Matt D

i'm not sure if I'd call what Byron's doing "Shining" Also, I'm a little worried about Mizdow. Just doing Miz mannerisms isn't going to cut it. He's going to have to find some other way to interact with the crowd. The act needs to evolve.

I am exhausted. Am I really the only one?

There's no point in saying stuff like "Harper isn't at Bryan's level." Bryan's now said that he wants to elevate guys like Heath Slater.

The Back and to the Left bit on Brock blading was good too.

Dylan laying out the following (paraphrased): "Triple H got an hour on the show. He got to associate with Ahnold. He basically had his own terminator movie. He went over for no reason. He took the bump from the big time star in Rousey. He's now in the feud with Rock, so he's potentially in the biggest match next year at Mania, and his apprentice went over as champ." And then Johnny going. "Ehhhhhh, that's an interpretation, doc."

The Rousey talk mainly has me annoyed that they didn't bring Paige up with her NXT badass character.

The bigger problem was Cena breaking the Accolade, which they could have counterbalanced a bit more if they had built a story around Rusev's shoulder being hurt from Cena's first offensive flurry (which it looked like they started to but they decided to take things a different way).

It might be, in part, that on a show with so many finisher kickouts, to have Rusev be the one to not kick out means that he relatively looks quite weak, especially factoring in how many AA kickouts there have been in the last few years?

Is this some sort of "I will read any comic with Punisher in it with it no matter who is the creative team and no matter if it's any good," mentality?

It'll be really telling. If I was a grumpy anti Reigns fan, I'd cheer him after last night. It'll be very impressive for the WWE if he gets cheered in front of that crowd tonight.

Rusev will be Miz' tag team partner a year from now.

Because then he gets a kayfabe Wrestlemania Main Event payday?

May not be PG. The Seth Green cartoon is MA.

We're definitely on the same page there. Also, I'm a little confused about the Cena/Bryan mid card title bits if Brock wasn't going to stay champion. Wasn't the whole point there to have belts that would be defended by big stars for the months that Brock was away.

Just like after Summerslam year before last, I do think they should keep Reigns away from Rollins for a few months though. Make Reigns go through Show and Kane. I know that sounds tedious but some decisive wins against giants will help him if they work the matches smartly. Have Rollins defend against Orton and get his win back in a gimmick match. Toss Ambrose at him again for a shot or two. Then work an indecisive match and do a blow off three way with Brock at Summerslam really putting Reigns over. Or something. Knowing WWE they're going to go into a three match series with Rollins vs Reigns immediately (maybe the first one as a four way with Orton and someone else too and the second two as gimmick matches).

Obviously, this doesn't cover everything, because there's Mark Henry's physical ability and then there's Evan Bourne's physical ability. There's charisma which would go under Pro Wrestling Understanding but then there's a sort of physical charisma that might go under ability. Then there's the difference between understanding something and using that understanding to create good matches. Michaels is an example of someone who would use his understanding of pro wrestling to make himself look good at the expense of a match, sometimes. I think that there's still some utility in this though.

The Rousey catch has three things going for it. 1. She's actually hot now and it's not a case of getting a MMA star five years after they're a draw like TNA does. 2. She's only interacting with Steph so it's not going to make their own talent look bush league. And Steph stood up to her exactly like she would Sting or someone else, at least for the most part. Having her around doesn't make, let's say, Sasha or AJ look worse so long as it's only Steph that's getting the focus. 3. She's an honest fan, and not just some MMA mercenary, which helps. So it has a lot of the positives of using someone with crossover appeal like this without the usual drawbacks. It didn't need 25 minutes at Mania or whatever, especially if it doesn't build to a match (and who knows if it will). I don't think her being there as an unannounced attraction made Mania feel more special, not as part of an endless talk segment. If it leads to a match, then it's worth it. If it doesn't, then it's even worse than bringing a part timer back to put over someone who's around all the time, because at least a part timer is an organic part of wrestling and wrestling's past and something that wrestling can claim credit for and not someone whose existence, when pushed as a big deal, sort of makes their roster look insignificant.

This is a case where I think the heat is on the heel and not the company though. They introduced a creative element that exists in their fictional world and it came into play at the exact moment where the fans started to think that maybe they wanted Reigns after all. It was fair game.

I do think that Reigns will be better off for that match and if they pull the trigger at Summerslam, it might work out.

What a surreal show.

Well fuck.

Will is right about one thing. Blood does make everything better. It doesn't need to be a ton. Just a little does the trick. We're horrible people.

It's been a night for knee strike replays.

I'd probably have enjoyed the last hour more if I cared in the least about Rousey or MMA

Old man Taker's wind sucking selling is pretty offputting. Also, whenever I see John Cone, I start thinking the John Cone Office Referee 8-bit theme in my head and it takes me out of the match.