DMJ

Rusev and Lana were on Lillian Garcia's podcast and while I didn't hear the full context, the bits I read sounded just heartbreaking. You can google it but here's some lowlights: "It feels like I'm the only one who cares about [the US] title and I wanted to make it bigger. I wanted to make it what it was back when we wrestled John Cena for it. But it seems like every time someone else has it, nothing happens and now they're lost. The title is probably going to get lost again and I'm going to get lost too." "I always want to see myself on the card...But I feel like, the more you hang around, the more you're forgotten. It doesn't matter how good you are...It doesn't matter what I do, I kinda end up with the same thing." "I do want to look my best...I do want to be on top. I don't want to be forgotten...I do all these things but nothing changes...What am I supposed to do?...I'm just trying to do something to catch Vince McMahon's eye...We go, we pitch, we talk, he just never comes to anything." "...when the whole Rusev Day [thing] started and everything. I thought it was my time...I keep talking to everybody, but nobody wanted to do anything. It's very frustrating. But still, as frustrating as it is, I'm like, alright, let's go to the gym. Let's get better, let's do whatever he can." (He goes on to joke that he's even begun Crossfit!) I know Jericho tweeted that AEW isn't interested in every disgruntled talent in the WWE lockerroom, but man, Rusev is so good. And, at one point, he was one of the most over acts in the company. Those Rusev Day Chants, at various times in 2018, were louder or as loud than I've ever heard a crowd sound for Rollins. Its a shame that, for whatever reason, they don't see him as a top guy because I'm not sure what box he didn't check.

I'm not sure I'm in total agreement that Vince isn't a fan of tag teams. They may have not been the focal point of the WWE at any time, but they've at least been on the periphery all along. Its not like they ever just dropped the Tag Team Championships the way they dropped the Light Heavyweight Title and Women's Championships in the 90s. I do agree that Vince does look at tag teams as a launching pad for a singles star. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Edge, Jeff Hardy, even Martel and Santana to a lesser extent, are all examples - and I think its hard to argue he was wrong in those assessments. The Rockers and Hart Foundation were great teams and I know its a "hot take" talking point around here that MIchaels best work was at a tag guy, but the reality is, when you look at what they did as singles, they were essential to the WWE in that role more than they were as tag guys. I think Vince sees tags as a way to break up the show and offer some variety on the card. Does that mean they're relegated to a "sub-main event" level and always will be? For sure. But there's also a little chicken-or-the-egg going on. Has Vince ever had a tag team more over than the ace? I don't think so. The Road Warriors and Rock n' Roll Express, at their peak, were over enough to deserve to be in the main event. But what was the most over team in WWE history? The Road Warriors in 92'? The New Age Outlaws? The Hardys? Team Hell No or New Day? Were any of these teams really popular enough to headline a SummerSlam let alone a WrestleMania? Again, maybe if they were pushed that way - but, for one example, I'm not sure even the strongest marketing push would've made Team Hell No a stronger act in 2012-13 than the names they had at the top of the card (Cena, Lesnar, and, in the build to WM29, The Rock too). In AEW, to that core audience of fans, the Young Bucks are main eventers. Their matches are going to be centerpieces - but that doesn't mean the division itself is going to be pushed as strong unless there are teams worthy of that position on the card. I don't know enough about indie wrestling, but right now, it looks like they're setting up some Young Bucks dream matches. Once those run out (which could be years from now), does a Young Bucks vs. Joe Schmo and Hank Nobody still merit top-of-the-card placement? Or worse - what about a tag match pitting Schmo & Nobody vs. The Bland Brothers? Its easy to say "We're going to push tag team wrestling" when the mega-popularity of the Young Bucks is one of the driving causes of the whole endeavor. What I hope for - but don't expect to happen - is that the WWE at least allows for the opportunity for the tag division to reach that level. The best example is NXT, where, when #DIY/Revival/AOP were putting on the best matches on the card, Triple H knew the audience would accept them main eventing a Takeover show. Of course, the minute those teams left, the tag division no longer warranted that kind of spotlight.

This company. Last week it was HHH thrusting himself into the Seth Rollins/Lesnar build for no apparent reason. Now, Steph's gonna do it too. As Shane McMahon has wrestled about as many matches this year as Lesnar, he's practically a regular wrestler - plus, with Miz, at least he's involved in his own angle rather than just glomming onto a storyline that he has nothing to do with. Things I think we'll see: - Stephanie will shoehorn the phrase "Women's Revolution" into her opening monologue . The pronoun "I" will be so dangerously close to the phrase it will almost seem like she's taking credit for it. - Stephanie will make a snarky comment about Becky Lynch that subtly undermines her. Maybe mention she lost to Asuka at the Rumble? People will say this is just "getting heat" - forgetting that Stephanie is not wrestling Becky Lynch at WrestleMania or any other time so Stephanie getting heat serves no purpose. - Despite getting beat down at Mania last year and ostensibly shown her place, non-wrestler Steph will somehow have a face-to-face with Ronda again where it is implied Stephanie is not afraid of a former UFC Champion. - Stephanie will also get in the face of Becky Lynch, implying she's not afraid of her either. This is because Stephanie McMahon is a trained wrestler who has stood toe-to-toe with the best women in the business and is an established bad ass in her own right. Oops, I meant the exact opposite. She's the exact opposite of that. She's a 40 year old mother of three who works as an top executive in her father's company. - Stephanie McMahon will somehow stand tall at the end of this segment that she has no business even being in.

Watched most of Raw... - Opening segment was fine, I guess. I don't like HHH. I don't like Rollins. - Nia in the Rumble. Nia knocking Ambrose out of the ring. Are we building towards some sort of intergender match at Mania? I really, really hope not. - A bad idea poorly executed with bad commentary is a recipe for awfulness. Corbin/Angle was atrocious. Why is Angle even wrestling? And, if he is going to wrestle, the best thing they can do with him is have him job to Corbin as filler? - No problem with Lashley/Balor. Lashley doing chokeslams and powerbombs with such ease is impressive and Balor earned some respect with the effort against Brock. I've been cold on Balor for awhile, but I'm coming around a bit as I'll take Balor getting more opportunities than Rollins and Ziggler getting them. - Anyone else bored with Elias? - Mojo Rawley screaming into a mirror works for me. I don't know how it will transfer into the ring as far as Mojo showing us something we haven't seen before, but it was an eerie, short-but-good little segment that kinda reminded me of the early Mankind vignettes. - So, Rousey's working with Heyman, right? Did he let her know that starting your promo with a stupid cliche like "If you can't dream big, what's the point of dreaming?" was an intentional way to get her heat? Like, surely Heyman knew the verbiage of this promo was designed to get her booed, but she seemed noticeably shaken up at first, confused at the reaction. Like, did someone forget to tell her that she's going to be a heel? - As much as I thought Bayley shined a little at the Rumble, her match with Rousey wasn't great - maybe even Rousey's worst. More than the imperfect, disjointed sequences, I think it just goes to show how important "setting the table" is. Rousey's matches have benefitted from strong set-ups and anticipation, which have made her matches - even against someone like Nikki Bella - a "big fight feel." The same can even be said for Bayley, who, devoid of the character-building that made her so sympathetic and likable in NXT, is just not dazzling enough of a worker to have me invested. Granted, this was still the best match I saw on the show...or, to be more exact, the best of the few I didn't just fast forward through. - A poster above commented that Becky Lynch is a good-not-great promo, but I thought she was fire in this segment. She also looks badass these days. I don't think Lynch has nailed every in-ring segment she's had to carry over the past few months, but if you hit home runs when the game is on the line, like it is now, that's good enough. - Am I crazy but is 80% of the WWE male roster bearded? I'd love to actually see the statistic, but I'm willing to wager it is more than half - which is crazy. More than half of the men in the WWE have facial hair.

^ Eesh. No Bryan/AJ? That was my favorite match. As someone else said, I think AJ/Bryan suffered from a deadish crowd - but really, I've seen deader. Like, a whole lot deader. It also may have been more of the stadium's fault than the crowd actually not being into it. Not dissimilar to the previous night's Takeover where, to me, it felt like the crowd was dead from beginning to end. Also, just to shit on Rollins a bit, a key difference between the reception AJ/Bryan got and what Rollins/Ambrose and Rollins/Ziggler got on their big PPV matches a few months ago is that, during AJ/Bryan, the crowd (in a baseball stadium) seemed to only pop for the big spots and were arguably burnt out after Lynch's victory...but with Rollins/Ambrose and Rollins/Ziggler, it wasn't a volume issue, it wasn't that they had some big cathartic moment before their match, it was fans actively doing smart-ass "countdowns" and "boring" chants. Also, just to add this - even if you watch a show in chunks, a good match is a good match. I watched the show in chunks. Bryan/AJ was great. Ronda/Banks was great. Becky/Asuka was great (though, I don't understand the booking there). Balor/Brock was great. I was fresh for the Women's Rumble and the first half was not great. I was plenty fresh for the Men's Royal Rumble and I found it tedious and, at times, very poor. Didn't Ziggler tweet that he wasn't working it? The final four being four guys that are so cold (or a relatively new heel like Andrade) and the crowd doesn't even bother to get behind any of them? The poor taste of the Nia segment? I don't care how fresh you are going into watching that Rumble, it wasn't one I'd consider good.

I thought this show was good, not great. The crowd seemed a bit dead at times, too. To me, one of the most glaring issues with some of these Takeover shows is the lack of variety. Starting with the tag match and then having 4 consecutive singles matches is just not how I would lay out the show. I think the WWE logic is that the Women's Match is "variety," but I no longer feel that it actually is when the Women's Matches on these Takeover shows are every bit as hard-hitting, suspenseful, etc. as anything the men do. And the same is true on the main roster. I also think this show would've benefited with some sort of in-ring segment with Velveteen Dream. A tease for the Rumble? Maybe a face-to-face with some new NXT guy? I think it was maybe 2 years ago when Seth Rollins showed up on an NXT Takeover show to go after Triple H and while I dislike Rollins tremendously, I did think it was a good angle to break up the show. This show could've used a similar moment.

I don't want to re-open the discussion but I'm gonna kinda re-open the discussion. I've been going through the WCW PPVs from 92' to the end and I'm in the final 4-5 months. Bill Demott - as General Rection - is consistently not good. He has matches against Lance Storm and Shane Douglas around this time and its just clear that "Rection" is just as generic and milquetoast and lazy as they come. Just not good at all. And, in 95'/96', when he first came on the scene in WCW, he was a worker that made me, as a kid, turn my head. The No Laughing Matter was great. I liked the Chris Farley-as-the-Riddler-on-mushrooms bizarreness of his Dungeon of Doom gimmick. It was unique and, in ring, he was doing some cool stuff for a big guy. But a few years later, as his "gimmickless self," basically just Bill Demott with a goofy name, his promos are unremarkable and unhip. His in-ring work is bad. He is unable to garner any sort of crowd reaction and is considerably slower and less fun to watch. So, why again was this dude a head trainer? What friends did he have in high places? Is it also one of those things where, because he was doing good work for like 18 months in the mid-90s, he had a reputation as being a "good hand" despite him becoming utter shit by 99'?

I definitely was under the impression that Cena was going to be in the Rumble. I don't watch the weekly shows, so did they announce him as being in it a few weeks back and then, when the Lars angle fell through, come up with some other reason why he wouldn't be in the Rumble? Or was he never officially announced? I think I saw a clip where he was attacked by Drew McIntyre - was that the replacement angle? Not that there's going to be a full on mutiny or anything, but there will be some unhappy fans and kids (especially) in attendance who believe he's going to be there and when he's not in at #29 and then at #30, will be upset about it. I'm hearing the news for the first time today that he's not going to be on the show and I'm upset about it just because I assumed we'd get a hint as to what his Mania match would be on Sunday. Nothing I've heard necessarily excites me aside from a potential rematch with Bryan.

On paper, this looks like it might be the best Rumble ever? In terms of title matches, Styles/Bryan, Lesnar/Balor, Banks/Rousey, and Becky/Asuka are all intriguing. It will be interesting to see the match order on the show as I could see Styles/Bryan opening, which just goes to show how stacked this card is. Its one thing if that feud didn't have heat (like Ambrose/Rollins last month or Styles/Nakamura from last spring), but its plenty over. Unless Becky pulls double-duty, I'm thinking Charlotte is the favorite for the Women's Rumble and makes her intentions clear that she's going for Rousey soon after. I'm not sure how Becky gets inserted, but she will be. I envision them basically doing the WM30 build with Becky as Bryan. Then, on the SD side of things, the challenge for Asuka will come from the Elimination Chamber - which is kind of a great problem to have. Between now and Mania, there is plenty of time for a Ruby Riot, Lacey Evans, or Nikki Cross to score a fluke win in the Chamber and play mind games with Asuka. Rousey/Lynch/Charlotte at Mania is going to be your "big name" spectacle match - but what an opportunity you're left with to make the SD match something really fresh and different. In the Men's Rumble, I'm picking Braun...but tomorrow I might say Rollins. Its 50/50 between them IMO, with Cena likely surviving until the final 3-4 before exiting. Despite it being a two-horse race, its still intriguing to me. If you go with Braun, I"m not sure what Rollins does at Mania unless they move him over to SmackDown and challenge Bryan - an idea I hate to even put out there as possibly happening. If Rollins wins, you can build another opponent for Braun - maybe McIntyre? - but Strowman's credibility will have taken yet another big hit.

I didn't get through all of SD, but I did see the opening segment. I don't think Lynch "nailed" any of it - her and Asuka had some pretty cheesy/corny lines and its not like either could be confused with Austin or The Rock in the charisma department. But I do think, as others have said before, when you're over and the fans want to cheer you and want to love you, you can get away with imperfect segments and not-so-hot delivery. Compare that to guys like Reigns, where part of the audience was just dying to say "What?" at every stop or come online and disparage him, and its clear as day. Is he really that much worse of a promo than AJ Styles? I don't think so. But AJ is over with strong fan support but I nary hear a bad word about his mic skills - which aren't terrible or anything, but as a babyface, he's kinda babyface Bret Hart-level in that he's delivering a to-the-point message, no frills, no comedy, just a clear message of intent. If anything, its that "clear message of intent" that WWE would be wise to instruct more performers to pull from. For example, Dean Ambrose doing comedy has made him a guy that fans wanted to cheer (even as a heel) into someone no one gives a shit about, but Dean Ambrose just coached to go out there and be threatening? I think he could pull that off.

It's an interesting development. Its definitely a bit of a risky move for The Revival. Sure, they're being wasted - but to be the first defection is a bit of a political statement, especially when I'm guessing that Triple H will be involved in trying to negotiate with them. I think he values them, saw what they meant to NXT, and knows that, even now, with their stock so low, they're still what? At the very least the 4th best team on the roster behind Usos, New Day, and Sheamus/Cesaro? The shocker, to me, is that the easy answer is in front of them and they chose to ignore it when, had they done it months ago, the Revival would probably be plenty content. Move them to SmackDown yesterday and put them in the ring with The New Day, who are desperate need of some new opponents but are still the most over babyface team on either brand. I'm a Revival fan, but they're not flashy/over/established enough to be guys who make money. In the words of (I think) Cornette referencing HHH, The Revival are "the guys who work with the guys who make money."

Also just wanted to add: Showing footage of Lashley celebrating with Trump might get a negative response by some fans, might get a positive response from others, but how many guys with all the credentials listed above also wrestled a major WrestleMania match with the POTUS as their second? I'm not saying Lashley needs to wear a MAGA hat, but if they had built him up with all the hype described above and, in the inevitable video package, also showed him getting his arm raised by Trump, it would've made him seem like an even bigger star.

^ If they're holding onto Braun/Brock for Mania, which I expect will be a clunker based on their previous matches, I'd love for them to go with Balor/Cena. Of course, that would necessitate one of them turning heel - unless they did a face/face thing, which could work, but would be considerably less "hot" of an angle. Its interesting to think about Cena turning heel in 2019. On one hand, I could see Vince supporting it now more than ever as Cena has one foot in Hollywood and there's certainly plenty of mileage in a Cena heel run even if he's only around 5-6 months a year (not dissimilar to Brock). From a "TV quality" standpoint, it is probably the best option they have at revitalizing RAW's content with a major landscape-shifting angle. On the other hand, I believe Cena is still somehow the top merch mover in the company, Reigns is gone, and if you're only going to have Cena for 5-6 months of a year, why on Earth would you not want him to be your returning hero? Cena as the top babyface has worked for over a decade, so even if he's not around as much, messing with the formula seems silly - like if they'd turned Undertaker in 2008 or whatever. It seems to me we're at the start of the Cena Victory Lap years, when he will progressively wrestle less and less matches and eventually become a Mania-only guy like Taker. That role is best served by Cena being a face then, now, forever.

I'm not sure I agree with this sentiment either. Braun's worst matches, to me, were the WrestleMania tag with Nicholas, the "comedy" TLC match against Corbin last month, and the 2017 Survivors Series main event. My reasons are pretty simple: (1) he shouldn't be doing comedy matches and (2) even when he's a face, he shouldn't be buddying up to anybody because it takes away from his character too much. That Mania segment seemed like something Hillbilly Jim would've done, not a Monster Among Men, a one-man army who should be feared first and foremost, even when he's doing something heroic. The tags as a member of the Wyatt Family were unremarkable. Not terrible, but not noteworthy. He was also just coming onto the main roster during that run. His best bouts have definitely been the multi-man car-wrecks. The good news is that the WWE puts on at least 4-5 of those a year. He's been in some 4-ways, some 3-ways, some Survivors matches, a team-based TLC match, and an Elimination Chamber (I think?). He's very good at matches that involve furniture damage, set pieces getting destroyed, and lots of moving parts that enable him (and others) to take turns being the focal point of the match. It just so happens that, in today's WWE, those type of matches are headlining close to half of the Network Specials. In that sense, he's perfectly suitable to be a top guy. But what about those singles matches? His matches against Reigns, which I liked, all lasted at least 10 minutes and the Great Balls of Fire one lasted close to 20. He also had some fairly decent bouts against Big Show on RAW. But the match I think that was really most worth mentioning was the 10-minute challenge against Zayn. Against Lesnar, it just seems like these two guys can't find their groove, but there is only one Brock Lesnar on the WWE roster and there are like 12 Sami Zayns. What I mean is, we haven't really seen what a Daniel Bryan, AJ Styles, even a Seth Rollins (my skin crawls to include him but I'll deal) could do against a Strowman. Sami Zayn got a good 10 minute match out of him. I think Mysterio could. If both guys were more over in their respective roles, I think Balor could do something fun with Strowman. Paired with the right agent helping out, I wouldn't be surprised if Almas, Velveteen Dream, Richochet, etc. could too down the line. To me, its still too early to say that Strowman can't wrestle a 12-15 minute match that would be really good if he was paired with the right guys.

I don't see him beating Lesnar and I'm of the opinion that Lesnar drops the title at Mania to someone (hopefully AJ, but more likely Rollins) and then does some sort of big fight for UFC in the summer/fall of 2020. Granted, I've been wrong about Lesnar before, thinking (falsely) that he was leaving after last year's Mania and then he stuck around (relatively speaking) till SummerSlam. Maybe the same will happen this year? So yes, Braun Strowman is heading into Big Show territory. Will he one day hold a World Championship? Absolutely. Like Big Show, there may even be some good runs and some stretches where he's somewhat credible. But a real aura? A bankable draw like The Undertaker? Nope. Whatever is left of it (and there's not much) is going to be F'5'd to oblivion on January 27th.

As I wrote in my first post, I was saddened to hear about the passing of "Mean" Gene and can't say enough about what he brought to the table. But count me as one of those cynical viewers that thinks bringing Hogan out for a special ceremony or whatever is super lame. I'm willing to hear the argument, but to me, it does feel like the WWE shoe-horning a Hogan appearance into the show. Like, when Sherri died, maybe I missed it, but did they bring out DiBiase to honor her? Or HBK? Or Harlem Heat? Or Rick Martel to give a heartfelt speech about her? Did they? Or were the ratings not in a huge slump so they just played a respectful video package and went on with it? I hate myself for saying it, but it does seem like opportunism. Like, if the ratings were high and they had a bunch of hot angles, they wouldn't bother...but because the ratings are in the shitter and they have 0 hot angles on RAW, any excuse they can to get the Hulkster in the ring is good enough for them even if I can't even imagine what kind of promo or speech Hulk Hogan would give in front of a live audience that would be better or more fitting than just airing Okerlund's HoF induction. (Which, I believe, Hogan also gave?) Its like - if you want to honor the guy, devote 15 minutes to a well-made biography video about him. The WWE's production crew is perfectly capable of it. It would bring tears to many eyes and be heartfelt. But bringing in Hogan so he can pop the crowd seems like you're really just honoring Hogan, not "Mean" Gene. I hate to be crass, but I hope when Ric Flair does, one day (hopefully a long time from now) pass away, they don't use it as an excuse to have Triple H do crotch chops and spit water in the air "out of respect." EDIT - If it just a sit-down interview interspliced with other tributes, that's fine. Just read the post above. That sounds perfectly classy. I just don't want "Real American" blaring and a posedown.

One of the most iconic, beloved on-screen characters in wrestling history. Its hard to say he was underrated because he was so iconic, but when you think of a backstage interviewer in wrestling, its "Mean" Gene. He is on the top floor of a skyscraper and everybody else whose ever done the role is waiting for an elevator at ground level comparatively. He made being the straight man to larger-than-life personas like Hogan, Savage, Flair, and Heenan look completely effortless while also being the perfect shill for the companies he worked for (and I mean that as a compliment because that was his job). RIP Gene

Fun idea. Here's some that spring to mind as I wait for my Uber: - The first time I saw the Finn Balor Demon gimmick, I thought it was stupendous. It doesn't pack the same punch now, but that first time (admittedly, it was in NXT), I thought it was incredible and the entrance was shot perfectly. - Any time Rick Rude spray-painted his tights, it was $$$. Velveteen Dream has been crushing it too for similar reasons. - Macho Man's full bodysuits might be the only full bodysuits I can get behind. They were glorious - especially for his bigger matches. On that note, I never got the idea of MVP looking like a multi-sport athlete or whatever. To me, it was just weird. At first, I dug Seth Rollins' look because it reminded me of Snake Pliskin from Escape from New York, but I actually think he looks better without the top just because everyone and their mother seems to wrestle with a shirt on these days. - Shawn Michaels had some good looks. Liked the original black DX gear where (I think) it was just his black pants/silver or red hearts with DX green crosses over them. I also liked the Texas-inspired ones he wore at Rumble 97' and the white/gold combo for WrestleMania XII. The rest of his outfits are very reminiscent of the "leather daddy" scene, so, I'm not gonna co-sign on the mirror-covered chaps and zebra-print cap (look it up - the fact that they sold replicas to unsuspecting kids who wore them in public seems like it could be the basis of a Law and Order: SVU), but his pants were cool.

I'd be okay with that. I loved their SummerSlam match. Cena getting #17 doesn't bother me and shouldn't bother anyone else. Since he'd likely only be coming back for the short-term, I expect he'd drop the title within a couple months back to Bryan or to AJ or to Almas. Any of those three matches, on a Network special, given time, sounds great. I don't see them doing the Lesnar thing and putting the title on Cena and letting him take it to Hollywood for 6 months at a time, so, who cares? Its Mania. I'm hoping the AJ/Vince thing is to heat him up for a Rumble win and to challenge Lesnar, but with him in a title match on that show, I'd be surprised to see him then win the Rumble. On the topic of talk show segments (and Alexa Bliss's in particular), it's a minor grievance but Raw should take a "paige" from SD and mix up the way the genders interact too. For example, Edge doing a Cutting Edge with Becky Lynch some months ago may not have produced gold, but its a small way to cement the idea that Women's Division isn't this separate, lower-tier novelty that only the women care about. By having former World Champion "name" talents like Edge and Foley coming out and interacting with Becky, Charlotte, Asuka, etc., its a not-so-subtle nudge that these are the must-see acts on the show. Having Alexa Bliss hosting a segment with Rousey and Nia (or whoever) not only makes no sense (in kayfabe terms), but also isn't fresh when its essentially going to lead to the same name-calling and diss-trading they did when they feuded last spring and had your typical in-ring segment. Sadly, I can't think of any males on Raw that could pull off a talk show segment right now either because the Raw roster lacks over talent in general and great promos specifically. Maybe Titus? I can't see a kayfabe reason for Heyman doing a talk show segment that doesn't involve Lesnar. But, yeah, in theory, a MizTV segment or Highlight Reel or something of that ilk where a heel host was stirring shit between Rousey and Nattie just to see the sparks fly would, to me, make sense. Just like having Bliss host a segment interviewing the returning Owens and Zayn would work if Alexa promoted it as her "one-upping" the McMahons and personally welcoming back two stars as a way to pad her own ego. In summation, talk show segments can work, but (1) throwing them on a show nonchalantly with no purpose and hoping for the best is a recipe for disaster and (2) they're far more intriguing when the characters interacting have not interacted countless times before.

Big Show's Cobra-Clutch Backbreaker and that whole initial run in ECW is probably my favorite run of his ever. The matches weren't "good," but there was just something inherently watchable/must-see about Big Show vs. Sabu as a match. Like a Pro Wrestling Illustrated "What If They Fought" column from 96' magically coming to life 10 years later. The use of the Crossface by HBK and HHH (and I think maybe Punk or Bryan used it too) is one of my favorite "meta"/post-modern spots to analyze. I say post-modern (maybe wrongly?) because I feel like intention takes a backseat to what the viewer's interpretation is. For example, I think HHH busted out a crossface against Daniel Bryan at WM30. This was years after the Benoit tragedy and the move had been done before. Many viewers probably didn't immediately connect it to WM20 or the idea of Bryan being "the next Benoit," but that's how I interpreted its usage - that whether HHH or Bryan intended it or not, that specific move in that specific context was an almost cathartic moment - that what Benoit represented 10 years earlier was what Bryan represented that night and that it was okay for that desire, passion, even recklessness to exist. To them, it was probably just another spot, but to me, it symbolized so, so much more and was a tremendous statement about not only the dangers of wrestling in a ring, but also the dangers and tragedy of devoting your life to the livelihood of being a wrestler. Almost like Triple H restraining Bryan with the Crippler Crossface was asking him, "Are you sure you want this? Because if you submit to this, submit now, because this is the darkest side of this life. If you fight through this, know what you will be fighting through." Again, I could be dead wrong and they didn't even use the move in that match or, if they did, 99.9% of people forgot they did (including the wrestlers involved).

Didn't he use the Hells Gate against Lesnar? Also, I know he busted out the Last Ride in his feud with Edge (around 2007 or 08', I think?). I wouldn't be surprised if he also used it on some of his other smaller opponents in those years - CM Punk, Rey, etc. Any analysis of his moveset after 2010 would be sketchy just because he only wrestled a handful of times each year from then till today. Has Seth Rollins used the Pedigree since the feud with Triple H ended?

Not sure what to make of that segment. Seems like swimming against the tide to turn AJ, especially when Bryan's killing it in the role and it also hasn't been too long since Nakamura turned (and you still got Joe quietly doing well). Seriously, I'm not against dual brand PPVs, but aside from whatever Rousey's doing, I don't think there's a single feud on RAW that I'd like to see represented on a PPV more than the least interesting feud on SD. Like, I'd more interested in a Naomi/Asuka rematch than whatever cockamamie gimmick match they'd do with Rollins/Ambrose or Balor/whoever if there was PPV on Sunday. So, then, if its not meant to turn AJ, it seems like its meant to "darken" him - but for what? HHH? Hard pass. Taker? Having the McMahons involved sounds like the most convoluted route to get there possible. Maybe Vince will exact revenge by making AJ #1 in the Rumble? And he'll win it and then, to prove to Vince he's got the "animal" instinct, he'll challenge Brock? That scenario works for me but it just seems ludicrously far-fetched. Then again, realistically, when they lost Reigns and looked at the numbers, was AJ the #2 merch seller? Or was it Rollins? Or someone else?

My MOTY is Almas/Gargano. Selfishly, I really came here to cheaply plug my 4th annual "10 Favorite Network Matches of the Year" column over at my blog (Kwang The Blog). Just like previous years, all matches from the WWE/NXT Network Specials/PPVs, so its far from comprehensive, but I enjoy writing it so I keep doing it. Check it out!

I'd have no problem with Jeff Hardy getting that spot. I'm not a huge fan or anything, but in terms of star power, he's often (unfairly) kept out of the conversation of Most Popular of the past 20 years when I think one could argue he's in the top 10 for babyfaces. I can't relate to it personally because to me he always struck me as a Hot Topic goth, but guy was considered somewhat of a heartthrob in the early 00s, the crazy stunts he did endeared him to a lot of fans, and he's been able to maintain that fan connection for 20 years now. If I was fantasy booking things, though, I'd like to see Bryan feud with Big E. New Day are walking billboard ads for useless crap (sugar-loaded cereal, cheap tee-shirts, etc.) and Big E just needs a "serious feud" or two to breakout. Plus, they already had a pretty good bout a few months back. I think it could happen, but I'm not sure if they're confident enough to do it at Mania.

I'd be immensely surprised if Bryan has "Hogan-like" creative control. I just don't see Vince ever agreeing to that for Bryan. I'm gonna go "Occam's Razor" here and guess that Bryan, someone fairly universally liked by most accounts I've read, may have fans and supporters in top Creative positions on SmackDown and he's pitching them the ideas that he thinks will make the show better. They're trusting him because, well, his ideas do seem to be good for the show and are somewhat low risk (its not like he's booking himself as the next Goldberg, just destroying people left and right). He wasn't setting the world afire as a babyface anymore, so, he probably requested a heel turn and ran down a slew of guys he'd like to work with - from AJ to Rey to Ali to (I wouldn't be surprised) even The New Day. Bryan strikes me as a creative guy, like a Jericho, who has enough pull to say, "Hey, I want to work with ____. We're gonna tear the house down. Just give us 12 minutes." And then, when the live reaction is strong and it works, the producers are more likely to hear his ideas and collaborate. Maybe even the same writers/agents/producers who helped make him a mega-star 2-3 years ago are still around and have even more clout and, justifiably, believe that if they continue to collaborate and take in his ideas, they can strike gold again. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think its a simple as Bryan exercising Creative Control to make his (and only his) storylines good. The fact that the rest of SmackDown has also been pretty good and interesting while RAW has been objectively terrible makes me think that there are teams of writers/agents/producers attached to each show and one team is just more open-minded, organized, and willing to play to wrestlers' strengths (rather than Vince's personal tastes) more.