Strummer

For someone who is supposed to be getting a rocket attached to him they sure made Reigns look like crap tonight. The strange WWE internal logic of "if you are pushing a big guy he must go up against other big guys right away to make him stronger" was in full effect. I like him more than most but he isn't ready for this kind of monster push yet. I doubt the fans revolt but I don't think he will be the most over face on the roster or anything. the way they are positioning Dolph they better be careful or the crowds are going to expect him to get pushed "for real" this time. I don't think Ambrose is dead but he is significantly less over than he was last summer when he was probably getting the biggest pops on the show

I love Survivor Series 90. Watched it on tape all the time growing up. WM 4 and WM 5 are the big ones that everyone hates but they took place at the peak of my mark fandom so I could never hate them

Meltz says they have a "major angle" planned for the Jan. 5 Raw that will set off Wrestlemania season. I assume that means Hunter and Stephanie are returning that night setting up the Sting match

Survivor Series did 103,000 buys. People must have been interested in the Authority stip and the Sting rumors. Pretty shitty news for the Network though I guess

Tribute to the Troops had Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury selling Hulk Hogan punches and pin ball bumping for him. That's it I've seen it all

So Rollins isn't a Heyman guy. He just doing business with him to torture Cena into bringing Hunter and Stephanie back I agree with Jason Powell they really have to stop it with the Authority stuff. It's clear the crowd was/is sick of that stuff and if they bring them back this quickly it's going to be negative heat. I expect them back around Rumble time or February into the build to mania

I wonder what Bunim-Murray thinks of Brie Bella's heel turn? And other than Rollins v half the roster the most pushed angle in the company right now is Miz/Naomi/Uso. Multiple segments on two different shows tonight

They didn't actually say "Heyman guy" just that they may have formed an alliance. Maybe they dropped that moniker after Axel and Ryback both bombed. But I took it as Rollins being aligned with Heyman

Seth Rollins newest Heyman guy. At least something interesting happened on this show. You cannot fault the company in their effort here. They are going all out trying to push this guy

another notch in the belt on Rollins being pushed as a top guy. Dude is basically feuding with three guys now. Cena, Orton, and Reigns. Four if you count Lesnar (which hasn't been brought up since September or so) That is very un-WWE like as I can't remember the last time a heel had so many continuous programs.. also Dave says the Cena/Lesnar match will be pushed as their last match ever. Have a feeling that when Cena loses he's all distraught and stuff and brings back the Authority

I don't know if anything will be able to top last year's build up

well the next three weeks of WWE programming are probably the most "missable" shows of the year. There was an exception last year with Bryan joining the Wyatts but usually nothing of significance happens until the first RAW of the new year. TLC is pretty much the end of the year in WWE booking

Ambrose loses on PPV again. I really have no idea why they just won't let this guy win a big match

I guess Dave was right and Orton is coming back to feud with Kane and Reigns gets Rollins. If those were the only options I think they made the right choice

Rollins is an interesting case right now. Creative is a mess but they have booked him pretty strong these last six months. Very few jobs and he's constantly outsmarting the babyfaces. But I'd imagine he's doing the job to Cena on Sunday. Not a big deal as he's not going to get pinned. Then it looks like he'll be paired with Orton and you'd imagine Orton is going over because he's just turned and needs momentum. Then as Dave has said they didn't have Ambrose going over at HITC because they wanted Reigns to be the one to go over Rollins. Right now I say Reigns goes over Rollins at the February PPV to build him up for Mania even stronger. Then factor in he has the case and if they want to put the title on him it usually means a bunch of jobs before that happens. So yeah I say he's in for a rough stretch booking wise here.

there are rumors *again* that AJ Lee will be finishing up with WWE on Sunday and that her Slammy speech was her "saying goodbye"

Bryan was backstage at RAW but not used. I'll bet anything they thought he was going to win the Superstar of the Year slammy

I don't really mind Reigns but I think the crowd is going to turn on him if he's pushed over Ambrose during Mania season (spoiler- he will be)

I actually think the build to TLC has been damn good considering they only had two weeks. Much better than the hype for Survivor Series IMO

Ha tonight is already the "go home" show for the TLC PPV. they are taping tribute to the troops along with Smackdown making it a 4/5 hour taping tomorrow night

PWI still insisting that Sting v Taker is the plan for Mania

I have to say I'm digging the Miz/Naomi/Uso storyline going on right now. I know it's just SD but I can't remember the last time WWE gave that much time to a midcard storyline. It got two recap segments!

I agree. He was pretty harsh on Jericho. also when he said for the fans to chant his name at the guys who suck (or wear lifts-another shot at Jericho?) problem is not too many workers overtly suck in WWE anymore

yeah Hunter convinced Vince to turn back Bryan against Wyatt on the way to the Network announcement. It was probably done purely in reaction to the Michigan State deal. But it backfired on them putting it on last. Strange booking all around

The cage angle with Wyatt raised everyone's expectations. Strangely enough if they had just kept him heel a little while longer there would have been less backlash. I don't know if we will ever know the exact specifics of what went on but the Vince interview probably shed quite a bit of light. I do wonder what the plans were for post mania. Batista as babyface champ probably still feuding with Orton. I doubt Bryan was in plan to fight for the title