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Let's work those damn marks by not building the most interesting match on Sunday and not letting the most over guy in the company come out in front of the crowd!

Post-WCW Rey definitely needs to be in the conversation for most underrated. It's pretty shocking how many people off the PWO-sphere will say he was flat out not good in WWE. Even if we ignore anything he did pre-WWE I still think he's an all time top 20 contender based on those years, so that's a pretty enormous gap from a lot of the popular opinion.

I don't think the Steph/Bellas stuff is as over as they thought it would be. I agree with Jason Powell that Nikki is tough to feel sympathy for, especially if you watch Total Divas. I'm sure the heat will rev up when Brie returns and attacks Steph The Brie/Steph stuff got over because Bryan was closely associated with it and being we saw a little bit of Steph getting comeuppance. Neither of those things are going on with this Nikki-centric build so why would anyone care yet? It'll be hot by the time of the match I'd guess, especially if they get a couple Bryan cameos.

I was surprised at the pop for the Big E win. Honestly this sounds like a pretty game crowd. They're just not being given much to react to.

If not ____, then what? ----? *blank*?

That was the literal opposite of détente but I loved that segment. I don't care how blatant and obnoxious the patriotism schtick is, in fact, the more blatant and obnoxious the better for this kind of thing. In other news, Cesaro's heat is 100% dead and buried isn't it?

"IWC" isn't the best expression these days but I think it clearly has meaning. I don't even think it means all wrestling fans actively using the internet to discuss pro wrestling though. It's just a dated but popular phrase for hardcore fans. There's a lot of variety there but we're generally all part of the same universe. PWO and Internet Smark Board #92 with all their differences are part of the "IWC" in a way that the fan who just uses the internet to follow wrestlers on twitter and maybe listen to one of the more popular podcasts by an established star like Austin or Jericho when they have a big time guest on aren't. It's not the easiest thing to properly delineate but in general I think we know what's being talked about when we see the phrase "IWC." I don't see a problem using popular phrases that I think most people have a good idea of the meaning of.

Who on the roster is actually less over than Kane? I can think of Miz and ADR.

I think the jury has to still be out on his overall effect on the business until we get a better idea of what exactly he's going to do with the company as he gets more and more control/influence, eventually presumptively taking over and running most of the wrestling side (assuming Vince ever retires). Things look promising and it could be great. Then you have to deal with an "ends justifying the means" sort of thing -- Triple H politicked like hell to get to his position, made himself the centerpiece of the show and seems to have actively hampered other acts from getting over to the point of being able to challenge for his spot. This obviously negatively effected the product. But this also got him into a position of influence in the company, and we need to see how that really works out to say if that was "worth" it or not. If Triple H doesn't politic, he doesn't end up in control, and maybe the long term quality and prospects of the WWE post-Vince look worse. It could well be that Trips is the kind of guy whose main goal is to get himself into power and damn anyone in his way, but once in power and totally secure he actually cares about creating a good product. Just look at the big NXT specials vs. WWE main shows. Or NXT vs. main shows in general.

Are there any hour long matches that *wouldn't* have been better cut down to 30 or 40 minutes?

No way do I see Reigns being more over than Ambrose. Ambrose literally has it all, women love him, smarks love him, 'casual fans' love him, he can go in the ring, has charisma, is unique, cuts a great promo. There's nothing Reigns has over Ambrose, not even look if you ask me. Maybe a better hairline. I'm seeing a bit of push back against the Reigns push on more "IWC-consensus" places but I think that has a lot to do with standard hardcore fan annoyance in seeing the non-indie darling pushed "over" the indie darlings. And although I loved Reigns in 2013 and thought he was the best worker of the Shield overall, with them getting more singles matches and even more individualized matches in their trios this year he's lagged behind. He still has a great moveset and hits his stuff wonderfully but he's yet to prove he can pull his weight in a great singles WWE style main event. I assume he can, or will be able to with training and good lay-outs, but who knows. His promos are competent, he gets some good personality in, but don't blow me away. He needs to grow into his role still, I don't get the sense that he's confident as a top guy. Ambrose on the other had has all the confidence in the world and he carries himself like a top, top guy. I still see Cena around for several years and I don't doubt that Reigns will be a huge star in the future, but I don't at all buy him being more over than Ambrose as a top guy. Even if pushed that way; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see fan backlash if he's blatantly pushed harder than Ambrose while the fans think Ambrose isn't getting his due.

What does Dunn have to gain from burying Trips' projects? The idea is once Vince steps aside he's gone anyway right? How does ruining the product now save him THEN?

Seriously, I really hope that isn't true. Cameron being arrested for DRIVING DRUNK and lying to the police on the spot about it but still being pushed on TV and still keeping her job should really make Emma's petty theft a non-issue. Not that petty theft, assuming it was an intentionally criminal act, is not big deal, but really that wouldn't sit well with me.

How important does everyone suppose WWE views Night of Champions internally? That would be where the first round of Network subscriptions are up for renewal. Seems like they'd want to run a big main event but what can they do? Brock vs. Bryan seems obvious if he's back but it seems likely he won't be. I doubt they want to sell the next 6 months of subscriptions on a Cena/Brock re-match. I doubt they'd trust Ambrose or Rollins. Reigns seems possible but I don't know. Cesaro seems out of the question.

Not to be too pessimistic, but I don't know about framing Dean Ambrose as "the guy keeping Cena from losing the belts."

The Swagger/Zeb face turn could not have possibly gone any better.

I'm afraid to admit that I sort of see a Cena/Kane match at Battleground.

No finish on this show felt satisfying or made me excited about the product moving forward.

Fandango has a pretty good gig.

I can deal with several more Big E/Rusev matches.

Fandango is so great.

X-Pac didn't have X-Pac Heat. But Kane most definitely does. Does Kane have ANY heat? The crowd response wasn't enraged booing but disappointed and annoyed silence.

2014 Kane is even worse than 2014 RVD.

2014: The year Kane ruined wrestling

Best Usos tag yet?