Extreme Rules - Thoughs After

As you might have noticed, I don't really write all that much here in recent times. It's not because I don't have anything to say, not at all, quite the opposite. The problem is that a lot of the things I do have to say, are pretty much things I have been saying for a long time now and I don't like to repeat myself. That is the advantage I have over "corporate" columnists, I don't have deadlines and expectations, I write only when I want to, whenever it is I want to.

This will not be a full review, but just few, brief thoughts I had after watching WWE Extreme Rules. Now unlike a huge part of the internet wrestling community, I didn't really minded what was going on there, but there is a couple things I want to address.

First thing is the "Kiss me arse" match. While the fight was quite decent, I just don't get the point. Since there was no chance of the stipulation to even be executed, and there is no way it could've been, at least in the "kayfabe" world, was there even a point for it being a thing? Think about it. We spent a lot of time building this match up, a lot of writing, TV time and wasted energy went into making it a thing. And what happened? WWE didn't deliver. Now, don't get me wrong, I absolutely HATE stipulations like this, but if you ink out something, you better make it happen. Making a stipulation just for the sole fact of having any stipulation is just stupid.

The next thing I would like to say something about was the Cena - Rusev stipulation. I don't mind admitting that this used to be an angle I was a fan of, used to be. Since they went full on "USA vs. Russia" mode, everything became so bland and uninteresting. The weekly open challenges don't carry much weight, when you know that no matter what happens in between, at the PPV event the title is going to be fought over by the guys who are actually in the storyline. It got so ridiculous that at one point they almost actually said it is exactly like that. With John Cena coming out to the ring and talking about how Rusev wants his rematch at Extreme Rules. There was no suspense, there was no drama build up. It was just "go from A to Z and stop by B, C, D...". And now we will get another match, match that has no reason to happen anymore. Rusev lost his rematch, he has no loose ends to tie up, the story should be finished. But now, at Payback, we will get an "I Quit Match" with the two. And until then, what? More of the open challenges that no one has a shred of doubt how will be finished?

Moving on there is Roman Reigns. He still has his doubters, but I do believe that given !proper! treatment, he has great future to come. One thing I don't want to happen is another Big Show match. This angle has run dry for a while now and there is literally nothing WWE could do to freshen it up. At this point of his career Big Show has only his size that still keeps him employed. He grew older, he got slower, he isn't really impressive anymore and became basically a very one dimensional character. Roman needs a new opponent, someone from whom he can actually learn and with whom he can evolve. Daniel Bryan was a good example of someone like that, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Brock Lesnar might come back, but he will be going after Rollins and Reigns doesn't really have much to grab on to make him involved with them. There are only two ways for Roman now, either he gets involved with the mid card feuds or WWE invents some forced way to stick him into the title picture.

The rest of the event was ok, as I said, I didn't really mind it. If anyone expected a spectacle of brutality and bloody gore, they are morons. If someone wanted to see an event where some of the lesser used stipulations are being used, I guess they got exactly that. And for the rest of viewers, well, there are always other options to explore.

Post Wrestlemania 31/RAW thoughts

This will not be a typical review, as all of those have already been written about what went on on the "Grandest stage of them all" and you can find lot of truth in them, if you look through the fingers. I decided to wait with writing anything about the event until the motions cool down, until I get the fallout from the RAW next day, until everyone who has anything to say about it, already said everything they had to say about it. I needed my time to think. 

With pretty much almost all that is to say about the even already been said, I can focus on thoughts, rather than events themselves and I do like to be in that kind of situation. In the past days there has been a lot of praise being sent to the WWE on the what we witnessed and some of it is earned, I will not dwell on the hypocrites that went out of their way to flack WWE for everything and now are almost bending over to suck their managerial penis. I am not one of those people. I never saw this years Wrestlemania as a tragedy, but a very uninspired period of time in sports entertainment, my mind has not been persuaded to think otherwise and I can still see past the smoke and mirrors. 

When it comes to what went on on Sunday, as I expected, everything was rather average, mediocre even at times. And still, a bunch of people liked it, some even say this was the best even in year. That is just lying to yourself, but let's leave the delusions of some for a different day. Maybe they feel so good about it, because in comparison the previous months were just bad overall? Maybe. Among the matches we got, there was a lot of good work done and no one can deny it. My gripe is not with the wrestlers, not with the performers, not with the commentators (kind of), not with the referees. I have a problem with how those in charge decided to write the scenarios and book the matches.  Now I see no reason to really talk about every match, but there is a few that just don't sit right.

The match 14 years in the making was pointless, no, really, think about it. When you had Triple H and Sting in the ring, you expected to get some kind of motivation, any kind of threat, have the stakes high and there wasn't anything like that. We got an ok match from the craft point of view. Taking into account the age of both men participating, it was better than most expected and that's a good thing. What wasn't a good thing was the intervention in the middle of it. Sure it was a nice thing to see, New World Order vs. Degeneration X, one problem with this one though... Everyone in that set up, except for Hulk Hogan, is good friends with Triple H. There was no reason for Hall and Nash to go out there to help Sting... None, nada, null. And due to respect I have to all involved I will not dwell on how bad it looked when all those guys, CLEARLY pass their prime got into each others faces. It was bad, and I will leave it at that. Some say it was a nostalgia moment, I say it was just a waste of the weeks we spent watching the build for this match in the past weeks. Not only that, but the ending for this match made me feel disgusted with what I saw, honestly - and I am not even exaggerating - I almost turned off Wrestlemania completely. Triple H winning was a slap to the face in it's own merit, showing that since they own Sting now, they will shit even more, than they already did in the past years, on WCW. They bought the company all those years ago and now they own Sting as well. What made the ending even more stupid and sad, was that Sting after a loss due to taking a shot with a sledgehammer to the head, just stood up and shook hands with the old Big Nose. Sure this isn't unheard of between rivals to happen, but the circumstances made it just an idiotic gesture to make. And no, I will not look at this through nostalgia goggles. Adding insult to injury after RAW the next day in an interview Sting said that he hopes WWE has anything else for him to do and if they don't that would be a shame. That just makes me shake my head... The Icon Sting pretty much just bent over and took WWE's cock up his ass and begged for more. 

I was correct on the outcome for the Cena-Rusev match and I am happy I had been. The match was a very decent one and the outcome really gives us a lot of opportunities for the future. Having Cena carry the US title very effectively takes him out from the main event picture for at least a few months. At the same time it releases Rusev to start moving up, since he quite effectively grew out of midcard status and needs to go to bigger things. We definitely will get a rematch, most likely at Extreme Rules and I do hope the results from Mania stay. Of course now that Rusev is no longer the undefeated, like it or not, WWE will have to tweak his gimmick or he will fall into obscurity. Another good thing about what happened is that now we will really be able to see if Rusev can create a more three dimensional character outside of "Me Russian, me better than American". That is really the guy I am worried about being ready for the big leagues.

The guy I am not worried about being ready on the other hand is the guy everyone was saying he isn't, Roman Reigns. In the match with Brock he showed us that he is capable of hanging around with the big dogs and despite what the haters constantly tried to say about this, the match was exactly what you should expect to become. Some say Roman almost got no offense in and while that is the truth, those people don't see the bigger picture. Brock Lesnar was the problem here, he was booked so strong in the past year that there wasn't really any other way to write this match. Lesnar had to be this dominant beast and any offense Reigns got in only made sense after he wounded Brock and got him staggering. It also showed that while Reigns didn't get too much attack, he held up to the suplexes and blows Lesnar was dishing out, which - like it or not - bought him a couple extra supporters. The cashing in by Rollins was also a good move by WWE, in a way they ate the cake and still got the cake. Lesnar no longer can hold WWE hostage, we will finally against see the champion more then once every few months and it wasn't Reigns that took the title of Lesnar. Pretty much everything the fans had problems with solved. And I'm ok with that. What transpired the next day personally I would book completely different. Rollins comes out and brags about winning the title, then we have Lesnar come out and nervous Rollins. Lesnar says "Don't worry boy, I'm not here to hurt you. Enjoy your five minutes of fame, I have a rematch for that *points at the title* so keep that in mind, but today I have other business to finish. Rollins leaves and Lesnar calls out Reigns. That way we could have Seth focus on the angle with Orton to build up some credibility he lost after being booked like a bitch for months and Roman gets more time to build his position up as the top babyface in the company. 

The story they made is not something I like, but I guess we have to deal with it now.

I am not going to write too much about the Battle Royal outside of that it was booked really badly. Hideo Itami who made his debut in main roster got the bitch treatment in his first showing to a big part of WWE fans and got easily disposed off. Cesaro, the winner of the match the previous year didn't even make it to final three, Ryback and Mark Henry got eliminated quickly, Kane almost haven't done anything and was there pretty much just to be there, Sandow who essentially should have won this - since they actually are doing something with his character - lost to Big Show, for whom this win means pretty much nothing and will be worth next to nothing by the next few months.

Outside of that, there isn't anything I really felt like saying. The "oh-so-hyped" by the IWC ladder match did not deliver and in terms of ladder matches, which always been a cluster fuck, was pretty dull. It was good overall, but was not a show-stealer, as was supposedly meant to happen. Randy vs. Rollins was good, Tag Team match was fun as usual, Diva match was... there, Taker vs. Wyatt lost a bunch by having the match happen before sun went down and due to Bray's injury. 

Where to go now? I have some ideas, but since it's clear WWE will do anything they feel like doing, regardless if it makes sense or not, I will bring them up when I will feel they are appropriate to share. 

When it comes to Wrestlemania this year we definitely didn't get the spectacle we all wanted to get and the build up to it was lacking as well. It didn't have much of the "special" feeling. The RAW after Mania had also grown certain type of expectations to it and it was barely above the usual. Supposedly the Mania and after Mania crowds are the best and all I wanted to chant at them was "overrated" and when they started the chant that they are awesome all I said was "oh get over yourselves, we had better crowds on regular RAWs".

Road to Blandness - Wrestlemania 31 Predictions & Raw Thoughts

So here we are, finally Wrestlemania is here and it's time to get excited...? I would, but I have a hard time doing just that. When it comes to the event, for the first time in a long time, I really don't know who will win in any of the matches and that's not a good thing. But wait, you'd ask, Joe... Isn't this what you've been bitching and moaning and whining and crying and ranting about for the past 5 years or so in different outlets? For wrestling to not be so predictable? And you'd be right, I have been talking a lot about that, but it's not that simple as you think.

You could have Vincent Kennedy McMahon come out to the ring, take his pants off and dip his penis in cow urine for an hour while humming the "Four Seasons". Would you expect that? No, no you wouldn't expect that to happen. I'm sure there would be some people that would find that entertaining, but most of us would not. Just because something is unexpected and unpredictable, does not mean it's good and doesn't really mean that anything of quality can come from it.
Wrestling is a very specific form of art, it needs the heroes, it needs antagonists, it needs to have people that the crowd can get behind and cheer, there is a need for favorites. And that is the problem right there, the story build ups for the line up sucked balls. You need to give people a clear hero of the story and a clear villain, a probable winner and a most likely loser, that is how wrestling works since the very beginning. People need that to care about what is going on, if they don't have a favorite to win, they won't get invested in the story and won't care about the match. And I am not talking about a clear jobber fighting a monster-beast. You achieve that through logic and intelligent storytelling. You need to think what impact certain things will have on the progression of your characters and at the end of the day, you need to make people care one way or the other. That is where the builds failed badly this year. None of the match-ups produced what I am talking about here, what's worse, none were even build to make someone look strong.

Everyone is so anal about Roman Reigns being booked to look strong, but seriously look what did they do to him. While he won the Rumble, but the ring was cleared mostly by Kane and Big Show and in the end even the Rock was helping him. He lost matches on RAW, he got beat up a couple times and while there were a few times when he got the upper hand, there was never really a moment when he was booked to "look strong", cause "just" winning matches doesn't do that. Brock Lesnar on the other hand has been booked way too strong, maybe rightfully so, but when you write a character to be basically indestructible, you create a problem, a huge problem for the future. Who is going to beat the monster-beast that chewed through everyone along it's path? Starting to get it? In wrestling there are only two types of characters that could do it and it would be done the right way. Someone equal or the ultimate underdog, problem is Roman Reigns is neither. He isn't even that big of a guy honestly and yet, he is still booked as the powerhouse, here's a hint, he's not. There was a few way to book Roman the right way and WWE went the way of doing it wrong. I'm not a hater, Roman could be great in the position he currently is, but not as the character he currently portraits. That being said, with the news of Lesnar staying with WWE, anything could happen in this match, with this match and after this match.

The match internet fans seem to be most excited for is the ladder match for the Intercontinental championship. Why? Because it has in it the biggest amount of internet darlings in wrestling world today. But the build for this one was just plain stupid. I am not going to go into details about that after Fast Lane there is no room in this for Dean Ambrose, who lost the first match for the title, therefore doesn't even deserve a rematch for it - that already is up in my review from that event. Like I already wrote before, the story here was utterly garbage and just pointless. For weeks we had Wade Barrett lose matches with current participants and for weeks we had the Intercontinental title being stolen and being passed out like in a game of hot potato. That was dumb. Apparently, because everyone wasted Barrett ass, they gained the status of number one contenders to the title. After that the belt itself was just a marker for the crowd, "oh, he holds the title, he is in the match". Why it was dumb? Because it didn't change anything. At the end of the day you could give the belt to a million people in a row and still the champion will be Wade Barrett. It's not like a few years ago with the Hardcore Championship, where there was a 24/7 rule, and the champion was constantly defending the title. No, here only the hands holding the strap changed, which ultimately still belonged to Barrett. Quality-wise, this match most likely will be the match of the night, simply because there will be enough people to provide a good amount of fast paced action, but it feels rushed and sloppily slapped together.

Something a lot of fans was waiting for, including myself, was the debut of Sting. He was one of my top five in the '90s and his "Crow" character to this day is my favorite gimmick of all time. I can only speak for myself, I was excited to finally see Sting in WWE. And then reality started to kick me in the testicles, crushing one dream after another, giving back the regular mush that is known as the "WWE treatment". Everyone wanted to see Undertaker face Sting, even if they wouldn't be fighting each other, even if it would only mean that they will stand in the ring, one time, first time for the last time. We will not get that, instead the egomaniac himself, Big Nose Triple H had to make it once again, all about himself. For weeks we had Triple H come out and talk how he destroyed WCW, how Sting was afraid to come to WWE due to HHH being there. He made it all about himself and about WCW vs. WWE. That was the worst way to push this story. Instead of focusing on what Sting did since appearing at Survivor Series, they made it about the past, 14 years back to the past. And now, we are to believe and get excited about a match that doesn't have any bearing on the present whatsoever. The could make it a power struggle, they could make it as Sting vs. Authority and even push it through till Summerslam, they could make Sting the General Manager of RAW, they could make Sting a guardian for a young star that fights against Authority, they could have done so many things differently and so much better with Sting... But no, the aging, egocentrical asshole that only got to where he is, because he fucked the boss's daughter gets the spotlight once again, from fear of getting irrelevant, again. This match is only about what Triple H did to WCW and Sting is - as he said - taking HHH down. Bull. Shit.

Can someone tell me why is WWE ruining everything good they have and making it as mediocre as possible? I already ranted about the Rusev-Cena situation, so I won't go into that too deeply again. This could've been a very good build to most likely a decent match. There was a chance for Rusev to finally move on to bigger, better things with the feud involving John Cena. It didn't start as some guy coming to the rescue of USA and we actually saw the human side of Cena as well, with his age and credo being questioned as he was put in a situation where his being even on Wrestlemania wasn't certain. There was actual potential. And then someone decided to pull the plug and to run the back up "USA vs. Russia" usual menu. The resolve for the uncertainty was solved in two weeks and the focus switched entirely to the great, american hero fighting against the big, bad russian. There is just nothing more I could add. They had an unpolished gem that needed some work and instead they decided to play around with turds.

Going down the card, you could maybe notice that I almost always skipped over Bray Wyatt segments. No it's not because I didn't notice them. It's because there wasn't exactly too much to say about them. Bray Wyatt, with the absence of the Undertaker, had to carry the whole feud for weeks and he did a good job doing so. Problem is, we didn't see the Undertaker even once the whole time. Which means that however he looks like and in whatever shape he currently is, we are going to have to make out our minds about it when we see it. I didn't exactly see anything wrong on Bray's part, just when his opponent was nowhere to be seen, he couldn't exactly build upon him, react to him, so the promos were kind of the same, the Bray Wyatt-ish mumbo-jumbo as always. If this is the last match for the Undertaker, which is entirely possible, I really don't have any feelings about it, one way or the other.

Randy vs. Seth, another one with the potential for a slow build and great payoff, again, wasted for the immediate gratification and polarization. Randy Orton should have slowly shown signs that he doesn't want to be in Authority, get angry at people messing him up and eventually explode at everyone. But not after a week or in one episode, but gradually. And what was the point of the beat down all around the arena? That is something you save to blow off a feud, that is what you do when you want a heel to get over at the start of an angle or a face to end one. Both Randy and Seth are good in-ring performers and we could get a very nice match. The problem is that there is no point really. They won't top the beat down Seth got and they won't erase the fact Orton already made Rollins his bitch. Plus with Seth being the poster boy of Authority, we all know this is not going to be a clean match, which for me personally, sucks on a whole different level.

So them tag teams, ain't a whole lot of them, aren't there? Yeah... I don't want to dwell on either tag team match nor the Diva match, because it makes me sad. The tag match will be a 4 tag team match for the championship and that is almost all the active tag teams in WWE, currently. With the Divas championship match it's going to be the another variation of Bella Twins vs. AJ Lee/Paige, AGAIN. I really enjoy tag team wrestling and women wrestling, it can be done so truly great, just... not in WWE. The tag match while entertaining won't really matter, cause every team involved will get a shot sooner than later - due to the limited amount of possible contenders and the Diva match regardless of the result will still mean we will get a Nikki Bella vs. AJ/Paige for the title later. It's so hard to really care, it honestly makes me sad to think about it.

And lastly the battle Royal with everyone we couldn't fit in the main card or the ladder match, because on Wrestlemania everyone gets a paycheck. I have bad memories after the Battle Royal last year, when we had Cesaro win it, get over, and then crash and burn. I certainly don't want that to repeat.


Like I wrote above, I really don't have a clear "in my mind this guy is winning/losing" candidates. For every question "who?" and "why?" I could give an answer opposite to the one given here and still believe in what I'd say.

Predictions: 

WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
Winner: Roman Reigns
Why? Because WWE needs to create new main eventers for the long haul and they have to start somewhere. Plus Rollins cashing in on Roman - regardless if it's going to work or not - is a better choice than doing that on Lesnar. And let's face it, Roman needs this more than Brock.

United States Championship: Rusev vs. John Cena
Winner: John Cena
Why? Everyone has to lose someday and Rusev is not an exception. If he doesn't lose this, there is no one else to face at his level. He needs to lose this belt to move up to the main event. And what better place to do it if not at Wrestlemania? If Rusev won't lose this, he will be stuck in mid card, that he already grown out of for a long time. Plus this gives both men something to do on the next PPV with a rematch for Rusev.

Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Daniel Bryan vs. R-Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Stardust vs. Luke Harper
Winner: Daniel Bryan
Why? He is the most popular guy here and with the way WWE antagonized it's fans due to Bryan's booking, they have to give them something back. Plus Daniel has a DVD coming out, so why not use that as a marketing tool.

WWE Tag Team Championships: Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. Los Matadores vs. The New Day vs. The Usos
Winners: Kidd & Cesaro
Why? Because it doesn't matter. There are 4-6 tag teams in main roster WWE, depending on how you look at it. And every one of them is going to get their shot, eventually.

Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt
Winner: Bray Wyatt
Why? Because it's most likely the last match for the Undertaker and in wrestling it's a common thing for the retiring wrestler to lose his last match thus putting over the guy beating him. And honestly, that isn't the match people will remember Undertaker for.

Sting vs. Triple H
Winner: Sting
Why? Because WWE wants to have Sting in their Hall of Fame, and they can't since Sting never worked for them. Plus Sting in the past was very protective of his character, so I doubt he would come to WWE only to lose.

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins
Winner: Randy Orton
Why? Because Rollins will get DQ'ed. Not much else to say here really. This story was empty, they didn't have time to set it up and they wasted the time they had.

Bella Twins vs. Aj Lee & Paige
Winners: Aj Lee & Paige
Why? Because like with tag teams, it doesn't matter. We have literally a few active women performers in WWE so no matter who wins this, it doesn't change a thing.

Battle Royal for the "André the Giant Memorial" Trophy
Winner: Damien Sandow
Why? Because give credit where credit is due, he's put up with a huge load of crap in the last year. He should win this, because he deserves to win this.

Monday Night RAW 9th March 2015

I am beginning to lose all hope I ever had in WWE. I admit, I should see that earlier, but sadly, they just can't help themselves from fucking something up. We are in the "Road to Wrestlemania" period of time and excitement and interest should be surrounding us. The storylines should be plentiful and everyone should be waiting in anxiety for the day of the big event. It's not like that, it's not like that at all, and that is entirely WWE's fault.

The match everyone is talking about, the WWEWHC match, for all the wrong reasons isn't even that bad itself. Sure, it may not cater to what the internet fans wanted, but on the other hand - as I stated before - it the first Wrestlemania in a long time where WWE actually invested their time into creating a new main event guy. Some people say Roman is not ready, I say, we will see how ready he is. The worst thing that could happen is WWE will get burned and maybe that will give them something to think, or maybe it won't on the other hand... For me personally this match is annoying for entirely different reason. I hate the build up, I hate the stakes we have here. Do you even care that the match is for the title? WWE certainly doesn't care, since all they do is put constant emphasis on whether or not Lesnar will be beaten, as if Brock himself was the championship.

The next match that for some stupid reason they decided to let all steam out of is Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins. We KNEW that it will happen, no one had any doubts about it, but was it really necessary to have a beat down now? The match will still happen, there is no question about it, but after that beat-down, is there even a point to it? Seth Rollins had his ass handed to him and stuffed down his throat. That is not the way a feud should start, or is it restart...? Anyways, that is something you leave for a blow off, cause how do you top it? Where do you go from here? Whatever they will do will be overshadowed by what happened on RAW. Randy made Rollins his bitch and fucked him hard, that is what I will remember about this feud.

And going to the only match I am actually interested in, or maybe I should say "was", since they did exactly what I said they shouldn't do with the Cena vs. Rusev story. They decided to make it about "America". They had a nice build up, interesting situation and even despite the fact title was kind of omitted, it was intriguing. But we can't have that, can we now? No, we cannot, we have to suck USA's penis until it blows. So now we get pretty much exactly the same story as with Jack Swagger, as with Mark Henry, as with Big Show, just the player in it is more important then before, cause Cena still matters. In this episode we saw Lana agree to a match with Cena and they could always use that as an argument that it was her and not Rusev who agreed, as was stated by Stephanie. I don't know anymore, I just lost interest.

The Triple H vs. Sting match is simply put, stupid. Are we really making this just about WCW? A long time too late for this to have any kind of bearing on anything. It should have been about the power, about who controls the company, about something that people that were not even a sperm at that time could relate to. This kind of match, with that motivation, with that reasoning and that kind of build up is just stupid.

Have you noticed how most people involved in big matches for Wrestlemania are simply put not there? While I do understand and kind of agree with the decision to hide Undertaker until the last moment, he isn't the only person that is treated like that. We have Lesnar, who comes around when he pleases, Undertaker, who understandably is built up for a return and then we have Sting, who we saw I think 3 times in the entire feud with Triple H. While mute Sting had his charm, they had to ruin it with a bad promo about WCW and a match 14 years in the making. Who are they trying to kid?

Is it sad that in this episode we saw almost the entire tag team division of WWE main roster in 2-3 matches? And is it sad that we had two Diva matches and I can't force myself to care, even though I try very hard. I really do. Oh yeah, and of course let's not forget about the game of hot potato with the IC belt. Is there an actual reason for this? I mean, we had in the history the Hardcore Championship, which was defended on a 24/7 rule, but then you always had a champion holding it. Now that IC belt is just a marker to let know the audience who will be involved in the title match. Just because someone holds the belt doesn't make him a champion, Wade Barrett still holds that title, belt or not. To the match he still will come out as the Intercontinental Champion. So stealing it, is pretty much, say it with me, ENTIRELY POINTLESS.

Overall this episode was a huge let down on so many levels. It failed in almost every aspect and this close to Wrestlemania, that is sad. But I will end on a positive note. The video material for that Connor kid, that was nice, got me a little teary eyed. And Stephanie talking in the video, I smiled and said to myself "Girl, you are such a mom". I'm not heartless, emotionless machine - even if I might seem like it sometimes-  it moved me and that's not a bad thing.

Monday Night RAW 2nd March 2015

The RAW this week showed clearly why we are not on the "Road to Wrestlemania" and instead we found ourselves on the "Road to Nowhere". In theory we do have things going on, a lot of things going on, but in practice that late into the calendar before Wrestlemania, the most interesting part of the show was an appearance from Jon Steward. 

Booker T during the tag team match summed up the situation of tag team wrestling in WWE perfectly "It's not about the titles, it's about if you mess with my wife you mess with me". And I don't have anything against a storyline like that, I really don't. It sucks monkey tits, but when the tag team never do get any attention, some form, any form, of a story is welcomed. The problem is that this is a story between tag team champions, and saying it has nothing to do with the championships? That is just sending the titles on the fast lane (pun intended) to what Madusa did with WWF Women Championship in WCW. They are sending those titles to a dumpster, they already removed almost every tag team from the roaster, so what is the point of the titles if there is no one left to fight for them?

On the other hand we have a weird situation with the Intercontinental Championship, where it seems everyone can have a shot at the title as long as they steal the strap from the actual champion. Seriously. R-Truth, Dean Ambrose, Luke Harper, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler... Apparently all you needed to do, to get a title shot around here is just take the belt and BAM! You have a shot. Remember when I was writing about Fast Lane? I said that if Wade Barrett wins, Ambrose has absolutely no reason anymore to be anywhere near that title. I was wrong, what was I thinking trying to apply actual logic to WWE booking. And for the champion, Barrett doesn't hold his championship very often, doesn't he? He doesn't win much either. On the side note, did you notice how Luke Harper basically looks like Dean Ambrose's dirty uncle? They both play a crazy character, they both come out in jeans and white-ish/gray-ish shirt, hell, even their theme songs in a way are similar. 

The story I found very interesting, the situation between John Cena and Rusev is still the match I am waiting the most for. The problem with this match is the same problem I have with Brock Lesnar overall. Rusev is the champion, United States champion, right? Then why the whole thing isn't about the title? I get it, Cena wants to win and his focus isn't on the belt, but why shouldn't it be? Either way I actually liked what they did with Stephanie coming out and telling Cena that if he wants Rusev, he has to make Rusev want him and if he doesn't get Rusev to agree to a match, Cena will not be at Mania this year. Now let's not kid ourselves here, the match will happen, but depending on what direction they will take it could lead to some character changes in both of them - and that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Moving on, I have to admit, in this episode I saw Roman Reigns the way I want Roman Reigns to be, sadly it was just at the end of RAW after the match with Rollins ended. His facial expression was pure perfection and his eyes went all crazy. After that it was pure destruction. That is what this character needs to be, not some lovey-dovey good guy who loves everyone, but reall badass, who might lose a match, but will make his opponent remember him for a long time. Keep Reigns like that and it will definitely win fans over, cause that is where he shines, fast paced, high impact moves and ground-pound style of in-ring work. 

Speaking of Rollins, the story between him and Orton seem to be developing slower then anticipated, but that might be for the better, not to have it fired on all cylinders at this point yet, but slowly build it up before it goes down. Honestly it might even be a good idea to keep them apart only hinting at a confrontation until the last moment. 

Did I forget about something? Oh right, AJ's return. She came back to save Paige from Bella Twins and no one cared, at least that is how it seemed, since every moron in the arena was chanting CM Punk. Guess who is going to have tag team matches for the reminder of pre-Mania season? 

Get rid of Brock

Yes, I said it and I mean it. 

You might wonder what made me write about it. Well recently a "news" story surfaced about supposed problems with Lesnar backstage at recent RAW. I am not going to talk about the story itself, as there are a couple variants of it circulating and any of them could be true, but everything points out that Brock and WWE cannot get to an agreement about what his contract allows and what it doesn't.

And by now I seriously don't see why WWE is still thinking about it, sack his sorry ass, it's not like you need him. With the current contract Lesnar barely shows up on televised programming, doesn't do house shows, rarely does PPV's. And you know what? No one cares. After an episode of RAW without Brock, no one is talking about Lesnar, no one cares about Lesnar, people are talking about what they just watched and what could it bring for the future. 

Sure, he is a big name - in certain circles - and maybe does bring some excitement when he shows up, but is he really worth all that money? It's a rhetorical question, so don't bother answering. He isn't. Even more, an interesting side effect of Brock is that by not showing up and not defending the title, he shows how incompetent people responsible for storylining the main title of the company are. How? That is simple, people stopped caring about the title and that is the sad truth. By not showing up, Lesnar showed how little the title actually means in today's WWE. And it means so little, that if you remove it, nothing happens, almost no one asks for it and most find more entertainment in current events. The "Reigns vs. Lesnar" match at Wrestlemania might be for the title, but more interesting topic to talk about for people is "Does Roman deserve to be in this match?".

Congratulations WWE, you made a footnote out of you own damn title once more. That is just sad.

WWE Fastlane 2015 - Review

The final big event before Wrestlemania is behind us and the fallout leaves us in a pretty much the same spot we were in before it. Regardless of if you liked it or not, most of the things that did transpire yesterday deem it pretty much pointless and you have to admit that. What do I mean? Well, I'll talk about it in a moment. What bothered me the most, for some bizarre reason, is how slow every match seemed like. Everything, every move, looked sluggish and reserved. I don't know if the cause of that was that it's the last PPV before Westlemania and they didn't want to risk injuries, or maybe the fact that this event was for free on WWE Network for new subscribers. Whatever the case, it irritated me.

 

The situation of Dolph Ziggler didn't change, like at all. He is still one of the more entertaining guys on the roster and constantly gets the short end of the stick. I really do not understand the logic behind what WWE is doing with him. On one hand they gave the win at Survivor Series and everyone thought that this would be the beginning of an actual push for the "Show off", little did we know, the management had completely different plans. Why? He is good in the ring, sells offence better than most of the guys on the roster and can be very good on the microphone, when given the opportunity to do something with it. There is no reason for the situation he is currently in. You cannot say the same thing about Ryback, but he is ok in what he does and people seem to like him. He is popular enough for the entire arena to chant "Feed me more" and is credible enough to be an actual threat. Sure, you could argue that there isn't anything WWE has to offer for him, so it's better that he gets anything than just not be on TV at all. And to a degree I do agree. The problem here is that it's hard to keep invested in what he does, when he doesn't really do anything interesting. And speaking of people hanging in the void of creative incompetence, we have Eric Rowan. Every time I see him I wonder, does the C-team even know what they want to do with him? He needs direction, people! The match itself was had a very throw away feel to it, and seemed to be made just to have Randy Orton have a point of returning, which basically means we will get a match at Wrestlemania, Rollins vs. Orton.

Moving onto Seth Rollins and the gang... I have to admit that I am really getting annoyed with Seth Rollins. Yeah, I know, he is the heel, I am suppose to not like him, I am suppose to root for his opponents. I am well aware of that. But there is a big difference between being a heel and being an annoying cunt and if you don't get what I'm saying, he's the annoying cunt. But I am not blaming him, I blame the fucktards that write his character. There are only so many times you can write "and then cowardly runs away" before it loses all meaning, you dig that? Even the most cowardly heels for time to time did things by themselves. That gives them credibility, that makes them an actual threat to anyone. At this point any opponent of Seth Rollins doesn't even care about Seth, the are more bothered by people who come out with him. You do realize this guy will eventually need to be on his own, right? The whole savior of Authority gimmick is over and forgotten. DO SOMETHING WITH HIM.

The match I actually waited the most for, turned out the best on the card, as predicted by many. The Cena vs. Rusev for the US Title didn't let down. It was exactly what we expected and we got just that. Cena and the Bulgarian Russian going at it in a physical match. The outcome didn't hurt anyone. Cena lost, but it wasn't a clean loss and there will definitely be a rematch, most likely at Wrestlemania. I don't know if you noticed, but this was one of the few matches Rusev actually used heel tactics to win. That's the problem with Rusev character, up to now, except for few instances, he didn't really do anything heelish. Almost every match he won clean, no interference, no dirty tactics. So what happened in this match, while so simple, was actually very meaningful. And because he didn't rely on heel tactics up to now, it also tells about how he treats John Cena as his opponent. As I said, there will be a definite part two to this, so it's still in the air, but I am ok with that. 

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan was a weird match, to say the least. When it comes to offence the upper hand was clearly on Bryan's side. He was almost constantly on the attack, dodging and reversing most of what Reigns did. And that's the weird part, didn't WWE want Roman to be the "Next best thing"? Should he get more offensive moves in? That is how you win a crowd over, you show the guy can dance with the best and eventually, one by one, people get on his side. What they decided to do was to have Roman get pummeled and every now and then get a hit in. Reigns looked down right shy in this match, almost clueless as to what to do and where to be. He still has a lot to learn about in-ring psychology. It would also help if he didn't rely so much on his big moves, there was a guy in the past who was like that, Goldberg, but he was a different guy and those where different times. Still, with that said, I do think it is a good thing that WWE is pushing him. Why? Very simple reason. If he succeeds that great, we get the new big face of the company with Cena growing older. If he fails, WWE has no one to blame for this, other than themselves.

The rest of the show was kind of dull honestly. The Rhodes match failed to impress. It was slow, almost nothing was going on and the win for Goldust guaranteed a rematch in the near future. Tag Team Championship match fell flat as well, way below expectations, WAY below the capabilities of the involved people. With those teams I expected a fast paced, action packed match... That was not it. We will be able to see it again though, with Kidd and Cesaro winning the belts a rematch is happening in the near future. Diva match was pointless as always, as is most of the things Bella Twins are involved with. And the Intercontinental match outcome was downright stupid. What was the point of having Ambrose disqualify himself here? I mean, he will probably get another shot at the title (because reasons), but logically it should be it. He had his shot, there is nothing left to grab on. 

The highly anticipated confrontation between Triple H and Sting was just a waste of time honestly. Nothing that was said and done couldn't be done on regular RAW. Plus the only thing that was there is that we got a confirmation for the match at Mania between the two and that's it. Whole thing lasted maybe 5 minutes and was a let down. As a side note, I know this was meant to be a one on one thing and they didn't want to ruing Sting's 5 minutes, but where was the rest of the Authority in this when Triple H was laying on his back after being stuck with a baseball bat and Deathdropped?

And lastly a word about Bray Wyatt segment... The challenging sure is nice and all, but shouldn't Taker at least do something? It's a one man show right now and it's not how a wrestling build-up works...

 

Overall the event was quite mediocre. There wasn't exactly anything groundbreaking and honestly I could do without it. Literally nothing would be changed without it, except for the tag titles and Orton's return, but it's not like those two things couldn't happen on RAW or Smackdown. Seriously. Nikki Bella is still the champion, Wade Barrett is still the champion, The Dust feud is unresolved, Wyatt still didn't get an answer from Undertaker, Triple H didn't really say anything we didn't know, Roman Reigns is still going to fight Lesnar as was planned after Rumble. Fastlane was uneventful, almost nothing of importance happened. 3 out of 10 is more than a fair rating.

Fast Lane 2015 - Predictions (and a few things around it)

Damn it does feel like I haven't written anything in a long time and looking at the date of my last post it certainly does look like it. I blame this and at the same time time thank for this to real life. To those of you that don't know, there has been a few things developing in my life I do enjoy and well, that's not an issue for now.

But as with the break came a few things I haven't said a word about, it does feel like there is a need to address them and maybe give a bit of an explanation as to why. While I do know that I am a part of the so called IWC, I don't like to consider myself as one of them and for a good reason. Most of them seem to be just whiny, bratty, self absorbed, instant gratification type of people that don't have any idea of how the wrestling world actually works and would kill any company given the opportunity of actually running one. That doesn't, of course, take away their constant attempts at undermining everything that isn't exactly the way they want. I am not like that. I used to be like that a while ago, but I evolved and learned to appreciate the good, understand the confusing and hate the bad decisions that often are being made.

With that said, you can probably guess I want to say a word or two about the position Roman Reigns has found himself in. He became the company favorite, which is a terrible spot to be, at least with the current fan base. Do I like the decision to put him in the main event spot? Yes, yes I do. But I do not agree with the method this was achieved. Roman Reigns has great potential and properly managed can be a huge asset in the future, especially with the older generation slowly running out of steam. I do not, however, agree with those saying his push was triggered too early, as well. The push he is currently getting is exactly at the point where it should be, the real problem is with the way people in charge see it happening and the backlash for the results of Royal Rumble show it perfectly.

Coming out of the Royal Rumble Roman could have gained a lot with smarter booking, but with the way everything played out he got out of it harmed, but that was not his fault. If the rest of the match was written better, the result might still stir a lot of minds, but the backlash would subside much faster. By eliminating fan favorites (especially Bryan, Wyatt, Ambrose, Ziggler) like pieces of trash, WWE shot Reigns in the knee themselves. If the whole match the fan favorites had good showings and the final two came down to Bryan and Roman and after a solid performance (which I do believe RR is capable of) from both and some Authority interference, Reigns still won, the fans, while still possibly angry, wouldn't care as much. It would give the reason for putting Brian into the match at Fast Lane as well. Right now we are at a situation where a completely innocent in this Reigns has to pay for management incompetence by having to fight a clear fan favorite. Worse thing is he is supposedly bound to win this match, which will not win anyone over to his camp.

And Daniel Bryan? Why did he even get the shot at the shot at the title? He was eliminated halfway through, he wasn't the most impressive guy in the Rumble (that title goes to Bray Wyatt), there is absolutely no reason to have him in the match except for one thing. WWE is a very reactionary company. They know they fucked up and they are trying to cover up their fuck up by giving Daniel a match at Fast Lane. And as it usually goes in wrestling, everything is a chain of interlinked events. By giving someone a spot you have to deal with consequences. In the upcoming battle Roman is clearly going to be the bad guy, which at least for now, would be better to be embraced by the WWE, cause there is no way they could turn it around. If they will try to make Reigns the good guy by all means, it will end bad even worse, cause they could hurt both of them. Bryan is very over as a face and trying to downplay it will hurt him more then it will help Roman in the long run. But hey, what do I know, right?

And before I get down to predictions, I will throw out a few questions out there, just because... What is the point of Seth Rollins? What did WWE expect by bringing up Ascension from NXT without having actual opponents for them? What was the point of Ziggler's win at SurSer in the light of current events? Why are they killing two tag teams when they badly need at least five more?

As of writing this it is: Tuesday, February 17 2015, 15:24 GMT+1. I have watched RAW and the predictions will be based and in order of the Wikipedia article about the PPV which currently holds five matches, no doubt it is not the final card. Not sure where and how the Sting/HHH confrontation will play out and Wyatt has to appear somewhere as well.

John Cena vs. Rusev - For the United Stated Championship

Prediction: John Cena via DQ

Side Notes: I like this for some reason. I know I was very critical of Rusev matches, but this time, this one has something in it I like. Maybe it is the fact it is not about Russia vs. USA, as I hated that Rocky 4 constant crap. Maybe it is the fact that this time it is not just a throw away contender, it is a true main eventer and a future hall of famer fighting against Rusev. Maybe it is the fact that finally the US title is getting a contender that isn't from the middle of the food chain, and that raises the stakes for this match. I don't know, maybe it is a little of everything. Whatever the reason is I am very ok with the way this is being built, that it is more about Cena being a washed up has-been rather then just another "stupid american". When it comes to the result, I am not certain of my prediction, as I see two options. Either - like I stated above - Cena will win by a DQ (or a count out or whatever will be needed so the match won't have a definite ending) so they can build their feud for Wrestlemania or he will just win. I am opting towards prolonging their story to Wrestlemania, which will give Rusev a credible opponent for a big match and it will have Cena involved in something as well. Whatever the result here might be I do believe Cena will win the feud. He is on a losing streak and it is time to build him back a little bit while there is still time before Summer Slam, plus everyone has to eventually lose and Rusev is not an exception to that.

Nikki Bella (with Brie) vs. Paige - For the Divas Championship

Prediction: Paige via DQ

Side Notes: My interest here is almost non existent. The feuds between women in WWE are barely worth any interest. They are never given the proper time, they are never treated seriously and if they happen to be anything above piss break, it's a great success. I see no competitor for Wrestlemania for the Divas title, unless they bring up someone from NXT, so I guess that would be something to do. Paige should win, but I don't see her getting the title, which will make her a valid contender for the title at the next PPV event.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan - For the shot at Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania

Prediction: Reigns via Pin

Side Notes: The problems with this match has been created by the dumb decisions of WWE Creative and they have no one else to blame for this, except themselves. I am not going to go into great details as I did rumble about it above. Reigns will win this, one way or another, as there really isn't anything for him to do after unless he wins it. Imagine Roman doesn't win it, what's next for him? Rollins? No reason. Cena? Already involved with Rusev. Bryan? Why, he just lost to him. Lesnar? Nope. Ambrose? Nah. Wyatt? That's a negative. The only future for Roman in current WWE is if he wins the match and does go to Wrestlemania to face Brock. And that's regardless if you like it or not.

Bad New Barrett vs. Dean Ambrose - For the Intercontinental Championship

Prediction: Ambrose via Pin

Side Notes: I do not have too much to say about it, I just hope someone in WWE thinks for a second about it and realizes that making Ambrose lose ANOTHER match would be another nail into his coffin.

The Usos (with Naomi) vs. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd (with Natalya) - For the Tag Team Championships

Predictions: The Usos via Pin

Side Notes: This is weird seeing a tag team match have an actual build up, but that doesn't make it a good build up. We have a battle of the couples and third wheels. Kidd and his wife vs. Jimmy and his wife... Oh and there is also Jay and Cesaro somewhere in there. I am glancing over them cause I know WWE, they will glance over them as well. The whole emphasis will be put on Natalya, Naomi, Jimmy and Tyson. It could be a fun match to see, regardless of everything, as Cesaro, Kidd and Usos can deliver a nice, high energy matches.

Well... And that is it, for now. I checked again and there still isn't anything added to official card, but I am sure this is not the final round up. Seth Rollins has to have a match. Ziggler, Ryback and Rowan need matches. Kane and Big Show don't have anything to do. Bray Wyatt needs to be there is he is meant to start his program with the Undertaker for Mania. Luke Harper has been snubbed out so far. The Ascension needs another chance to not impress once more. And of course the Sting/HHH confrontation has to fit into this somewhere. There will definitely going to be something more, but for now, that's it. See you next time.

Monday Night RAW 5th January 2015

Nothing feels as good as a good old fashion bullshit. No, I am serious, there isn't a thing like the feeling you get when you're pissed off right at the start of the new year. I will assume you know me enough or at least read the title to know, that I am talking about last episode of RAW.

I really am not sure what angers me more, the rehashed storylines, the constant stupidity in booking or maybe, just maybe, the fact TNA did put up a far superior show for much less money. I will admit here I do not watch all wrestling, there is a lot of it these days and I don't have the chance to see it all and TNA was something I was skipping for quite some time now. Not that I don't know what was going on there and who is who, I used to watch it a year or two ago, so I was not completely in the dark. But this is not about that, one thing to say is that it was a far better show.

The first signs that RAW will suck came last week, when we saw the stupidely-idiotic story of breaking Edge's neck and the return of Authority. I should've known better, I did know better, I knew it would end up like it. WWE is not capable of making things like this work. But, let's start from the beginning... 

We all knew that Authority will return, Cena was given that power for a reason, the problem here though is that it was done too early. We just got rid of them, we just had Dolph Ziggler crowned a hero of WWE, he go a prize for match of the year... Ryback was still moving forward, regaining momentum he lost, slowly getting actually better and Eric Rowan, well... He didn't fully failed yet... All in all everything is heading the right way. So, since everything is going the way it should be going, let's completely change the scenery and fuck it up. Why? Because soap opera writers, that's why.

Of course we had to get a tired, eye-rolling, revenge story from Triple H and Stephanie, again. Wasn't the whole build up to Survivor Series a revenge story? Authority was punishing team Cena for joining John in the first place? Yeah, that rings a bell, doesn't it? And now, mere 6-7 weeks later we get the same thing, again. Dolph Ziggler was forced to put his title on the line against the returning Wade Barrett. While I have nothing against Bad New Barrett, I do believe having Kane interfere in this match making it a 2 out of 3 was just insulting to Dolph. Some could say that WWE took away the IC title from Dolph, because he will be pushed further up. Now, while I do admit it is an option, it will not happen anytime soon. The next special event will see Cena fight and - according to rumors - win the WWEWHC title. That means Lesnar would get a rematch sometime in the future. What about Daniel Brian? Roman Reigns? Seth Rollins? There are people already up in the food chain, that will get the main title push before Ziggler gets it. Plus the whole "firing" angle from the end of the show is just stupid.

Those are exactly the reasons why this angle just doesn't work. There is too many top names involved, and they are names that do need to be pushed now. Plus with all of them surely going into Royal Rumble, there is no way they will stay away for longer then a week or two. Especially with people like Ryback involved, who simply put, needs the exposure. Everything combined not only made the Survivor Series match basically worthless, but will also render whatever will happen now, that's right, completely pointless. 

And that is what you get when you let soap opera writers write a wrestling show. You get predictability, redundancy, nonsense and constant rehashing of old ideas. 

Moving on, I was kind of high on the Ascension debut, last week, kind of... Then they came out this week and more then less made themselves a pair of Road Warriors wannabees. Maybe what they do works better at an NXT event, where you have the same people every time, always chanting, always active, but their shtick just doesn't cut it in the main roster. They seemed sluggish and not at all interesting. I still wish them luck, but I don't know anymore. 

Dean Ambrose lost another storyline, this time to Bray Wyatt. Is WWE trying to make him fail? Cause he is on the way down, not only going down, but spiraling down with open arms. Why? 

It was just not good overall, everything reused, rehashed, burned out, used out, worthless, pointless, stupid. And that is seriously, seriously sad. WWE with their millions and millions could do far, far better. We have so many problems here that I don't even know where to start pointing them out.