Slasher

The problem is Braun Strowman is an actual member of the Wyatts...so I guess if it was going to be a temporary back up kinda deal, it could work. But I think it is more logical to put someone from NXT in there with the idea that it is a guy Ambrose and Reigns trusts and that has been in their circle of friends and exposing that connection at the right time-like needing a third man to help them combat the Wyatts. It would have been a great way to debut Apollo Crews on the main roster had this happened further down the road but alas it's not the right time for Crews.

Jingus- I am well aware of how popular Daniel Bryan is. I am not pretending otherwise. I am saying in the WWE's eyes, thry aren't going to burn a potential one off Shawn Michaels match on Daniel Bryan. The situation with Triple H is a bit different. They spent an entire fall and winter on Daniel Bryan struggling to break through and become the world champion while having Triple H play the Lucy takes football away from Charlie Brown type role. Daniel Bryan really needed to have that match with Triple H and Triple H really needed that match to prove himself right that DB isn't the star the fans thought he was. That is strictly in kayfabe. Non-kayfabe, you have to remember Triple H wasn't supposed to wrestle Daniel Bryan in the first place. His scheduled opponent walked out on the WWE so they had to figure out something for him and the Daniel Bryan match fell in his lap as a good Plan B. Plus it sticks it to Punk that Triple H can play ball if he was so inclined to do so. Matt D- I agree. They need to stop treating the part timers as all too important to mingle with current roster members. Look at Summerslam. Did we really need to have Taker vs Brock? If Undertaker was gonna work the show then they should have given both guys different opponents. Two big time matches > one main event match.

Is there a good reason for the mystery partner to not be Goldust? Yes there is. He has no reason to want to team up with the Shield members nor a reason to want to go up against the Wyatts. He is also stylistically not a fit with the other two. Hey that's 3 good reasons why not.

I hate to repeat a Triple H point (since it was obviously designed to incite the fans' rage) but Shawn Michaels doesn't wrestle a Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania. He wrestles A list stars at Wrestlemania. IIRC the lowest profile match he's had at Wrestlemania since coming back was either Jericho at XIX or Vince. And those are two names that I think most people would consider bigger than Daniel Bryan.

Sandman's entrance is more famous than Sandman himself. Perhaps if they had played the song when he went up to Jaguar...but that's silly. And I concur, he is nowhere near Jake Roberts's level. Jake was a memorable gimmick with memorable props (the snakes) in a high point (but declining) of WWF's popularity.

Thing is, turning heel isn't enough. He has tp turn heel in such a way that it erases everything the fans have come to expect of him. Otherwise turning him heel might have the same effect that turning Orton or Sheamus heel did for them (which is precisely nothing).

Bret also had a "match" with Vince at Wrestlemania but your point stands. Also with the thing about Shawn only returning for something new or different, I want to see him have a Freaky Friday match where he wrestles exactly as his opponent whoever it is would wrestle and vice versa. That idea would amuse me.

Nobody in Japan ever watched any ECW show ever? That's hard to believe, considering the number of ECW guys who were brought over to work in Japan in various different promotions. And besides, Sandman did a lot more than just ECW; hell, he worked on Wrestlemania once. He was on both Nitro and eventually Raw for several months apiece, as well as a handful of PPVs with both companies. He worked a metric fuckton of TNA shows, for whatever that's worth. So, the short version is: are you saying Japanese wrestlers don't watch American tapes or TV? Considering how obsessively American workers often regard their Japanese tape-watching, that would be an awfully one-sided double standard. Considering how low of an opinion the Japanese wrestlers hold for American wrestlers below the global star level (Flair, Hogan, etc) or long time gaijin mainstays (Hansen, Vader, Funk, etc)...yes that is exactly what I expect...it would be like if Flair was asked about MIKAMI of DDT...he's not going to know who the hell that is. ECW I don't think had a good penetration in the Japanese market. And Sandman in the bigger American companies was nothing much more than jobber level.

Well not necessarily. Yes it would have been a dream match with tons of backstory to add in the build but honestly I think Shawn didn't really want to play a heel at all at this point in his life. He is a retired legend and turning heel for the sake of the storyline for a match that wasn't really all that important to the big picture of WWE storylines would be a waste of the goodwill he built up. Even when he superkicked Bryan in the cell, it was done in a way where he could ultimately still be Shawn the babyface, "Listen here, you attacked my best friend! I couldn't not do anything" is a stance that people could relate to even if they didn't like it. He did have sort of a heelish slant the next night when he called Bryan a maggot but that was after he legitimately tried to extend an olive branch to Bryan and Bryan basically pissed all over it. Then Bryan sent Shawn packing. That was all the angle needed to close. For Shawn to further it, he would have to play heel and he wasn't going to do that.

I think Shawn is very happy with having Undertaker end his career. He went out like a valiant fallen warrior for the greater good. I would be legitimately surprised if he ever wrestled another match. It probably would have to take being an once in a lifetime dream match or an once in a lifetime storyline building up to it. And I'm not even convinced that would do the trick.

I think it is like professional sports, music, film, etc. It is a passion that you manage to make a career out of. You won't ever hear Peyton Manning say "I got to go to work." So in that context I think I understand where Jingus is coming from. But if you call it a career or chosen profession, you have bosses to answer to, you are part of a bigger entity where you get paid for your services. So it's a job as well.

How often do the WWE swing by Puerto Rico? Is it annually?

I don't think Dave was necessarily making excuses although I can see why people would take it as such. Some people, myself included sometimes, have a tendency to run in to give an oral history of why something is a certain way or why it worked or not a certain way. It doesn't necessarily reflect a personal belief as it is attempting to humanize some elements that seems unsavory at first glance. But yeah sometimes it is wrong to take that approach as I know very well, because it can end up putting yourself in the same box as the offenders.

This goes back to someone I said during the last breast cancer awareness month and ties into this discussion. WWE is so heavy handed in its presentation of its charity work that EVERYONE during this month wears breast cancer awareness, etc. t-shirts and dressing in pink. I think that is fine for the faces to do it on TV, but not the heels. The heels should wear pink and support the cause while OFF OF TV, but once the cameras roll it should be business as usual as they should be getting heat and not have someone think "You know what, my aunt had an issue some years ago and I use to HATE Rusev last week for the way he was treating Lana, but now that I see him wearing the pin, I know he has a heart of gold. I can't boo him anymore!'. Now granted that is not what millions are thiking or else there would be no heat during this month as everyone would be a defacto fact. Again this plans into less-is-more and not hamming it up while also not completely jumping ship from a concept. I get what you are saying but logically, the heels are people with families and friends. The fans never once thought that a heel goes home to his evil lair so he can concoct more secret plots of terror against the WWE. On a non-kayfabe level, it is possible that the dude playing a heel believes in the cause because he does have people affected by it. It wouldn't necessarily be right to say "Sorry Rusev, I know your mom died of breast cancer but we have to have you no sell it while your opponent gets to wear the pink shirt and pink bands"

That brings to mind though, the old adage "if everyone is a main eventer then no one is". This brings to mind a great old Paul Heyman quote too, when talking about Terry Funk in ECW. He only wanted one Legend on the roster so that he would stand out more. He made a comparison to if there's one-hundred blonde women in a room and one redhead, you naturally gravitate toward the redhead with your eyes. Or it was something close to that. I'm of the belief though, that you can have a roster of people, top to bottom, that people care about. You just have to keep them special & have them all special for different reasons. Also, a big thing that WWE really fails at nowadays, you gotta keep them away from each other so that it's special when they do come together. Dudleys just came back cause they want a tag title shot. They already beat New Day on TV. We've already seen Kofi and Xavier take a 3D and Xavier go through a table. Why do we care to see it on PPV now? Big Braun just debuted. He already had a match with Ambrose on free TV. They don't build anything up. In the NFL (sticking to my previous example) there's a lot of stars. Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning (just naming a few QBs for example). But when Brady and Manning go head-to-head in a Colts/Patriots game? It's a big deal. They could do that in WWE too. They did it with Hogan/André. They did it with Hogan/Warrior. I think the biggest problem they face nowadays is how short-sighted they are. They have so much content they have to fill that they just burn through everything way too fast. By the time we're at the payoff, people have already lost interest because it's been ran into the ground. Sure you are right for the most part. The WWE should definitely make people matter to the fans beyond the old Attitude era legends. There is no reason why guys like Dolph Ziggler or Dean Ambrose can't be a star on Orton or Cena's level if the fans wants to see it. The only thing I was really taking exception (albeit in a nitpicky way) the idea that everyone should be as important as Brock Lesnar. I am sure that is not how you intended it to look, but you did bring him up. Using your analogy, Brady vs Manning matters a great deal to NFL fans because of what they mean to the league. Colin Kaepernick was at one time, a big star too...but yet the Kaepernick vs Brady matchup isn't Manning vs Brady. It is more like Rollins vs Triple H. A big matchup for sure but nothing on the level of Hogan/Andre or even Cena/Brock. You can't have 20 Brock Lesnars around because then you don't have THE Brock Lesnar. Again, yes they should be more than what they are, though.

That brings to mind though, the old adage "if everyone is a main eventer then no one is". I do think the WWE should switch all their programming over to the Network though mainly because the focus for the Network is still on the now and the future. If the network was what the old school fans wanted it to be, then they are better off keeping Raw on USA but the way they actually do the Network, they might as well go full steam ahead. It isn't like they have a good deal with USA to begin with. Sure they make money off it but I think they would earn a couple of thousand subscriptions if they had to watch Raw and SD on the network exclusively. This means getting off Hulu as well too. I don't think the WWE has reached their ceiling in terms of making money off their current product. They have still a few things they could do to take more meat off the bone, so to speak. I do think now is a good time to take little more risks. However I do wonder if they are truly making more money though. It is amazing they get 400 bucks per head but what if there were only 20,000 people there. Is that better than getting 100 per head off 40-60,000 people? *Shrugs*

Less protected than the babyface ace, the world champion, long time golden boy, heir to Undertaker's push, the former franchise player turned authority figure and his co-owner wife, a legitimate athlete pushed as death incarnate, legendary supernatural entity and his brother? Wow. I definitely think he is noticeably more protected than Ambrose, Cesaro and Owens considering he rarely ever jobs on TV and he is featured more prominently. Ambrose looks like he is protected but in reality he is a JTTS. The only time he gets a title shot is when it is time to job to Rollins. You think he ever sniffs a main event with Brock Lesnar? But that is what Reigns got. And Cesaro? C'mon. He lost twice just recently to Owens and I don't think he's ever won a major match besides that Andre the Giant trophy. Vince doesn't even know how to push him and you are equating that to Roman Reigns? Are you fucking kidding me? Kevin Owens I am not sure but pretty sure Reigns has had a better winning percentage than Owens although Owens has done a fantastic job as a HEEL making himself a big deal. But none of this is relevant. Reigns matters more to WWE and that is still very much so obvious in the way they have booked the entire show.

C'mon. Wrestling is one of the most hammiest of all entertainment practically. Is it so surprising they fail at being more genuine or subtle in this? It is almost that they simply do not know how to do anything else but being hammy at it.

This reminds me of the Friends episode where Phoebe is mad at PBS for publicizing charity for selfish gains and Joey explains that ALL charity is selfish because it is designed to make you feel good about yourself, which is a selfish motive.

Today's WWE is not 1998 WWF. The fans are different. Yes in the long run they grow to respect winners but if they want to make Reigns the man now, they are going to have to do something different than what they have been doing-which is winning most of the time. Reigns is already one of the most protected acts in all of WWE and how is that working out? I do agree they need to give him better material for promos though.

The time away from wrestling is what elevated him to near mythical status. A big part of his game is the fact hos presence towers over pretty much everyone. He destroyed their franchise babyface ace like nothing before. He was the one who convincingly ended the Streak after legends like Triple H and Shawn Michaels couldn't put him away even after multiple finishers. If he had stayed feom 2004 to now I can't see WWE being able to elevate him to that level. But then again, his departure is why Vince does the 50/50 booking and hot cold pushes nowadays. So if he stayed we could very well see a couple more true blue main eventers instead of the overcrowded population of upper midcarders/spot main eventers.

Well not necessarily a powerbomb but it's a good point that he needs to get a different finisher or a different signature move. The Superman Punch and the Spear requires the same set up and does feel redundant even though they are different moves.

I disagree with Meltzer a lot, and it's okay to. I think the mistake most people make, and I made for a long time, is to hold his opinion as gospel. In the end his opinion is just an opinion. One that I think is crazy a lot of the time, but it's genuine and it has merit. We all have opinions that go against the grain or seem way out there. Let Meltzer have his, disagree with him plenty, but dismissing him entirely because he doesn't see eye to eye with you on a few matches is overkill. OH, sure I always took the 'its one guys lone opinion' approach. but giving this a 4.5 just seems to take the meaning out of that spell, how god damn long was it, where Meltzer didn't give 5 stars to a single WWE match. Was the gap between Austin/Bret '97 all the way up to Punk/Cena 2011? This being so close to 5 saps a lot of meaning out of that for me. What WWE matches since Punk/Cena 2011 has he given 5 stars? Just curious now that it's been brought up. None so far. Also Meltz has rated the HBK/Taker HIAC 5 stars as well and that occurred after the Austin/Hart match.

I don't think it is much different than the You Suck chants directed at Kurt Angle. Hell I remember that time when he returned from an injury and the crowd gave him a big hero's welcome only for him to ask them to do the You Suck chant. It actually, in a perverse way, has become a part of their identity and is part of the experience you WANT to have when watching them.

And the solution to push a guy the audience don't want to see pushed even harder isn't as horrible? Besides a heel turn, how does that help him? They aren't going to change their minds just because it takes him 5 minutes to beat Big Show instead of 15. Come on man.