Welcome to the Labor Day edition of the weekly tirade on WWE.
The Miz/Daniel Bryan situation which for now seems to have been diffused, but has given The Miz a front-and-center spotlight on SmackDown. Good for him. Whatever that previous segment was about, instantly quashed the Hollywood Egomaniac gimmick and brought up a serious-yet-still-an-asshole persona which is more reminiscent of a WWE Champion Miz.
SmackDown has been an entertaining show. Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles have embarked on what I hope is more than a one-off-feud. The tournament for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships have been very entertaining. Heath Slater and Rhyno? The Hype Brothers? I feel like I am watching a tag tournament from 1991. My money is on American Alpha. It was weird to see the Headbangers show up. I doubt the live audience really knew who they were. Former NWA Tag Team Champions in WWE. Anyone even remember when that happened? On Shotgun Saturday Night. In case anyone cares.
Cesaro has yet another tough break, suffering a back injury on RAW. Hopefully it won’t put him on the shelf for too long, but perhaps he might want to rethink his how he and Sheamus plan their matches out. I get he enjoys pulling off big moves and taking insane bumps, but please, don’t cut your career short.
Bo Dallas, last week got yanked from a plane and arrested. Poor guy. I feel for him. He was doing so well in WWE before the ridiculous Social Outcasts gimmick. He is scheduled to face off with Chinese wrestler Bin Wang who has reportedly signed with WWE, when WWE has their tour in China soon.
Rumors abound for Goldberg to return. The video game promos he is featured in also hint towards a trip to “Suplex City.” Whereas Brock’s promo teases the use of “Who’s Next?” If you recall correctly, both had a final match in WWE at WrestleMania XX, where both were booed out of the building as Goldberg was revealed to have quit and Brock was off to try his hand at football. I hope for both their sakes, they do not have a rematch. I doubt Randy Orton will have a rematch with Brock. That was horrible. A match with Bray Wyatt though could be good, but I feel, again, a win over Bray Wyatt doesn’t help Orton at all. If anything, he should put Bray over so he can re-establish as a prominent figure on television. Hopefully Luke Harper will return to back up the Wyatt Family.
George Gray, formerly known as The One Man Gang in the 80’s, unfortunately suffered the loss of his home due to flooding in his hometown of Baton Rouge. I hate hearing stories like this.
Finally, let’s talk Kevin Owens. The second WWE Universal Champion. Now, time will tell which championship WWE decides to push as their main belt. Remember, for a time the World Heavyweight Championship was featured more often, while the WWE Championship was downplayed. Something which I always considered an unwise move, devaluing what is supposed to be your “main” championship. The Universal Title is not the “World” championship, and should not overshadow the WWE Championship. In any event, Kevin Owens holding the main championship on RAW is huge. It’s awesome. I jumped out of my seat as I watched Triple H first take out Roman Reigns, and then turn on Seth Rollins. That sequence of events, coupled with Owen’s facial expressions as everything unfolded was pure gold. This post on Brian Solomon’s Pro Wrestling FAQ page says it all:
The obvious money goes to a feud between Seth Rollins and Triple H. Practically every dirtsheet, Forbes, and sports-related outlet all report the same conclusion: WrestleMania – Triple H vs. Seth Rollins.
Go for it.
Bayley! Oh Bayley! Her intro with The New Day was awesome. This might have been the happiest three minutes of television. If this continues, my TV may spit rainbows.
Lastly, if you have not been watching The Cruiserweight Classic on the WWE Network, go buy the network, or borrow a friend’s account, and watch it. It is hard to believe this is a WWE production. The things I have seen take me back to 1995 and watching early years of Ring of Honor. I said it before, and I say it again, sometimes it is difficult for me to go back to watching RAW and SmackDown after an episode of the CWC, or hell, even watching NXT Takeover Brooklyn II.
Perhaps this explains WWE’s faith in pushing guys like Ambrose and Owens to the top of the crop.
