How I would book the Road to WrestleMania including Ziggler, Reigns, Ryback and Lesnar.

The most prominent rumours surrounding the Royal Rumble recently would be that Roman Reigns is going to win and go on to face Brock at WrestleMania. However, I personally don’t think that Reigns is ready to be at the top of the card at Mania. In this article I’ll tell you why I think that, and what I think they should do instead with regards to booking Reigns going forward and with that I’ll cover a list of guys who I think should win the Rumble instead and why. At the end I’ll write about what I think they should do if they DO have Reigns win the Rumble. Also, I’ll write this with the mindset that Brock will be champion, or at least that’s what I’m hoping for at WrestleMania, if it is Cena it still sort of works too.

First of all it’s probably good of me to point out that I do actually like Reigns for the most part, he’s quite athletic for his size and a lot of his move set is quite unique and original, I know this is sort of an overused phrase but I genuinely do think that if he was on the indies using these moves that people would be calling for him to be signed. With that being said, I think I’m in the same boat as most people when I say that he isn’t ready to be pushed to the moon. Recently, his promo quality has come into question and I have to agree that bar the odd line, his promos appear so scripted that he can’t flow naturally with them. To me, his character would be cooler if he didn’t talk much anyway and just showed up and speared guys out of nowhere. Anyway, that’s not the point, it seems obvious to me and the majority of fans that Reigns is going to be pushed to being one of the top guys because he has that ‘look’ and you can’t deny that, he definitely does have the look and the physicality to be a top guy but I think he needs another year to get his promo ability, confidence and to be booked in the right way to becoming the champion. At the minute, because of his injury it seems that he hasn’t really done much since breaking up with The Shield, he hasn’t been booked or positioned in anyway for the fans to get behind him as a singles star in my opinion. The recent criticism of Reigns as well might leave yet another Rumble with a sour taste with the majority of fans. 

Anyway, Because of this I think that Reigns’ inevitable push should be held off till next Rumble so he has more experience and has that time to slowly get more over. Instead, I think this is what they should do with Reigns at the Rumble. First you have the guy come out and annihilate a good chunk of the roster, eliminating Big Show or Kane and a few jobbers. Meanwhile, I would have Rusev acting in a similar way and together (not as a team, just individually) they clear the ring and are left the only two standing facing each other. No doubt this would cause the crowd to go into the “This is Awesome” mode. Then I’d have the two be broken up by the next guy or whatever who jumps on them both and then have Reigns eliminate Rusev in a way that doesn’t make Reigns look too dominant over him. This would set up the feud between them both and I think would escalate Reigns as a character and get more of the crowd behind him, also you have the combination of that and the fact that Rusev is still unbeaten. Then, I’d stretch this out till Mania and maybe have a match at, what WWE are now calling, ‘Fast Lane’. Maybe, have Rusev beat down Reigns or do a double count out or what might be even better is keeping them away from each other so that the first time they have a proper match and properly get to fight is at Mania. I think this way it would help Reigns get over by beating Rusev and becoming US champion, it would probably bring more prestige to the belt which we all know it needs (although I think it’s improved since Rusev has had the belt). Rusev at the minute is probably the third best heel in the company just below Lesnar and Rollins but with Lesnar being used sparingly, he really seems the second most prominent heel. Rusev will also probably feel even bigger if he beats Ryback in what feud he seems to be at the minute. Tell me what you guys think of what they should do with Reigns and how you would book it, or, do you want him to win the Rumble? Leave a comment or something.

So, if Reigns isn’t going to be the Rumble winner then it raises the question who should be? I’ve got a few guys I can think of which, to me, all should be winning it above Reigns at this point and I’ll go through them one by one.

Daniel Bryan

First, of course there is Daniel Bryan, I know he’s not back yet but there is no question that when does get back he’ll be the most over guy on the show. Rumours at the minute are that Bryan will be back in the summer but we’ve seen WWE release that kind of information to only spin that and have Cena turn up as a surprise in the past. I don’t really know whether I have to go through the reasons of why it should be Bryan because it’s pretty obvious. The MMA style of match the two would have would be great and seeing Bryan get thrown around by a monster only to turn round and pin him would be the ultimate underdog story. Perhaps, the ultimate underdog story which we should have been given last year when Bryan should have won the Rumble instead of Batista. I think because of the risk that Bryan not turning up they should have him come out on RAW and tell the crowd he won’t be showing up or even advertise him for the pre-show panel. That way it’ll let any sour fans of Bryan not boo Reigns if he wins.

I think most people will think I’m crazy for saying the next guy has a chance of winning but THAT is what it makes it even more likely

Dolph Ziggler

Now, I know what you’re thinking “WWE wants to keep him down” and that is precisely why I think that he might be able to put on, again, the ultimate underdog story. If you think of how this guy has been pushed recently, he’s the number 2 guy in the company without a doubt. I’ve seen people saying that they aren’t crediting him on RAW with Survivor Series but I think that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. I mean, first of all he beats 3 major guys in one match, BY HIMSELF. I think people forget that Ziggler had the match won before Sting came out, Sting only came out to reverse the damage that HHH had done interfering. Since then, Cena has credited Ziggler which is a big deal and perhaps, what means more is that Ziggler has done run ins to help Cena on RAW which you don’t see often. They’ve positioned Ziggler in a spot that he is both a main event guy AND he is more over with the fans now than he ever has been. Another reason to do this is because it’ll be such good storytelling, it’d be such an underdog story and he’s so over that EVERYTHING that Ziggler does towards Lesnar will get a pop and every near fall the fans will believe. On top of that you’ve also got the fact that Ziggler will SELL so much for Lesnar that it’ll look like Lesnar is going to kill him. Both guys also have that amateur wrestling background which could make for a really good match. I think another thing to note is that this guy has been consistently stealing the show (pun intended) for the last couple of years and he’s developed a fan base single handedly pretty much, at one point he was finished and relegated to jobber but to get enough fans to follow and support him without the company necessarily wanting too, to me, that deserves a reward. Maybe he should be winning the Rumble more so than Bryan.

My final guy who I think should win the Rumble match is THE BIG GUY

Ryback

The Big Guy, Ryback, I think it’s pretty obvious why I think he should be winning the Rumble. As a face, Ryback is probably the number 3 guy on the roster currently and he is JACKED which we all know that WWE likes. This guy always gets a pop and the crowd ALWAYS chants FEED ME MORE to his music and shoulder pumps. The obvious thing is to play up the monster v monster angle and if booked right, the match doesn’t even need to be good technically to be the most over thing at WrestleMania. I know it’s not on the same level but what I mean is similar to Hogan and Rock at WM18 (again, I’d like to reiterate, Ryback and Lesnar are NOT on the level of Rock and Hogan, I know) but if booked right the crowd could be into it enough for the match quality to not matter. With this as well it means that Ryback would still remain face if facing Lesnar which he obviously performs better at. Ryback as an option mostly comes from if WWE don’t want Lesnar to lose to a ‘smaller guy’. Ryback at the minute, in my opinion is more of a crowd favourite that Reigns too. It seems that Reigns is over with the kids and women mostly whereas Ryback caters to ALL of the sub-audiences. 

Finally, if WWE must have Reigns win it to ensure that he is recognised as a top guy, this is what I would propose:

It seems that Rollins, by last weeks RAW, will be eventually the new Paul Heyman guy. Now, if I was booking at WWE (which I should be, Vince, if you see this, drop me an email or a tweet, we’ll talk figures, I’ll look forward to it) I would have Reigns win the Rumble and Lesnar beat Cena again and have Rollins stay involved in and around the feud. For example, when Reigns and Lesnar are having a stand off, have Rollins jump him from behind and then have Lesnar F5 Reigns, things like that, even to the point of where you get Reigns and Rollins facing off on RAW and have them reach a DQ finish or something. Then, after Fast Lane, segue Rollins into another feud - maybe Chris Jericho, something important and rememberable.Then at Mania you have Reigns beat Lesnar and have the confetti and all the crowd is going wild. The next night on RAW, I would have Reigns come out beaten up, selling an injury and start cutting a promo and then just have Seth cash in the MITB briefcase and beat him for it and then have Heyman doing the evil genius smile and the clapping because he’s still won with PLAN B (pun intended). This way, it pushes Reigns into that main event spot by beating Lesnar but also allows Rollins to become the biggest heel in the company. By doing this you make 2 main event stars out of Lesnar’s title run.

Let me know what you guys think, follow me on twitter or leave a comment. 

Carl

@curbstxmp - twitter.

My Thoughts and Review of NXT Takeover: R Evolution

First thing I want to say here is what a great show. If you like wrestling and you haven’t seen this you are definitely, definitely missing out. I’ll go through each match and give you my overall thoughts on what’s going on in NXT at the minute. Also, SPOILER ALERT. This show was without a doubt in my top 5 shows of all wrestling (not just WWE) in 2014.

The show started off meaning business as indy star Kevin Steen, debuted under his new name Kevin Owens. The immediate reaction from the crowd was a really loud one, and this was the first pop of many throughout the night. Owens wrestled against CJ Parker and his debut was marked with a really good performance, he hit some of his signature moves like the Cannonball Senton in the corner, the Pumphandle Neckbreaker and used the Pop-Up Powerbomb as his finisher which Parker sold great. Perhaps what made this match even better was that Parker got in some good offence rather than it just being the usual ‘squash match’ which wrestling fans are catered too often in NXT (not a criticism). One of the most eventful parts of the match came from Parker palm striking Owens in the nose causing Owens to break his nose and to start bleeding (hard way of course). Not that he needed it but it made Owens even MORE badass than he already did. What else was weird was that the palm strike caused Parker to have a hole in his hand off of Owens nose which he posted a picture of on Twitter later. Overall, just because of how much of a fan I was for Steen on the indies, I’ll have to give this match a 4 out of 5 star rating. 

On another note, I’d like to shout out Kevin Owens for how much weight the guy has lost and how much better condition he looks. He’s obviously made a lot of effort to lose weight and go for it to get into WWE and be successful so well done to the lad.

The next match on the card was probably my least favourite match of the night to be honest which says a lot when looking at the competitors. Lucha Dragons v The Vaudevillians (I hope I spelt that right). As usual, watching Kalisto fly around the ring like gravity doesn’t apply to him was really entertaining. The Vaudevillians are both good in-ring workers too and they work together well but I personally find the gimmick a bit too much and a bit monotonous at times. However, at least it’s different. Sin Cara was, as usual, overshadowed by all the guys in the ring and especially Kalisto. No offence to Sin Cara but I just think that Kalisto would be so much better off without him there. Every time they have a tag match the crowd and everyone watching is just waiting for the hot tag to Kalisto but in a negative way as nobody really seems to care about Sin Cara. All in all, it was a decent match though but I haven’t really cared about this feud so i’ll give it a 3 out of 5 star rating.

Third match on the card was a Baron Corbin squash match against Tye Dillinger. I don’t really know what to say about this match other than it was the usual Baron Corbin match which we’ve been conditioned to love. If anything, I think the match went TOO long and it only lasted about a minute and it could have been shorter as Corbin looked around and seemed to waste a bit of time just staring Dillinger out. I think they should be aiming for the crowd to not stop counting during the match and they seemed to give up around the 30-40 second mark. I don’t even know whether you can give that a rating so I won’t bother. All the same though, entertaining and Corbin is pretty cool and badass. I’ll look forward to the impending match between him and Bull Dempsey although I hope Corbin will win the feud because I’m not the biggest fan of Dempsey.

NOW THIS IS WHERE THE SHOW GOES FROM BEING GOOD TO ONE OF THE BEST SHOWS OF THE YEAR IN MY OPINION.

Next on the card was Finn Balor and Hideo Itami v The Ascension. The most memorable part of the match was Balor’s entrance where he was wearing the warpaint which he’d made famous on the indies and in New Japan. The entrance music and video and entrance movements were totally different. This was definitely the second mark out moment of the night, I’ll put a picture of how his warpaint looked next to this so I won’t describe it but it was so creepy and The Ascension’s reaction and the way they sold it was equally as good. This match again was probably the best to this point (and it was going to get better), my favourite spot of the match was watching Hideo tease the GTS which the NXT crowd popped big for. All I can say for this match is that it is definitely worth a watch. Again, 4 out of 5 star rating.

Next, was, in my opinion the best woman’s match of the year. Sasha Banks and Charlotte for the NXT Womens title is one of the best womens matches I’ve ever seen. Banks, as a heel is phenomenal and gets the right kind of heel heat. Even if you appreciated her character you still want to see her get beat because her character is just so horrible. She’s brilliant, and on the other hand there is Charlotte who is phenomenal in the ring. It’ll be a crime to wrestling if these women don’t et a chance to show what they have in the ring once they are both promoted to the main roster. Not only is this my Womens match of the year but it could arguably be up there for one of the matches of the year. Phenomenal. 5 out of 5 star rating.

Adrian Neville v Sami Zayn

If the Slammys were this week, this would HAVE to be nominated for Match of the Year at the very least. The feud going into the match left Zayn saying that if he ‘couldn’t win the big one’ that he’d quit which was good enough to get the interest going. Both, Neville and Zayn are on another level when it comes to in-ring work and this match was no exception. The spots and teases throughout were phenomenal and if you like wrestling you NEED to watch this match because it was one of the best i’ve ever seen probably. I’m 18 now, but I can’t remember many times where I’ve regressed into a child-like mindset nearly shouting at my TV as Zayn teased hitting Neville with the belt and as he locked in the Koji Clutch. Brilliant. The finish of the match only brought a similar reaction to what Daniel Bryan winning at WrestleMania 30 and Benoit winning at WrestleMania 20. Absolutely phenomenal. After, the whole NXT locker room came out to celebrate with Zayn and Owens was the first guy out into the ring to hug Zayn which was reminiscent to Eddie and Benoit at Mania 20. This is definitely a must see for all you indy fans out there. 5 out of 5 star rating, if not better. Best match of the night and if the Survivor Series match was Match of the Year then it has to be said that this was better and is more deserving of the award. Phenomenal.

After, all of the roster went to the back and Zayn was left in the ring to celebrate by himself which was nice to see again. As he is going to the back, Owens comes back out to help him to the back and help carry him. AND THEN IT HAPPENS, I marked out so much for this bit, as they are walking to the back Owens turns heel and slams Zayn onto the NXT ramp and then grabs him and Powerbomb’s Zayn onto the apron which is makes an indy fan like myself mark out anyway but because it is against Zayn, it is even more so. The show goes off the air with Owens walking to the back and Zayn being stretchered out from ringside.

Overall, this is probably in my top 5 wrestling shows of the year as a whole as I’ve already said. It had everything you could want in a wrestling show, great wrestling, not TOO much if any filler, great spots, hype and good feuds. Comparisons between this and TLC have been common on Twitter and across the internet with the majority deciding that NXT was by far a better and more entertaining show and I would have to agree. This 2 hour wrestling show gets a 10/10 from me and if you only watch one wrestling show this week, make sure it’s this one.

Carl Maddison

@discuslariet - twitter.

Overall Thoughts on RAW 02/12/14

I might do this weekly just to give my thoughts on the episode, I’m not sure whether to do it in bullet points or just ramble so I guess I’ll just see how it goes. One thing I’d like to point out is that I’ll probably only talk about things actually worth talking about, if I don’t mention something it’s probably because I either didn’t care about it, or I’ve forgotten that it happened which is basically the same thing isn’t it? I’ll probably leave the article with a rating out of 10 each week as well, that’d be cool.

First of all, we’ll start at the top of the show, the opening segment saw that at TLC there would be a Seth Rollins V John Cena tables match at TLC. Until this was announced the opening segment was quite dull and annoying with the anonymous GM role (to be fair they probably want you to feel that way). Anyway, the stipulation was added that if Cena loses then he isn’t the number 1 contender anymore. At this point in RAW I was like, THANK GOD and thought it looked up from there. Sadly, I was mistaken. However, this stipulation is a really good one because that means we don’t need to sit through ANOTHER Cena and Lesnar match (that coming from someone who skipped NoC because of college exams). So, anyway, I’m hoping that this leads to Orton against Brock or just pushing someone from the mid card just to get the star power by association (I doubt it will be him but maybe Cesaro). Perhaps, just someone who can have a good match with Lesnar at the Rumble and who will gain something from being beat by him.

Secondly, The Uso’s were made number 1 contenders for the Tag Team Championships against Miz and Mizdow. At first I was thinking here we go again but then I thought about it properly and thought, what if The Uso’s go on to win the belts at TLC which will set off 2 different opportunities for WWE.

1. Losing the match will mean that Miz and Mizdow will be able to star their feud and they can start to build Sandow as a big face for WrestleMania.

2. The way I see it, The Uso’s winning will mean that there will be a Face Tag Team as the champions. This means that at Rumble or whatever, WWE will most likely debut The Ascension  against The Uso’s and that way they can get The Ascension over as a big time Heel Tag Team.

Thirdly, I noticed that WWE are still showing signs of disgruntlement between Brie and Nikki Bella which makes me think that eventually, they might pull the trigger on Brie to have her beat Nikki for the Divas belt. Maybe dream booking here, but I’m hoping that Daniel Bryan will be back for the Royal Rumble and to win it, as he should have last year and then go on to win the belt at Mania. Meanwhile, I’d like to think that they would do a similar thing with Brie and have them end up having that moment in the ring similar to Eddie and Benoit at WM 20.

Another thing I liked last night was the Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose confrontation albeit slightly confusing. Who is this Jacob Bray was talking about? Probably just the usual anonymity which Bray talks about. That wasn't a criticism of Bray as such, maybe a slight critique of the creative. Anyway, the match looks like it’s going to be a good one and definitely worth the watch.

From what I saw of the main event, it was good but I’m not going to lie on my own blog, I fell asleep during it. Not because it was boring or anything but because I’d had 6 hours sleep and I live in the UK so at this point it was half 3 in the morning.

Anyway, this RAW seemed to be quite dull for the most part, it was definitely one of them episodes of RAW which if you didn’t watch then it’s not worth watching and you won’t miss anything really. 

Rating: 4/10