteThe heel turn is the only answer.
There's just no way that crowd will buy this match as is no matter what they do. The best case scenario is the crowd doesn't chant Daniel Bryan and CM Punk through the entire match and just cheers Lesnar and boos Reigns. Again, that's best case.
Worst case?
"Daniel Bryan"
"CM Punk"
"You can't wrestle"
"Same old shit"
And on and on and on
And it could get really ugly if Brock mails it in because he doesn't want to risk getting hurt since he's not coming back, which is a distinct possibility because they'll turn on him too if he's not in beast mode.
The difference between Reigns and Cena is that people are willing to pay money to see Cena. At this point booing Cena is the cool thing to do. People would pay just to boo Cena because it is part of the show and the experience. Nobody is spending money to see Reigns and at a certain point instead of just booing Reigns people are going to stop paying to see the show altogether.
ReplyDeleteHow does turning him heel "save" the main event? It sounds just like the "turn Cena heel!" argument when it will just flip who is booing and cheering him (he is getting over with women and kids, and was with some of the adult males before he started getting a big push).
ReplyDeleteIf Heyman joins Reigns and he goes back at least somewhat to being the cool Shield guy, won't the fans who are now booing him cheer Reigns, especially if Brock doesn't resign?
If Heyman screws Brock during the match, the crowd (in theory, but reasonably likely given 'Mania crowds) will have been booing Reigns the whole time, so only the final moments will get the "good" response.
Is Reigns capable of leading a match as a heel? How many main event-level (even on Raw or Smackdown) singles matches has he had as a heel?
Yeah, having Brock squash Reigns is a great idea. Also completely reasonable that Reigns would get killed but Dolph "FameAsser" Ziggler could beat Brock.
That would be a great story. And some people will still boo him, regardless of what WWE does at this point, because he's not Bryan.
ReplyDeleteOh, we're definitely getting the barricade spot.
ReplyDeleteIt may be too late, sadly. I feel bad for the guy. He is said to be a real dickface, but he's got a kid and could have made money.
ReplyDeleteturn him heel and have him do that to Bryan, Ziggler, Ambrose et al...he will get over that way
ReplyDeleteIf they go heel turn, they completely and utterly wasted him superman punching the rock Kevin Owens-style right when the Royal Rumble was going off the air
ReplyDeleteIt's too late. They needed to do that before he won the Rumble. And it probably would have worked wonderfully.
ReplyDeleteI've said this before, the only way to effectively turn Reigns heel is to place him with Stephanie. Otherwise, you're right, it'll just flip the script and he'll be a heel that won't get enough heel heat with Heyman.
ReplyDeleteTotally, and hey they absolutely SHOULD be building the next guy to take over from Cena and hey, long term it doesn't have to be Bryan. The dude is 33 or 34 and has lots of wear and tear on his body, totally get that. And hey, Roman Reigns COULD very well be that next guy, I get that too. But the problem is he's absolutely not ready yet and the fanbase is far from ready for him yet.
ReplyDeleteBryan, in combo with Ambrose and Ziggler, absolutely could have held the fort down for another year or two while Roman gets built for that spot. Give fans a full year of Bryan on top trading the belt with someone like Rollins, while Roman carries say the US belt for a year underneath. It'd let fans get teh Bryan title run "out of their system" and give Roman a chance to actually create a character and learn how to work a fucking singles match.
Instead they rushed through everything and now Roman isn't ready, the fans aren't ready, and they've turned a huge portion of the crowd against the guy in a way that absolutely will taint his big babyface run.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
ReplyDeleteExactly. It's crazy how unover and unproven as a draw Roman Reigns is going into being the WWE champ at Mania. There's never been anyone going into the same spot who's been at as a low a level as Roman is right now.
ReplyDeleteEven Bret and HBK and DIesel--- the holy trinity of the mid 90s WWF recession--- were infinitely more over with the fanbase and more proven as drawing cards than Roman is right now. It's nuts.
I'm pretty sure the most likely best case scenario is Brock getting cheered by a majority of the fans. Reigns, not so much. I don't think it'll be a repeat of Brock/Goldberg where the entire match is just crapped on. At the time, WWE hardcore fans were more likely to consider anyone leaving WWE as a traitor. Nowadays, WWE itself is seen as the traitor.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to legit look forward to this Mania. We're getting an 18 car pileup car crash main event this year and it will be glorious.
ReplyDeleteIf Bryan/Ziggler go near ***** earlier in the show does that whet the fans appetite and maybe suppress the Daniel Bryan chants unless Reigns/Brock truly stink up the place?
ReplyDeleteChrist that stuff will go over like a led balloon in front of crowds who give jackshit about the Samoan Swat Team or even Yokozuna and company. Sorry dude but nobody's gonna get over simply because they're related to Rikishi.
ReplyDeleteHe really needs to be the main roster, face counterpoint to a Kevin Owens-type character, or maybe even a Baron Corbin (it's a sad sight when the development league could teach the main roster something). But whatever they do character-wise, Reigns needs to spend every available moment at Full Sail training up in the ring. His in-ring work is lackluster at best, and he really needs to be able to wrestle a 25-30 minute match without relying on three spots to get through. If his in-ring work improves, it'll help his overall credibility.
ReplyDeleteBelieve... That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That!
ReplyDeleteHeyman interference and subsequent attempt by Reigns to get his hands on him.
ReplyDeleteAt this point the question for me is, do they want the 70,000 people to be booing/chanting for Daniel Bryan? Do they think that that draws interest and increased buys?
ReplyDeleteIn other words, are they intentionally putting on an infuriating product because they think that's what's "Best For Business"?
If you're going to suck, suck all the way, WWE!
ReplyDeleteBrock destroys Roman for 20 minutes as he did Cena at Summerslam. Won't happen but does answer the question as to how to salvage it without turning Reigns heel - the crowd would love every second
ReplyDeleteExactly, it's just not gonna work. Especially since honestly, Roman's not even the most popular guy amongst the kiddie fans. Guarantee he's way behind Cena and Bryan even in that demo.
ReplyDeleteThe Austin podcast where he mentioned that neither is really able to call a match kinda scared me. Do they put out an experienced wrestler like Scott Armstrong as the ref to call the match for them? Script it out and rehearse? Hooboy.
ReplyDeleteThat's true.
ReplyDeleteBut also the most unlikely of all possible scenarios, because it's essentially writing off Reigns. Cena was well enough established to take that beating and survive it perception wise. Reigns would be on the fast track to Luger town.
I want them to rehash the Lance Von Erich angle, with Reigns coming out and saying he ISN'T related to the Rock, and only faked the relation to further his career.
ReplyDeleteThen I want Heyman to go on a 2 week journey searching for his birth certificate.
I love WWE. Scratch that, I eat, sleep, breathe, and live WWE. To me, it is the ultimate amalgam of sport and entertainment, technique and showmanship, art and fun. However, there is a very real side to the business, and I take it very seriously...do we honestly think they'll be a WM 40 with a business model predicated on cannibalizing itself?
ReplyDeleteJust Goldberg him for the next two months. Have him slaughter everyone in intense, 90-second squashes. Have him encounter heels backstage and walk up to them, and say nothing more than, "Next week. You." And then have him murder that heel. Don't have him talk beyond that. Don't have him cut promos. Have him be the silent badass who fucks your girl and eats your dinner.
ReplyDeleteThis doesn't have to be as hard as WWE is intent on making it.
Believe... That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That! That!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it makes no sense, that's why they've pretty much been universally crushed this week. You've had stories on the front pages of Deadspin and Grantland, probably the two biggest mainstream sports sites that overlaps with WWE's potential audience just crushing the Rumble. Pretty much all the industry specific sites panned the show and the booking.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what the hell they're doing. They had guys to buy them another year at least.
At this point, "nightmare scenarios" like that need to happen I think. They need to fuck everything up spectacularly in order to rebuild again.
ReplyDeleteThey could still do it if they could convince Rock to be in his corner at Wrestlemania.
ReplyDeleteNah, I don't think so. Bryan/Wyatt had a MOTYC opener for 20 minutes to open Royal Rumble 2014 and we all know how the rest of that night turned out.
ReplyDeleteBrock has been booked like such a badass recently, I can see him getting face reactions regardless of what's going on with Reigns.
ReplyDeleteIt's just going to be a bad match. Brock will do a couple suplexes, rest holds, a couple garbage spots, brawling, signature moves, and that's it. **
ReplyDeleteWon't it just make them more angry: "either of these guys are so much better than Reigns!" At best, maybe they'd mix in some Ziggler chants.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the WWE is cannibalizing itself, so much as it's shooting itself in the foot to spite its nose. There's no reason why we should be in such a dark age right now with the level of talent, both in and out of the ring that they have on the roster: Daniel Bryan, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, Cesaro, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Wade Barrett, Sheamus, John Cena, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Big E, the Usos, Sandow... Plus your developmental league is stocked, too (Neville, Zayn, Itami, Balor, Breeze, Owens, Corbin).
ReplyDeleteIt's quite simple, make him look and wrestle like Daniel Bryan.
ReplyDeleteAh. But that's not the type of guy WWE wants. WWE wants a combination of The Rock (hence the fairy tale promos and descriptions of himself as Superman) and John Cena (guy who smiles).
ReplyDeleteCheck, that's essentially what they did with Bob Backlund. He was picked to be the next guy after Bruno Sammartino but instead of giving him the belt immediately they gave the belt to Superstar Billy Graham for 10 months while grooming Backlund for his eventual title reign. Once he was exposed to the WWWF crowd he won the title and held it for five years.
ReplyDeleteBrock is a face. He's been the face since September, the booking just hasn't reflected this yet.
ReplyDeleteUnless he comes out the next night and says the reason he lost is because people didn't believe in him. And those that did believe didn't cheer loud enough. So he'd decided to find someone who does believe in him.... Bo Dallas? Nope - The Shield! Ambrose and Rollins comes out and we get a heel Shield reformation, and all our brains explode because suddenly Reigns is a heel and we want to like him
ReplyDeletePeople don't mark for Bryan just because of how he looks and works. There's a backstory there with Bryan that there isn't with Reigns. Bryan wasn't supposed to make it. He was the indy guy considered to be the best in the world, but he was expected to occupy that workhorse position, helping other guys get over. It was inconceivable that he would be in WWE, and just as unthinkable that he would ever be a top guy. Longtime fans realize this. They get behind him because it's the story of a guy making it when forces were aligned against him getting to that point.
ReplyDeleteWhat forces have aligned against Reigns other than the fans? Hell, fans would have probably been fine with Reigns if 1) they hadn't stupidly brought back Bryan a month early, and 2) they didn't try so hard to make him Samoan John Cena.
We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now *I* am the master.
ReplyDeleteI feel like you're trying to tell us something...
ReplyDeleteThat's just it. That's pretty much what got him over: being the silent, hulking badass.
ReplyDeleteNow he's Smiling Samoan Brock Lesnar.
Bryan was the supreme underdog basically, and Reigns is the complete opposite of that
ReplyDeleteI am just doing what WWE would probably do.
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't they doing Orton vs Lesnar at Mania?
ReplyDeleteRKO OUTTANOWHERE
Carny Vince is unable to distinguish between the two. He believes that people gravitate towards superficial shit without any other thought.
ReplyDeleteThey haven't helped by having him booked with Big Show, Rusev, Brock, Kane, and even The Rock. Maybe it's just me but I don't find him that imposing. He's not overly tall, quite lean in build, and not explosive in his ring work. He doesn't fit the Goldberg mould like Lesnar or even Ryback, and at present he's interacting with way more imposing figures.
ReplyDelete... That's nice...
ReplyDeleteDaniel Bryan 0-10 on NXT Season 1.
ReplyDeleteNow he did get a legit mid-card push after the Nexus Angle took off, but if they hadn't done that big angle i doubt he ever makes Raw.
WWE COMPLETELY missed the boat on the RKO OUTTANOWHERE phenomenon. I mean, that was good enough for at least one t-shirt.
ReplyDelete*Dibiase laugh*
ReplyDeleteThe sneaky good thing about Sheamus, and I say this with the caveat that it's never cool for anyone to be hurt, is that Sheamus has been on TV so infrequently the last two years that he's really fresher than he would've been otherwise. A heel turn may provide an instant spark for his career.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if his ring work drops off, but there's an underlying problem with a heel turn right now. For us sitting here postulating a perfect set-up, he'd do really well. But Creative's track record is beyond abysmal with their heels. Would Sheamus be allowed to be the ass-kicking monster heel he needs to be? Or would he become a chicken shit?
ReplyDeleteWell they've got 2 months to build it, which is an eternity in WWE time. Plus they may have been conflicted as Brock was feuding with Rollins who Reigns is supposed to hate
ReplyDeleteStyles are TOO similar.
ReplyDeleteYes Dolph is more "show-off-y" and Bryan likes kicks more (and is better all around), but I can see them not clicking because they like to play the same role in the match.
Maybe if they go full Indy (in the good way, not the Davey Richards way) they can avoid that but WWE style? It's a potential styles clash
Bryan vs Rollins or I'm taking my ball and going home (aka watching Mania for free the next day).
ReplyDeleteIt's possible, but realistically if Bryan calls the match, they'll be okay in the end. Bryan has proven an innate ability to adjust his style to match the guys he's working with. If you can get something awesome out of Randy Orton, Batista, Triple H, Sheamus, and CM Punk (a very diverse range of workers in style and quality), Dolph Ziggler shouldn't be a problem.
ReplyDeleteEven Ryback and Kane he does miracles.
ReplyDeleteI'd be down, so long as they 'do' find a way to stop him. Bryan or Ziggler really need to win at WrestleMania in a triple threat scenario, more so than the heel would in that picture.
ReplyDeleteUnless this is calculated tolling for the heel turn. WWE fans have progressively panned 2nd and 3rd generation acts which get "too much, too soon." With Randy Orton & Ted Dibiase Jr, the relationship is obvious. Roman Reigns doesn't sound related to any of the Somoans, so they are establishing that fact for the casual fans who will think, "oh, he has connections in the business. Nepotism!*" Plus, Heyman is establishing HIS past relationship with Roman's family, possibly with the subtext of having a plan for him.
ReplyDelete* Note - most wrestling fans won't know what this word is, but they get the concept.
You know, no disrespect is meant towards this community... but it's a fucking travesty that bloggers at 11 AM can spitball a better creative direction for the WWE in five minutes than an army of 'Creative' team members can in six months.
ReplyDeleteThey've got a couple months to prepare for this. They have to assume its likely that the fans are going to shit on the Reigns/Brock match at WM. The WWE I'd like to think still exists has to come up with some way to turn this in their favour.
ReplyDeleteThe year after Bret's big win at Mania 10, he was ina midcard Mania match against a Bob Backlund who already meant nothing.
ReplyDeleteThe year after Benoit and Eddie's big wins at Mania 20, Eddie was in a face vs face flippitty floppitty opener against Rey and Benoit was in a multi-man ladder match.
So Bryan vs Ziggler in an opener feels about right, I guess.
"WWE has made a rule that talent and office people and talent and production people are not allowed to date. They do not want staff and talent interaction past the professional level."
ReplyDeleteUnless you're a Greenwich blue blood with aspirations of taking over the company. Then it's okay to fuck the higher ups.
Huh? Great seller and unlike lots of bigs he sells for everything.
ReplyDeleteEither that or she'll say "Your name is Blade? Blade??? Fuck off, dude."
ReplyDeleteThis is also what I'm thinking but remember they dinked those guys on time. If that match got 20 minutes instead of 10 it probably gets much better.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a shit storm that would be. If Cena is going over, you have the same problem that you'd have with Lesnar/Reigns: people booing the shit out of the big winner.
ReplyDeleteI'd take Rollins/Bryan for the briefcase, then a triple threat or four-way for the IC with Ziggler/Sheamus/Cesaro and maybe Luke Harper.
ReplyDeleteBret was stuck tho. There wasn't anyone he could really face with Shawn and Diesel tied up together.
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer it to be a singles match, whichever opponent it is.
ReplyDeleteI will say, however, that I think Ziggler is a better worker than some around here give him credit for. I think his moveset isn't as lacking as his critics say and yeah, he's mostly a bump machine, but he's phenomenal at it. That said, I wouldn't argue too much that Sheamus is a better pure workrate guy.
Sheamus had at least one trully great match as a heel
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/xilyc8_john-morrison-vs-sheamus-ladder-match-part-1-2_sport
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xilygu_john-morrison-vs-sheamus-ladder-match-part-2-2_sport
I really thought John was going places after this...
Bryan and Ziggler have already had a **** or close to it match on PPV. They've proven they can work together.
ReplyDeleteIs this the ladder match?
ReplyDeleteI'm cautiously optimistic. I think they know they're going to need a strong-as-fuck heel or two to replace Brock.
ReplyDeleteI guess they're randomly deciding the title is really important again.
ReplyDeleteActually, if Rollins can take the title from Brock, the Reigns/Rollins and Lesnar/Bryan is still on the cards. And that way, both matches would have a participant who can lead the match.
ReplyDeleteBecause WCW.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, awesome fucking match. I love the privileging of psychology over spots, although I thought the finish was the tits. Both guys should have been made after that.
ReplyDeleteBret/Backlund did at least have some history.
ReplyDeleteI am so fucking pissed. I was promised a promotion a year ago when a coworker quit and, despite them making no effort to train me on my new duties, they just took it away from me and gave it to someone else.
ReplyDeleteI think Bret and Shawn were more guys that he saw as bench warmers rather than someone that could grow the audience. Bret was his guy in '94, but I don't think Vince ever saw him as anything but a transitional guy.
ReplyDeleteObviously they hit on The Rock, but that was ONLY after Rock reinvented himself, which I seriously doubt Vince had any input on.
In a perfect world, 1993-1996 is dominated by Luger and Diesel, then The Rock comes in as Smiling Babyface and takes over the universe.
Quit.
ReplyDeleteI think it's debatable at the very least between Ziggler and Sheamus. But I think a face/face match between Ziggler and Bryan is a better match than face Bryan v. heel Sheamus.
ReplyDeleteSheamus is one of those catch-22 guys wherein he's a better worker as a face and a better character as a heel.
I kind of like Dolph to regain the title, then start becoming more and more desperate to hold onto 'his' title, ala Adrian Neville's run as NXT Champion against the Bryan onslaught.
ReplyDelete*Rimshot*
ReplyDeleteSee, I disagree. The only way to salvage the title is to put it on a top worker to restore credibility.
ReplyDeleteUgh, the fact that two months out from Wrestlemania they don't have an angle for their most over guy is embarrassing. And I'm no fan of Ziggler, so the match doesn't appeal much either.
ReplyDeleteHuh, that's exactly what Scott wrote about Triple H about fifteen years ago. Honestly, if Sheamus goes go heel again, he's gonna need to alter his style to a relentless, monster brawler type rather than that pseudo-strong style thing he does. And the 10-count punches to the chest would have to go, of course.
ReplyDeleteAnd on Sheamus/Ziggler - Sheamus has better spots and offense, Ziggler's got better pacing. And his selling seems like it's gotten less exaggerated, too.
Or this is has been building for a long time, and internally it will be referred to as the "Bella Rule."
ReplyDeleteHell, I'm a confirmed, no-shame feminist who would usually never assume this, but even I think the Bellas are talentless slugs who slept their way to success.
I think the difference is that Sheamus already had his shot and flopped as a #1 babyface, whereas Reigns hasn't done that yet. (Though he's sure on his way!)
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that has been mishandled about the Roman Reigns deal is that there's no storyline progression for Reigns. I mean the guy wins the Rumble and challenges Brock when there's no reason for them to fight. Roman is only fighting Brock because he's champion, not because he wants to get his hands on him and wants to kick his ass unlike most of the past WM main events that have been built on hatred and animosity.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I enjoy Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, and Triple/Nipple H looking like fools on TV with their product getting shat on, WrestleMania season and the two months immediately following it are really the peak of quality for the shows. If WrestleMania season tanks hard, then we're going to be in for an even worse year creatively than 2014.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know if Sheamus is "done" as a face. I liked him quite a bit in 2014 as a midcard face having great matches just for the sake of some good ol' fashioned Euro fisticuffs, for the secondary titles.
ReplyDeleteI am not, however, interested in babyface Sheamus getting another main event push, whereas I would be highly interested in heel Sheamus in the 2015 main event picture.
I used to work for a Big 5 (now Big 4?) accounting firm, and I can tell you, if a publicly traded company has a press release that includes numbers, those numbers are vetted by their auditors before the announcement is released to the press.
ReplyDelete99% sure whatever was said by WWE was factual.
Why would WCW bring in Buddy Landell and bill him as the Nature Boy?
ReplyDeleteThat was my thought. It was played as a fluke, not a King Kong Bundy/SD Jones-type squashing. Plus, like you said, Sid still remained strong.
ReplyDeleteThey still don't seem to understand that Bryan is the reason a lot of people watch
ReplyDeleteI think sheamus is well past ziggler as a worker. Ziggler can bump but that's it. What's the best singles match he's had? A TLC match vs cena with a thousand bells and whistles. Sheamus has one of the best offensive move sets in wwe, he sells really well and does lots of it (I'd say he sells better than Dolph, just without one or two wild bumps) plus he called all those awesome raw matches vs Cesaro and sandow. Maybe all those injuries have taken something from him but otherwise I think he's clearly the better wrestler. Dolph is far more over than sheamus has ever been though, and I like Dolph but I'd like to sheamus get involved in this.
ReplyDeleteExactly. WWE has a deep and talented roster and I wish WWE would make use of that instead of relying on the old legends to bail them out.
ReplyDeleteI agree about sheamus. I have no clue what Roman Reigns has done better than sheamus to warrant pushing him miles out of that top spot, but I know its not reading wwe creative scripts better.
ReplyDeleteThe show is that bad
ReplyDeleteAnd if you're going to give away a free month every three months on your Network, maybe you shouldn't have a shitty Network.
ReplyDeleteI think the McMahons storming the Wall Street Bane-style and Trips pedigreeing everyone in sight is an amusing thought.
ReplyDeleteThen again, for all we know Sheamus might turn out to be an awesome heel worker. It's been almost four years since we've seen him as a heel, and at that time he was still pretty green (at least in the WWE). Maybe he's just overall way better on either side of the fence now.
ReplyDeleteIf Cena has to beat Rusev, I don't oppose him becoming the reigning and defending United States Champion, because it instantly makes that belt more prestigious than it's ever been.
ReplyDeleteI hope that someone other than Vince books that ziggler vs Bryan angle. Could be worth watching if it's well done. Hopefully they give them Benoit/Angle mid card match time. Also I wouldn't be opposed to tossing sheamus in it and making it a 3 way between 3 guys who can fucking go. I'd also say (unpopular opinion alert) sheamus is better worker than ziggler so it would probably make the match better.
ReplyDeleteHe chose Bret, and he chose Shawn. And those guys helped keep the company propped up in some pretty dark times. But yeah, his major, mainstream successes (Austin, Rock, even Cena) have largely been accidents. Vince gets way too much credit for being a booking genius.
ReplyDeleteWe all watch wrestling, something I genuinely don't believe most of their writers do.
ReplyDeleteThey've announced Rusev/Cena for Fast Lane... I guess it could happen again though
ReplyDeleteI'm an old school guy, really. Every top worker you have who's not directly or tangentially involved in the main event / world title picture should be in the Intercontinental or U.S. Title picture. The I.C. Title should represent the best pure wrestler in the world, and the U.S. Title represent a promising, future world champion ala the WCW U.S. Championship.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Mike Rotunda vs Iron Sheik. 1990 WCW, why do you hate me so much?
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I assume Rollins wins the belt soon.
ReplyDeleteOverhyped expectations?
ReplyDeleteKinda like Dez Bryant amirite
ReplyDeleteBryan/Ziggler will go on first
ReplyDeleteReigns/Lesnar will go on in the middle to avoid Mania ending with boos.
Show will end with Rusev/Cena patriotic showdown. I have a feeling this match will become the most pushed with Mania.
because WWE.
ReplyDeleteI think Barrett, Cesaro or Sheamus would all be ideal guys to hold it. Unify the US and IC titles between two of those guys, and then have it defended in 3-4 star matches on a monthly basis.
ReplyDeleteIf you remind wrestling fans something matters and present it to them in entertaining fashion, it can be salvaged.
Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Seth Rollins vs. Sheamus: four-way ladder match for the Briefcase at WrestleMania anyone? (Sheamus is somewhere cowering in fear)
ReplyDeleteHe needs to be in a top tier match. It has to be Rollins vs Bryan for the briefcase; it maintains the undercurrent of the Authority feud, it'll be *****, and there are real stakes.
ReplyDeleteImagine if they came out of Mania with Bryan as IC champ and Rusev or Cena as US champ. You'd actually have main event level guys holding the titles and like you said, you could use those champions to headline TV and live events.
ReplyDeleteIf booked properly, he's got a far better shot of making it as a Heel, considering the glut of faces clogging up the top of the card right now.
ReplyDeleteIf you're going to have a free month every time you have a shitty PPV planned, then maybe stop planning shitty PPVs.
ReplyDeleteWell yeah, it would have helped matters if they gave them a reason to fight BEFORE the Rumble instead of having Reigns win the Rumble as WWE tries to scamble together a storyline for them.
ReplyDeleteI'd call Sheamus a really strong seller. Dude is great at looking like he's been in a real fight.
ReplyDeleteWith no brand split, the UC and IC titles need to be unified like three years ago, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think the IC title should, as it traditionally did, represent a blend of what you're saying the IC and US titles should represent: the pure wrestling title, on someone who's on the way up to the world title level. Someone like Daniel Bryan, who just won the main event of WrestleMania and is a multi-time world champ, just seems way beyond someone who would be interested in the secondary title. It would be like if Kentucky went nuts for winning the SEC hoops title.
That said, if they wanted to make it an IC title match as part of a storyline where Daniel Bryan is cruelly forced to start all over by the Authority, I'd absolutely get down with that.
There's been no real storyline or character progression for Reigns since the Shield split. Well, he talks more but we've all seen how that turned out. Plus he was injured a long time. But actually I think winning the Rumble is a good enough reason on its own to want to fight Brock, and as we saw on Raw I'm sure Heyman will do a great job in building it up even though it still seems like a nightmare scenario.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious that HHH and Stephanie came up with the no-dating policy to prevent history from repeating itself when Bret Hart's son marries Aurora Levasque and takes over the company while HHH solemnly watches with tears in his eyes.
ReplyDelete"Can 70,000 people wreck a match by chanting for Daniel Bryan?"
ReplyDeleteI for one would like to find out.
John Cena forming a Megapowers style superteam with someone like Dolph Ziggler would be an excellent use of Cena, totally. Give them the tag belts for a year, let them destroy the heel tag teams and some super team combos. It allows Cena to stay sorta main event level (headline a Night of Champions B-PPV with Cena/Ziggler defending the tag belts) while getting his partner over as a huge star, and also it keeps Cena away from squashing rising heel singles guys.
ReplyDeleteI mean, instead of having Cena go over Rusev, you do your Cena/Rusev program with Cena & Ziggler defending the tag belts against Rusev & Barrett, and Barrett's the one who loses.
Absolutely. There's a ton of different ways you can do things with the midcard titles to give them meaning. Creating tournaments or gauntlet-style matches to win the right to challenge the Intercontinental or U.S. Champions would be a huge step in the right direction as well, because it gives each wrestler's character motivation to want the titles. As is, just getting a random title match on RAW does little. Put two world-class workers in as champions, then devote significant time to wrestlers who want to earn the right to challenge them? Easy as 1-2-3.
ReplyDeleteSo Nakamura the IC title with Bryan basically.
ReplyDeleteI'm game.
I hadn't seen this post before I made mine just a bit below, but you're right. For all we know he has drastically improved in the ring overall regardless of face/heel alliance.
ReplyDeleteIts been a joke for so long it would devalue d Bryan and whatever mania feud he is in by having that belt stink up everything. Plus they would job the fuck out of Bryan because "it wouldn't matter since he was the ic champ." It would be sad to see.
ReplyDeleteBut they did miss out on that Big Show vs. Erick Rowan Stairs match. That's what you pay the money for
ReplyDeleteIf they intend on bringing parity to the brands without having a physical split again, I don't mind two titles because it keeps you from burning through storylines so quickly. Having one title to focus on through five hours of main level TV a week will lead to a far faster churn rate for storylines. Two titles, each with equal focus on separate shows lets you slow-burn things more readily, and also helps you avoid repetitious booking.
ReplyDeleteThey're telling stories! Any writer will tell you that a motivation is the last thing you want to give a character.
ReplyDeleteEasy. Rusev beats Cena at Fast Lane, Cena has to RISE ABOVE THE ODDS to beat Rusev at Mania
ReplyDeleteThat's an option too. Either way, I don't see Reigns/Lesnar going on last.
ReplyDeleteEnh... that's not much better. This card just isn't very-well put together.
ReplyDeleteBoom. So easy, so obvious, so WWE.
ReplyDeleteActually with Reigns vs Lesnar, there is no way to save this card. Especially when they are planning Bryan vs Sheamus.
ReplyDeleteAnd the option of Sting-Triple H isn't much better. The match is likely to be quick and/or suck. They had a chance to strip Brock of the World HW title and could have had Ziggler-Bryan go for that but nope.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Rollins cashes in to send fans home happy
ReplyDeleteBtw, for anyone suddenly amped up for Reigns/Brock now after just one decent promo, PTBN just helpfully pointed out Reigns has had one singles match so far this entire year. One. And he's going to beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania for the title.
ReplyDeleteVince is a genius. This can't POSSIBLY fail, esp. with 9 weeks to go!
You would think that the WWE corporate types would know how international Mania is. Rusev would get pops. Reigns must win last; Vince's chickens must come home to roost.
ReplyDeleteThey'll bring back Brodus Clay and the dancing Mommas
ReplyDeleteGod Reigns came across so awful next to the Rock backstage after the Rumble. Rock even sounded ridiculous the whole thing came off entirely forced.
ReplyDeleteAnd there's the core of the problem. Its so overly forced that u could hear & see the desperation. Reigns appears to not be ready for all this.
I would love to know how much it cost Vince to bring the Crock to Philly for all this.
The people clearly want Bryan v Lesnar, & if it was even possible Lesnar is picking up even more steam with hot crowd reactions. So if he's dipping again after Mania the fans deserve the match they want, Lesnar v Bryan, the champion who never lost his title versus the champion who can't be beat it truly writes & sells itself.
the first 25 seconds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGGH25nBEHA
ReplyDeletethat's the Roman Reigns that got over: suave bad ass.
I want Vince to come call that goddamned Reigns match himself.
ReplyDeleteBut if the World title match goes in the middle, that just devalues it even more. It has to go on last.
ReplyDelete"You're hired!" said WWE Creative.
ReplyDeleteWhat if Brock beats Reigns when Heyman spits coca-cola in Reigns' eyes, and Cena, coming down to check on his buddy, is challenged to an impromptu title match by Heyman, and Cena gets into the ring and is held by Lesnar for Heyman to spit more coca-cola, but Cena ducks the Coca-cola and it gets in Brock's eyes, and Cena wins the title to end the show.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem with having a storyline with Reigns and Brock before the Rumble, is that it would make it more obvious (if it wasn't already) that Reigns would win.
ReplyDeletethat sounds like a decent idea: Reigns wins as a result of a screwjob finish, but not obvious cheating. a huge portion of the crowd is already p*ssed off because of that. Rock is doing the endorsement cheer .... and gets knocked out.
ReplyDeleteCena would never come down to the ring to check on his buddies. Also, don't you mean Mountain Dew?
ReplyDeleteI get the feeling the crowd would shit on the match no matter how it goes down and regardless of its quality, so just have Patterson or somebody craft a 15 minute hard-hitting power match with a bunch of shortcuts to hide both guys' weaknesses.
ReplyDeletenever thought about it that way, but that's pretty accurate.
ReplyDeleteregarding Lesnar/Reigns: also it will make a huge difference that the acoustics are so weird in stadiums in comparison to an arena like the Garden.
I have no problem with a guy earning a title shot, then getting it. Not every big match has to be personal. In fact, if more feuds were developed and built upon such natural ideas, the WWE might be a bit more entertaining right now.
ReplyDeleteThe whole problem with Reigns is the way he has been presented UP UNTIL this point.
If Bryan vs Ziggler at Mania was the plan, how much more satisfying would that feud AND the Rumble have been if Ziggler & bryan had started #1 and #2 at the Rumble, last to close to the end, and did some kind of double elimination spot. Would have saved people's enjoyment of the Rumble (at least a while longer) and given their program a better start than "let's have a match on Twitter."
ReplyDeleteWasn't Brock scheduled for the RAW after Mania, too? I really don't think it's set in stone that Roman wins the title.
ReplyDeleteI really hope we see a bunch of names @Mania, quality matches or not. The Dudleyz, RVD, Jericho, Batista, Sting, Goldberg, Taker, HHH....bring 'em all back in. I don't care. The product has been so bland, boring & repetitious that some fantasy booking cud be enticing, even with the lack of a 5* match. An epic showdown with a hot crowd makes up for a few missing *'s.
ReplyDeleteThey especially gonna need all these cats for Mania @Dallas to sell out 100,000 seats. You would think Austin has to perform, & maybe even the Rock, unless Austin wants to be the focus because the Rock kinda overshadows him.
Shit....Rock v Austin one more time at one more Mania might pack the joint.
controversy creates cash. or something.
ReplyDeleteWM25 as well.
ReplyDeletemore like "no contest/dq".
ReplyDeletejust APOLOGIZE and throw millions at them and finally do CM Punk vs. Steve Austin.
ReplyDeleteI think that's probably the plan for Mania 32
ReplyDeleteI think the card will affect the buyrates more than the ticket sale. there are people all over the world that are coming to see WrestleMania, it's totally different from any other of their ppvs.
ReplyDeletecould have easily been solved if the Rumble title shot had been give to Ambrose or Ziggler (the title match isn't the most important thing about that ppv anyway).
ReplyDeletethings like this make me question if the WWE even "gets" their own product. there are literally dozens and dozens of examples on what "works" in terms of getting fans behind a wrestler.
ReplyDeleteBrockus Clay aka the funky beast.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised Cena has never worn American Flag-patterned jean shorts.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't Cena lose to Rusev at Fast Lane and have the rematch at Mania? Cena's fought guys on PPVs four times in a row before.
ReplyDeleteand screw it - we're only paying 9.99!
ReplyDeleteEvery single Hall of Fame inductee including the ghost of Randy Savage comes down to raise Reigns' hand after he wins the title?
ReplyDeleteCole mentioned Cena v Rusev was booked for Mania but it got bumped to Fast Lane, so can't see it at Mania too.
ReplyDeleteI think either way whether it be Cena or Reigns closing, they both are probably gonna win so the boo's will be there. No way Bryan closes, especially if its Bryan v Ziggler which wud 100% open....
Bryan v Ziggler
Rusev v Jericho or Sheamus
Rollins v Orton
Wyatt v Taker or Y2J
Sting v HHH
Cena v Ambrose
Lesnar v Reigns
That would have required some actual thinking and planning on an angle.
ReplyDeleteAnd Mania 11 didn't end with a title match either. It's not without precedent.
ReplyDeleteHey, this is all Daniel Bryan's fault. Apparently he didn't want that brass ring hard enough to magically grow eight inches, put on 50 pounds of muscle and be related to The Rock.
ReplyDeleteShhh! Don't ruin Brock's surprise entrance!
ReplyDeletethey should at least try to throw a huge load of money (and I guess even more important: an apology) at CM Punk and try to get him to do a match against Stone Cold.
ReplyDeleteAndre whispers into his ear "thanks for saying wonderful things about me on Smackdown"
ReplyDeleteGotta wonder what the Rock was thinking, stood in ring as the roof was being booed off. Must have reminded him of his Rocky Maivia days.
ReplyDeleteKoko could be the game changer
ReplyDelete"I should really have checked the BoD before signing up to this"
ReplyDelete