Nothing outrageous happened in WWE land this week, but there was certainly plenty of content that felt uninspired. I’m looking to keep this week’s article a bit shorter than usual due to time constraints and the inevitable longer entries coming in the next few weeks. As such I have limited my feedback this week to a few short topics. If there is anything not covered you would like to hear my opinion on or debate about get in touch via the usual methods on Twitter or via Email.
First up is the Becky/Ronda/Charlotte angle. I continue to be baffled with the build. The company just cannot seem to get out of it’s own way. They have done an excellent job on screen with Ronda Rousey the last few weeks, to the point where now she is the clear bad ass going in to the match at Mania. Meanwhile sneaky Becky is out trying to manipulate her way into title matches because she didn’t trust herself to beat Charlotte to get back in to the match. Why would she though I suppose? Only two months ago at the Rumble she not only tapped out to Asuka, but back doored her way into the Royal Rumble match AFTER the number 30 participant had entered and beat a few women who had been battling in the match for an extended period of time.
Ronda should be protected. Charlotte should be considered a big deal. But there is a time and a place. We were sold that this was Becky’s time to be the next breakout star. Instead she now feels like an afterthought in the whole thing. I have no doubt she will still be popular come Mania and will win the title, but the steam they have taken off her over the last few months has been quite remarkable. Ronda is on social media calling Becky and Charlotte fake. Then you cut to this weeks TV and Ronda is being booked like a bad ass shooter. It was great. Fast forward to SmackDown and Becky and Charlotte are rolling about the place embroiled in an entirely fake looking brawl. You come out of it thinking wait a minute, is Ronda the face now?! She’s the real one!
As I am writing this it has been announced officially by WWE that this triple threat will close the show. It was always the likely scenario, but they now appear to have locked themselves in to the idea. Despite the awful booking I am genuinely happy for all three of them. Charlotte and Becky have worked so hard to change the perception of women’s wrestling in America. Ronda’s role in this should not be understated either. Whatever you think of her, this match is main eventing the show because of her international star power. All three of these women have been dealt a bad hand by a booker that cannot keep a story straight for two weeks running.
I’ll get more into this when I do my full preview of the card, but NXT New York looks like it will be the best show in the US this year. I am far more excited for that show than I am for Mania the following night.
One of the reasons for looking forward to NXT more is WWE’s feeling that everyone gets a participation award at WrestleMania. I hate how they squeeze everyone on to the show. We end up with a bunch of multiple person/team matches that mean absolutely nothing and the show ends up about 8 hours long. If it were up to me WrestleMania itself would be an 8 match show, almost no multi matches and the pre-show would be reserved for the two battle royals. Make each of those 40 entrants if you have to, just keep the main card tight and have every match built well and anticipated by fans.
It appears that Kurt Angle is wrestling Baron Corbin at WrestleMania… or is he? My guess is that initially this was the plan, but within twenty minutes of the announcement they assessed the backlash and they will now scramble for a replacement. If it was a swerve all along the story wouldn’t have been that Angle chose Corbin. But within the hour they were commenting on TV about how the decision wasn’t popular and Vince is in the mode of pleasing fans just now, so I would expect to hear about a change soon, possibly even tonight. Cena seems the most likely opponent, but literally anyone would be an upgrade.
One match I am excited for is Roman Reigns v Drew McIntyre. There aren’t many matches in WWE right now that feel fresh, but this is one of them. I am not a huge believer in Reigns in ring work. I feel he relies on a few big spots far too often and as it works he just hasn’t bothered to expand his arsenal. McIntyre is an excellent worker though and I think given Reigns recent return this could have a degree of emotion and heat on the night. They do need to drop the leukemia stuff now though. Using it to get heat while he was gone was horrible and shows the worst in those in charge. Continuing to mention it weekly could well backfire now he is back though. If fans start to think that the company and Roman are using it to further Reigns as a face I could see the boos start to creep in before long.
Lastly this week I wanted to talk about Kofi Kingston. I was not a fan of the turn the storyline took this week. First they went back to the gauntlet well WAY too soon. Kofi beating five established stars is just bad booking. It’s expected so it doesn’t help Kofi, yet it undermines the wrestlers he beat. Then in end, in typical Vince McMahon fashion it didn’t matter anyway. What a swerve! It seems more and more likely that this is going to end with Kofi getting a title run, something I just can’t see being a positive for the company. He has been a great hand since debuting with WWE in 2008, but not all wrestlers are main eventers and I have always seen Kofi as an IC title midcarder. I realise this was a fan pic, but of all the New Day members I think Big E has the most potential to break through.
The question now is how does Kofi get his match with Bryan? My guess is some of the wrestlers stage a walk out on SmackDown this week forcing Vince to cave and make the match. Vince appears to believe that to successfully book any babyface you just follow the Daniel Bryan formula (A formula they stumbled upon accidentally by the way) and I think this will be booked similar to the yes movement. Ironically with Bryan screaming NO! in the background.
That will wrap up a rather short Wrestling with Mediocrity this week. I’ll be back again later in the week after the dust has settled from both RAW and SmackDown with some more analysis. Again, for more wrestling discussion get in touch via Twitter or Email. Catch you all soon!
