First let me say that I am shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of the Ultimate Warrior. I will have a piece up on Warrior later this weekend.
With Wrestlemania week officially in the books, it’s time to give my thoughts on everything that happened this weekend. I kept my RAW thoughts short this week because I knew I was going to write this piece at some point this week. So lets get right into things.
-Finally, after months of anguish, Daniel Bryan is WWE Champion. I’m glad the WWE finally realized the error of their ways and decided to make things right. Bryan had the match of the night with Triple H to start the show, then had another very good match with Batista and Randy Orton later in the night. All four men did a tremendous job of story telling throughout the night.
I liked the follow up on RAW the next night. Some people might have been upset with the bait and switch by not doing HHH vs Bryan. But again, the story telling was well done. Orton and Batista getting on the same page with HHH, only to have The Shield come out and help Daniel Bryan. They were faces already but The Shield’s actions on Monday officially puts them in the top storyline in the WWE.
Triple H did a lot of teasing about a potential War Games match-up by shouting about not wanting to start a war during the final segment. I think a War Games match would be great at Extreme Rules. Even if it isn’t a two ring structure. You could easily just do a Hell In A Cell match with the same rules. Plus, this saves Daniel Bryan rematches with Batista and Triple H for other PPVs down the line.
The important thing for the WWE is to have Daniel Bryan keep his momentum going. The fans need to stick behind him even though the chase for the Title is over. Hopefully the fans will stick by and cheer Bryan just as loudly as they have been doing. If they don’t, the WWE will revert back to the same old same old and say Bryan can’t be a long term draw. I think Bryan is in for a pretty lengthy Title run and I don’t see it coming to an end until sometime late in the summer, maybe even SummerSlam.
As far as The Shield goes, I’m glad the WWE is keeping them together for the time being. There is some mileage with them as faces. And that would make their break-up down the line even more shocking. All three of these guys are going to be big players in the WWE’s future. They each have their own unique set of skills that makes them a valuable asset to the company. But for now we get to continue to enjoy them as a group.
-While Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Title has the most impact on current storylines, perhaps the bigger and more shocking news of Wrestlemania was The Undertaker losing to Brock Lesnar. To say that there was stunned silence in the Superdome would be an understatement. Even at the house I was at watching the show, we all kind of just watched on not knowing what to say. The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania Streak came to an end, at the hands of a part-timer in Brock Lesnar.
After taking some time to think about it, I think the move makes more sense than it did initially. Many people said Lesnar lost some of his luster since his debut. Well, this added a lot back to Lesnar. It makes all of his matches in the future seem like a big deal. Not only that, but I think the WWE actually had more faith in Paul Heyman being able to sell Lesnar breaking the Streak than Lesnar himself. Heyman’s promo was great on Monday. You could even begin to make the argument that Heyman might be a better manager than Bobby Heenan. Heyman is just that great on the mic.
So what’s next for Lesnar? He’s gone until at least SummerSlam. He might even be gone longer than that. If the WWE got Lesnar to work more dates then I could see Lesnar back at SummerSlam. You would have to think Lesnar/Bryan is the next program for Brock. And I would guess Lesnar is the WWE Champ headed into Wrestlemania next year. But if Lesnar fights Bryan and wins at SummerSlam, does he really hold the Title that long? That’s why I think Lesnar at SummerSlam might be unlikely, unless it isn’t for the Title and is another match. But who would he fight? Do they rush Cesaro? Batista? Roman Reigns?
As far as The Undertaker goes, I really think he might be done. But at the same time, I think one more Wrestlemania match with Sting actually makes more sense now. You don’t have to worry about it being a wasted match for The Streak. It can just be two legends going out there and having one last match before their careers are over. But Taker looked in rough shape during the match. And by the concussion he suffered, I don’t know how much he has left in the tank.
-I know a lot of people were upset with the result of John Cena vs Bray Wyatt, but the WWE did a good job of having Bray bounce back on RAW with the victory in the six man tag. Now does it change a lot? No. But it is good to see that the WWE just isn’t ending the program and moving on. Bray needs to pick up a win somewhere and hopefully it is at Extreme Rules. There’s still a bright future for Bray and he can rebound from the loss with his promo work alone. If Brock isn’t around for SummerSlam then you would have to think Bray is in line for a Title shot come SummerSlam.
-Perhaps the biggest new star made from both nights was Cesaro. Cesaro won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal by picking up Big Show and dumping him over the top. Then the next night on RAW, he is given Paul Heyman as his manager. It is a complete 180 from where Cesaro was last year, when some people thought he might even get released. Cesaro is in line for a major push going forward. The question is whether the WWE decides to keep Cesaro as a face or heel. Eventually, when he breaks away from Heyman, he will be a face. But for now it might be best for the WWE to try and keep him closer to a heel. They already have Bryan, Cena, and The Shield on the face side of things. Of course, they could also try and keep him as a tweener. It’s an interesting scenario and I will be curious to see how the post Mania crowds react to him.
-So what’s the immediate future for everyone I just talked about. I think we end up getting Daniel Bryan and The Shield vs Evolution and Kane at Extreme Rules in some way, shape or form. After that I could see Daniel Bryan having a rematch with Batista and HHH. Bray Wyatt will take on John Cena while Cesaro takes on Jack Swagger. Long term? Well I will have something on that in the coming weeks.
One thing is for sure: The WWE did a lot at Wrestlemania and RAW to make you think they know who are the stars of the future. Now we just need to hope they don’t screw it all up.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
