I agree with this.
Re-Published from Bleacher Report
The Battle Royal can be fun and highlights a number of wrestlers at one time, but it's not a substitute for building up challengers for a title. Too often, WWE crowned a No. 1 contender this way.
Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press
Re-Published from Bleacher Report
(Credit: WWE.com)
1. A Pay-Per-View Pointing Toward the Future
At last year's TLC, Randy Orton and John Cena battled with two championships dangling over the ring. It was a meeting of two men who have dominated the WWE landscape over the past few years.
Despite how good the match was, it didn't end up being as momentous as all the hype suggested it would be. The deja vu effect of those two men on center stage again hurt it.
Fast-forward to WWE TLC 2014, and Cena remains in the same spot, but the rapidly rising Seth Rollins joins him on the marquee. It's Rollins' biggest singles match to date, a showdown with WWE's benchmark and the third straight time he has main evented a pay-per-view.
WWE's move toward new stars and a future that isn't just a repeat of Orton and Cena is a glacial one, but it's happening.
Beyond the top of the card, TLC is shaping up to be an event centered around newer stars. The other high-profile match pits Bray Wyatt against Dean Ambrose. Theirs is a feud that has been receiving nearly as much attention as Cena and Rollins' has.
With the TLC stipulation to aid them and a truncated meeting between them at Survivor Series having whet our appetites, Wyatt vs. Ambrose promises to be a great stage for both men.
Ryback is getting an opportunity opposite Kane. Damien Mizdow will defend the tag team titles alongside The Miz against the most entertaining team in the division: The Usos.
WWE is also hinting at a collision between Erick Rowan and Big Show as well as a Intercontinental Championship match featuring Luke Harper and Dolph Ziggler. That would mark Rowan's first singles match on a pay-per-view. And while it may be a sideways move for Ziggler to be challenging for that belt, Harper has to be thrilled to be carrying the strap and taking on a guy so adept at making his opponents look tremendous.
The TLC card features three guys under 30 in the two biggest matches.
There's a youth movement underway. Roman Reigns will soon be there to take part in it. NXT's top talents are sure to follow him before long.
2. Kevin Owens Wants to Fight
NXT is doing well to translate who Kevin Steen was into who Owens is. The former Ring of Honor world champ doesn't look like the kind of prospect WWE would normally go after: He's not toned or tall, nor does he own magazine-cover looks.
So one might assume WWE would relegate him to some comedy role, perhaps the second coming of The Funkasaurus.
Instead, the company has presented him as he should be: a bruiser with a bad attitude. In the vignettes hyping his debut, Owens looks a lot like the guy fans of his previous work came to love.
It's smart of WWE to not try to reinvent him completely. He has established himself as a punch-swinging, hard-nosed brawler. Why mess with that?
3. Year of the Battle Royal
In 2013, the Handicap match was in vogue. This year has been heavy on the Battle Royal.
Rusev successfully defended the United States Championship in a 20-man match on last week's SmackDown. That's now over 10 such bouts in a single year.
| Date | Event | Winner | What was on the line |
| 1/14 | Royal Rumble | Batista | Spot in WrestleMania main event |
| 4/6 | WrestleMania 30 | Cesaro | Trophy |
| 4/15 | Main Event | Tamina Snuka | Shot at Divas Championship |
| 5/5 | Raw | Sheamus | United States Championship |
| 5/8 | NXT | Sami Zayn, Tyson Kidd, Tyler Breeze | Chance to face Adrian Neville for NXT Championship |
| 6/16 | Raw | Roman Reigns | Spot in Money in the Bank match |
| 7/20 | Battleground | The Miz | Intercontinental Championship |
| 9/26 | SmackDown | Cesaro | Shot at Intercontinental Championship |
| 10/30 | NXT | The Vaudevillains | Shot at NXT Tag Team Championships |
| 10/31 | SmackDown | Nikki Bella | Shot at Divas Championship |
| 11/28 | SmackDown | Rusev | United States Championship |
TheHistoryofWWE.com
The Battle Royal can be fun and highlights a number of wrestlers at one time, but it's not a substitute for building up challengers for a title. Too often, WWE crowned a No. 1 contender this way.
It's more effective to see someone knock off a number of foes, gain momentum over time and earn a title over time. The company can't forget about the dramatic power of the tournament when dreaming up match options.
4. Paul Heyman, Salesman Extraordinaire
It's been too long since we've seen Brock Lesnar. He hasn't wrestled since Night of Champions in September and hasn't appeared on Raw since the go-home show leading up to that—despite being the world champ.
While that's not a popular method of booking the top titleholder, his advocate makes it sound like a terrific idea.
That's what Heyman does. He could sell typhoon insurance to a man in Lincoln, Nebraska.
On Monday's Raw, he talked up how special an attraction Lesnar was, labeling him as must-see as WrestleMania and presenting him as a danger to anyone who faces him.
WWE needs to go this route more when The Beast Incarnate isn't around. Heyman acts as a substitute, giving the champ a presence on TV by proxy. It also keeps the world title in the spotlight, a carrot dangling in front of hungry challengers.
5. Throwback Promo of the Week: Terry Funk
As we near a pay-per-view built heavily on table spots, it's fitting to look back at a man who popularized the now ever-present crash through wood. Terry Funk's piledriving of Ric Flair through a table in 1989 inspired future wrestlers to hurt their foes in similar ways.
The feud that moment spawned remains one of wrestling's best. A lot of that has to do with Funk's unhinged nature.
In one of his best promos, he talked about a "beautiful" dream he had:
Ambrose and Wyatt would do well to study Funk at work. They are both nailing being nutty, but it always helps to learn from a master.
6. Superkick Surplus
The superkick isn't feeling as special as it should be. Too large a percentage of the roster uses it as either a finisher or signature move.
It's currently one of Rusev's go-to weapons. The Usos finish off foes with it. Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper and Seth Rollins all use it too.
Credit: WWE.com
Dolph Ziggler nails Luke Harper with a superkick.
When Tamina Snuka returns, you can add her to that list as well.
As great a move as the superkick is, some of these wrestlers need something to replace it. If four or five wrestlers started working a cutter into their repertoire, the RKO suddenly wouldn't feel as significant.
7. Bray Wyatt's Talisman
The most vulnerable we've ever seen Wyatt was after Ambrose broke his rocking chair. He looked fearful, broken. It was as if we were seeing him unravel right in front of us.
This is something WWE needs to build on. It's strange and unique enough to boost Wyatt's character.
It could be (in his mind at least) the source of his power, much like the urn is for The Undertaker. He'd no doubt create a compelling mythology about the chair and its past.
That destructive moment from Ambrose on Monday's Raw created a spark that could easily grow into something bigger.
8. RybAxel's Divergent Journeys
Ryback's time away rejuvenated his career. It also swept Curtis Axel into obscurity.
It made sense that with his tag team partner on the mend, Axel wouldn't get as much TV time. When The Big Guy came back, though, Axel was pushed to the side to make room for a singles push for the powerhouse.
Comparing what they have done since Ryback's return reveals a stark contrast, a look at two careers heading in opposite directions.
Including his win over Bo Dallas on Oct. 27, Ryback has wrestled on Raw six times since healing up. Axel has no Raw appearances in that span. He's instead been relegated to Superstars.
Ryback is 9-1 during this stretch; Axel is 1-5. While Ryback was main eventing SmackDown against Kane and Rollins, Axel wrestled the dark match. Ryback was in the biggest bout at Survivor Series; Axel did not compete at that event.
Axel has to be hoping for something to change. He's quickly becoming the Marty Jannetty of this partnership.
9. Armchair Booking: Randy Orton's Return
WWE has two ideal options for bringing The Viper back to TV. The patient route has him make his first appearance as a surprise entrant in the Royal Rumble. That's a long way away, but it guarantees that match a memorable moment.
Have him enter when Rollins is in a battle with a crowd of Superstars. Orton can charge in and go on a flurry where he eliminates four or five wrestlers before standing alone with Mr. Money in the Bank.
They brawl in the corner before their momentum will take them both out at the same time. That way their rivalry will be reset and ready for their inevitable collision.
Jonathan Bachman/Associated Press
Randy Orton
Otherwise, TLC offers a great spot to welcome back Orton. Make Rollins strong by allowing him to have Cena reeling. He can dominate the last third of the match and look to end it by placing Cena face-down on a table.
Rollins can set up for a Curb Stomp from the top rope, but Orton can pop out of the audience in street clothes and nail Rollins with an RKO through a table.
That will keep the Cena vs. Lesnar match alive and sets up a showdown at the Royal Rumble between Orton and Rollins. It doesn't hurt to give TLC a big surprise moment.
10. Even Vince McMahon Gets Nostalgic About the Attitude Era
In his interview with Steve Austin on the WWE Network, McMahon made headlines with his negative comments about Cesaro, noting that he thought the current roster lacked ambition and revealing his thought process in making Lesnar the man to end Undertaker's streak.
When he spoke of his rivalry with Austin in WWE's hottest period, he sounded as wistful as many fans are about that period:
"To go out there and feel that kind of magic ... there's no feeling like it!" - @VinceMcMahon #StoneColdPodcast pic.twitter.com/zs0hiJUeGk
— WWE (@WWE) December 2, 2014
It's the hope that magic like that will happen again that keeps fans watching. They trudge through the banal, holding out for the next all-time great rivalry.
It has to be on its way, but it's hard to tell how close the horizon is sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment