sporadic

Oh believe me I'm right there with you and agree. It makes so much sense and could open a lot of options as far as matches go. This is Vince being a stubborn ass about things, digging in his heels, and trying to shove his way down the throats of his fans at exactly the wrong time for him to do this with Lucha Underground and NJPW making some buzz along with ROH as alternatives....

They couldn't wait one year with Reigns? Why the rush? Give Bryan is actually run and then next year give it to Reigns. He's young and has room to grow, SLOW THE FUCK DOWN! you know what really fucking kills me? Bryan's 2006 ROH title run is the perfect template for a WWE title run. He started as a babyface and gradually got more arrogant and dastardly with each title defense. If they are so concerned about Bryan's longevity and making Reigns the top guy then why not go with that format? Have Bryan slowly turn heel to the point that eventually fans will be begging for someone to beat him? I have absolute faith that Bryan could turn the fans on him too. I think he's a natural heel anyway. Just because that makes so much sense and means that they'd be lifting an idea from ROH they won't do it. They can't acknowledge anything out of their walled garden - even if it means lifting a 10 year old title run storyline from another promotion...

They're beyond dumb as fuck. I mean look at some of this: Bubba goes off to TNA, becomes a legitimate main-eventer. Comes back and goes right back to his old shtick. No Flair/HBK/Punk longevity builds You start your Rumble off with Miz and Truth. Way to kick the match off and get the crowd pumped. ZERO rivalries were created tonight. ZERO. Just think about that. Could've used Big E to catch Kofi and keep him in the match given Big E is legitimately strong as an ox...but no. Instead you use the Rosebuds only to turn around and waste the catch in less than what...15 seconds? Bring the Wyatt Family back together because strength in numbers? Too easy and we're not going to give the fans a bone. Ziggler, Ryback, and Rowan. You ran a whole month of storyline on them getting fucked, then coming back, then having to fight to get in....only to piss all over that effort. And Reigns....holy fuck...Reigns needed help from The Rock - a part time guy who hasn't been wrestled since WM 29 - to beat back Big Show and Kane, two guys in their 40s, only to have Reigns toss Rusev out like he was nothing moments later. I'm not even touching Bryan because nothing really needs be said about that colossal fuck-up that Philly didn't say for us. If I had so much invested in this I'd be pissed beyond compare but the schadenfreude here is just too good to pass up.

Well, Vince is finally getting his mainstream attention he desires... http://time.com/3682093/cancel-wwe-network-royal-rumble/ http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/wwe-daniel-bryant-royal-rumble-eliminated-reaction http://www.foxsports.com/buzzer/story/wwe-royal-rumble-daniel-bryan-brock-lesnar-roman-reigns-the-rock-012515 And blaming the Reigns backlash on Philly? Unreal...

I don't think Lesnar was a terrible choice; the economics just didn't work out like they thought to make this work. They also didn't have another big name like Sting to work with Taker. Cena makes so much sense vice putting him in with Bray and going over him. C'est la vie...

The only matches anyone could really hope he does that would have huge payoffs is him and Sting (given) or him and Cena. That's all dependent on how healthy he is (and he looked really beat down and broken last year). Given that neither is going to happen this year I have no issue with Taker appearing at WM but putting him a match with Bray just to justify his contract downside is asinine.

Last I heard (and I want to say Meltzer was talking about it on WOL) Undertaker has such a huge downside guarantee in his contract that that the feeling is they've got to put him in a program with someone (Bray) to justify paying that out given the current state of affairs.

The Outlaws doing the job at the Rumble makes no sense. If they were to beat The Ascension, the fans would buy it. If they lose to The Ascension, the fans would expect it due to age and time out of the ring. Speaking of which, any hopes of trying to make The Ascension seem serious were crushed during the nWo segment. I'm not *too* bent out over Bryan doing the job as Bray needs some big wins for the Taker build-up but it's another one of those head scratching decisions where why job him out on his return match back to RAW. The reaction Reigns got as a whole versus the Sting reaction should be evidence enough that the Reigns build-up has been completely bungled. Show's Yay. A Uso vs The Miz. Again. Poor New Day and their shitty gimmick. Poor Cesaro/Kidd/Rose. Three guys that continue to get overlooked it feels like. Why do we have the IC title again? Rusev crushes Truth in 43 seconds on is 43rd birthday. Outside of the last 5 minutes of the show, nothing really got me hyped for the Rumble at all. Maybe it's because I'm jaded but after LU, ROH, NXT, and NJPW this weekend I think it's more of the options available to get my fix in along with the Network.

https://twitter.com/chrisolds2009/status/557385734860972032/photo/1 awesome My understanding from what I've seen online is the boy's father was the drummer during the match announcement skit and blew up because he thought his dad was really sacked.

I think Bryan CAN be more than that but I don't think it'll happen. I'm of the mindset that the future WWE is looking for really is in Rollins, Ambrose, Zayne and Balor. One of those four I feel is going to be the guy - most likely Balor. Bryan will float with Itami as guys I can see them going back to when necessary if experiments bomb.

Vader's WWF run to me. I had such high expectations based on his NJPW and WCW work. How they fucked up a sure thing boggles me...

That would produce some nuclear heat but not in the way WWE would want. They have conditioned most of the fans to believe that WM is the culmination of things and generally follows a send the fans home happy booking strategy. To me having Rollins cash in at WM and take the belt would be akin to a "Finger-Poke-Of-Doom" moment. The other thing as well is the best opportunity for him to cash in would be at the Rumble. If it was me booking - and just me alone - I'd have Cena knock Lesnar out of the ring, Rollins eat a weak pin so Cena gets the belt, have Brock realize he got fucked and go King Kong Apeshit on Cena afterwards, then have Seth cash in to win the strap after Cena is basically dead, and go on to RAW the next night to explain he intentionally took the pin because he figured Brock would do all the dirty work for him. Again, I get the intent of generating nuclear style heat but I honestly believe that would backfire so badly on WWE as a whole like the Rey Jr nuke that went off last year at the Rumble.

Which kind of defeats the purpose of having them break up in the first place, right? I mean, these guys could have been with another guy in the group been a Four Horsemen-like group. They got the rub from Flair over Evolution earlier in the year. It just amazes me the complete and total lack of long-term booking thought that goes on in this company which isn't NXT...

These guys have a noted history of bungling super simple things so I'm not terribly surprised...

My cousin - who is super casual - loves Roman Reigns and the Superman Punch, and hates Bryan because he looks like an "ugly troll." So, Reigns does have his fans, but I still think WWE would be making a huge mistake pushing him over Bryan. I don't see the harm in giving Reigns another year. It's not like he's bursting with such momentum that they have to strike right this moment or risk cooling him down. He's not quite hot enough for that yet. My wife is super casual and adores Daniel Bryan. She has never seen his ROH work, never watched his KENTA stuff, only knows him from WWE when she sits down to watch and goes bonkers when he's out. She also likes Reigns too but if push comes to shove she goes with Bryan. All of this that follows is going to be pure conjecture but I'm of the opinion that if Bryan can win over someone like my wife who knows fuck and all about pro wrestling as a whole he can be that top guy. I am also of the opinion that Reigns needs to simmer for another year, work some longer matches then re-evaluate (getting better promo material would also be hugely beneficial but that's not going to happen with Vince). I know they want to strap the rocket on him and go to the moon but I think the blowback in doing so would be much worse than when they tried to do it with The Rock starting out...

This is the same company that ran Bigelow vs. Taylor last at a prior WM so don't put it past them to do it. I don't think they would but stranger has happened.

Of course they're not. That said, he's got that look that appeals to women. A good bit will cheer him just based on that.

1) From any indication of the boos last night towards the end of it, the answer is a resounding no. Women are always going to cheer for Reigns because of his look even that is only going to get him so far. 2) Doubtful. I figure they either do Rollins vs. Reigns for the title or Rollins vs. Bryan with Cena vs Rusev and Taker vs Wyatt (depending on Taker's health) at WM.

I'd certainly be the last person to argue that Reigns is as physically built and as strong as Goldberg was during his WCW run. I do see Reigns potential being more akin to The Rock. The main commonality that both Goldberg and Reigns share is their moveset is very basic, very limited. The big difference between the two is Goldberg had guys around him that could help carry him as necessary, that could help him with his selling, help pace his matches, etc. Reigns has Rollins, Bryan, Cesaro and maybe Cena. That's it really. Even The Rock had a stacked roster to do the same things for him like Goldberg did that Reigns just doesn't. Both guys also didn't have someone scripting every single word out for him and trying to make him into someone he's not (aka John Cena 2.0). There is a lot of upside to Reigns as a whole and a lot to work with. That said WWE and Vince in particular are burying this guy in the worst possible way via horrible promos and matches with Show that I'm truly at a loss at how fucking stupid they have to be...

Certainly Reigns can succeed. I don't know how he would off the top of my head but it's certainly in the realm of possibility. Mizdow has proven it can be done. The really interesting thing about "common sense" is that a lot of times "common sense" is wrong a lot of times. This could be one of those times where "common sense" is wrong. I seriously doubt it. Then again, I never really equated how they book now factoring in brand power.I made the assumption - perhaps very incorrectly - that they truly have no fucking clue about what to do. Even if they're going to leverage brand power in their booking so they come up with a cookie cutter formula, eventually at some point it's going to backfire because the big stories in sports are driven by people with personalities. I'd wager that if they continue to give Reigns the kind of material they gave him on Friday eventually the babyface heat Reigns has at shows will turn into dis-interest right down into jeers...

Goldberg had a lot of competent individuals to work with as he moved up the card that could make him look good and help pace matches out coupled with his natural ability. Reigns has the ability but given the strict soft style WWE works as compared to Goldberg in WCW, I don't know how far Reigns can ever progress. I'd even wager he regresses a lot given these limitations. Also outside of someone like Bryan, Rollins or Cesaro there aren't a lot of guys on the main roster that can really cover for Reigns if necessary. Sure you got Itami, Zayne, Owens, and Balor down in NXT but there is no guarantee once they move up to the main roster they get to do what they've done in NXT and in the past. So, honestly, you've just made a clear cut solid argument why Reigns is NOT the guy you want as your champion right now given how very limited he is in skillset. Also, shit promo material like the one you gave him Friday isn't doing him any favors...

Big Gold always seems to show up at the Super Bowl or NBA Championships. Flair gets quoted by some NFL guys. You'd think...THINK...that might be a Blue's Clue for Vince....

Not to mention last year when crowds everywhere, not just in the big markets, rejected babyface Batista. Also, this past Raw was in Corpus Christi, which is traditionally a hot wrestling town. And the crowd was dead as a doornail for most of the night and particularly at the end. They're determined they're going to get their handpicked guy over in Reigns and all they're doing is repeating what happened with The Rock when he debuted. The difference here though is Reigns doesn't have that presence and charisma that The Rock has. Alvarez's radio show this past Tuesday had a section where they were one of the guys was watching the Flair/Rhodes Rivalries episode and how amazing the promos/interviews were between those two. You'd think it would behoove these guys to review their video libraries and focus on the stuff that worked then repackage it into today's world - especially if you're going to try to push a guy like Reigns who desperately needs help right now...

You'd think that would make the most sense given WWE is a corporate entity like other sporting leagues who have commissioners, disciplinary boards, rules boards, etc. Why not have a guy like Arn Anderson be the Commissioner or move Regal back to the main roster as the Commissioner. This has ways to completely refocus efforts back to coming up with real creative ways to do booking vice the "Evil Authority" crap...

WWE brought this on with all the focus on social media efforts. You brought the fans in close and gave them a voice. The problem is once you elevate and acknowledge the voice of the fans you now have to refocus your efforts to appease them (within reason) because the viral nature of social platforms can crush you in a instance.