So this is the week, right? This is the week that WWE can really prove itself king of the mountain of "Sports Entertainment" after the first big All Elite Wrestling PPV, Double or Nothing. So they're really going to step up their game this week for Vince to prove that it's all about that WWE life, right?
Naaaaah. But let's kick things off on a positive note with things that I did actually at least sort of like.
The Ricochet/Cesaro match was really good, even if they're not telling a story that is going anywhere. This seemed like it was a good first rivalry for Ricochet and a singles Cesaro to have, but three matches in three weeks with no build, and not even allowing the opportunity to have a rubber match since Cesaro won the first two matches was a bad booking mistake, but that finishing head-scissor takedown pin that Ric busted out was really fucking impressive.
The match between Sami and Seth at the end of Raw was also damn good, because it just might give him the legitimacy that he should have by now. I'm happy to have Sami in all these relatively high-profile matches, even if he's eating a lot of pins. And I know it really depends upon who you believe, but I'm actually wondering if Sami is legit trying to get in trouble backstage with that mention of AEW in the "Electric Chair" segment. Some say that it was scripted, some say it wasn't and I could believe it either way. And if that whole segment was designed to have Sami get the gasps from the crowd and the "Oh, shit!" moments from the viewers at home (which I did indeed have), then it was worth it. Otherwise, let's keep the "fans" out of this.
Seeing Becky team with Nikki Cross was cool. I think there should be a storyline revolving around Becky and Alexa vying for Nikki's soul and whether or not to be a babyface or a heel. And I don't really mind The IIconics losing in these non-title matches. They're not terribly legitimate anyway, but they bring a lot of personality to the proceedings and sometimes that's enough. When the title is eventually on the line, I think they should retain with either an upset win or a DQ finish until they're forced to compete with No DQ. Let them have some fun until Kabuki Warriors take it away.
So let's break it down and just live in the suckage.
So we had Brock Lesnar coming out on Raw with a newly-designed MITB briefcase that is now a boom box, or rather a "Beast Box" (something so futile and stupid that they even created a new shirt for it and expect them to start selling these new briefcases at the WWE Shop any day now) and dancing around like the whitest guy that ever lived saying that he will announce his decision about which champ he's planning on cashing in on: Kofi or Seth. Of course, he would come out later that evening and look like he was about to cash in but Heyman told him that he had a year to cash in, so he decided to get out of the ring and leave. This is WWE's big crossover star, everyone. The guy they bet on turning the ratings around. He's not just satisfied with being a part-time champ; he's waiting for the big money that he knows Vince will pay him to cash in at the time that we all least expect it. Or the time we most expect it and won't give a shit.
Speaking of not giving a shit, the ENTIRE first hour of Raw this week didn't have a match, except for Shane coming out and having a "match" against Lance Anoa'i, apparently one of Roman's cousins and an extended "Dolph Ziggler comes in, beats up Kofi again, runs away from Xavier and then finally starts beating up Xavier and starts beating Kofi up again until Xavier gets a chair and who gives a shit" segment. During the Shane "match" where Anoa'i was softened up by Drew McIntyre first, AEW chants began to fill the arena and it was one of the few times when I was okay with the crowd chanting something to indicate that they hated something. Because it was awful. Everything Shane is involved in right now is sucking so hard that it's creating a black hole around his orbit that is absorbing everything good that I was hoping was going to come out of this heel turn, and it's ultimately because Shane is not a good professional wrestler anymore. Whether or not he ever was is up for debate, but he's just bad right now. He doesn't have business taking time away from other talent that actually can work in the time he's using to just exhaust all our patience.
This was even more exhausting the following evening on Smackdown when someone decided that having a Shane McMahon Appreciation Day was a good idea to put on television. So not only do we have more Shane, but we have Elias and Drew flanking him, Corey Graves further exhausting us with his sycophantic commentary about the "Best in the World" (if they're so determined to have people forget about CM Punk, why are they using a boast that is so uniquely his?). I know that this is all designed by Vince to get Shane heat, but I'm not feeling anything but complete disinterest. I know that even the cheapest heat can help put talent over, but when it's someone like Shane, we know that it's a slog. And if there wasn't further proof that he just can't really hack it anymore, after R-Truth accidentally interrupted his "appreciation" starting a beatdown that would lead to Elias winning the 24/7 Championship, Shane maybe did about 4 or 5 things and he was turning apple red and could barely get the wind in his lungs to tell Truth that he was going to have a tag match alongside Roman against Drew and Elias in the main event. I know that heels are supposed to get heat however they can and that making people boo them is the whole idea, but I wasn't upset at Shane that he was being heelish; I was upset that Creative had crafted this whole storyline in the first place.
Speaking of Roman, are you starting to hear some of those boos coming back, Vince? I still pop for his entrance, but when he's on both shows every week, it's beginning to feel very very similar to the kind of heat that he was getting when he had his big push and people were getting angry. It's time to kennel the Big Dog on Monday nights and allow some different talent to get in there.
And you know what's getting really depressing? WWE has made me start to not care about both Kofi and Becky that much. This is how awful the creative aspects of WWE have been. The entire women's roster is basically in a holding pattern because they have to sell their fucking Saudi show, and Kofi is everywhere right now but the story they're telling with him and Ziggler is only because Daniel Bryan won't perform in Saudi Arabia and Ziggler has been gone for so long that we just don't really care. Sometimes in WWE, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. And his promo on Monday or Tuesday (honestly, the days are blurring together right now), it seemed like Dolph was trying to channel the "Christian Bale as Batman" voice as he growled through a lot of it and it just started to get embarrassing for him. I felt bad that I was watching him struggle through this.
But you know what? None of the badness of this week's main roster programming compares even in the smallest way to the biggest and best event of the week so far, and that's the episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast entitled "The Emancipation of Jon Moxley" which features the former Dean Ambrose shooting on his time with WWE and specifically their creative department. Listening to it has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had listening to a podcast in a long time. It's not like Punk on Colt Cabana's podcast; Moxley actually takes the time to thank WWE for everything they taught him, but that's a double-edged sword, because they also taught him that he needed to go elsewhere in order to get back the joy of what this crazy art form can offer to not just the crowd but to the performer as well. We all know that he showed up at the end of Double or Nothing and Dirty Deeds'ed everyone (including the ref) and beat the holy shit out of Kenny Omega and shortly after was revealed to have a full-time contract with AEW, and we also know that he's heading to New Japan to challenge Juice Robinson for the US title.
But the real revelation in this podcast was that there weren't any real revelations. We all know that anything that Creative does has to be cleared through Vince and Vince's micro-managing of every single element of the show is not only stifling all the stars out there, but it's also just bringing certain people to their breaking point. If anything, it was a complete and total validation of how we've felt about all the talent who got undeserved pushes and the talent that should have been pushed but wasn't, and it all boils down to Vince and how he's happy to cut off his nose to spite his face. The one revelation that I was shocked about was that he was only paid $500 for the whole "Final Chapter" of The Shield special that WWE made a huge deal out of. Five hundred dollars for one of the three members of the biggest and hottest factions since DX and that has made Vince millions of dollars, and he sendsDean Jon off with five hundred dollars. This is going to be the new go-to for fans to get the low-down on what goes on with so many of the stars backstage in WWE. It shouldn't have to be a cautionary tale, but it really is. If I was on the fence between WWE and AEW and heard this podcast, I'd be breaking all sorts of land speed records to get to AEW.
The idea came to me that the product that this is really going to affect for better or worse is not really the main roster, because Vince has everyone on lockdown as far as the contracts and the like. The product that's going to be affected most is NXT, and I'll explain why I think that in the NXT recap coming later this week along with possibly a Hopes and Predictions column for TakeOver XXV (although I'm not going to guarantee that because my schedule is all sorts of fucked this week).
So check out the NXT and NXT UK recap within the next day or so, and hopefully, prior to Saturday night, I'll have a TakeOver Hopes and Predictions column! Again, you can always follow me for updates and all sorts of other content on Twitter by following @donnelly92274 so I hope to see you there!
Until next time, kids...
Naaaaah. But let's kick things off on a positive note with things that I did actually at least sort of like.
The Ricochet/Cesaro match was really good, even if they're not telling a story that is going anywhere. This seemed like it was a good first rivalry for Ricochet and a singles Cesaro to have, but three matches in three weeks with no build, and not even allowing the opportunity to have a rubber match since Cesaro won the first two matches was a bad booking mistake, but that finishing head-scissor takedown pin that Ric busted out was really fucking impressive.
The match between Sami and Seth at the end of Raw was also damn good, because it just might give him the legitimacy that he should have by now. I'm happy to have Sami in all these relatively high-profile matches, even if he's eating a lot of pins. And I know it really depends upon who you believe, but I'm actually wondering if Sami is legit trying to get in trouble backstage with that mention of AEW in the "Electric Chair" segment. Some say that it was scripted, some say it wasn't and I could believe it either way. And if that whole segment was designed to have Sami get the gasps from the crowd and the "Oh, shit!" moments from the viewers at home (which I did indeed have), then it was worth it. Otherwise, let's keep the "fans" out of this.
Seeing Becky team with Nikki Cross was cool. I think there should be a storyline revolving around Becky and Alexa vying for Nikki's soul and whether or not to be a babyface or a heel. And I don't really mind The IIconics losing in these non-title matches. They're not terribly legitimate anyway, but they bring a lot of personality to the proceedings and sometimes that's enough. When the title is eventually on the line, I think they should retain with either an upset win or a DQ finish until they're forced to compete with No DQ. Let them have some fun until Kabuki Warriors take it away.
So let's break it down and just live in the suckage.
So we had Brock Lesnar coming out on Raw with a newly-designed MITB briefcase that is now a boom box, or rather a "Beast Box" (something so futile and stupid that they even created a new shirt for it and expect them to start selling these new briefcases at the WWE Shop any day now) and dancing around like the whitest guy that ever lived saying that he will announce his decision about which champ he's planning on cashing in on: Kofi or Seth. Of course, he would come out later that evening and look like he was about to cash in but Heyman told him that he had a year to cash in, so he decided to get out of the ring and leave. This is WWE's big crossover star, everyone. The guy they bet on turning the ratings around. He's not just satisfied with being a part-time champ; he's waiting for the big money that he knows Vince will pay him to cash in at the time that we all least expect it. Or the time we most expect it and won't give a shit.
Speaking of not giving a shit, the ENTIRE first hour of Raw this week didn't have a match, except for Shane coming out and having a "match" against Lance Anoa'i, apparently one of Roman's cousins and an extended "Dolph Ziggler comes in, beats up Kofi again, runs away from Xavier and then finally starts beating up Xavier and starts beating Kofi up again until Xavier gets a chair and who gives a shit" segment. During the Shane "match" where Anoa'i was softened up by Drew McIntyre first, AEW chants began to fill the arena and it was one of the few times when I was okay with the crowd chanting something to indicate that they hated something. Because it was awful. Everything Shane is involved in right now is sucking so hard that it's creating a black hole around his orbit that is absorbing everything good that I was hoping was going to come out of this heel turn, and it's ultimately because Shane is not a good professional wrestler anymore. Whether or not he ever was is up for debate, but he's just bad right now. He doesn't have business taking time away from other talent that actually can work in the time he's using to just exhaust all our patience.
This was even more exhausting the following evening on Smackdown when someone decided that having a Shane McMahon Appreciation Day was a good idea to put on television. So not only do we have more Shane, but we have Elias and Drew flanking him, Corey Graves further exhausting us with his sycophantic commentary about the "Best in the World" (if they're so determined to have people forget about CM Punk, why are they using a boast that is so uniquely his?). I know that this is all designed by Vince to get Shane heat, but I'm not feeling anything but complete disinterest. I know that even the cheapest heat can help put talent over, but when it's someone like Shane, we know that it's a slog. And if there wasn't further proof that he just can't really hack it anymore, after R-Truth accidentally interrupted his "appreciation" starting a beatdown that would lead to Elias winning the 24/7 Championship, Shane maybe did about 4 or 5 things and he was turning apple red and could barely get the wind in his lungs to tell Truth that he was going to have a tag match alongside Roman against Drew and Elias in the main event. I know that heels are supposed to get heat however they can and that making people boo them is the whole idea, but I wasn't upset at Shane that he was being heelish; I was upset that Creative had crafted this whole storyline in the first place.
Speaking of Roman, are you starting to hear some of those boos coming back, Vince? I still pop for his entrance, but when he's on both shows every week, it's beginning to feel very very similar to the kind of heat that he was getting when he had his big push and people were getting angry. It's time to kennel the Big Dog on Monday nights and allow some different talent to get in there.
And you know what's getting really depressing? WWE has made me start to not care about both Kofi and Becky that much. This is how awful the creative aspects of WWE have been. The entire women's roster is basically in a holding pattern because they have to sell their fucking Saudi show, and Kofi is everywhere right now but the story they're telling with him and Ziggler is only because Daniel Bryan won't perform in Saudi Arabia and Ziggler has been gone for so long that we just don't really care. Sometimes in WWE, absence does not make the heart grow fonder. And his promo on Monday or Tuesday (honestly, the days are blurring together right now), it seemed like Dolph was trying to channel the "Christian Bale as Batman" voice as he growled through a lot of it and it just started to get embarrassing for him. I felt bad that I was watching him struggle through this.
But you know what? None of the badness of this week's main roster programming compares even in the smallest way to the biggest and best event of the week so far, and that's the episode of the Talk Is Jericho podcast entitled "The Emancipation of Jon Moxley" which features the former Dean Ambrose shooting on his time with WWE and specifically their creative department. Listening to it has been one of the most rewarding experiences I've had listening to a podcast in a long time. It's not like Punk on Colt Cabana's podcast; Moxley actually takes the time to thank WWE for everything they taught him, but that's a double-edged sword, because they also taught him that he needed to go elsewhere in order to get back the joy of what this crazy art form can offer to not just the crowd but to the performer as well. We all know that he showed up at the end of Double or Nothing and Dirty Deeds'ed everyone (including the ref) and beat the holy shit out of Kenny Omega and shortly after was revealed to have a full-time contract with AEW, and we also know that he's heading to New Japan to challenge Juice Robinson for the US title.
But the real revelation in this podcast was that there weren't any real revelations. We all know that anything that Creative does has to be cleared through Vince and Vince's micro-managing of every single element of the show is not only stifling all the stars out there, but it's also just bringing certain people to their breaking point. If anything, it was a complete and total validation of how we've felt about all the talent who got undeserved pushes and the talent that should have been pushed but wasn't, and it all boils down to Vince and how he's happy to cut off his nose to spite his face. The one revelation that I was shocked about was that he was only paid $500 for the whole "Final Chapter" of The Shield special that WWE made a huge deal out of. Five hundred dollars for one of the three members of the biggest and hottest factions since DX and that has made Vince millions of dollars, and he sends
The idea came to me that the product that this is really going to affect for better or worse is not really the main roster, because Vince has everyone on lockdown as far as the contracts and the like. The product that's going to be affected most is NXT, and I'll explain why I think that in the NXT recap coming later this week along with possibly a Hopes and Predictions column for TakeOver XXV (although I'm not going to guarantee that because my schedule is all sorts of fucked this week).
So check out the NXT and NXT UK recap within the next day or so, and hopefully, prior to Saturday night, I'll have a TakeOver Hopes and Predictions column! Again, you can always follow me for updates and all sorts of other content on Twitter by following @donnelly92274 so I hope to see you there!
Until next time, kids...
Comments
Post a Comment