With the 1st WWE Network exclusive PPV happening tonight that has turned into a hell of a show, I figured I would post some thoughts on the show and WWE in general.
– When I first saw Kevin Owens 4 or 5 years ago I said this guy is the next Stone Cold Steve Austin. He just has this aura of a legit badass that ain’t afraid to open up a can of whoop ass on anyone. Tons of charisma, great on the mic, can go in the ring; all he needed was a break. Finally got 1 6 months ago coming into NXT and got the big one 2 weeks ago interrupting John Cena making 1 hell of an impact. I missed the live airing and was watching the replay deciding just before I started not to read the results. Man am I glad I didn’t b/c my jaw dropped when Owens came out, that whole segment had a ‘big fight feel’ to it. If Kevin Owens is the next Stone Cold then this match with Cena is his KOTR 1996. If they are gonna give him a big moment over a Cena, a great performance will provide him a launching pad to make a massive impact. They also could make him just another strong heel fed to Cena. Gonna be great to watch.
– Rollins vs Ambrose for the WWE Title is an exciting match up. It’s fresh, its 2 guys that deserve this spotlight, and these 2 with high stakes on the line could steal the show with a classic. Rollins hasn’t had a “great” WWE Title match yet so he needs this one to smoke. Ambrose wants the momentum he has built to keep rolling so he should be ready to go. Id give the Title to Ambrose here, even if it wouldn’t be a long reign and Seth gets it back, would be an amazing moment to highlight this 1st Network PPV and send fans home happy. WWE has been built on moments; an Ambrose WWE Title win could be legendary if done right. Can’t wait to see it.
– After years and years of begging WWE to put any effort whatsoever into making secondary titles means something, we are getting the IC and Tag Titles defended inside the Elimination Chamber. I personally hate the EC but love the spotlight it provides so I’m looking forward to these. Was hoping to see Rusev win the IC Title but with his injury I’ll go with Sheamus, his new heel character is perfect to chase. Tag Titles I’m so torn. New Day is great so they could retain, Kidd/Cesaro are great n keep getting better so they could win, but ultimately I think I’d like to see the Prime Time Players get their moment. Titus just won Celebrity Father of the Year and they have put in their work, it’s time. Even if it’s a case like Ambrose where it’s not a long reign, it’s all about the moment.
– NXT has been starting to really gain a reputation as the place to find great wrestling. Hot crowd, strong storylines, great action, just the tip of the iceberg too there is so much more room to grow all phases. Gonna be interesting in the next few months as WWE brings up new blood to freshen up their roster leaving the NXT picture a bit shaky. Hard to establish yourself as a brand when you have so many moving parts. Eventually the call-ups will slowdown and the opportunity to make NXT a main brand will at hand.
– The Women of NXT are making significant noise in the wrestling world putting on some of the best action on either side of the gender coin. Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch at Unstoppable was match of the night, the submission game of Banks is absolutely vicious. The Women have made a habit out of stealing the show, Men will have to step it up or get passed by. So much talent ready to challenge but I feel like there is room for a lot more, the more ppl you can work with the better.
– Nice to see King of the Ring make an appearance in 2015, a worthy winner in Wade….excuse me….King Barrett always helps. It seems that in 2015 there is no interest in really fleshing out these characters but I’d love to see them go full out with the King Barrett character. Vignettes, carried to the ring on a Throne, etc… with the Network at their disposal there really is no limit to what they could do. Barrett still has never had that 1 great match ppl can go back to or tell others about, tons of good ones but he needs to step up to the next level if he wants to be a legend. Remember, complacency killed the King.
– I was really hoping that promo Sandow cut after WrestleMania 31 would lead to him joining the Physical 6(Bryan/Cesaro/Sheamus/Barrett/Rusev/Ziggler) to create the MagSTIFFicent 7 but it’s been back to the comedy role. Not that he isn’t entertaining, but he is a guy that could make anything entertaining so that doesn’t really mean much, this is not the best use of his talents. Adding him to the mix with these guys that are having very physical matches lately would be perfect to get him away from comedy and re-establish himself as a serious threat. Hoping to see his hard work making these ridiculous characters entertaining finally pay off.
– Nikki Bella is having a great run as Divas Champion now that she has a good heel to work off; Naomi looks like she is more than happy to run with this new role. Has to be tough for these main roster Women to work as “Divas” with the handcuffs on watching everyone heap praise on NXT women who get to go steal the show. And make no mistake about it, these main roster Divas could be having as good if not better matches, but that isn’t the direction Vince wants to take. With Paige back it should make things interesting but I’m looking for a Naomi Title win when the Title changes hands next. Hope they take the cuffs off em for good soon.
– With everything going on there is still the large shadow of Brock Lesnar looming. History shows that he takes lengthy breaks from WWE but it usually isn’t long before the itch is back and we see him again. This time he had his Title stolen by Rollins and was suspended by the Authority so there is extra motivation to come back. With his limited dates being up in the air it’s hard to make plans with him but as SummerSlam gets closer that has to be his next landing spot if not sooner. Will be very interesting to see where they go with him. Logical 1st match is vs Rollins but do you put the Title back on him knowing he won’t be there every show? Do you create a babyface run and make him chase putting Rollins over at SSlam leading to a bigger event? Do you go in another direction completely but then who is a strong enough heel? Do you have Brock go as a heel? Tough call. Only reason I’d keep him heel is for a big match vs Bryan but that ain’t happening so I’d say make him chase Rollins and go on a big babyface run.
– Finn Balor is rumored to be the next guy coming soon to the main roster. Is it crazy to hope for an alliance between him and Batista so we can get Batista wrestling in Drax paint? It would either be super lame or epically awesome and I’m leaning towards awesome.
– Best wishes for a quick recovery to Sami Zayn. Seems like he was dealing with a shoulder issue for the last few months that came to a head at the worst possible time. Has to be extremely frustrating but if he can get through this he should be stronger as a person than ever. Just make sure to do it right and not rush or else you’ll take a risk of ending up even further back. Fans are behind him.
– Samoa Joe has arrived in NXT. Never been a fan and never understood why everyone thought he was so great. Matches I saw of his were good but nothing special to me. But he does have that silent ass kicker charisma and WWE can bring out the best in people so we’ll see. No interest in seeing him start from the bottom up though, bring him in as a major threat and see if people respond or not.
– Baron Corbin is a guy to keep an eye on, has a definite presence to him but he needs to make sure his ring work is at a high level. Id have him spend some time with Kevin Nash, learn from one of the best big men in the business. I’m thinking when he comes to the main roster, The Crow face paint would complete his look. He’s just missing something.
– Hopefully Randy Orton stays as far away from Kevin Owens as possible, that’s a big money feud right there. I’d put Orton in a Tag team and have him go put on some Tag classics, make the fans beg for him to put Owens in his place.
– Loving the WWE Network, 1 of the best things to happen to wrestling fans in a long time. Hope they complete the RAW and Nitro content, cannot wait to re-live 1997 again. I’ve read about some Network viewing numbers and it said the numbers for old content were low. That is nothing to worry about tho, I’m sure most are like me and expect to have the Network for years to come so are in no rush. Some shows I have only seen once so I don’t wanna just run through them in a few weeks/months, gotta enjoy that shit.
– Last but certainly not least I’d like to wish Daniel Bryan the absolute best in his recovery. Of course I want to see him in the ring but at this point I’m just hoping he can get right and have a quality of life. Prime of his life left and it may be time to accept that his bump card is full and it’s time to walk away. If there was a worst-case scenario after WM XXX this is pretty much it. Damn shame we won’t ever get DB vs Brock, that would sell out WM 32 for sure, hell I’d even find a way to be there. But if this is it he has given us more than enough great matches and memories. Looking back, supporting his run from WM 28 to now was a lot of fun and culminated with the greatest WrestleMania ever. DB vs HHH might be the best WrestleMania match of all time, better than HBK vs Taker, yeah I said it. We got the WresleMania main event the fans made. Even though WM 31 wasn’t what we wanted for him, it was still a great moment even if the headbutt war to end it was probably not the best idea haha Get healthy DB! YES! YES! YES!
Ok so that should do it for this post. The quality of WWE determines the frequency of posts like this, no reason to waste time talking about a shitty product. But I haven’t been this pumped for a non-WrestleMania PPV since probably InVasion 2001 and that PPV came in seriously below expectations, everyone ordered to see the big stars invade and we all know what happened. So much room for awesomeness here but as usual they could leave everyone pissed off and frustrated. But it is nice to see they can still come through and build up an epic show, let’s see if they can still deliver.