Reigns

It’s Wrestlemania time once again, kids. The biggest event in the wrestling calendar has come for 2015. If you’ve been following along on tumblr then you know that I’ve been predicting all the pay per views since last year’s event where Daniel Bryan over came Triple H, Batista and Randy Orton to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. At the time everyone was expecting big things. It was the culmination of a (roughly) year long  journey for Daniel Bryan, overcoming the Authority and acquiring his boon. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.

This year we’re in a similar position. Roman Reigns has taken up Batista’s mantle of being the Royal Rumble winner that the fans have rejected. Rejected in part because he’s not Daniel Bryan, and in part because there are a number of other young wrestlers who are more talented and more popular. The feeling that Reigns is being pushed because he fits a certain mold is frustrating a lot of viewers, which is kind of sad. Yes, Reigns is only half as talented as his Shield brothers at the moment but is being pushed twice as hard, but he is young.

As much as I would criticise the WWE for not capitalising on the popularity of Seth Rollins, Bray Wyatt or Dean Ambrose, I can’t rag on them for doing something new. I’ve had my fill of John Cena, Randy Orton and Sheamus in the main event but does that mean I want to replace them with Dolph Zigger and Daniel Bryan? Well, no. Integrating new, young talent into its main event scene is exactly what the WWE needs. The feuds between John Cena, Randy Orton, Sheamus, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan have nearly all been exhausted. Adding Rollins, Reigns, Ambrose, Wyatt and Rusev and it creates a number of fresh, interesting pairings. Consider also Cesaro on the undercard and guys like Finn Balor and Kevin Owens in NXT and there’s excellent potential for new talent if given the opportunities.

How can we elevate the intensity of this match? I know, add a tug of war.

Does that mean that I want Roman Reigns to walk out of Wrestlemania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion? No. I do think it’s too soon for Reigns to have such a major title run. But a solid, evenly booked match with Brock Lesnar could be the thing to nudge Reigns into legit superstardom. If he comes through in entertaining the fans that will be the things that will win them over. Whether that’s the road the WWE wants to go down is another matter. I always remember a story CM Punk recounted about going over the Shield in a handicap match but being told to make them look good. The same situation could occur here where Brock will dominate most of the match, only for Reigns to rally and pull a victory out of nowhere, Cena-style. If that happens it’ll destroy his reputation with the fans.

One extenuating circumstance is that Brock Lesnar has recently resigned with the WWE. After weeks of teasing a return to UFC and storming out of an episode of RAW, Lesnar announced his new contract on ESPN. It’s possible that retaining the title is part of that new contract. Of course, WWE may want to keep the title on Lesnar if they realise just how bad fan reaction is towards Reigns. There are also rumours about a double turn, where Lesnar would become a face and Reigns would turn heel, possibly by aligning with Paul Heyman. For the record, I’m against that. Reigns may benefit from a heel run and tutelage under Paul Heyman, but Lesnar is a better heel than a face.

There is another option, and one I’d prefer. Have Reigns and Lesnar slug it out, a good, even battle with Brock Lesnar coming out victorious. I’m sure you all know where I’m going with this. Have Seth Rollins cash in on a weakened Lesnar and leave Wrestlemania as the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Reigns benefits by having caused enough damage to Lesnar to allow Rollins to successfully cash in, which he could taunt Rollins with in coming weeks. Rollins would obviously benefit by becoming champion, and rightfully so. Not only would a young, talented superstar be squarely placed at the top of the WWE, but it would reward all of his great, engaging work, both in and out of the ring, in the past year. Of the three, Rollins deserves the title run most.

A repeat of WWE Fastlane may be best for business.

That being said, the outcome of the main event will largely depend on how the undercard pans out. If a heel is going to walk out of Wrestlemania with the title, Vince McMahon will want the faces to rule the roost in the other matches. Daniel Bryan will most likely take home the Intercontinental championship in the ladder match, and John Cena will probably ruin another superstar’s momentous rise. Rusev has done nothing but improve since his debut and his reward will be to become another notch on Cena’s ‘overcoming the odds’ belt.  Wyatt has arguably never recovered from his loss to Cena at last year’s Wrestlemania (though the cage match at Extreme Rules was the nail in the coffin) and I’d hate to see the same happen to Rusev.

The every idea that, 13 years into his WWE career and 15 world title reigns later, John Cena still needs to overcome the odds is ridiculous. At this point in his career, he’s done it all. So, having that level of expertise and ability, he should be helping to build younger stars up, not beating them on the grandest stage of all. Look, I’m not a Cena hater and I’m not trying to say that he’s past his prime or should lose every match. Cena is one of the hardest workers the WWE has, he’s reliable and when he’s on form there’s few wrestler who can rival just how entertaining he is. But it’s time to start rewarding other hard workers, relying on different wrestlers and cultivating new entertainers.

It’s a double edged sword though. If the Russian sympathetic, heel Rusev beats Cena I have a feeling that WWE (read:Vince McMahon) will want a face to triumph in the main event. Which is fine. I’ll be content with a Roman Reigns title run, I just feel there are more deserving contenders. But, whether you’re pulling for Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns or Seth Rollins, there’s one way to know first hand who leaves as WWE World Heavyweight Champion and that’s to watch the Pay Per View tonight, March 29th, at 7pm. Lastly, here’s a run down of predictions for the card:

Pre-show 4 way tag match for WWE Tag team titles: Cesaro and Kidd

Pre-show Andre Memorial Battle Royale: Damien Sandow

Seth Rollins Vs. Randy Orton: Seth Rollins

Bray Wyatt Vs. The Undertaker: The Undertaker

WWE IC ladder match: Daniel Bryan

Sting Vs. Triple H: Sting

WWE US title match: Rusev

Bella Twins Vs. AJ Lee & Paige: AJ Lee & Paige

WWE World Heavyweight title match: Brock Lesnar

Network

The so called biggest party of the summer is upon us. The second of the big four PPV’s, bridging the period between Wrestlemania and Survivor Series, is here and with it comes Brock Lesnar. The rumours about John Cena defending the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Brock Lesnar that I talked about back in July were true. The Beast Incarnate looks to pick up his first WWE Championship title in a decade and the only man standing his way is the Hulk Hogan of our era, John Cena. Lesnar Vs. Cena is but one match on the card, albeit possibly the most intriguing match. Other matches will see Dean Ambrose finally get his hands on Seth Rollins in a lumberjack match, Randy Orton will battle Roman Reigns and Brie Bella attempts to take Stephanie McMahon down a peg or two.

Before that though, let’s discuss the WWE Network. A lot of critics and fans have denounced the WWE Network as a failure simply because it didn’t bring in as many subscribers as Triple H and the McMahon family had hoped. Maybe they did overestimate the immediate appeal but I have no doubt that, over time, the WWE Network will prove to be a success. While the WWE may have given up a sizable amount of money by moving away from the pay-per-view system, the network is a much more contemporary and innovative model for delivering their product. The days of sitting down in front of a television and either pre-paying or purchasing a show from box office are bygone. Streaming and on-demand are now the premiere ways of watching and catching-up with your favourite shows and sports. Almost every television network and channel in the western world now offers some form of on-demand content.

The United States, Australasia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mexico, Spain and the Nordics can all watch SummerSlam on the WWE Network.

The WWE Network may seem unproductive at the moment but it places the WWE a step ahead of other sports such as MMA and boxing which haven’t quite moved towards this modern concept of show distribution. And that’s not to say that MMA or boxing are lagging behind. They’re doing what works for them at the moment and at the moment MMA is probably still more popular than wrestling. But I think within the next decade we could definitely see MMA and boxing move in a similar direction and by that time WWE will have profitable and flourishing delivery system for their shows already in place.

It is just this modern culture of immediate gratification that says we should have seen notable results from the network by now. People forget that netflix didn’t become what it is today overnight either. It started by offering a good service and titles people wanted to see. Then it started offering something that people wanted but couldn’t easily find. Breaking Bad was one of the big shows that really promoted Netflix so much so that by the final season of Breaking Bad the episodes were going up on to the British site faster than they were going up on the American page because it was in hot demand. Once Netflix had established that fanbase, then they began creating their own shows such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black. It was a step by step process and it’ll be the same for the WWE Network.

Given the WWE’s existing fan base it is understandable that they thought they could perhaps skip a few steps but their fans aren’t sheep. They aren’t going to fork over $9.99 on blind faith. WWE has to offer quality. Part of that is getting their own shows in order and producing consistently great episodes of RAW, Smackdown, Main Event and NXT. However, it would also behove the WWE to invest in a show that wrestling fans can’t easily get. Had New Japan Pro Wrestling not recently partnered with Jeff Jarrett’s upcoming Global Force Wrestling promotion I would have suggested that NJPW could have been their Breaking Bad. NJPW shows are available on stream but the WWE Network could offer them better exposure, better advertising and better quality streams all across America. Maybe there’s still an opportunity to do something with Pro Wrestling Noah or Consejo Mundail de Lucha Libre. Either way, working with other promotions in the same way that the WWE worked with ECW in the late 90’s could benefit the WWE Network by attracting unconventional viewers who might then be hooked on to WWE content. Then WWE could begin developing original shows such as Legends House and Tough Enough.

Is conquering John Cena best for business?

Maybe that’s just not possible. Netflix and the WWE Network are different so the same format might not work for both. Regardless of how WWE want to handle the network the one thing that will continue to be paramount is the wrestling. Great wrestling with provocative storylines will continue to engage fans and so far the build up to WWE Summerslam has been hit or miss. The Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena storyline was at it’s strongest when the competitors weren’t on the show, oddly enough. The aftermath of the pay per view will be more of a reason to watch than the match itself.

Brie Bella vs. Stephanie McMahon has been second most heavily promoted match on the card, with Randy Orton and Roman Reigns hot on their heels. Orton will be Reigns first real test as a singles star, whereas Bella vs. McMahon is mostly just a grudge match. The build up for the latter feud has been a little over the top and cheesy at times but it’s mostly been saved by Stephanie McMahon’s presence, such as her adopting the Yes chant to rub Bella’s face in Bryan’s alleged affair with his therapist. If anyone had been told in 2000 that 14 years later Stephanie McMahon would be as entertaining as Vince McMahon they would have called shenanigans. But it’s true.

Ask fans and they’ll tell you that they’re looking forward to Seth Rollins vs. Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt. Both promise to be classics for the modern era. Heck, even AJ Lee vs. Paige, Rusev vs. Jack Swagger and The Miz Vs. Dolph Ziggler have the potential to be great matches. A full prediction post will go up on my tumblr account later tonight. If you’ve been following along, I’m 22 for 31. Can I maintain my above average track record or will SummerSlam have some surprises in store? The only way to know for sure is to tune into SummerSlam tonight.

Rise

For wrestlers and wrestling fans around the globe, tonight is the biggest night in the business. Whether you love or hate Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Entertainment company, the success and exposure of their annual event WrestleMania. This is the event that made Hulk Hogan the megastar that he is today. This is the event that cemented Stone Cold Steve Austin when he refused to tap out to Bret Hart. This is the event where John Cena defeated John Bradshaw Layfield for his first WWE Championship and begun his road to the dominant figure that he is. Known as the grandest stage of them all, WrestleMania has lived up to that name for years.

Recently, WrestleMania has not been up to scratch. For the previous two years the headline match has been The Rock vs. John Cena. This is not criticising that match or those performers. The Rock put a lot of effort to get back into ring shape and his matches with Cena were great for the most part. On the other hand, he had no business being anywhere near the WWE Championship and Cena had no need to win another Royal Rumble. The WWE creative team used the title to contrive another match between The Rock and Cena. An event that had once been about the uplifting and grounding of new and promising talent had become nostalgia and glorifying the past.

The Goat plays The Game.

Until about a month ago, WrestleMania XXX looked set to repeat those same mistakes. Dave Bautista, better known by his ring name, Batista, returned to the WWE, fresh off his role as Drax the Destroyer in the upcoming Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy. In any other circumstance, Batista’s return would be welcome but he came back and immediately won the Royal Rumble, guaranteeing himself a title shot against Randy Orton. A nice little hark back to the days of Evolution but this was supposed to be Daniel Bryan’s year. Supposedly, his return also caused CM Punk to walk out of the company for this very reason: WrestleMania wasn’t being used to promote fresh, new talent.

Rumour was that Punk was set to face Triple H, which is considered a pretty big deal within the WWE, and Trips took it personally when Punk walked out instead. Where Daniel Bryan would have ended up on the card at that point is unknown. His place now is certain though and this is what makes this WrestleMania more exciting than those in recent memory. WWE has the opportunity to cement Daniel Bryan as a star and a major player in the company if he goes over Triple H and wins the triple threat match. The WWE have the chance to raise up a new star much like the WrestleManias of old did and I sincerely hope they don’t screw it up.

Daniel Bryan’s rise has been compared to that of Stone Cold’s, who has been confirmed to be present at this year’s WrestleMania. Hopefully he doesn’t actually get involved, though an unclean win over Triple H would give the Bryan vs. The Authority storyline some momentum going forward post-WrestleMania. It would just tarnish the resolution of Bryan finally winning the WWE Championship after a year of trials and tribulations and constantly being screwed out of opportunity after opportunity. Think of this as the season finale. This season’s story arc has to be resolved so that the show can move on. If the climax is half assed the next season will suffer for it.

Either a spear is coming or Reigns ate some bad Thai food.

And let’s get one thing straight; Daniel Bryan has to win the WWE Championship. Even if Batista wins by pinning Orton and Bryan instead beats Batista at the next pay-per view, Extreme Rules, it will have stunted Bryan’s ascension into the top level of wrestling stardom. Bryan needs to win here. There is only so long that you can bait fans and pull away at the last second. If the WWE pull away here or in some way swerve and deny Daniel Bryan the WWE Championship, then the fans may get tired of waiting for something that, in their eyes, might never happen.

Other matches than the main event also seem to be promoting younger talent. The pre-show fatal four way tag match has The Usos defending the Tag Team titles against Los Matadores, The Real Americans and Ryback and Curtis Axel. These are all fairly young men who could have big careers ahead of them if they could find the right foot hold and get the crowd behind them. The most promising so far would seem to be Cesaro and for that reason I see him splitting from partner Jack Swagger as a result of this match, whilst the Usos retain the titles.

An another tag match, The Shield take on Kane and The New Age Outlaws in a very real new guard vs. the old guard. Kane and the outlaws have been around for so long and have had their own storied careers that losing to The Shield here really does them no harm. For the Shield to lose here on the other hand, would make them look weak, even after a year of near total dominance. They need to pick up the win here. Likewise, Bray Wyatt needs to pick up the win in his match with John Cena. WWE will be reluctant to have Cena lose at WrestleMania but at this formative portion of his career, Wyatt needs to come off strong. Give Cena the win at Extreme Rules if you must but Wyatt should win at WrestleMania.

 

Bray Wyatt’s time is now.

The Andre the Giant memorial battle royale also has the potential for creating or cementing some new stars. While it would be nice for The Big Show to win it seeing as the two men share a growth disorder, I would much rather see someone like Titus O’Neil, or Big E or Damien Sandow or Cody Rhodes pick up the win here to give them some new win underneath their wings. There are also three spots left open. Some cameo appearances by couple old legends are likely but this could also be a great opportunity to debut some talent from NXT.

Other matches include Brock Lesnar Vs. The Undertaker and the Diva Championship Invitational. Paul Heyman’s mic work in the Lesnar/Taker feud has been excellent but this is WrestleMania so we all know that the Undertaker is leaving with another notch on his streak. AJ Lee deserves to retain the title since no one else in that ring can touch her in terms of the character work that she has shown over the past year but don’t be surprised if any one of the Total Diva’s cast leaves with the belt.

So that is how WrestleMania is looking at the moment. Lots of potential to cement some new talent and continue the rise of a few others. Maybe CM Punk will return as well but don’t hold your breath. Find out the results for yourself by watching tonight at 7pm Eastern or 4am Pacific via the WWE Network or local Satellite and Cable providers.