Russellmania

It was decent for what it was and about what you'd expect. Lots of control segments by Del Rio allowing him to lead Reigns through the match. Occasional hope spots with Reigns trying to punch his way out of restholds and such. Then eventually the surge from Regins to hit his big spots leading to the finish. I thought Del Rio did a really god job carrying the match. Reigns seriously has like 4 moves in his arsenal. It's kind of ridiculous. How long before people turn on him when they realize he's no better than Cena?

holy shit, Bryan detained a burglar who had broken into his house: http://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/central-phoenix/wwe-star-daniel-bryan-stops-burglar-in-phoenix

a big reason belts don't matter any more is all the stupid fucking non-title matches they run on TV. The IC and US champs seem to wrestle in more non-title matches than they do title matches. If the title isn't even important enough to be the centerpiece of the title-holder's matches then what's the point of it? Also since they use non-title matches as a vehicle for the 'challenger' to get an 'upset' win over the champ to then set up the title match it seems like the IC and US champs lose as often as they win, which really makes them seem like paper champions. I'd love to see win/loss stats for secondary champs in WWE over the last 5 years. I bet their win percentage in singles matches as champ (excluding title changes) is below 75%, which is absurd when you consider that by definition a champ should be undefeated until he loses the title.

Initially I don't think Angle was all that different. Yes, he had the Olympic pedigree, but his initial character was about how foolhardy he was in thinking he was the best thing to ever happen to wrestling. He was every bit the delusional heel who thinks he's the babyface, and that's exactly what Bo is currently. The key will be if they transition Bo into something more serious without dropping the comedy. He can still be the character he is, but other wrestlers will eventually need to take him seriously. If they book it so that others start thinking and acting as if Bo is legit, then the fans will view him as legit, while he still retains the comedy. that's basically what his character was in NXT already. He was a delusional heel who thought he was a babyface, but he also had a real nasty mean streak in the ring and you could see that he had a real temper outside the ring. on the main roster he hasn't really been allowed to show that mean streak which is a key component of getting him over IMO. WWE creative has no idea how to book a character that's goofy and kind of funny but also a legit threat in the ring. I mean who is the last guy they booked that way successfully? Angle? Just look at Santino and Emma. They have no idea how to book funny wrestlers as anything but exclusively comedy acts.

I don't think Zayn is a guy who needs to win to be over though. In fact I think he works better as a guy who loses but looks great in defeat. I mean his biggest rub so far was probably jobbing incessantly to Cesaro. He has that Tommy Dreamer quality of being a guy who can job a ton and still be over with the fans. Then when he gets a big win it feels like a bigger deal.

am I the only one who thinks Bo is an awesome worker? The times I've seen him in NXT he has been very good. The way he has been booked on the main roster is kind of off though...I mean it's a variation of his NXT character, but unsurprisingly the WWE creative team apparently doesn't fully understand what made his NXT character great. (hint: it's not puns involving 'Bo')

is Cena lurking? John Cena ‏@JohnCena 3m Ok interweb, have fun with this one.. #lifewouldbebetterif I turned heel. @twitter feed crash in 3....2.....

btw, anyone heard anything from the WWE Comic Con panel? I know sting made an appearance. Bryan was on the panel...wondering if he gave any updates on his health.

I think the problem is the way their creative is structured. With only a handful of guys getting serious pushes it seems like they still are barely able to finish the script in time for RAW every week. I just don't think they have the creative bandwidth to give everyone something meaningful to do which is why you get that lazy booking style of just having guys randomly face each other 3 times in a week or whatever. Maybe if they didn't micromanage everything they'd be able to spread the love a little more, but it's not changing anytime soon.

I see people saying Reigns is more over than Ambrose and citing lack of heat during Ambrose matches as proof. Can someone please show me a Reigns match not involving Cena or the rest of the Shield where he has sustained heat during the match itself? I remember a throwaway Reigns/Wyatt match during the Shield/Wyatts feud where the crowd was surprisingly dead. Seems to me the only time Reigns is getting huge pops are when his music hits or when he's hitting his spots during tag matches in which the other guys have worked to put the heat on him. I have yet to see a Reigns singles match where the crowd is really into everything.

why the fuck did they book Bo in the face position of this segment?

I don't think a brand split is necessary, but I kind of wish they didn't feel like they have to involve certain guys in *every* PPV. I think this is something they could learn from UFC. UFC has monthly shows, but it's not like the heavyweight champ defends on every PPV. I know it's not a perfect comparison, but I would like to see WWE recognize when a smaller show like Battleground is going to do more harm than good for certain programs and instead build the show around guys who maybe don't get to feature as much in the bigger shows. Problem is that in order for that to work you need your secondary titles to mean something so that you can have say...the IC title main event a PPV. They are obviously a long way off from that. I guess my point is that they have enough talent to fill out all the TV and PPV's they have, but they rarely make the best use of that talent and that tends to send a clear message that certain guys aren't important enough to get significant PPV time.

I never got that vibe from HHH's twitter at all actually but maybe that's naive of me. It just seems like it's something he's passionate about he therefore he tweets about it.

this stupid fucking crowd chanting "you can't wrestle" at Cena and then chanting for Reigns who has like 2 actual wrestling moves in his arsenal

I'd have a hope for this match if Kane wasn't in it

So you think the way they have been promoted on NXT will never happen on the main show? I don't care all that much one way or the other, but if they put in a bad performance I will say so. I don't think pointing out horrificly bad work is the same thing as demanding RINGS level matwork, nor can I imagine why any serious person would claim it was. Not with Vince and Kevin Dunn running the company. Absolutely not.

Paige should be working ten minute matches on Superstars every week against a different Diva. Comparing WWE women to other women isn't asinine it's fair. I compare AAA undercarders who are severely handicapped by booking to CMLL undercarders. I compare WWE main events to guys main eventing Anarchy television. Yes it's reasonable to adjust for circumstance, but it's not unfair to compare them at all. Fuck I thought the best NXT matches the year with the divas stand up very well to the best Joshi and indie stuff. i think Paige v. Emma was WAY better than the overrated Athena v. Lufisto match for example When I said "women in WWE" I was specifically talking about on the main roster. NXT is basically run like an Indy. I don't think the framework or freedom is there for the women on the main roster to shine like that.

Emma IS better than AJ

comparing WWE women to Joshi and Indy wrestlers is asinine. The women in WWE don't have the freedom, reps, or infrastructure to be successful on that level. Anyway I agree that Paige's recent callup to the main roster has exposed her as being green, but I just don't think that match was really on her. AJ failed to bump through the ropes on the one spot and held on to the ropes too long on the sunset flip. She also fucked up the pin by failing to just cover Paige when she had her legs up in the air. The problem with Paige is if you go back to her NXT run she was having really solid matches so I don't know if sending her back will do any good. At this point she's only going to improve if she keeps working on live TV in front of bigger crowds.

The two worst spots in that match were the tackle through the ropes and the sunset flip power bomb and both looked botched by AJ more than Paige IMO.

that AJ/Paige match sucked. really expected more from them

jesus christ that is dumb. That show was nothing without Bryan.

seems like the idea was that HHH and Flair were in opposing corners, but once Bray layed hands on Flair, HHH flipped out and came to the aid of his mentor.

I think his problem is that he has zero charisma.

this KENTA signing just kind of reinforces something I've been thinking about with WWE lately which is that they really handcuff themselves by taking forever to sign these indy guys. I mean by the time guys like Bryan, Cesaro, Zayn, Punk, etc. make it to WWE they are often in their 30's and have a ton of wear and tear on them. As we've seen with Punk and Bryan, by the time they finally get over in WWE they are nearing the end of their careers due to all the injuries they've had. Hopefully their willingness to bring in Indy guys to NXT will make them less stubborn over time and they'll start signing these guys earlier so they can actually get some miles out of them.