Some interesting tidbits floating around the web this week. Rumor has it WWE is looking to purchase or partner with indy company Evolve. This company was formed by former ROH booker Gabe Sapolsky and Bryan Danielson as a sister company to Dragon Gate USA. It features a lot of known indy talents, and they perform often in the New York area. This could serve as a sort of training ground, much like OVW or FCW served in the past.
Triple H could be following in Vince’s footsteps. During the 80’s, Vince would raid other territories for talent, such a the NWA or AWA. Today, Triple H acquires indy talents from various promotions. Different, but similar paths.
Another major newsworthy note is Jersey’s own Jay Lethal winning the Ring of Honor Championship, defeating Jay Briscoe in New York City on Friday. Ring of Honor is rapidly growing in terms of viewership, and many feeling Impact Wrestling is on the way out, and ROH, with their new deal with Destination America, is on the way up. Granted, Destination America is not the most widely accessible network, but for Ring of Honor, any major TV time is a big step for the company. Jay Lethal is a well-deserved titleholder.
The big new out of WWE this week is the return of Brock Lesnar, and the announcement he will face Seth Rollins at Battleground. While Battleground is the next supercard, I feel this is ultimately being built up towards SummerSlam. It would not be out of the realm of possibility to see Brock take the title from Rollins in a couple weeks, but SummerSlam is supposed to be big, much like Survivor Series or the Royal Rumble. Perhaps Brock wins the title, then loses it a month later?
There is just a lot of crazy going on in WWE right now. We get new tag champs every couple months now, winning the King of the Ring is apparently a career death sentence, and the NXT Championship is featured on mainstream television by a guy who is also headlining NXT with Samoa Joe. Could life get any better for Kevin Owens?
The guy comes into NXT. Within a month he becomes the brand champion. Then he puts on an awesome match with John Cena, regardless of being a second-tier champion, is the company’s top guy.
John Cena, his character, I feel is in a state of flux. He still does his same shpiel, which at times is annoyingly repetitive, however can be entertaining with the right motivation. Cena is a fighting champion and is on TV every week. Give him credit for that. Boosting Kevin Owens is great, and proves what majority of fans already know. NXT is going to slowly but surely evolve the mainstream wrestling. We are getting younger, smaller, more athletic guys showcasing their talent on RAW. Look at Adrian Neville. I would never have thought to see a guy like him on RAW every week unless they had a Cruiserweight division. The novelty of guys like Rey Mysterio are over. Worn off. Neville and Rollins are in classes of their own. Owens is a class of his own. Sami Zayn, his own. Each wrestler from NXT brings something new and innovative of their own.
Speaking of new, I really cannot wait until the day Paige brings up some women from NXT to completely devour the current Divas Roster. I hate what they have done. It is as though all the current Divas except for Paige are bitchy heels, in order to remain consistent with that damn Total Divas show. Nikki can wrestle decently, but Paige and the NXT women could twist them all into pretzels. If it were real.
In any case, Sheamus as Mr. Money in the Bank is certainly intriguing. I have nothing to predict yet for him, but I would not expect a cash-in anytime soon.
My closing thought, Bray Wyatt will defeat Roman Reigns in their feud, but will continue to go nowhere. Reigns will move up, Wyatt remains creepy. It is what he is good at, but Bray Wyatt, the character needs something big. Maybe a new stable? Recruitment drive?
