Money in the Bank: WWE on Autopilot.

Recently, as you may have seen from my last review of Elimination Chamber, I've been a bit down on WWE because at this point in the year, usually from May to July, WWE switch in to autopilot mode. When this happens, it's just WWE getting by until SummerSlam to bring in more money than they'd get from a B-PPV like Payback. So, going into this PPV I expected nothing else and that's what we were given.

I didn't watch the Pre-Show.


Sheamus(w) v Neville v Kane v Randy Orton v Kofi Kingston v Roman Reigns v Dolph Ziggler (***)

This is the main reason of why WWE is on autopilot. Sheamus...Sheamus. Is this 2010? Since coming back he's had two weeks of being interesting because of his new look and 'gimmick' but when he won, you could have heard a pin drop. The fact that Sheamus went over instead of Reigns, Neville, Ziggler or even Orton is absurd. Don't get me wrong, the only reason I care is because we're likely going to have a Sheamus title run in the next year which is ridiculous because he hasn't been over enough to lead the company in years. He's just stale. Yes he can wrestle but so can a lot of guys, he has a severe lack of character. "Are you not entertained?" No, I'm not. The match itself was just an average Money in the Bank match with not many big moments. I don't understand why they didn't give Reigns the briefcase because he's way more over than Reigns and even if some of the crowd dislikes him at least it isn't overall ambivalence.

What is interesting is that Bray interfered and attacked Reigns which should lead to a decent feud but it's not like it'll be anything special although it SHOULD be.

Nikki Bella (w) v Paige (**1/2)

The story going in to this match was totally non-existent. The story they were trying to tell is that Paige is rebelling against the diva dictatorship of the Bella Twins which would be good and interesting if they actually built up the Bellas to be controlling or manipulative but literally a month prior to this match they were faces. Since then, they've done twin magic once and because of that Paige has been cutting promos about how they control the division and keep everyone else down. It's clearly obvious that there is no effort put into the division because if there was some kind of forethought maybe they would have gradually built Nikki and Brie to appear as keeping others down and actually make this mean something. However, this is probably the best main roster divas match I've seen in a while which sounds complimentary but in comparison, it's hardly great. The end of the match was just stupid. As soon as the referee noticed that it was Brie that was pinned instead of Nikki, the bell should have rang for a DQ. Anyway, why should we care about this if they obviously don't?

Big Show v Ryback (**)

This was moderate. The best part of the whole segment/match was Miz turning heel on the crowd after first appearing as a face. I don't really have much to say because this was so irrelevant to everything but I would like to ask the question: Why are WWE still protecting Big Show when nobody in the crowd cares? The absolute ambivalence that is shown towards him even made me question whether he'd still be on TV if he was 3 or 4 inches smaller and my conclusion, no he wouldn't be. All he is at this point is a spectacle but he doesn't even draw either. Anyway, this was what you'd expect it to be. Not good, just alright.

Kevin Owens v John Cena (w) (***3/4)

Again, Kevin Owens and John Cena achieve my Match of the Night award, which I'm sure is their sole purpose of putting a good show so that I will give them a positive review. I didn't think this match was as good as the first one but I think that's because the first one I was more excited for to begin with. As expected, Cena got his win back which I was a bit afraid that it would make Owens seem like every other heel in WWE, but, what happened after the match proved that he isn't. Cena at first put him over by saying he deserves to be 'here' and all that kind of stuff which Cena never did with Rusev or Bray. Then, after extending for a handshake, Owens attacked Cena and powerbombed him on the apron which will hopefully be what people remember most. As it was with the last one, this felt like the main event, the crowd was most invested in this and the back and forth match made it feel like it had such meaning. Great stuff again.

Prime Time Players (w) v The New Day

So, at this point it's fitting to tell you that I didn't watch Money in the Bank live because I was drinking with some friends, and when it came to watching it the morning after, I ended up napping through this match and because I didn't care at all about the result, I didn't go back to watch it. I can't see why PTP won this match when The New Day are actually over as heels and the crowd reaction to PTP winning was total ambivalence yet again. The tag division at the minute is so diluted that I have hardly any interest in any of the teams, especially with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro not on TV because of Kidd's injury. I feel like The New Day are a lot more entertaining than PTP as well and that the only entertainment in the group is if they are being chased, which they obviously aren't anymore.

Seth Rollins (w) v Dean Ambrose (*** 1/2)

This was good but not great. I enjoyed the story that was told with Seth having to go it alone and because of that he seemed to become a lot more calculated in his offence, attacking Dean's leg. This match was given a lot of time (according to wiki, over 35 minutes) and because of that it seemed to take on the right pace as the momentum built and built instead of just having near fall after near fall which has become the WWE go to for a good match. The problem with this match, and with the last match they had, at no point did I feel like Dean was going to pull it out and win so because of that, a lot of the tension was missed. I think that's why Owens and Cena topped this for Match of the Night because even during the match it wasn't like Ambrose came that close to winning a part from the end which as soon as they got up there I felt was predictable.


So all in all, nothing in this PPV actually seemed to progress any storyline except for Owens/Cena and Rollins/Ambrose. The rest of the night was pretty dull and it's pretty obvious that WWE are just 'getting by' at this point until Brock returns and they can actually have some sort of excitement outside of the Cena/Owens segment. WWE's monotony at this point is saddening to say the least. I'll just leave this now because I don't want to bore you as much as this PPV may have.

R.I.P The American Dream, Dusty Rhodes.

Dusty Rhodes is an icon of wrestling. His work as a performer, a wrestler and a part of the creative team has led to inspire so many wrestling stars and fans of today. Unfortunately, I am not old enough to have seen Dusty perform in his hay day but I am not ignorant of how big of a star this man once was. There is no doubt that without his impact on wrestling and because of his look, modern wrestlers such as Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt would find it much harder to break out despite their talent, his contribution to modern day wrestling doesn't end there as he always gave back to the business he loved so much by being the leader of the NXT writing staff. The impact of his work will truly be felt in wrestling for decades to come. Today, the wrestling community mourns the loss of one of the most inspirational wrestlers ever and with that, my thoughts are with Dusty's family at this hard time.

R.I.P Dusty Rhodes. A Man, a Father, a Husband, a Hall of Famer and an Icon. Thank you.

Elimination Chamber: One Spark in a Dark Dark Night.

Going into this special event it has to be said that I wasn't really expecting much in comparison to others that I had seen online. I just felt that since the first few Elimination Chamber matches, none of them seem to live up to the hype whether it be because of the PG nature of the programming or just simply because the psychology is off, which we'll get into later. This will be a match by match review of the night and then I'll leave with some overall thoughts at the end. Also, I won't be covering the Pre-Show because nothing really happened to note.

(Disclaimer: This may or may not be as positive as my usual reviews)

Tag Team Elimination Chamber Match for the Championships - The New Day (W) (**)

From the start this match felt like just such a bad opener. My main criticisms of this match, other than the psychology, are the actual teams that took part in it. Firstly, The Ascension have been treated as nothing but a joke since debuting earlier this year so putting them in this 'serious' match made it feel underwhelming before the bell even rang. Moreover, Los Matadores, who've literally made no impact since they debuted (god knows how long ago) were in the match which added more to this sense of total meaningless. This match was obviously just hot shotted and thrown together randomly in the space of two weeks which is fine but why not include Mandow and Axel OR Harper and Rowan. Both of them teams are more over than The Ascension and Matadores.

I enjoyed the fact that all three of The New Day entered the match but what really made me annoyed (and always does) is that they appear to treat El Torito as anything other than an actual human being when they continue to note on commentary it's just a guy in a suit. First of all, in every match the Matadores are in, Torito can interfere as and when he pleases while in this match specifically he was allowed to be in the Chamber and take part in the match. When he does this on RAW it's never seen as a DQ which is ridiculous to me. How, in 2015 they continue to do this without anybody calling for the fact they are discriminating against smaller people. It's absurd.

Anyway, to add to how much the combination of teams underwhelmed me was the way they were all utilised. The Ascension, who as I've just noted, have been treated as jokes for months run through Los Matadores (which is okay because they've never done anything) and Lucha Dragons which legit have potential to draw money because of their masks and wrestling style. This, mixed with the fact that the wrestlers don't seem to understand the rules to the Elimination Chamber match made this harder to enjoy for me. Moreover, there was numerous times that pins were broken up by an opposing team which if left for the referee to count the 3, would have indeed benefitted the person breaking up the count. Unfortunately, this seemed to be a prominent theme of the night.

However, what I did like about this match was the spots that happened. Kalisto falling from the roof of the Chamber onto the majority of the guys in the match was a great spectacle. Also, I really enjoyed Torito jumping from the top of a pod onto Cesaro and hurricanrana-ing him which looked great. Another great spot was Sin Cara's Senton Bomb from the top of a pod which was definitely worth seeing.

Another thing, which I haven't seen anyone point out is that Cesaro was rolled up by Darren Young out of nowhere which gives the impression that Cesaro and Kidd will continue to chase the New Day for the titles and by doing that, will still be screwed out of their fair chance at regaining the championships. This is probably the only good storytelling part of this story that I could see because the rest seemed to be just a spot fest.

Nikki Bella (c)(W) v Paige v Naomi (*)

I don't even know where to start with this match. A lot of my criticisms of this match are criticisms of the 'divas' division in total which I'll hopefully get round to writing another blog about so I'll just focus on this match. First of all there was too many botches to count which made this unbearable. In particular, Naomi botched a inverted frankensteiner which just took me out of the match completely. My criticisms of Naomi is mostly why I like Nikki which @MaxwellRBR (of the RBR podcast which I'd really recommend) summed up totally on Twitter; "Why do I like Nikki Bella? Because she keeps shit simple, tells a story and doesn't try to do stupid shit that she can't do". My main criticism of this match is that it told no story at all and I'm just glad that Nikki retained because any other outcome at this point would have been ludicrous.

Kevin Owens(W) v John Cena (****)

As if I even have to say this but MATCH OF THE NIGHT. Cena is great. We all know that unless you're one of them people blinded by whatever you're blinded by, but what made this match so great was that it wasn't your typical Cena babyface match where Cena is beat down for 20 minutes only to hit his comeback and win. This match was the opposite and it needed to be. For the 20 minutes that the match lasted it was back and forth between the two as they traded blows and moves. Owens at one point even hit an AA on Cena to get maximum heat. A part of the match which I loved was the tease of the package piledriver on Cena which was then transitioned into a throw of some kind, it's hard to describe with words. I have only one criticism of this match and that is that Cena kicked out of the first Pop-Up Powerbomb. I feel like because this is the first time we've seen it on official WWE TV, the move should have been kept strong and beat Cena with just one. Other than that the negatives in this match really lack and of course the peak came in the finish. Owens winning is good for WWE, good for the fans and good for him of course. If I'm not mistaken, he's the first person to beat Cena on his debut ever so here's hoping that this is going to have even more impact than Cena's debut against Kurt Angle. This was by far the peak of the night and the best match although it didn't necessarily have the stiffest of competition. Great stuff.

Neville(W) v Bo Dallas (**)

This match was nothing particularly special as it acted as the filler match between what seemed like the hottest part of the night and leading into the 'main matches'. It was just an average match really and the predictability that Neville would win meant that this was nothing more than just filler. Cool Red Arrow to end it but Neville should have been in the IC match.

The Intercontinental Championship Elimination Chamber -  Ryback (W) (*)

This was the worst match of the night. Rusev being injured meant that Mark Henry took his place which as I had earlier predicted, was disappointing and worse than having Rusev in. From the outset this was just boring and criticisms of psychology were even more prominent in this match than the prior one as Mark Henry broke up pins. In a singles Elimination Chamber match, nobody, unless storylined, should be breaking up other pins or submissions, it makes no sense. I can't even write about anything I liked other than who actually won. Botchamania will have an absolute field day when looking at this match, you could probably get a full episode out of it. Ziggler's multiple botches and his continuous need to go for a jumping DDT despite failing the majority. This was just a total snoozefest and by far one of the worst Elimination Chamber matches in it's history.

Ryback winning however is the silver lining. The Big Guy has deserved a championship run of some kind and recently, at least in my opinion, his promos have been on point. He seems to have become a lot more comfortable and seems to be more confident when saying things. I also think he's hilarious so the more of The Big Guy, the better.

Dean Ambrose (W) v Seth Rollins (c) (***)

This was decent but it wasn't the best match the two have had in recent memory. Perhaps ironically, what took it away from this match for me was that I couldn't see Ambrose in any capacity winning so I watched mostly ambivalent to what was happening. One thing that this match did though was expose Ambrose' lack of move-set. Literally, the match was all Rollins Move followed up by an Ambrose lariat followed up by a different Rollins move followed up by a rebound lariat etcetera etcetera. The lack of Ambrose winning believability really hindered my enjoyment of the match and I was slightly shocked when the finish came until I remembered the ref bump. Another thing was the disappointment of the previous match made me ready to tap out on this show before this match even started so when giving it 3 stars I'm trying to be objective.

The finish was that Ambrose got the pin but the ref bump prior to it meant he won by DQ. I wasn't disappointed with this as I probably should have been but it made me a bit mad because it was such a poor way to end a poor PPV. Moreover, I think I'm still burnt out on all these finishes since the Bryan storyline which was over a year ago now so if this is going to continue I'm pretty sure I'll lose interest in both of these guys.


Overall, the PPV was pretty poor. With one really solid good match that I felt progressed the company, there has to be some room for positivity. However, with a terrible crowd and an even worse card of matches in places, this whole event was underwhelming and lack lustre. I'm going to give this event a 4/10 which I even think is pretty generous because I have very little interest in watching RAW tonight (although I probably still will).

Dana Brooke - Greener than the money she'll one day make.

Dana Brooke is a new addition to the NXT roster and since her debut, she has caused quite a stir in the wrestling community. Polarising opinions range from her being green too having a good look and potential. Moreover, the debate naturally boils down to her being on NXT TV, is she ready? should she be on TV this early in her development? I thought I'd just throw out my own opinion on Miss Brooke just so it's in writing (or text).

First off it's probably right on her behalf to say that Brooke is new to the on-screen roster, only debuting on the April 15th episode of NXT. However, she was signed with the company in June 2013 so she's racked up a near two
years in WWE so far. Another key element of her persona is what she has accomplished prior to WWE, and I think this, if anywhere is where she may 'draw' money. In 2013, she placed 12th in the European Arnold Classic whereas in the 2015 Arnold Sports Festival she placed 13th. On top of these already impressive accomplishments, Brooke participated in gymnastics for a large part of her life building up to her eventual signing with WWE.

It's obvious to see why WWE sees the potential in her. A natural athlete with a look that screams both 'sexy' and 'strong' it would be hard to dismiss her in terms of moneymaking potential. On top of this the gymnastics that she has trained in will be a big help in the execution of moves and even creating a unique move set which she has already started to do by using a 'handstand foot choke' (which can be seen to the right). In addition, her current gimmick, although I'm not sure how to brand it in any way other than "strong woman with a bitchy as fuck attitude", in my opinion has some great potential to be a solid heel. Because of her look she could be booked to be a monster heel while still reaping the benefits of having an actual heel personality rather than just hurting other women like Tamina (no offence to Tamina). Further, I would say that in this role, her moneymaking potential and gimmick exceeds the Diesel bodyguard role that Tamina has played for a large proportion of her career.

Currently, with this gimmick I'm undecided on her promos. On the one hand, she legit makes me annoyed because I think she comes off as so arrogant and appears so honest with it that I have to give her credit. On the other hand I occasionally find myself wanting to just turn away or just not even watch when she has promo time which in itself is a problem. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt though because I think as she grows into her character more they'll only get better and she must be doing her job somewhat right because I definitely DEFINITELY want to see her get beat.

I think my biggest problem with Brooke is her in-ring ability. In addition, how big of a problem this is depends on your overall idea of what NXT is. Before getting into this I'd like to just point out that I don't expect every wrestler to be having 5 star matches. Similarly, I don't view how many 'moves' a person can and can't do in relation to whether they are a good wrestler. Wrestling is storytelling so if you tell a believable story in the ring then you're more likely than not, to be classed as a good wrestler. Another thing I'd like to point out which I'll go into detail more so in a later blog is that as soon as NXT was promoted on RAW and advertised as a Network exclusive, the priority became about entertainment rather than development. Yes, it's a developmental 'territory' but there are many people in NXT who are not on the weekly TV Show. So, anyone who is on the show, shouldn't be overexposed to a larger audience.

Back to Brooke, her in-ring work currently isn't stellar, she's no Eddie Guerrero (RIP) to say it loosely. Although she's capable of performing the bigger spots in a match, her overall ring awareness sometimes leaves her looking like a dog in headlights. Moreover, as many wrestlers have said, it's not just about the spots in wrestling, it's the stuff you do in the middle that tell the story. At this, Brooke seems to be lack lustre at best. Just after being on NXT for over a month now it's obvious to me (although a credit to a personality) that she's afraid of hurting someone. Most noticeably, for me anyway, was in the tag match at Takeover where she was carried by the other three women in the match. This match was obviously set up to not expose her weaknesses to the audience but in my opinion it still exposed her slightly. As she, and Emma were tagging in each other after delivering a classic mudhole stomp it seemed that although Brooke's character called for aggression, her actions showed the complete opposite. On this blog I'm not one to be negative but her stomps were some of the poorest I've seen and it took me out of the match because it didn't look relatively realistic. Again, she doesn't need to be putting on 5 star matches, her character and build doesn't call for that, but it NEEDS to look realistic.

However, I will end on a positive note. The potential that Brooke possesses in her look and character I think will take her far, and, I can see her becoming a success on the main roster as a heel. Moreover, her major flaws come with wrestling technique and understanding which CAN be taught if she puts in the effort, which, I'm sure she will because you don't reach that level of bodybuilding without effort. Despite this, I think she should have been held off of TV for another 6-9 months while she's learning the wrestling aspects (or less depending on her development, I mean what the hell do I know about learning to wrestle). Overall, I think she has a tremendous amount of potential but I do think that it'll be hard for her to surpass Charlotte who could fit into a similar role if needed. I'm sure we'll see a lot of growth in the coming months and I hope she fits into the NXT Women's roster without any problems. Best of luck to her and her career.

WrestleMania 31 Predictions.

Before I get into it I should say that I haven’t been as hooked on wrestling in the last couple of months because of my university timetable so I haven’t seen every RAW properly but I know the basis of the stories and I’m so hyped for it so let’s get into it.

Disclaimer: The hype I have for WrestleMania means that all of the matches on this card I am looking forward to so if you are looking for negativity, go somewhere else.

Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal

My predictions for this match are only that I think Sheamus will probably win and that Mizdow will finally turn on the Miz. If for some reason Sheamus isn’t in the Battle Royal then I’ll go with Ryback but that’s just more of a wish than anything else because who doesn’t love the big guy. Last years was good so I have no reason to think this years will be any different. Oh, I also think that they’ll be some kind of spot between Big Show and Kane maybe signalling a turn on each other.

Tag Team Championship - Cesaro & Tyson Kidd (c) v The Usos v Los Matadores v The New Day

This will be on the pre-show and should be a great fast paced match to warm up the crowd. I haven’t seen much of the buildup for this match specifically but I can’t see Matadores or New Day getting the belts and because the Usos have had them so many times already I think Cesaro and Kidd will keep them for longer. At least, that’s what I’m hoping because I think they’re one of the most entertaining tag teams that we’ve seen since Rollins and Reigns. I can only see one decision and that’s Cesaro and Kidd retaining the title. 

Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match - Daniel Bryan.

I’m not going to list the competitors because if you’re here then you’ll already know and life is too short. For me, I think that Daniel Bryan will take the belt and have a long run with it. If for no other reason than that Bryan isn’t in the main title match which will be later in the card so I figure they’ll put him over here so that none of the absolute dicks who chant Daniel Bryan constantly will ruin the main event. I think this has the potential to steal the night with the high spots with Dolph Ziggler bumping around and I imagine that Ambrose will do something unique. This is one of the matches I’m looking forward to most and it’s pretty much guaranteed to be a match to remember. 

AJ Lee & Paige v Nikki & Brie Bella

WrestleMania is usually the night that the faces win and because this isn’t a divas championship match I think that AJ and Paige will take the win (probably by pinning Brie). If given time I think this could be an entertaining match. Nikki, Paige and AJ are by far the best 3 divas on the roster (character and wrestling ability included) so I have no reason to think that this will be the toilet break section of the show but hey, if you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.

United States Championship - Rusev (c) v John Cena

So I’d be so totally be saying right now that Cena will go over Rusev because of what happened at Fast Lane BUT with the US belt on the line I can’t see WWE putting it on Cena so maybe Rusev will beat Cena again or something. I think the good thing about this match will be that it’s pretty hard to predict what will happen because you’d like to hope that WWE would learn from their mistakes after what happened with Bray last year. However, saying that, I’m still going to predict Cena because I want to get as many right as possible and you can never count Cena out. Cena it is.

Seth Rollins v Randy Orton

This could be my shout for match of the night. I think they’ll be getting ready to put the belt on Seth and WWE seem to be really behind him so I think that he’ll beat Orton to make him look strong. Also, at this point, Orton losing really doesn’t effect him and it’s not like he’s going to become like Jericho where he just puts people over and a heel has to win at some point in the night so I’m picking Seth. For an extra prediction I’m thinking that he’ll cash-in either at Mania or the night after. The technical ability of both of these guys makes a combination and we’ve seen this match when Rollins was in the Shield I think they had a few good matches on Smackdown (maybe not but I think they did). Anyway, Rollins is my pick.

The Undertaker v Bray Wyatt

Claiming this to be the spectacle of the night (or at least for me). The Undertaker is probably one of, if not my favourite wrestler of all time and Bray is one of my current full time roster wrestlers so the hype I have for this match is amazing. I think just seeing the entrances of these two guys one after another will be amazing and then the stare down. I don’t think this will steal the show like Taker’s matches had leading up to WM30 but I think it’ll be riveting to see such larger than life characters face off. Another thing that makes this match so interesting is that Taker without his win streak will balance the expectation of this match so this one could literally go either way. Another thing I’ve read recently is that next years WM will be Takers last and it will be a retirement match so because of them rumours I’m contemplating picking him to win this year and lose next. However, there is no guarantee that Taker will wrestle next year and they could use Taker losing 2 years in a row as the reason for him to officially retire and then induct him in the HOF next year. Because of this I’m going to pick Bray to win. This should be an amazing match and a one to remember.

Sting v Triple H

Another great spectacle of the night will be seeing these two square off and I think seeing Sting at a WrestleMania. This might not be the best technical match we’ll see but the hype of the crowd will be so loud that it won’t even matter. I’m thinking it’ll be similar to The Rock and Hogan at WM18 (still one of my favourite matches ever) but without the crowd and the characters that are in the match it would have been terrible. I’m putting the same type of match on this one and that isn’t a criticism by any stretch. If anything it might be better than we might think, Sting looks to be in better shape than he’s looked for a good decade and HHH knows how to work. Damn, I’m so excited. Because it’s his first match in WWE, I’m picking Sting to go over and win this match.

Roman Reigns v Brock Lesnar

Despite the hate for Roman Reigns I think he’s improved dramatically over the last few months from what I’ve seen and I think this match will be great. This is what wrestling is about. 2 big guys just knocking the shit out of each other for 30 minutes. I think this will be better than what everyone thinks and I think Reigns will surprise a lot of people. That being said, with the recent news of Lesnar staying with WWE, they might want to keep the title on him and Seth cash-in on him either after or somewhere down the line after a match so that Brock is still beaten down. Either way this makes for an interesting match again because you can’t call it one way or the other. I’m going to go for what I believe is the safer bet in Reigns.

Top 5 Under Appreciated WWE Superstars.

This list will be compiled of 5 people who I think the WWE or most fans under appreciate as far as their ability. If you’re looking for Dolph Ziggler in this list you’ll have a problem finding him because he has been involved in main storylines through the past 6 months while holding the Intercontinental Championship. Also, I don’t think that everyone on this list should be World Champion or anything like that but I do believe that all of these guys should have characters and should be on TV weekly while being a mainstay in the programme. 

5. Bo Dallas and the Bolievers.

Why did this gimmick get dropped from TV? Bo isn’t one of the best workers in WWE by any means and his body and overall look has been criticised but am I the only person who thought the gimmick was phenomenal? This guy could have went on and made a faction with a few people they don’t use and have them as his Bolievers and it would have been so entertaining. One thing that Bo does better than most, if not everyone, is have that smug smile on his face as he is telling everyone to BOLIEVE. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this was ever more than a mid card gimmick but it certainly would have got more of a crowd reaction than Fandango gets each week. At first, it seemed like he had no heat at all but as his ‘streak’ grew, the fans began to give him more heat and it was obviously leading somewhere. If they continued the streak they could have had him talk about beating Undertaker’s streak and how all you need to do is Bolieve. Then, when the fans really give him heat, you have a fan favourite come out like Ryback and just have him get beat. They could have even turned his loss into something more but instead they wasted it on R-Truth and the story went nowhere. WWE dropped the ball on this guy in my opinion and it is unfortunate. Rumours have been circulating that they might be repackaging him and if so then good luck to him and hopefully he’ll exceed what happened to this gimmick.

4. Cesaro

I know the immediate reaction to him being fourth will be that he is a lot more under appreciated by WWE than some of the other guys that will be on this list. However, I’m basing this list off of fans opinions of the wrestlers from what I’ve seen and as we all know, Cesaro is one of the ‘IWC’s’ (I hate that term) favourite wrestlers, therefore, from an audience point of view, he is appreciated. 

How WWE, or Vince, don’t see the overriding quality in this guys work is beyond me. Vince was quoted during the Steve Austin Podcast as saying that Cesaro has struggled to connect with fans but I would argue that he’s struggled to be allowed to connect. If you think of the terrible gimmicks that Cesaro has been given from yodelling to average swiss guy it is no wonder that he won’t get over with the crowd. In comparison, during the WrestleMania 30 pre-show, Cesaro lifted Big Show over the top rope and got a huge pop. Moreover, every wrestling fan knows that the fans who go to WrestleMania are the fans that pour money into the company so to say he’s never connected with the fans, to me, is a very subjective way of looking at things. Another example was prior to that, he was over while being a part of The Real Americans and he certainly connected with the crowd then. Although slightly harsh on Swagger, Cesaro took that team and gimmick to the next level as far as fans getting behind it, yet again, this was left for WWE to ignore. Post-WrestleMania, Cesaro was pushed into being managed by Paul Heyman but was only used to keep Heyman on TV so although Heyman tried his best to get Cesaro over, it can be argued he lessened his prestige because Brock Lesnar was always the main focus of his promos. 

Recent rumours have said that his work with Tyson Kidd is being noticed by Triple H and that they’re preparing Cesaro and Kidd for a title shot at WrestleMania which I can only hope to be true. This segues into my number 3 under appreciated guy in WWE Triple H. I joke, of course it is Tyson Kidd.

3. Tyson Kidd

Prior to seeing his most recent work I assumed and wrongly that Tyson Kidd was a guy who could JUST wrestle. However, since his return from injury I couldn’t have been further from the truth. First things to say is that Kidd is probably one of the WWE’s most used guys since his return from injury. This guy has been consistently on RAW, Smackdown, Main Event, Superstars, NXT and don’t forget Total Divas (although we all want too). He has continued to put on original and unique matches and he just doesn’t seem to get the recognition or credit he deserves from fans or WWE. 

Since he became a solid part of the NXT roster, Kidd has come up with this gimmick of ‘telling FACTS” which sounds stupid when saying it out loud but he does it with such an arrogant, cocky and smug face that makes a brilliant heel while going up against Zayn or Neville. While doing this, he’s had funny and entertaining backstage promos with Natalya about his cats, which again, sounds bad on paper but he turns chicken shit into chicken salad with such ease. I’m hopeful that he will win the Tag Team Championships with Cesaro just so he’s a guaranteed regular on WWE TV. Even when Natalya is having a match and he’s at ringside he still seems to become the best part of the segment some how. Overall he is one of the best workers in the company in terms of his in-ring work and at the minute, he’s one of the most entertaining people on RAW each week in my opinion.

 2. Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes or Stardust has consistently turned chicken shit into chicken salad more times than I can count and never seems to get credit for how good he’s made such terrible gimmicks. For example, the face mask gimmick which he had for a while, the mustache gimmick, stardust which at first seemed to be a ridiculous concept which to me, has turned into something quite entertaining. While doing all of this he’s won IC championships and has still had good runs. Another thing that has impressed me about Cody is his unique move set and his ability to change it up between gimmicks. The disaster kick has been, probably the only consistent move he’s used in his transition from Cody Rhodes to Stardust and it’s the little things that make him such an under appreciated wrestler by basically everyone. He swapped the springboard dropkick to a springboard elbow and that’s just a basic move but he’s clearly trying to make the best out of it. I’ve seen interviews where he has said he prefers playing a character like Stardust and you can tell because he fits the gimmick so well and he out performs Goldust who has been doing the gimmick for 20 years. 

1. Luke Harper

Luke Harper is probably the only guy on this list I could envision becoming the World Champion and having a successful run with it. This guy has everything you need in a wrestler to make him a big monster heel. First, he has that crazy psycho look that made him stand out while in the Wyatt Family with the rough looking hair, long beard and his eyes which more often than not look black. Secondly, he’s got a great promo ability and maintains that psycho, almost serial killer atmosphere. To me, he has that same ability that Bray has where when he cuts a promo you can’t help but watch. Of course, lastly is his great in ring work which has been proven in his matches against Ziggler and Cena. This guy is everything you could want in a heel and I have no idea why WWE are having him job weekly and not doing anything with him. I’m also surprised that more people on the internet aren’t picking up at how low this guy is on the card in comparison to how much potential he has.

Prediction for WrestleMania.

Usually on this blog I write longer articles but this is going to be a short one just to outlay something that I'm predicting will happen.

I've just finished watching the live Smackdown that was this week's RAW substitute and the Main Event was Kane V Daniel Bryan in a Casket match. Due to the reaction that Reigns got in the Rumble and the overwhelming support that the fans still have for Bryan, it would be important for WWE to book Bryan into a feud that is of equal importance as the World Title match. This way, the fans might stop wanting Bryan in the Title picture and look to gain an interest in the Reigns and Lesnar feud.

So, Kane just lost to Daniel Bryan in this Casket match which, although it's the end of their feud, has seemingly came out of nowhere. I was thinking, why not a street fight? Why not a Cage match or Why not put it up for a poll on WWE.com? I think that this stipulation has been chosen for a reason and that reason is to build to an Undertaker and Daniel Bryan feud. Maybe this is fantasy booking and it probably is because all of the dirt sheets look to say that IF Taker does return it'll be to face Bray Wyatt, but, what if Taker returns to avenge Kane's loss?

Over the next few weeks I'm predicting that we might see the druids come out and carry the casket that is the same one that Kane was put in and maybe Undertaker's dong will go off at some point. It'll have to be a slow build if they start it before Fast Lane but it could be a way for WWE to get people interested in the main event picture. Anyway, of course, as usual if this did happen, when Bryan mustered the courage to open the casket the Undertaker would be inside and the feud would then kick off.

I know this is just a random prediction but I think it would make sense. Also, it's worth noting that this is only FANTASY BOOKING. I might do a few more of these predictions as we build up to Fast Lane and now that we are "on the Road to WrestleMania". Let me know what you guys think.

Royal Rumble Review - When it Reigns, it pours.

(Note: if you are just wondering what I think about Reigns winning then feel free to skim down to the end where it’ll be headlined. I was going to do an individual blog on it but decided against it).

Also, I’d like to preface this by saying I was really hyped for the Rumble, it’s my second favourite PPV of the year (WrestleMania being the first of course) and I was fully up for it with my pack of 30 mini chocolate doughnuts. For anyone wondering the doughnuts get a 5/5 from me and it’s not even the best thing that happened this night. We’ll get to that later.

The New Day (Big E & Kofi Kingston) v Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (***1/2)

This was initially meant to be a 6 way elimination match with Adam Rose and Xavier Woods but Woods appears to have been injured so they changed it out for a regular tag. Usually I don’t watch the pre-show but Cesaro and Kidd, to me, are the best tag team going right now so I made it a point to tune in on the Network. Just before I start I’m definitely going to overhype this because I thought it was an excellent way to start off the show. There was some good spots with Cesaro’s uppercuts and seeing Tyson Kidd get the pin and having the team go over only made it that much sweeter. Considering they haven’t been a team for long on TV, Kidd and Cesaro have got a range of tag team moves that blend both of their styles together which really makes watching them more exciting. More than that, Kofi and Big E can really work and they also have some good team moves that compliment both members of the team. I think this is my favourite pairing from the New Day and all in all I gave this a 3 and a half star match. Saying that though I give the T-Shirts that Cesaro and Kidd wore to the ring 5 stars with the slogan "Brass Ring Club" on. 

The Ascension v The New Age Outlaws (***)

This was a hell of a lot better than it could have been. Billy Gunn looked in phenomenal shape for his age and this match was quite good. The way The Ascension kept Billy in the corner and worked on him made them look even stronger. I’ve been seeing some people argue that this match should have been a squash and that The Ascension should have ran through them. I don’t really have much of an opinion on it because at the moment I have very little interest in The Ascension and seeing NAO do there stuff was fun so I think to get fans more invested in the match it needed to be longer. Anyway, this was a good match for what it was and when this was announced I definitely wasn’t looking forward to it so all in all I give it a 3 stars. 

The Uso’s v The Miz & Mizdow (****)

This is a match we’ve seen, what seems to be over one hundred times but this was brilliant. It really is a testament to all four of the competitors that they can have this match so many times and always bring something new to the table. Prior, I was so sure that The Uso’s were going to win but several spots throughout the match made think that Miz and Mizdow had acquired the Tag Titles again. I think there was 2 times that the Skull Crushing Finale was kicked out of which I saw some people get mad at as it was ‘WWE weakening finishers’, but, I’ve always hated that as a finisher so I thought it was fair game. Overall, this was definitely another surprise from the undercard and another great tag match. I thought it was really enjoyable and even had a good story with Miz wrestling 90% of the match and Mizdow getting a super pop when he started to work, even more so when he got a near fall towards the end of the match. 4 out of 5 stars.

Nikki & Brie Bella v Paige and Natalya (N/A)

So, with this being a blog I believe honesty is the best policy and I went to the toilet in this match. What I was surprised at was that by the time I was finished and got back it was still going though. People who pay attention to my twitter, @curbstxmp, will know that I’m not a big Natalya fan, despite this, I do think she’s a good wrestler although overrated. However, particularly on the bits I saw she did a great job at selling the beatdown she suffered during the match. The finish came as as a surprise because Nikki won with a stiff looking forearm. I imagine this was Natalya’s idea but that’s just a guess, I suppose Nikki could have been really inspired by Wrestle Kingdom 9. 

Brock Lesnar v John Cena v Seth Rollins (*****)

If you’re sitting there right now thinking “I didn’t like this match that much” then I truly and whole heartedly suggest that you shouldn’t watch wrestling anymore. This was Match of the Year candidate if I ever saw one and obviously it’s all opinion but I think this might be the best Triple Threat match I’ve ever seen. Don’t get me wrong, WM20 and Vengeance 2002 are both phenomenal but I think this is just as good, if not better. To start with, the storytelling in the match was exceptional. Seth pretty much immediately scatters from the ring playing into his heel role of being scared of Brock and as expected, Brock was booked to be an absolute monster. I saw a few complaints about Brock being surrounded by medics (in kayfabe) and how that goes against his character but I totally disagree. First of all, everybody’s human, even Brock so within the story of the match it’s took 3 AA’s, 1 curbstomp, 1 spear through the barricade AND an elbow through the announce table which would have made Shane O’Mac proud. Baring in mind that most people throughout the last 12 years have succumbed to just 1 AA, I think Brock was made to look pretty strong. Also, up to this point Brock was on fire and was the focus of the match, as he should be because of him being the biggest threat. Brock is one of the best wrestlers in the world currently because everything this guy does fits with his character and is believable, you would literally have to go back to WrestleMania 20 to find the last bad match he’s had and I know he doesn’t wrestle often but my point still stands. Once Brock was took out of the match for a while we saw Seth and Cena go back and forth for near falls and even though we’ve seen them face off fifty times in the last few months it doesn’t matter because the chemistry these two have is phenomenal. 

What I loved about this match was that the focus of it was on Seth and Brock. Cena played his usual golden babyface role but other than spearing Lesnar through the barricade. However, he was involved in arguably the most impressive spot of the night. After the near falls between Seth and Cena, Cena kicked out of the curbstomp and Seth looked stunned before looking at the turnbuckle. At this point, having seen some of his work as Tyler Black, I had a feeling he was going for it but it was still in the back of my head that WWE wouldn’t let him. Anyway, Seth climbed to the top and hit the Phoenix Splash on Cena which got a mad pop and some WWE-only fans were saying on Twitter that they had never seen anything like it. Perhaps, what makes it more phenomenal is that Seth isn’t that small of a guy and he’s ripped too which makes it look even more impressive. To me, this was the most impressive match of the night but the way it was booked was even better. With the PPV being set in Philadelphia, the fans as expected were chanting for Lesnar and Seth and booing Cena. That being said, Lesnar played the heel role perfectly here and jumped into the ring and german suplexed Seth as soon as he connected with the Phoenix Splash giving the crowd no time to rest. 

The exchange continued from there and it was just phenomenal. If you haven’t seen this match then you really need to see it. In my opinion, it was perfectly booked with the perfect competitors. This was better than Tanahashi and Okada and in my opinion on par with Nakamura and Ibushi from WK9 which most are regarding as 2 Match of the Year candidates. WATCH THIS MATCH 5 out of 5 stars.

Just for reference sake I think it’d be good to point out that up to this point I was thinking the PPV was a 7.5/10. However that drastically changed.

When it Reigns it Pours - The Royal Rumble Match (*3/4)

So, from one of the best booked matches I’ve seen recently to probably the worst booked match I’ve seen in a LONG time. I’m not going to go through the Rumble one-by-one of who got eliminated I’m just going to give you my thoughts on what this disaster was. Prior to making my points I want to point out that I actually don’t dislike Reigns, I think he definitely has potential and for the most part I quite like him. I think it’s only fair to mention the things I did like about the match and I’ll try and leave it with a positive note at the end at what could potentially happen in the future. I’ll run through the positives first because they are few and far between in this match.

First great surprise of the night was Bubba Ray Dudley returning which was great to see, especially because they used R-Truth as a makeshift D-Von hitting the “WHAZZZAAAAPPPP” and then hitting the 3D. I hope that WWE will sign him to a permanent deal because this guy could bring something to the company which at the minute is lacking heels severely. Another great positive of the night for me was the run that Bray Wyatt had although this leads to a negative we’ll get into soon. He was the longest staying member of the Rumble with 40 minutes and he even had time to cut a promo in the ring which made this guy look dominant. With that, brought along a spot with The Boogeyman which again was really fun as, like most, I was a big mark for The Boogeyman when I was younger. Another thing that was great to see was DDP coming out and hitting Diamond Cutter after Diamond Cutter and that’s not a bad thing, that’s a good thing.

Okay, so that’s the positives out the way. The real trouble with this hit when Daniel Bryan was eliminated from the match after 10 minutes which killed the crowd dead. To be fair, they gave his elimination to Bray who definitely needed the heat but all in all in resulted to the fans beginning to just ruin the rest of the match and perhaps, because of the ending, justifiably. The idea behind this from WWE was to obviously have Bryan go out earlier in the match in the hope that the crowd would have moved on by the end. I think this idea is ridiculous, it was obvious to everyone that the crowd was going to be dead and rebelling as soon as he was eliminated and that’s what happened. What I really don’t understand is that, if WWE didn’t want to put him over and knowing what happened last year then, why bring him back for the Rumble at all? Why not base the main event of Fast Lane around Daniel Bryan’s first match back? Anyway, there’s definitely an argument that would say if Bryan wasn’t in the Rumble it still would have been terrible. 

Although this was definitely the start of the downfall, to me, the true negative in the whole thing was the overuse of Kane and Big Show and having them eliminate Ziggler, Bray and Ryback as if they were nothing. If Kane and Big Show hadn’t been in the company for over 15 years then maybe this would be okay to build heel heat but Kane seems to have X-Pac heat as nobody likes to see him and putting Big Show over all of these guys does nothing. Especially, having these in the final 5 as if they are the 2 biggest heels in the company other than Brock and Seth is horrible. What was even worse of the booking was that Bray stopped in for all of that time only to get KO’d by Big Show and tossed over the ropes like he didn’t matter. How can you build stars when you continuously place Big Show and Kane in top positions on the card? What irks me even more is how little Kane has done since Team Hell No split up. You can argue that he was involved in the main event last year but it’s well documented that the feud between him and Bryan for the World Title is one of the worst in recent memory. There was no need for Kane to be anywhere near the final 5, not even in storyline, and if they wanted him to break HBK’s record then they should have had him come out earlier and eliminate Fandango or Truth or Kofi. Big Show I can understand being in the final 5 because he’s had this ongoing presence in the build up to the Rumble but it just shows how poor the booking is when you’re still pushing this guy as a main heel on your roster. 

I’ve just touched on it but the problem I had with booking was mostly because it was so convoluted. For instance, they have Dolph Ziggler, who is known for being able to work at fast paces for a long time, get eliminated 2 minutes into entering the match despite having a storyline build up to the show. For a second as he was walking to the ring I thought this is what the swerve was going to be and that Dolph was going to overcome odds and win but sadly not. Ziggler is the antithesis of WWE missing the concept of the story that they’d built. Ziggler and Ryback both had a story going into the match that they were returning from being fired and they did nothing with it. Another of WWE’s shortcomings in this match.This is one of the reasons that I think Roman Reigns winning felt even more forced because to contrast Ziggler, Bryan and Ryback, he didn’t have a story. Reigns’ story going into the Rumble was that he’d feuded with Big Show and the only noteworthy thing he’d said about the Rumble was when he returned and said he was going to enter. I just think that WWE should be going what the better story is and I think we can all agree that a guy who has been out injured for 9 months in Daniel Bryan or someone who was Kayfabe fired in Dolph Ziggler is a better story than what Roman Reigns’ run up to the Rumble had to offer.

Another thing that annoyed me was their usage of The Rock. It was almost patronising the way they used The Rock to try and suddenly get Reigns over and get them cheering. I’m thankful that it didn’t work because I feel like that isn’t the way that someone should get over. I’m a big fan of The Rock as well so it was good to see him but for WWE to think that it would make the crowd suddenly change their reaction to Reigns really appeared naive. However, them bringing in The Rock symbolises that they must have known that the reaction to Reigns wasn’t going to be stellar to say the least.

Other than that I think the most annoying thing about the result of the match is that Roman Reigns isn’t even the most over babyface. This isn’t the ‘IWC’ acting out against WWE and it can be argued that there is 3 babyfaces ahead of him in terms of who is more over. First, you’ve got Daniel Bryan which is probably the most over guy on the show. You’ve then got Cena which is irrelevant because he shouldn’t be winning a Royal Rumble and he competed in the title match. Then you have Dolph Ziggler who, when Bryan was away, was easily the number 2 face in the company. On top of this, there is the fact that Reigns’ promo ability still lacks and his ability in the ring leaves room for improvement although I do think he has the ability to have a good match. I just think going into WrestleMania which is meant to be your biggest show of the year it should be the biggest heel against the biggest babyface which would mean Daniel Bryan facing Brock Lesnar. The main criticism of Reigns winning is of course it supports the idea that WWE doesn’t listen to their fan base and that is the problem. The key difference between last year and this year is that last year the fans ONLY wanted Daniel Bryan to win the Rumble and anyone else would have suffered the same fate as Batista but this year the fan mentality seemed to be anyone BUT Reigns. Therefore, this isn’t a case of people wanting their favourite wrestler to win the Rumble. 

The guy is obviously talented, that is clear, for his size he is very athletic but there was just people ahead of him who were more deserving. Just to be clear I think his booking has made this more annoying for the fans too, I think that WWE trying to make him into the next Cena is ridiculous, the guy looks and feels like he should be portrayed as a badass and they’re attempting the opposite with the fairy tale and looney tunes promos. Moreover, throughout wrestling history it’s always someone who goes against the grain and the people who try to continue seem to fail. They attempted a similar thing with Sheamus’ face run not too long ago which didn’t go anywhere. Similarly, Lex Luger was the continuation of Hulk Hogan and he never got to the heights that was predicted. If you look at the stars of years past, you’ve got Stone Cold and Rock who had the opposite characteristics to Bret Hart who had the opposite traits to Hogan. Even John Cena went against the grain of The Rock and Stone Cold through the personality. My point here is that if you keep trying to create a replacement for Cena it isn’t going to work. Cena sells a lot of t-shirts yes, but that doesn’t mean that Cena 2.0 will and the fans seem to be calling for a newer personality to take reign of the company (no pun intended). Regardless of what you think about Reigns, whether you like him or not, the fact of the matter is, is this guy is a babyface and at the end of one of the biggest PPVs of the year, he was booed out of the building. The blame shouldn’t be on Reigns here, he is the one who has been put into this position and the blame should be on WWE.

Leaving with a Positive note

I thought here I’d just leave with a positive note of what could happen. If Reigns goes onto WrestleMania to face Lesnar in a singles match we can only assume he will win. This could be a rocky road to WrestleMania in the build up but enough people are into Lesnar that it’ll get hyped properly and especially with Heyman’s influence. Anyway, you could turn Lesnar face and just go for a face v face match and then have Rollins cash-in on the night after and win the belt. This way you still elevate Rollins into that number 1 heel position that’ll be left if Lesnar doesn’t re-sign with WWE while also circling back to The Shield feud. If booked properly they could use the cash-in to build the feud until Summerslam and if done right WWE could incorporate Ambrose into the feud and finally have that triple threat match between all the members of The Shield. If this is the way they’re going then that’s some good long term booking, however, knowing what WWE are like, I’d bet against it but there is always the optimistic view.

Perceptions of Wrestling - What is Wrestling?

I’ve had my twitter account based around wrestling for probably about a year and a quarter at this point and I started to notice something immediately just talking to people that what wrestling is, is such a subjective thing. Without thinking about it that sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But, my idea of wrestling is completely different to someone who lives in Japan, and there idea of wrestling is polar opposites to the casual WWE fan who just loves looking at 2 big guys rough each other up. Anyway, what I’d like to point out in this article or blog is that everyone’s concept of this thing we love is different and I think that’s where the range of debates ultimately begin and end. I think I’ll probably go through a few different ideas of wrestling that I’ve come across over my time as a wrestling fan and share what my own concept of it is. Again, what is my concept isn’t necessarily yours and nobody is right in this argument and nobody is wrong.

First, I might as well point out the obvious, there is the fans who are probably 14 or under who just love John Cena and own all the merch and even a pair of his new sneaks. With this love of Cena and at such a young age brings around the argument that these types of fans are pretty ignorant to world wrestling as we know it. I mean ignorant in the literal sense, not in the passive aggressive insult way, I’ll probably reiterate throughout this blog that anyone’s perception of wrestling is there own and isn’t *below* anybody else’s. These fans are mostly the one’s who only follow WWE for the storyline value and their favourites are mostly based on who WWE is feeding them and pushing. This isn’t to devalue their importance because they are the key audiences who watch WWE. Whether or not you agree with where the company is currently, the business side wouldn’t be as good as it is without these kind of fans. 

This segment of the fanbase is in direct relation to the ‘casual fans’. For the most part, the casual fans will just want to see big guy v big guy and no, I’m not talking about 2 Ryback’s wrestling despite how good that would be. And similarly to the kids, the casual fans will love the bigger guys who are at the top and are getting pushed like Cena. Unless, of course you’ve got someone who can directly relate to the working class like Steve Austin did in the Attitude Era. What you might find odd is that these casual fans share many similarities with the superfan kids and I think this is how the concept of wrestling becomes most interesting because too ideas of wrestling that appear to be polarising are quite distinctly similar in who that particular fan may relate too and why. 

Both of these concepts of wrestling come from a world that revolves around WWE. As soon as you open that bubble up you’ve got the wrestling fan that watches TNA and WWE. Their idea of wrestling is probably more deep than the previous two I’ve discussed. This idea is seemed to be still based around the story arcs but their favourites tend to be developed by more characteristics, for example how good the wrestler is in general rather than what he’s doing in a storyline or if he is winning. This kind of attitude towards wrestling seems to identify what they think are the qualities of a good wrestler rather than where they are situated in the actual product. I think at this point people jump from being a casual fan or just a WWE watcher into being a ‘smarter’ fan. A fan who ONLY watches TNA and WWE would still appreciate the story but, especially if your a TNA fan would be able to identify and really appreciate a good wrestling match. A lot of this kind of fan can merge into what I’m next going to talk about but I thought it’d be good to identify that there is specific wrestling fans who don’t enjoy the match after match theme that PWG presents or what you would have watching NJPW without being able to understand the commentary.

To widen the concept again you’ve got the hardcore smart fans that will watch the indy’s and WWE and TNA. From what I’ve noticed online, just by talking to people, these people seem to appreciate the in-ring ability of wrestlers a lot more than other fans would, therefore, making it more enjoyable for them to sit through a NJPW show in Japanese commentary or a PWG show where the matches have very little story line development other than who is challenging for the belt that show. Of course, this also includes the guys who watch ROH. And, of course, these for the most part are the ones that rave about NXT in comparison to the main WWE product that is put out. My point here is that the ‘smarter’ you are as a fan the more questions you tend to ask and you begin to notice the smaller things that go into wrestling while also caring about the backstage side more. An example of this is the constant tweets of how WWE buries Dolph Ziggler. I’m not going to go into that but it’s just an example. 

Of course throughout this blog I’ve been generalising to different segments of the wrestling ‘fandom’ (wow I hate that word) and this doesn’t mean just because you like TNA that you can’t like Cena or whatever. I’m not saying that, my point is, is that what my idea of wrestling is, is not necessarily your idea or your friends. Being on the internet for so long talking about wrestling would probably lead you to believe that the in-ring work was most important in wrestling. However, although I agree as far as, I pay much more attention to a good wrestler in WWE. Further, I have just recently signed up for New Japan Pro Wrestling’s online service, World. Which, of course, I will only be watching to enjoy, for the most part the in ring action. By saying this would mean that I can enjoy wrestling on a level where if it’s a good in ring product I will remain interested. However, when it comes to weekly episodic shows such as WWE and TNA I don’t think this constitutes as enough to keep my focus. I think mostly this goes back to the feud over a year ago between Sheamus and Del Rio. I feel like Sheamus is overrated but these two guys had good matches but because the feud was so unexciting and the characters that both played were really lacklustre to say the least, my interest used to slip in those segments. Whereas, to contrast this, there is Bray Wyatt who is good in the ring for his size but he’s not having 45 minute technical wrestling bouts each week. But, I’m always interested in his matches because of his character and how interesting it is. Regardless of your opinion on Bray Wyatt, most people who watch WWE have a person who they watch because of their character and that’s the essence of what WWE is, character based story telling and development. 

The original point I was trying to make here was that everyone’s concept of wrestling was different and to recognise why you enjoy wrestling to be better than someone else’s is ridiculous because for the most part we all enjoy or not enjoy the same product. As far as what I identify as wrestling, I think there needs to be some character in there definitely, even my favourites on the indie scene and in NJPW have characters that are displayed throughout their match. But that doesn’t mean that I should disregard the opinions of others whose concept of wrestling is the opposite or different. I’d just like to leave it that the point is, is that no matter what your personal idea of wrestling is you are right and that there is no right and wrong when discussing what you enjoy about pro wrestling. It’s all just different opinions. Anyway, that’s my opinion on what is wrestling. Just enjoy it. Carl out.

@curbstxmp - Twitter.

Talking the Downfall of TNA.

(Disclaimer: This isn’t a review of their first show on Destination America. I did watch it and my opinions that are expressed throughout this article aren’t just based on that episode) 

(Disclaimer 2.0: This will have swearing and ‘curse’ words if you’re american)

(Disclaimer 3.0: The actual wrestling matches in TNA are NOT the problem, the next article will be highlighting all the problems.)

So, if you follow me, which I guess you will do on Twitter because I don’t fully know how else you’d find this article. Maybe someone can tell me if there’s a way to get your blog more out there? Tweet me or something. ANYWAY, I’m writing this on Saturday the 17th January and last night I had a rant about TNA and just thought I’d summarise in this article what I think the main problems are. Mostly, I’ll be talking about why I think that they won’t ever reach any height that’s even has the majority of people saying “well the production isn’t as good but the talent and product is overall better than WWE” like how I felt from 2005-2008ish when I stopped watching wrestling. First off, I’m not a ‘TNA hater’ either, I’m just not going to sit and waste 2 hours of my Sunday (I live in the UK) every week to watch a wrestling show that is mediocre on it’s good weeks. I’m just gonna go ahead now and say that this isn’t going to be the typical, constructive criticism of TNA because what’s the point and I truly don’t think that they’ll ever grow enough for anyone to take them seriously and bring back the legitimacy that was established in the 00’s. 

First I’ll address the talent. In TNA, you do have some really high quality talent, Kurt Angle who is arguably one of the most well rounded guys ever in terms of in-ring work and how good he is on the mic. However, and I’ll talk more about this later, they’ve diminished his star quality and they similarly do that to all of the stars that go into the company. They have Bobby Roode who sure as hell deserves a lot more than being in that company but he didn’t jump ship when he should have so unfortunately for him he’s going to have to sleep in the bed that he made. EC3 who I think is brilliant on the mic, his response to the ‘you can’t wrestle’ chants is pure gold and simple and he’s pretty good on the mic. I don’t see any reason why WWE let this guy go because he’s the bright spark in a very VERY dull and monotonous show. I noted on Twitter last night that my top 5 of TNA guys is only a top 3, sure, you’ve got other talent like Samoa Joe and Low Ki and Austin Aries who I think are really good but, particularly Joe and AA, I think are one of the more overrated wrestlers around nowadays. 

Aesthetically, TNA sitting behind WWE is perfectly acceptable due to the polarising budget of both companies. HOWEVER, for TNA to play fourth on production when listing all of the American wrestling companies is kind of embarrassing when in my mind they were the best company 10 years ago. Lucha Underground and Ring of Honor’s production of their shows both top TNA and that isn’t the only thing that appear to overshine TNA on. To be fair, I don’t think this is a major problem but still shows the level that they’re working at.

To me, the first major problem of TNA was the ridiculous end to the Aces and Eights storyline in which we find out that Bully Ray - the guy who has been beaten on for MONTHS, literally each week for months - turns out to be the leader of the group. What a load of shit. As a wrestling fan, I think that’s genuinely offensive to the fans that have sat and watched this faction build and grow. It was obviously done for the shock value but guess what? IT MADE NO FUCKING SENSE, there was never any teases before it happened so it was just idiotic and this is the basis of a lot of their face and heel turns which we’ll get too next. What an absolute joke of a storyline. It would have totally made sense if Bully wasn’t the target of attack after attack in the months leading up the turn. This nonsensical booking is probably the main reason that TNA have struggled.

Further, the random turning of the talent from babyface to heel to babyface and back again makes everyone on the roster comparable to the Big Show. The most notable might be the attempt to turn Jeff Hardy and make him into “Willow”. Why let a guy who is your top babyface, who all of the girls find attractive, put a mask on? It makes zero sense. The constant turns produce 2 major problems very quickly. Problem A) why would anyone, as a fan, get invested in a character when they know that they are probably going to turn heel the week after, similarly, why would you spend your time wanting to see a heel get there ass kicked when you know that they’re going to turn face soon. And, problem B) It majorly complexes and convolutes the roster. I watched the first episode of TNA last week and I didn’t have a reason to give a shit about when Joe, Low Ki and Eric Young turned on Roode at the end. Moreover, turning Young as well was the most overbooked thing I’ve seen in a while in wrestling. You’ve just had Low Ki and Joe come out to surprise the audience by their turn (it didn’t make sense either but that’s the norm for TNA now) and we have no time to care before Young comes in and turns as well. There was no buildup to it, it was just establishing a more dominant heel faction which TNA has always had. If Dixie Carter seriously wants to be an alternative to WWE, WHY ARE YOU USING THE WWE TACTICS OF HEEL AUTHORITY FIGURES STILL? It’s a simple question and one which you’d think would have reason. It’s boring for WWE now also so why base your company around that. They’ve rehashed it for years, Dixie Land, Aces and Eights, Main Event Mafia, Main Event Mafia 2.0, the list goes on and on. The constant Face/Heel turns that are supposed to shock us are the least shocking thing about the show because it’s expected.

Another problem I have with TNA is that they don’t create their own stars. EC3 is a bright spark of TNA and an exception. They spent months building Magnus to take the reigns and run the company and be the main guy but now he wasn’t even on TV last week from what I remember, and if he was THAT PROVES MY POINT EVEN MORE. The downfall for my personal viewing really started to decline quickly when they didn’t resign AJ Styles. AJ since it’s inception WAS TNA and they tried to reduce his contract, and I’m glad they did because now he’s rejuvenated and killing it in NJPW and has hit his peak in terms of wrestling quality. Now, don’t tell me that that’s a coincidence because it blatantly isn’t. Another ridiculous decision was to release Kaz and Daniels, yes they were getting old but they were the heart of TNA and they were one of the most interesting things on TV. And again, the release of Bully Ray who was there top heel. I’m not saying that these guys didn’t want to leave, but for AJ and Bully to be at the top of the company when they left and still want to leave shows how badly that place is run. AJ Styles is legit in the top 10 wrestlers in the world and they let him walk, I saw that they tried to hire him back a few months ago and it’s just like why would he? He’ll be making more money in NJPW, wrestling in front of more people and having a blast. And instead of trying to go to the indies and find some of the really good younger guys to spearhead the company like Adam Cole, or Roderick Strong, or Kenny Omega, or even go for a guy who isn’t as popular on the indies who could really bring something to the company like Trevor Lee. There is enough talent out there to find a guy to get behind but they don’t get behind characters.

That’s not to say they haven’t brought in some good talent because MVP was a steal, and although I’m not keen on the guy, Bobby Lashley looks like a legit big guy to push as a monster. But, Bobby Lashley can’t cut a promo and there’s a reason that he never got to the top at WWE. He’s good in the role he’s playing on TV currently (although he’s turning soon, if that spoilt anything you don’t know wrestling or TNA). But, for every MVP, there’s signing Brodus Clay in a deal that I can only imagine is paying him way more than he’s worth. No disrespect to Brodus, but the guy doesn’t draw, no WWE fans or casual fans are going to start watching TNA because they’ve got Brodus Clay on TV and he’s not good to impact the main roster properly for the money he’ll be getting paid. Get Del Rio, he might not draw THAT much but he’s recognisable and he can sure as hell main event in the company without looking like a total joke. It speaks volumes when Del Rio jumps at ROH and Lucha but is still negotiating with TNA. Brodus Clay signing really does show that their mindset is to just sign any WWE talent. A lot of the TNA lovers out there always go for the argument of “well WWE gets ROH stars” and it’s like YES BECAUSE THEY BRING IN THE TALENTED GUYS WHO ARE OVER WITH THE FANS. Jesus, it’s not hard to see that the base of TNA’s roster revolves around guys who’ve been in WWE, whether they were in developmental or not, they’ve been there. That’s not necessarily a bad thing with people like EC3 who you can build up yourself and create your original character, but nobody who tunes in to TNA and sees Brodus Clay is straight away going to think of him dancing around with Tensei on Superstars. It’s just a ridiculous mindset. Moreover, it definitely shows that TNA are the anything BUT an alternative to WWE.

All of this stuff combines to create what is now the ‘stigma’ or TNA. Otherwise known as that the product, for the most part is total shit. The wrestling is solid and very good for the most part but because of all the poor booking decisions and the reliance on former WWE talent, it’s ridiculous. A lot of TNA fans again blame the internet stigma that surrounds TNA to be the reason why it  isn’t bigger but it’s not, because the stigma only comes from how poor the wrestling company is. Do you want a WWE alternative? Watch Lucha Underground. I spend 3 hours a week at least watching WWE TV and that is as hit and miss as it can be but I don’t want to donate another 2 hours of my week on a wrestling show where at the end of it I just think “that was a waste of time”. There’s many times on Twitter that someone will tweet about missing TNA or possibly not watching it and I’ll make a joke like “why does it matter” and they don’t defend it and tell me they really like it, the response is more of a “good point actually”. I do want TNA to do well and I’d love for it to be able to compete with WWE in terms of quality but when WWE isn’t in a great place and TNA is still not coming close to them, its hard to devote time to the product and I honestly am not surprised that the ratings continue to drop because after watching an episode I have no interest in watching the next one at all. Carl out.

@curbstxmp - Twitter.