Hello there and welcome once again to the Quiet Mouse Strikes Back. Today I'm going to write about the current state of the WWE, as of 6/16/17, 2 nights before the Smackdown hosted Money in the Bank ppv. There is a lot going on right now in the WWE, so for the purpose of continuity, I'm going to separate this blog into three parts: Raw, Smackdown, and NXT. I've been a fan of WWE for over 30 years, so I could go on about pro wrestling for DAYS... but for the sake of the blog and my readers I will try to keep to the point and knock this out quickly.
MONDAY NIGHT RAW
Brock Lesnar is a shitty champ. Due to "ratings", we're told, is why WWE officials keep going to the well and placing the title belt around the waist of part-time talent like Goldberg and Brock Lesnar. The problem with this go-to philosophy for the WWE is that it severely UNDERMINES the talent currently on the full-time roster working 4 or more days per week. Brock Lesnar might wrestle 4 times the rest of THIS YEAR. Both the WWE AND the WWE Universe of fans DESERVE a full-time FIGHTING CHAMPION and Brock just aint that guy. What's the worst is the leaked information being spewed online claiming that the main event for WrestleMania NEXT YEAR has already been decided to be Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, with the former to retain the title on a part-time status for a WHOLE YEAR. The plans are already in the works for the Beast Incarnate to beat the likes of Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, and Braun Strowman between now and then. With that kind of long term planning, it kind of feels like the whole RAW roster is held at gunpoint. NO ONE stands a chance of actually winning or even getting a legitimate title shot because of this poor booking with a part-time champ that seldom appears on the weekly show but for ppv's.
The show is feeling WAY TOO SCRIPTED!!! Too much talent is wasted on boring and redundant story lines that have the same athletes wrestling one another OVER AND OVER AND OVER until it feels like there is no reason to tune in and watch a 3 hour show on Monday nights.
Cesaro is flat out THE
MOST WASTED TALENT IN THE WWE. Period. His skill and charisma is good enough to incite the WWE Universe crowds supporting the Swiss Cyborg/ Swiss Superman in the "Cesaro Section". Like many other wrestlers in the WWE, the main things holding him back are two-fold.
1) Whoever the writers are... you suck! This isn't the Attitude Era any longer and can no longer return to that level of former glory. Right, wrong, or otherwise it just isn't the same WWE. They don't have a Rock, HHH, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, DX, etc. There is no Monday night rivalry with WCW that fueled the WWE through the 90's into the early part of the new century. In addition, the WWE contract with USA Network has the show broadcasting a much more politically correct PG version of the show that is often lacking in good matches due to these restrictions. Very few cage matches or blood, no gratuitous sexuality, wardrobe malfunctions, or Rated-R Superstar, Edge...
2)The second problem currently facing the WWE is Vince McMahon Jr. Much like those doing the writing of the script, Mr. McMahon is stuck in the Attitude Era and continually focused on repeating the successes of the past rather than letting the program develop more organically. What MADE the show in the past WASN'T the script, but allowing the talent to have autonomy to go off-script at times. Guys like HHH. Stone Cold, and the Rock Dwayne Johnson were masters of working the crowd and pushing the ratings upward. Besides part-time Cena, there isn't really anyone on the roster for either show that can carry the weight of the previously mentioned veterans. Vince is going to continue to doom both shows into obscurity with an antiquated line of thought that hinders the development of current talent that will be there long after John Cena makes his full time move away from pro wrestling to Hollywood.
I'll give credit where it is due in the fact that WWE has made a significant effort to push the credibility of the women's division. Alexa Bliss is a refreshing face of the women's division with her bitchy attitude making her the perfect heel. I foresee Nia Jax soon ending this title reign, however.
Roman Reigns is NOT the next John Cena no matter how badly Vince wants it. It feels unnatural. It feels FORCED. And the crowd isn't buying it. The ONLY thing Roman has in common with Cena is the amount of heat he gets when his music is played. Other than the C-nation leader, I'm not sure of anyone I can remember in recent memory who gets booed more. Not Lesnar. Not Owens. Not Miz. Not Jinder Mahal... or really any heel currently on the roster... and Reigns is supposed to be a baby face. Part of the reason I believe the fans can't get behind him is his lack of defined moves. By my count he only has 7 moves... regular punch, clothesline, gut kick, superman punch, drive-by, power-bomb, and spear (which he needs to get a NEW finisher since the spear is played out, plus he doesn't do it NEARLY AS WELL as Edge or Goldberg). The other reason that I feel like fans can't get behind Roman is that he almost NEVER LOSES, which even the layman fan can see as bullshit. No one is that level of invincible. It doesn't feel plausible, which is the basis for the ENTIRE pro wrestling business... the suspension of disbelief. It's not believable that THIS GUY never loses. Proof to the fans that the show is over-scripted and "fake" in the eyes of part-time or non-fans of WWE. Success for Reigns will be found in returning him to the days of the Shield. Teaming him with either Ambrose or Rollins or both would be a great benefit to all three wrestlers and will reignite the fan support for him that Vince is trying so hard to stuff down everyone's throats.
Please can we have a feud for the IC title that isn't Miz vs Ambrose?!?
Who's dumb idea is it to break up Enzo and Cass? No doubt it was fun to see Enzo team up with the 7 foot tall giant Big Show on Monday night, but the obvious separation between such a good tag team is transparent and unfavorable to the fans. If they want to do something different and unique with the tag team division then they should team Anderson and Gallows up with Finn Balor and reunite the trio in a new iteration of the Club, be it Balor Club or whatever you call it. This would shake up a questionable tag team division that is plagued by shitty tag teams like Heath Slater & Rhyno.
Can we please move on from the Titus brand gimmick? If he is going to be the "mentor" of the young talented Apollo Crews, perhaps it would be better for them to tag-team together as he did with Darren Young. Also with that feud, why are we still seeing Calisto wrestling with dudes that are heavyweights? Why isn't he in the faltering cruiser-weight division that has also seen shitty writing and dull story lines? Neville is good, but why are we continuing to see him cheat to win, especially with a whole roster of talent like Tony Neese, Mustafa Ali, AA, TJP, Gran Metalik, Akira Tozawa, Lince Dorado, THE Brian Kendrick, Cedrick Alexander, Noam Dar, and Rich Swann, among others? Why haven't we seen the likes of former #DIY members Johnny Wrestling and Tomasso Ciampa in the Cruiserweight division? And WHY, for the love of God, didn't WWE sign the biggest names from the CWC in Zack Sabre Jr. and Kota Ibushi? Cruiser-weight division would be much better off being part of SD Live, especially considering it is filmed in front of the SAME audience on Tuesday nights AFTER SD Live...
Also, who gave Elias Sampson a job on RAW to come out and sing shitty on the premier show after losing his NXT career to Kassius Ohno in a career vs. career match. This jabroni "Drifter" needs to drift his ass away from the main roster and onto greener pastures with RoH, TNA Impact, or New Japan wrestling.... ANYWHERE but assaulting our ears on the Monday night flagship show RAW. Same dumb shit writers, I'd imagine, that thought it was a good idea to have a Gold dust vs. R-truth feud that the fans don't give a shit about.
NXT
Wednesday nights have become GLORIOUS with the addition of Bobby Roode, formerly from TNA. Ohno, Itami, Lorcan, Almas, AOP, Heavy Machinery, Alaister Black, Drew McIntire, No Way Jose, Sanity with Eric Young, and longest-reigning-women's champ Asuka, among others have made this the must watch WWE program during the middle of the week. So much talent has come up from NXT to the main rosters of RAW and Smackdown including Cesaro, Seth Rollins, Enzo and Cass, Samoa Joe, Tye Dillinger, Rusev, Apollo Crews, Shinsuke Nakamura, and many more. Some of those talents have flourished, but others like Bo Dallas, the Ascension, Baron Corbin, and Sami Zayn have suffered major setbacks on the main roster. The current NXT roster is jam packed with more talent than they can air in a one hour show. My personal recommendation for WWE would be to add an extra hour to the show. There is more than enough talent to fill up that extra hour, especially if they supplemented the roster/ match card with talent and title matches from the UK Championship, currently held by the Bruiser-weight Pete Dunn after his defeat of Tyler Bate at NXT Takeover Chicago last month.
Smackdown Live
Moving the show to a live format on Tuesday nights was both a blessing and a curse, thanks in part to the brand-split. It was a blessing in that they now had a new show and new day of the week to showcase a split roster that focuses more on wrestling than dramatic story lines... or so we thought...
Ambrose was one of the biggest highlights of the SD live show, but got moved over to RAW to help boost ratings on that show, proving to fans that Vince cares less about the blue brand. Kevin Owens for Ambrose was NOT a good trade.
Kevin Owens shouldn't really even be in the Money in the Bank Ladder match in 2 nights. He weaseled his way into the match by coming out and talking shit to Shane McMahon about the other 5 participants in the match: Nakamura, Styles, Ziggler, Corbin, and Zayn, then whined and pouted until he was included in the match. Here's an idea... being the US Champ and the "New face of America", perhaps he should take a page from John Cena and actually DEFEND the US Title week in and week out on SD Live. Both shows are missing that TV title kind of aspect where there is a defined title that is defended WEEKLY and title changes COULD happen on the weekly episodic shows rather than only changing hands at a ppv, which is the modus operandi we are currently receiving.
K.O. is better off NOT WINNING the ladder match this Sunday and giving the title shot to EITHER Corbin or Zayn, who are the most deserving of the future opportunity.
What I'm worried about is them giving the briefcase to Nakamura, Owens, or Ziggler.
On the flip side of the coin is the first ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match that will likely be won by Charlotte, as she too, like Roman Reigns, rarely loses. Women's division on SD live seems kinda biased since her acquisition from RAW in trade for Alexa Bliss. Again, NOT a good trade. Carmella, Natalya, Tamina, and Becky Lynch, to me, aren't really contenders...
Naomi vs Lana is an odd booking since we have not yet seen the actual wrestling of Lana since her separation from Rusev, away from the Ravishing Russian gimmick. Her new look reminds me of a burlesque dancer, but with less boobs... hard to do that gimmick on a PG show, just saying. Doubtful she will win against Naomi.
The BEST thing going for SD live is that they ARE indeed the land of opportunity for midcard talent. Even if pushing Jinder Mahal into the heel position as SD HW Champ is to expand the brand into the t.v. markets for India, it matters little. The WORST thing they could do is dethrone this title reign after only one month back to 13 time champ Randy Orton, who doesn't need this win as bad as the modern day Maharaja. Pushing midcard talent into championships will not only solidify SD Live as being that land of opportunity, but it will also give credibility to younger, hungry talent, that will be the future of the brand AFTER the guys like Cena and AJ Styles are gone.
Lastly, the Tag Team division has been a big disappointment as of late. It's truly sad when Breezango/ Fashion Police are the funniest bit they have going. Bringing in the New Day will certainly boost ratings for the show temporarily, but other teams like American Alpha will continue to be overlooked while important TV time is being given to jabroni's like the Colons, who are nothing more than enhancement talent, NOTHING like their family member Carlito Colon. Oh, and no one really likes the Uso's being used as heels.
On a side note, I was sad about Simon Gotch quitting SD live recently, as he was part of the Vaudvillains, collectively. Aiden English is still on the roster, but reverting back to his pre-wrestling Broadway musical roots, singing operatic melodies in the ring.
Time to wrap this up. In conclusion I believe that the #1 problem with WWE is Vince McMahon. His refusal to adapt to the MODERN ERA of pro wrestling has led to ratings drops and the bringing back of part-time talent. This is a downward spiral and can ONLY be fixed by going back to square one. Promote talent from within. Allow the show flow in a more organic manner. Allow guys like HHH, Shane, Kurt Angle, and Stephanie to build upon the current roster and great things will happen. If not, ratings will continue to drop. Bringing back part-time or retired talent is a band-aid, not a long term solution.
Either way, I'm looking eagerly forward to the Money in the Bank ppv this Sunday and on to Great Balls of Fire in July.
