Rambles about the wonderful world of wrestling.
I have written a lot about my love for NXT, it is the best wrestling product on TV at this point in time and it is the only one I actually make the effort to watch on a regular basis. However, inspired by a conversation on The Art of Wrestling, I want to take a slightly different look at NXT and how its success might actually end up being a bad thing.
Watching Wrestlemania as a UK fan is a strange experience. While our American cousins have a normal evening in front of the TV or for a lucky few thousand in the stadium, we have to stay up to four in the morning on a Sunday evening combating sleep. Some years that feels like a huge mistake. As time trickles by and WWE piss you off with their ridiculous decision-making, you can’t help but think of a night in bed rather than on the sofa. Yet, every now and then the stars come together and WWE knock it out the park, last night was one of those occasions.
I wrote about why, despite all the odds, I was excited about ‘Mania earlier this week, but figured as we build up to the big show I’d do a quite predictions post.
So Wrestlemania has again crept up on us and this Sunday the Showcase of the Immortals will once again beam around the world. Sadly, the build up has been patchy at best. While at other times it has been R-Truth stealing the Intercontinental Championship (seriously, how insane would you have thought I was if I had suggested R Truth was going to be part of the ‘Mania card six months ago?). Despite this, I can’t help but be excited by the WWE’s Super Bowl. Despite creative consistently shooting its performers in the foot. I reckon the WWE will pull this off. Why? Well let me tell you.
Who is WWE’s biggest heel at this moment? Brock Lesnar? Maybe. But the truth is Lesnar’s not really a heel. Paul Heyman is, but Lesnar has never once cheated or done anything remotely heelish. He’s just awesome at kicking ass. Behind Lesnar you have The Authority, a group most people are jaded with, but who have the brilliant Seth Rollins. He was the guy no one expected to be the heel coming out of The Shield, but has done a brilliant job with it. Behind him, is Rusev. Who isn’t just one of the biggest heels in the company, but also the most credible one.
Once again WWE has entered Wrestlemania season with a big thorn in their foot. One, Mr. Daniel Bryan. Now, as thorns go, he is a pretty good one to have. One of the best technical wrestlers in the world, who also happens to be one of the most over with the fans, really not too shabby. However, due to a series of booking mistakes, Bryan once again finds himself in a bit of ‘Mania purgatory. One second he is set to face Sheamus, the next it’s Dolph Ziggler and at the moment some people are suggesting he might end up in the main event. All this shifting of plans isn’t helping anyone, least of all the man himself.
Continue reading “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Daniel Bryan?”
I feel like I have covered how awesome NXT is. It’s the only televised wrestling I actually watch on a weekly basis and I genuinely think it’s the best thing WWE has done for a long time. Therefore, you probably don’t need to hear me say that NXT Takeover: Rivals was another fantastic show, topped off with three absolutely brilliant main events. If you like wrestling and haven’t watched it, then do so now. If you don’t like wrestling, give it a chance anyway, it might surprise you. However, that’s not what I’ve decided to discuss. Instead, lets look at women’s wrestling in the WWE.
With just a two month turnover between live specials, the latest NXT Takeover: Rivals, has had roughly eight hours of Network time to promote itself into a strong show. To put that into perspective, the main roster do six hours a week with Raw, Smackdown and Main Event. Therefore, it is a bit of a disgrace that this again feels like one of the best built WWE shows in recent times.
Last year the WWE had Batista win the Royal Rumble and we saw a crowd turn on the WWE. A year on and nearly everyone, myself included, thought WWE could not make the same mistake again. Sometimes, the most obvious story is the best one and last night the most obvious, and best, storyline, was to have Daniel Bryan win the Royal Rumble. Yet, once again, WWE went with their idea of the perfect superstar and a crowd turned on the product.
The Royal Rumble is most wrestling fans favourite PPV of the year. Screw ‘Mania, although we tend to love that too, the Rumble is where it is at. While we have had disappointing Rumbles over the years, it is fair to say it very rarely fails to deliver at least couple of fun moments and it also sets us on the ‘Road to Wrestlemania’. We get to know who will be competing for the big one on the ‘Grandest Stage of Them All’. I can’t think of anymore WWE buzzwords to throw in now, so lets just get onto some of my predictions.
Ramblings About Wrestling 