Fantastic

Yeah, I got that, I was just throwing out the idea that even if Rock wanted to be the heel, nobody would buy it. I still think we're looking at Rock/Brock II at 32 if Brock re-signs with WWE. That means Brock will probably remain as an "official" heel, which somewhat complicates the process of Reigns turning. Realistically, they should get the title of Brock prior to Mania, but that's also complicated.

I've never liked Akiyama, but I don't deny that he's a great talent. Kawada, Misawa, Taue, and Jumbo were always leaps ahead of him as wrestlers, it kind of felt to me like he was a "hanger-on" in that exclusive club, and not really their equal at all. My favorite matches featuring Akiyama have all been tag matches that have also featured the other members of the "five pillars". As for Kojima, great wrestler, but not really cut out for the ace position.

Yeah, he'd have to be a face. They couldn't possibly turn Rock heel given the enormous draw he is, and the fact that the fans simply love him these days, regardless of what he does, (nobody booed him in his feud with Cena, despite there being an audible minority of pro-Cena fans, it seems like they cheered for Rock as well!) not to mention the Reigns rejection, it would be like Hogan/Rock all over again, with the crowd rejecting Reigns and Rock being forced to portray the babyface despite being in the heel role. I don't doubt Rock could do do the heel thing, he's shown that he's very capable of working both roles with equal enthusiasm in the past, but it's a different time now. It's an organic process. People aren't accepting Reigns as heir-apparent to the top babyface role. There is nothing to be gained from forcing something that people aren't buying, therefore the only logical decision is to turn him heel and profit from that.

I'm intrigued about this announcement... The coolest thing ever would be making The Rock wrestle Roman Reigns at Fast Lane with Reigns' spot in the title match at Mania on the line. That would be great, everybody would shit over the match and cheer The Rock, Reigns wouldn't get over despite winning, and he'd get booed out of the building. But then... What if they use that match to turn Reigns, align him with Heyman? That probably doesn't make sense unless Lesnar turns his back on Heyman and goes full blown face.

Probably in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - sad, but realistic.

Agreed, the contradiction is so damn apparent. They don't want Daniel Bryan as "their guy", but they still want what he brings to the table. It's similar to Ryder in 2011, but to a far greater degree. Ryder was pretty over with the live crowds, had a large social media following, and was shifting a shit ton of merch and that basically forced WWE into putting the United States title on him and giving him a mini push. Had they got past the idea that "nobody gets over without our say so" and stayed with it, he could be working around that level that Ziggler works at today, but instead they completely buried him in a terrible storyline with Eve, Kane, and John Cena and then proceeded to job him out for the next three years following his US title loss. In essence, they took what Ryder brought to the table, then put him through it. With Bryan, it's much like you describe. Bryan is the most over face in WWE, his reactions are on par with John Cena, but unlike Cena, the crowd completely favors Bryan. People relate to him, he's a phenomenal talent in ring, great on the mic, and very charismatic. His only short fall (pun appropriate) is his size. He's not got that "larger than life" look about him, sure, he's gained a bit of size since coming to WWE, but he's under 6'0 and barely 195lbs. That being said, he has a unique look, the unruly beard has become a trademark, but that's not the type of trademark look that inspires WWE to say "this is what our guy looks like", no rather it's a tall, heavily muscled physique, clean cut and standard "good looks". That prototype is what they've always wanted for their number one guy. Will they ever look past this standard and cave in to the popularity of Bryan? They've done it in a manner of speaking before with the likes of Bob Backlund and Shawn Michaels (pretty yes, but without the size or stand out physique). Those two guys were chosen seemingly for their charisma, in ring talent and audience relation above all else.

I have a feeling we're going to get Rock vs Brock at 32 if Brock re-signs with WWE. In fact, I could see it going down with Reigns defeating Lesnar for the title, only to be attacked by Lesnar following the decision. This would prompt Rock to appear and lead to a tense stare down, hell maybe Rock get physical with Lesnar. Icing on the cake? Rollins cashes in on Reigns as he recovers and Rock and Brock are held up being separated by security.

What a horrible idea if that's the case. I don't see why it would be hard to have both the Fast Lane and WM match end with Rusev victories. You could have the Fast Lane match end in some sort of shenanigan way that sets up the WM rematch only to have Cena put Rusev over cleanly via submission passing out ala Austin/Hart from WM13. Is it such a stretch at this point in his career for John Cena to actually tap out? It would be monumental in getting Rusev over and adding a new dimension of unpredictablity to John Cena's character which is very much missing. Suppose he actually gives up? If that happens, in future big time matches, it may not seem so predictable that he'll escape a big submission attempt. Yes, we know he's all about the "never give up" attitude, but what about "live to fight another day"? Specifically, if Rusev badly beats Cena to the point where he begins to sell the neck and then gets clamped in the Accolade for what seems like an eternity, with the announcers putting over the fact that Cena has something of a history of neck troubles, surely it wouldn't be a career killer for him to submit? After all, the story being told would be that he knows he can't escape, and rather than be a fool and risk a career ending neck injury, he pulls the proverbial "live to fight another day" and taps. Then in the rematch (which Rusev will still win, only by pinfall this time), Cena goes in with a methodology of avoiding any wear down attempts and figures out a way to escape the Accolade. This will also serve to advance Rusev, now that he knows he can't rely on his Accolade with certainty to win the big matches, so he has to look elsewhere.

Apparently the plan is to have Rusev vs. Cena at both Fast Lane and Wrestlemania. That is worrying, it seems like they might have Cena win the Mania match. I don't see the point in John Cena being the one to break Rusev's undefeated streak.

What a mess WWE has made... I called the overwhelming irresistible urge to force Roman Reigns into the top spot, even when people were hailing Ambrose as the star of The Shield and that he would be the inevitable new top guy following their split.

oh man I hope they try and turn him heel so bad. Fans will only cheer him more since I imagine most people can sympathize with those comments. The last time he was a heel, they had no choice but to turn him babyface again. He got over huge following the 18 second loss to Sheamus and that stint tagging with Kane.

Now, now, don't start giving them any ideas for Hideo Itami. I have a bad feeling based on history on what they'll do with Itami when he reaches the main roster. I really hope WWE doesn't squander his talent on some ass backwards, pseudo-racist/stereotypical gimmick. Speaking of weird stereotypical gimmicks, weren't they planning to give Kenzo Suzuki a gimmick where he claimed to be the reincarnation of Emperor Hirohito?

Oh yeah, add to the list: Booker T vs Triple H at Wrestlemania XIX.

Numerous examples from 99/00 WCW, but the one that stands out for me is the tag team match for the World Heavyweight title on the April 26th 2000 Thunder...

Maybe they didn't have time, being distracted with packing up the set early and moving on from Hartford and all?

Kane broke Shawn Michaels' record of most eliminations. He also broke his own record of most Royal Rumble appearances with his 18th last night. Agreed, he's close to getting X-Pac heat. I really don't want another Big Show and Kane tag team title run.

Wyatt vs. Taker should be a Casket match. Wyatt loses, the Druids or whatever shit cart him off. He stays off TV for a month, makes an eerie return in new attire, and cuts some whacky promo about having been dumped deep in the Mojave and how he "found hell" and learned to use the darkness to his advantage, and thanks Taker for it. Then you have him beat someone big decisively, go on a winning streak and take the title in the Summer.

They wanted to put Austin into the ring with him in 2002. Hell, they put Kurt Angle into the ring with him on multiple occasions in 2003, and his neck problems were far more significant than Bryan's. Hell, wasn't Angle's first PPV match back from minimally invasive neck surgery (which he chose in lieu of more effective spinal fusion) against Brock Lesnar?

What's the payoff or the reasoning behind that though? Sure, it will cover Taker's shortcomings, but what is it going to do for Wyatt or Bryan? Presumably, if Taker has his match this year, he's going to win, surely to convey the idea that just because the streak is done, it doesn't mean that Undertaker is done. I'm strongly inclined to believe that he's going to retire at Mania XXXII in Texas and headline next year's Hall Of Fame. That's probably going to mean either the headline Mania match or a top billing, so he needs to go in looking strong, not with two defeats behind him.

I wonder if WWE will find some other way to screw up between now and Mania? Seriously, the current Mania card (mainly courtesy of Meltzer) is looking like: - WWE World Heavyweight Title: Brock Lesnar © vs. Roman Reigns - Sting vs. Triple H - John Cena vs. Rusev (probably not for the US title) - Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton - Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt - Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan - Some Throwaway Divas Match - And Everybody Else in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. What kind of abortion of a card is that? The only thing that could save it is Rollins cashing in on Reigns to take away the big moment, but he'll probably only get himself over as a babyface from the live crowd. If it even happens, imagine The Rock comes out to make the save before Rollins can ruin the big celebration? Fuck that.

Well, I for one won't be cancelling my WWE Network subscription - that is because I did the smart thing from the beginning and invested my 999 YEN in NJPW World instead.

I gotta believe it's the suit unless he went on a severe binge recently... Yeah, for a while he looked pretty good in TNA. But, we've seen Chris Hero very quickly going from in shape to out of shape.

Is it just me or has Bully/Bubba Ray Dudley gained "bad" weight?

1. Not really excited. I suspect if Lesnar loses the title and faces somebody other than Reigns between now and Mania, that he'll have the best match on the card. 2. I suspect Reigns will continue to face animosity, but not to the level the crowd were last night, given it was Philly. 3. I presume you meant coming out of the Rumble. Well, let's just say that WWE doesn't seem to learn from it's past errors, nor does Vince seem to practice what he preaches - "It's about what the audience tell us at the end of the day that shapes our product".

Maybe so, I just didn't see it until 2011 when he really seemed to come into his own. The match with Punk at MITB 11 was where it started for me I guess. People might say that "oh well, it was all Punk", but I really class that as a 50/50 effort and Cena was great in it. We saw shades of the great wrestler Cena can be in his work with Umaga, but for me, it didn't take off until 2011.