Coming at you from a small studio in Connecticut, due to extreme weather RAW was a hodgepodge of clips and interviews. Essentially a replay of the prior night’s two big events; the WHC match and the Royal Rumble.
So in lieu of Power Rankings, let’s talk about what seems to be bothering a ton of people.
The Royal Rumble was great!
As you devoted fans probably already know, I won this year’s Rumble pool so I have to admit some bias but even if I had lost, it was still a great PPV.
Leading up to the Rumble, most people would have pegged Roman Reigns to win the event so I don’t understand the vitriol that the WWE and Reigns is getting from doing what most people thought would happen. Love it or hate it, Reigns is going to be a top tier character in the WWE. Is there work to be done before we call him a legend or even a main event-er? Absolutely. But if you took someone who has not watched the WWE in 10 years and showed them a picture of Reigns and asked them to guess where he stood in the hierarchy of the WWE, I’m sure most people would say Championship level. He fits all the WWE boxes. He’s good looking, he’s young, his musculature fits his body (unlike whatever performance enhancing petri dish experimentation Ryback has become), he’s ethnically ambiguous and he’s got a cool entrance that makes the crowd pop. You’ll notice I never mentioned if he can wrestle or work the mic. Those two things can be learned and the WWE is banking on him doing so.
Because Reigns came up with The Shield and his former running mates (Ambrose and Rollins) are a more polished commodity, people forget that Reigns didn’t have a 10 year run through the indy circuit or went through multiple gimmicks in NXT. All the greats, from Hogan to Stone Cold to The Rock, all started off as something different and morphed into the legend they would eventually become. Shit, Bray Wyatt was one Husky Harris and Kane was one Dr. Isaac Yankum DDS.! Reigns has been a solo act for less than a year and fans want to crucify him?
All I’ve heard and read is that Roman Reigns should not have won the Rumble. Ok, then who should have? Some names that come up are Bray, Ziggler, Rusev, Cesaro, Barrett, Ambrose and as always, Daniel Bryan. Think about this from a business sense. Are any of those guys ready or able to have a match with the assumed WHC Brock Lesnar at WM31? If you put aside Daniel Bryan, the answer is NO. I like all those guys and think the mid-card for WM31 could have some awesome feuds leading up to a great lineup for a WM card. But after seeing what Lesnar did to Cena AND Rollins, none of those guys are ready for a WHC push to headline WrestleMania.
If you want to play the “David vs Goliath” card with Bryan vs Lesnar, that’s fine but I don’t see it. Rollins, a slightly bigger and just as talented a performer, was at his best at the PPV and came up short. The only way I saw Rollins walking out with the belt was to have pinned Cena while Lesnar was down or distracted. Rollins went toe to toe with Lesnar and was great but he was not going to beat him. Yes, this is all fake and anything could happen, but it has to be plausible. If Cena can’t beat Lesnar, time after time, then no way is Daniel Bryan taking down the beast. Not in a straight up one-on-one match with no special stipulations like Hell in a Cell. Reigns is believable as a possible opponent for Lesnar given the right build-up between now and WM.
The two things that hurt Reigns were:
- The other two finalists of the Rumble being Big Show and Kane. This reeked of desperation in order to show that Reigns could physically take on “monsters / freaks”. The problem is that we already know Reigns to be a powerhouse in the WWE. That’s who he was with The Shield and that’s who he’s been since being a single’s wrestler. The WWE misjudged and should have used the ending to promote the up-and-comers, put on a better wrestled finished and let Reigns stand victorious over all of them. He could have been the beast of this next generation instead of the newb getting over on the past.
- The WHC match should have been the main event after the Rumble. If the Rumble had ended exactly the same and people were still upset that Reigns was the one to take on the winner of the WHC match, Lesnar’s performance would have reminded everyone that it’s going to take a miracle to get that belt off of the champ. We’d be talking about what a beast Lesnar is and how maybe Reigns needs Rock to help him win the WHC. After seeing how Lesnar retained the WHC, no one is beating him. And did you notice the face pop Lesnar got as he won? Reigns may be better off getting boos and going in as the heel.
Let’s get back to the Rumble, which is what most people seem to be having an issue with. The three biggest shocks were, from “Wow, that was interesting” to “Oh, fuck! What does this mean?”
– Ziggler coming in at number 30 and not having any significance on the match. At least you can say Bray was the ring-clearer and got the big non-win push. Ziggler is being promoted like a top tier guy but since his hero run at Survivor Series, he’s been fired and needed Cena to help get his job back. Not exactly how I thought his new push was going to look like. Who is he feuding with? What’s his WM match / roll going to be? This has been the most awkward push of a deserving and fan favorite wrestler that I can remember.
– Bubba Ray is back! I can only assume he’s back as the sole Dudley Boy? R-Truth played the roll of Devon Dudley as Bubba’s black running mate. This was odd in amongst itself, does Bubba Ray always need a black partner? Anyway… Bubba has become a significant singles wrestler in TNA. Take any TNA run with a grain of salt but Bubba Ray could instantly feud with anyone from the Bray, Barrett or even Ziggler pool. This is the closest thing that we’ve gotten to an established star jumping or returning since the Monday Night Wars. It was so surprising and exciting that Bubba was instantly a dark horse to win the Rumble. (Which with a year’s hindsight, should have been how Batista returned and won last year’s Rumble match)
– Daniel Bryan’s performance, or lack there of, was the biggest shocker. Once he came in, everyone thought he was bound to be the big winner. He didn’t even last until the final grouping. Hell, he didn’t even last to the final third of the draw! Hopefully Fred will have more inside info on this week’s BEARcast - WrestleCast (www.worldofbear.com and subscribe on iTunes). This leads me to believe Bryan is not fully recovered from his injuries or the WWE is worried that he needs more time to build up the momentum he had going into last year’s WrestleMania. If he’s just not physically ready to go for 40-60 minutes, than it’s understandable that he’s back but not yet ready for the championship especially if it’s a “David vs Goliath” storyline. Needless to say, the room was in utter shock when he was simply knocked off the ring apron to be just another contestant out of the Rumble.
Other than that, everything else went according to plan. Miz and Miz-dow seem to be on track to have their feud match at WrestleMania. Goldust and Stardust have something going on but right before the Rumble there were online reports that Goldust might be nearing retirement. Who knows if that’s true but if it is, it would explain their sudden rift and lack of TV time of late. Maybe The Dust Bros. will have one big feud as Goldust’s way of exiting and putting his brother over.
Sting and HHH were nowhere to be seen. Everyone expects them to have a match at WM but if that’s to happen, they better start ramping that storyline up. The post show interaction between Cena and Rusev set the ball rolling towards that showdown. Cena makes a perfect foil for Rusev just as Hogan did it against countless heel “foreigners" in the 80’s / early 90’s. RKO’s absence was surprising but his return could have been slated for a non-PPV show. Besides, his feud with Rollins is well established and it won’t take much to have the crowd up to speed on them.
This is why everyone needs to calm down about Roman Reigns. Stop threatening that you’re going to cancel your subscription. You’re not, especially with WrestleMania right around the corner. Don’t you now want to see how this all plays out? I’m more curious now than I was 48 hours ago.
Now for the greatest RAW that should have been. Where the WWE dropped the ball was on Monday night RAW. Here’s my quick fantasy booking:
Monday’s show was cancelled due to a natural disaster so there was nothing that could salvage that revenue. They were already in Philly, home (or second home) to ECW. You’ve got a ton of hardcore fans in the area. Find a local high school, VFW Hall or even the old ECW arena and tweet out that due to Snownado or Snowpacalypse or whatever nonsense you cold city living folk are calling this thing, the WWE will be giving away free tickets to tonight’s show. First come, first served. Max of 2,000 people. Make it a classic indy feeling show.
You could have Paul Heyman come out and give his much anticipated victory lap for Lesnar’s win and state that no one knows how to put on an indy show like Paul f’n Heyman, so let’s do this!
Or HHH and Stephanie come out and state that no matter the rain, snow or whatever mother nature throws at them, the WWE will put on a show. As HHH and Stephanie vamp about how great they are and do what’s best for business, Ambrose walks out (in the same style as he finished RAW, aka insane) and declares this his type of crowd and his type of show. Ambrose gets the crowd on their feet only to have Seth Rollins, a pairing who can always have reason to fight, comes out and explains how he cut his teeth on the indy circuit and in hellhole venues like this! He’s the new face of the WWE and it can be a 15,000 seat arena or a 2,000 seat banquette hall, Seth Rollins will beat anyone. Finally, just as the Rollins / Ambrose match is about to start, Daniel Bryan’s music hits and he comes out to explain how he is the true king of the indy circuit. No one knows what it’s like more than him to fight night after night where ever he could find a ring. This turns into the ultimate triple-threat match!
Toss in a few solid matches that are separate from any storyline, such as Bray Wyatt vs Ziggler or Wade Barrett. Well wrestled matches where the story was told in-ring a-la every ECW PPV. This special one-off show may or may not have any further implications down the line. Enjoy some classic wrestling. Then finish the night with an incredible Brock / Heyman promo.
The WWE could see all the merch that they have from Sunday’s PPV. They could call in local food trucks and get a cut off their take for the night. Use social media properly to get the word out and make it truly feel like an underground event. They weren’t going to make any money by canceling the Connecticut show, so why not make the best out of being in Philly for one extra night.
You’re welcome WWE. That one was for free. The BEAR just booked a great show for you and turned chicken shit into chicken salad.
We still plan on having a great BEARcast - WrestleCast this week. Also check out our always fun and never sober Post Show from this Sunday’s Royal Rumble at www.worldofbear.com and on iTunes.
We’ll be back with the normal World Best WWE Power Rankings next week. Until then, everyone be safe and enjoy the Super Bowl.
WK
@wkbear
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