When I applied for a spot on the Inside pulse writing team, i had this little conversation with Widro who was telling me how great a Friday spot was for my column, that i would like it, that it would be fun. And you know what ? I walked right into that one, saying that it did indeed sound great, that i would collect thoughts and ideas over the week, start writing on Thursday, finishing on Friday and, the time difference working in my favor, still be in time for a Friday afternoon post.
And then the Rumble happened. And I spend the week watching and reading how everybody went into a writing frenzy, coming up with every possible argument and counter-argument, tackling what happened from every possible angle, and here i am, staring at my blank screen, wondering what the hell I am supposed to write about when everything has already been said.
THANKS A LOT WIDRO !!! You and your nice little Friday spot… I’ll get you for that… Grumble grumble…
(And yes that’s a joke, I’m still delighted to be here. If only that blank screen would stop staring at me because it starts getting creepy.)
Anyways, the solution is simple of course, when you don’t know how to tackle a given subject, for the aforementioned reasons, just ignore the subject and start writing about something else.
Of course the drawback to that is that everyone expects to read about the Rumble these days, so, this does not seem a good time to post a column about the influence current Wrestling entrance themes can have on plant-growth (fyi, it’s not good) . So let’s start writing about the rumble without really speaking of the rumble. Yes I know I sound confused by now, but you try writing something interesting after anyone else and maybe you’ll understand why I’m starting to think the plant thing is a good idea after all.
More seriously let’s take the most spoken about wrestlers of these last few days consider the way they were booked before the rumble, connect some dots towards that thing i don’t wanna talk about and try to find out what the problems are.
First of all Roman Reigns. I do feel sorry for poor Roman because, it’s not like he screwed up or anything, he was just asked to put himself in front of a high speed train and to not worry, The Rock was right there with a bandage kit if anything bad happened. While what happened at the Rumble was booking stupidity at its worst, It’s interesting to note that, much like Batista last year, while Reigns was indeed chosen by the WWE to win the damn thing, he wasn’t really built up to do so, if that makes any sense. Batista came back, appeared on a couple of shows, mumbled something here and there and then won the Rumble and WWE wondered why people weren’t buying it. Reigns’s build-up to the Rumble wasn’t much better, with one difference. At least Batista had already been firmly established and enjoyed title reigns and been accepted as main event material (not always with full enthusiasm but still) before his lengthy hiatus. What had Reigns been built up to after the Shield broke up ? OK he participated in the Money in the bank match (failed to win), in the fatal 4-way at Battleground (Cena won, of course) and then there was that thing with Orton at Summerslam before getting injured. Where are the story-lines, where is the built-up, in what feuds was he involved ? We’re saying now that WWE is pushing him down our throats but is that even true ? I mean yeah, they did at the Rumble, but before that ? Even his win against Orton couldn’t been utilized because Orton wasn’t there when Reigns returned ( and is set to be a face again apparently). You see what i mean ? People were saying Reigns is too green for the spot he’s being put in, for me that’s not even the problem. The problem is he’s not actually being prepared for that spot. He’s not even getting a proper push, he’s just being put there. How can that ever work, i ask you ?
One other thing about Reigns, much has been said about his mike skills (or lack there-off). And how that is a problem because WWE main eventers are expected to be able to do 30 minutes promos. Why ? Why would anyone in WWE think that Reigns won’t succeed UNLESS he can make Cena-like promos ? They try to sell us that the guy is the human equivalent to a wrecking ball (with about as much expression) and what do they do to convince us of that? They give him a freaking mike ? Why ? Make him smash things, make him vow to trow people trough walls, make him do anything but DON’T give him a mike, that will just make people notice he doesn’t actually have a personality !
Moving on, Daniel Bryan. Actually, there are some similarities between the way Bryan and Reigns were built up after their return. Meaning there wasn’t any built-up. The problem with Bryan is actually the same as with reigns, only in reverse. Reigns was at least given some sort od general plan, win the Rumble, go on to WM to face Lesnar. What has Bryan been given ? A feud with Kane ? Is there anyone left who wants to see another match between those two ? And now what does Bryan have ? A mini feud with Wyatt ? At best ?
And here is your inherent problem about this whole situation . You have your most popular guy returning from injury, to overwhelmingly positive response and what do you do with him ? Oh he’s gonna be on Smackdown. Cool, and? And then in the Rumble too. Mhmh yes, but what is he going to DO ? Oh nothing really he’s just gonna be there. Sort of.
And they wonder why people are pissed…
WHERE ARE THE STORY-LINES ? WHERE ARE THE FEUDS ? WHERE ARE THE BUILD-UPS ? ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT WITH ALL THE PEOPLE WORKING IN THE WWE CREATIVE TEAM NO-ONE COULD COME UP WITH A VIABLE SCENARIO FOR THE MOST POPULAR GUY YOU HAVE ?
Of course one of the problem they have is that the most obvious reason for a feud is around he waist of a guy who only wrestles every three months or so. I have always had reservations about that particular decision. Putting any belt on a part-timer is always a bit dangerous because you run the risk of people forgetting there is such a thing as a World Champion at times, and, quite simply, it limits your options in the main-event part of the show. That being said, i will admit that the Lesnar/Rollins/Cena feud and match were booked mostly the right way, and the match itself was a joy to watch. Which makes all this all the more infuriating. If they can get the right balance with a part-timer, a over-booked, stale as month’s bread challenger, and the best heel they have at this time, why can’t they do the same for the rest of the card?
Take the Miz/Mizdow thing for example. People have been saying they have been teasing a break-up for some time now, some even suggesting that enough is enough and the seemingly inevitable feud should happen already. But have they been teasing a break-up really? Let’s look at the facts here. Sandow was given a gimmick that, when it started, many compared to a career killer. Somehow Sandow managed to make it work, to the surprise of everyone, including the creative team apparently. Because, is a break-up really being teased? Well, not really the break-up simply teases itself. There isn’t THAT big of a difference between the way Miz/Mizdow is working now, and the way it worked at the start when you think about it. We simply think a break-up is being teased because that’s the logical conclusion, NOT because the WWE creative team is doing anything special. Now the reason the situation hasn’t evolved yet is, i think, because no-one in the WWE seems to know what to do next with those two after their accidental success-story implodes. Long-term booking for mid-cards? You must be joking…
Next, Dean Ambrose. So Dean at least has a gimmick. The Lunatic Fringe, whatever that means, but he is one of the wrestlers fan react the most to, because he’s fun, entertaining, good in the ring and unpredictable. Are you listening WWE ? And yet, the reaction to his lengthy feud with Wyatt were lukewarm sometimes. The matches weren’t bad, on the contrary, the segments were over the top at times, but I’ll cut them some slack for that, when you put the Lunatic Fringe against the Eater of Worlds, some weirdness is to be expected. So what was the problem. Wyatt? No, he did what was expected of him. The fact Ambrose didn’t win? Well yes he could have used some wins, but for a very long time Mick Foley didn’t win either back in the days, that didn’t stop people for accepting him as a lovable nut-case. Much as Ambrose is being accepted right now. So what was the problem?
Let me answer that question with another one. Why were they fighting? Yes, why? What happened between those two that caused this lengthy feud? What monumental point of discord caused two of the few characters with some depth that WWE has today to go to war? Anyone? The feud seemed underwhelming because, despite the over the top segments, despite the gimmick matches is there was no real reason for it to happen. it’s as simple as that. I mean, come on people, it’s booking 101. When you have two guys fighting in the ring and you want people to feel involved with the action, give them a reason to fight. Any reason. And don’t give me the excuse that WWE employs television writers that know nothing about wrestling, it doesn’t even factor here. Whether you talk about wrestling, sport entertainments, television, soap opera, it makes no difference. When two characters interact, give them a reason to do so, otherwise the audience won’t follow. Period. It isn’t rocket science, it’s simple booking logic!
Last wrestler i want to look at for now is Dolph Ziggler. Another fan favorite we had some hope for after last year’s Survivor Series. And then… Nothing. He was basically put in some meaningless, if entertaining matches, waiting for the authority to come back and fire him, and Cena to beat the odds and have him re-hired or something. In case someone had missed the point, that is NOT a good way to build someone up. I mean what is Ziggler right now? Cena’s understudy? The guy the authority like to poke fun at? No, seriously what’s his gimmick? Does anyone know? Well you shouldn’t cause he has none. And still he somehow manages to make a connection with the fans. And still the WWE has no idea what to do with him. Oh yes he must be one of those guys that do not have the proper ambition or something. Well I don’t know about ambition but I do know why: The Creative Team doesn’t know what to do with him because they forgot to give him a character and viable story-lines, that’s all. When you spend months, years even neglecting to build-up your rooster, give credible characters to everyone and keeping things fresh at some point you’re going to look around and wonder what to do next. But that isn’t the wrestler’s fault. Vince and his team of geniuses should look at themselves first instead of blaming wrestlers for lack of ambition and drive.
Because as far as I can tell, the only people lacking ambition and drive right now are Vince and his cronies.
In closing i would like to make clear I don’t hate the WWE, I still watch, and will continue to do so, but all I really expect of Vinnie and co, and i guess I’m not alone in this, is for them to entertain us with fun characters, credible story-lines and viable feuds. Is that really that much to ask?
