Current WWE

[Strummer]

I'm going on a wait and see attitude. First impression is this will not work. This is going to be like last summer with the .bryan angle with everyone going back and forth

[The Chief]

The simplest way I look at it is this:

 

The saying goes "if you can't beat em, join em" not "if you can beat em, join em."

 

Why would he want to join the losing team?

[funkdoc]

they just can't let anything breathe anymore

 

the shield were getting incredibly over as babyfaces, and had even become the new sex symbols for the company. they had a ton of mileage left as a face act and could have been something truly special. but noooooooooo gotta swerve the internet fans~

 

also given how meta this company has become anymore, i am fully expecting rollins's reasoning to be some form of "reigns was going to be the star and i didn't want to get buried in the midcard"

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

The last thing any up and coming wrestler should want to do is join up with goddam Randy Orton.

 

Hopefully they bring crazy old man Flair back to try and salvage this mess.

[Dylan Waco]

Horrificly awful end to a bad show (the tag matches were good). Honestly that is an interest killing angle to me, the sort of thing that will actually make me want to not renew a Network I've always had some problems with, and deprioratize watching RAW live/in full even during the period (slow sports season coming after the NHL/NBA Finals) where I would normally watch instinctively without at thought.

 

There is no way in which it makes sense.

 

Rollins is not an ideal heel. He may work in the end, but he's not got the surface level tools for it. He's an awful promo, his offense is babyface offense, his look is a babyface look. I think he was at LEAST as protected by being in The Shield as Reigns, possibly more so. The idea of him doing lengthy promos with HHH and Orton to "explain" this unexplainable angle is terrifying.

 

Which leads to the second issue - there is no good explanation for this. This is literally 2004 level, Jeff Jarrett-swerves, TNA stuff. The best it can be is weak. The worst it can be is all time level bad.

 

Then there is the fact that I get the sneaking suspicion this was a backdoor way of trying to get heat for the heatless Orton and HHH, by giving them a flashy worker, who does lots of big spots, and works at a quicker pace.

 

I don't see how this helps Reigns or Ambrose either. They split up a hot babyface act - probably the hottest act they have considering what's going on with Bryan at the moment - for what? I understand the argument that they had done everything as a trio, but there are easy ways to work around that to the point where I think that's an exceptionally myopic argument that falls on it's face if you think about it for two seconds.

 

Now they are forcing the issue of Regins as a singles guy, the top feuds are Cena v. The Authority, Bryan v. Kane, and Reigns/Ambrose/? (possibly Cena which would is regressive) v. HHH/Orton/Rollins. Just totally unappealing on every level.

 

I cannot wait for football season.

[The Man in Blak]

I always figured it would be Ambrose who would turn, he has more of a natural heel look.

Ambrose has the mean streak for it, sure, but he's so hilariously awesome at selling that he makes a perfect FIP.

 

Rollins, on the other hand, strikes me as a guy that will really need to stretch out and show some a new side to work as a heel, since he served as the Shield's explosive, fan-pleasing spot machine...and he's got an uphill climb to sell his motivation for turning on a dime. Jealousy vs. Reigns, as mentioned above, is probably the one shot that they've got, but that reasoning looks incredibly silly when they're barely out of the afterglow of a PPV main event win. They're basically asking him to pull off the Rockers-era Shawn Michaels heel turn in a week without having the benefit of Jannetty lighting the fuse at Survivor Series.

 

I haven't seen his pre-WWE work, though, so hopefully he's better suited for this role than he's shown. Because, right now, not only does this seem like poor timing for a quick betrayal in the Shield, but it seems like the worst possible guy of the three for it too.

[Dylan Waco]

To give people an idea of how much I hate this, I think I hate it as much - maybe more - than the Ryback/Punk HITC finish which triggered an epic meltdown from me. And both of the fears I had about where the finish would lead in that match were proven right.

[hammerva]

In order to be a great heel you either need to be a damn good promo person or have a great person to cut the promos for you. While Rollins is miles better in talking than his ROH days he still needs lots of work. But Triple H isn't that guy to be a talking piece and you damn well know that Orton isn't it.

 

While a Orton/Rollins teams sounds good in the ring, those promos and buildups to angles are going to be nails on a chalkboard

[(BP)]

I always figured Corey Graves would get called up so HHH could work out his Punk feelings on TV, but I guess it's going to be making Rollins a pet project instead.

[C.S.]

I was thinking last night that Dean Ambrose is a natural heel, Rollins is a natural face, and Reigns could probably pull off both roles equally well. I expected a Shield turn of some sort eventually, but Rollins being the one is definitely unexpected.

 

I am curious to see how - or if - he fits in with Evolution. Seems like such a duck out of water pairing. Does he cut or dye his hair one color now?

 

Not sure what the logic is. Being jealous of Reigns? Okay, but he's going to be even more overshadowed by H and Super Orton. As usual, WWE throws darts against a wall. Don't expect a satisfying explanation. You didn't get one for the Austin heel turn, and you won't get one here.

[Bierschwale]

the shield were getting incredibly over as babyfaces, and had even become the new sex symbols for the company.

 

The only thing that the company hates more than credible women wrestlers is male wrestlers who can appeal to women.

[Sean Liska]

HHH loves these guys and has worked so hard to put them over. I'm willing to see where this one goes. I think the end game is still all three guys as main event level players.

[Strummer]

 

the shield were getting incredibly over as babyfaces, and had even become the new sex symbols for the company.

 

The only thing that the company hates more than credible women wrestlers is male wrestlers who can appeal to women.

 

That thought also hit me. Think of all the teenage girls crying themselves to sleep tonight. Still can't book a pretty boy wrestler. Ever since Shawn

[Coffey]

This RAW show tonight, after Payback last night which I really liked, felt like a kick in the gut.

 

My big problem is that WWE uses so many guys on TV that I am just not ever going to give two flying fucks about anymore. I never want to see Kane, The Big Show, Rob Van Dam, Randy Orton, Jack Swagger or Alberto Del Rio ever again. Instead they're on every single show, sometimes multiple times. Especially if you include all the damn replays. I'm tired of John Cena too.

 

I like Luke Harper but I don't like Rowan or Bray. I don't care if Bryan comes back or not, really. The "Yes!" shit drives me crazy & I wish he would just wrestle. The Usos are pretty good. Goldust is pretty good. Ryback & Axel, surprisingly, have become pretty good. I would like to see more Fandango, which a lot of people would probably disagree with but at least he still feels fresh to me. Would love a change-up to commentary too. Make it a 2-man team & bring Regal to RAW from NXT. Bring back Brock too, fuck. Would be cool if C.M. Punk could come back too.

 

I want to see new people doing new things & each week being a dramatic continuation of stories. Instead, we get meaningless rematches that last forever that no one was clamoring for in the first place, bad writing, no continuity & unfunny comedy that insults our intelligence.

 

WWE spends so much time sucking their own dick, trying to get over Twitter, WWE.com, the WWE Network, the WWE App, etc. that they forget to get over the goddamn wrestling show.

[sek69]

I don't have a problem with the breakup, after all there wasn't much left for them to do as a unit, but why put them over so strong the day before? If they were going to break them up now, there should have been some kind of dissension like when Owen was the only Hart to lose which was fuel for his turn. This seemed like doing a turn just for shock value.

[goc]

I'm not sure what to think about this. Part of me thinks they could have a plan for this, and part of me thinks it might just be some way to write out Reigns for a bit because he may have a torn tricep. I'm willing to see where it goes and I think it's probably best for Rollins health that he's going back to being a heel because all I could think about watching him at Payback was that he's going to be the next guy getting neck surgery.

[Strummer]

I don't think tonight was the start of a Cena v Authority program. I think they wanted Cena to cut Bryan's promo for him since he wasn't there. For the life of me I actually thought he was good in that segment. It doesn't suit Bryan's character to make fun of Stephanie so they just had Cena do it. Remember they teased Cena feuding with them last fall/winter and it led to nothing.

 

If this Rollins turn could somehow lead to a blowoff off of the whole Authority storyline at Summerslam I'd be all for it. One year after it all began. Maybe throw in Steph v Brie. I doubt that though.

 

As an aside I like how the Big Show v Authority storyline has been completely erased from the WWE lexicon

[goc]

I wanted Stephanie to really throw a curveball at Cena and offer him a title shot.

 

If Bryan is able to come back for MITB then I really hope the long term pay off for the Rollins turn is to have HHH send Rollins after him. HHH can say he picked Rollins as the one to corrupt because he thinks Rollins is the guy who can take the title off Bryan.

 

It's pretty easy to see from HHH's point of view why he would have wanted Rollins out of all of The Shield. Rollins is the one who saved the day and sparked the comeback in both the Evolution vs. Shield matches.

[Stiva]

So, I think we can all agree that the post-Mania stuff has been...poor to say the least. It's kind of crazy to me that everything seemed so exciting and full of potential and it's just fizzled out into compete nonsense. The Shield have been split way too early, Bryan can't wrestle, Cesaro has lost all his momentum with Heyman, RVD is still hanging around, Sheamus is getting staler every week as a babyface, it's like they're using everybody incorrectly.

 

Though, I wouldn't be surprised if this Rollins turn is a double swerve and he costs Orton MITB and joins back up with Reigns and Ambrose.

[JaymeFuture]

Not a fan of Rollins breaking off either, the dynamic of the Shield was so good I think you didn't have to even do a "hard split" if you wanted to move on.

 

I'm expecting that the whole thing will be that Rollins has been pushed for months as the "architect", in essence the cerebral assassin of the Shield, and thus has the most Trips like tendencies. Which ultimately means selfish gain, which is what was offered to him.

 

Time will tell on this, but I'm skeptical.

[stomperspc]

I think there are ways the turn can work out fine.

 

In terms of why Rollins would leave the winning team to go the losing team, the Shield won the matches against Evolution but what were they really gaining? More to the point, Seth Rollins was killing himself and at best he was still just one of three in the Shield. They can spin it that Triple H sold Rollins on the idea that he can give him opportunities and a chance to shine on his own that he couldn't get with the Shield. They don't need to convince anyone that Rollins made the right decision, only that there was some logic for his decision.

 

Working wise I think it will be an adjustment for Rollins, but I think he will be okay. While he was better as a face, he worked fine as a heel both in tags and singles matches for the first year of The Shield's run.

 

It was earlier than I would have broken them up for sure.

 

In the end, it can be a good thing if they present Rollins as a big deal thereby making his betrayal a big deal. If The Shield gets immediate revenge and/or Rollins is presented as the third member of Evolution (clearly a step below Orton and Triple H) than that's no good. I would like to see Triple H give Rollins a spot in MITB as his first reward for joining Evolution. Whether that match ends up being for the title or just for a title shot, Rollins should win. That would completely justify the turn (Rollins got more in a month in personal gain than he did in a year and a half with the Shield). Ideally, the match is just for the briefcase so he can win that and defend it against Ambrose and Reigns. Reigns could even win the briefcase at SummerSlam or after that if they wanted to go in that direction.

 

I don't think they should add a third member to the Shield because that would be a hard sell. Just go with the idea that Evolution now has the number's advantage. If Rollins starts to flounder, they can always turn Ambrose in a few months as well to kick off Reigns singles push.

[Bierschwale]

I don't have a problem with the breakup, after all there wasn't much left for them to do as a unit, but why put them over so strong the day before?

 

 

I think that it was meant as the last hurrah for the fans.

[El-P]

Hey, a 20 minute dialogue between Stephy & Cena leading to Cena vs ….. Kane.

Hey, a new character who's gimmick is already dying.

Hey, a swerve and a completely nonsensical turn.

 

Ok. I'm done. Again. Nice try.

[tofu_chipmunk]

Hey, a 20 minute dialogue between Stephy & Cena leading to Cena vs ….. Kane.

Hey, a new character who's gimmick is already dying.

Hey, a swerve and a completely nonsensical turn.

 

Ok. I'm done. Again. Nice try.

 

I'm afraid I need you to narrow this down between Adam Rose, Bo Dallas, and Rusev.

[anarchistxx]

Way to kill your hottest act. Rollins is made to be a face, appeals to both men and women with his spectacular offence, breakneck style and sleazy good looks. He is the natural heir to someone like Jeff Hardy. Turning him heel is just idiocy, without even getting to the fact you have broke up the best faction the company has had in years. There is no real explanation for it - The Shield were totally dominant and held all the cards.

 

WWE reminds me of restless, talentless soap writers, who have a really popular, believable couple and then make one of them have an affair because they are too lazy to think of anything else to create drama. The characters end up ruined.

 

Looks like a dire summer. Daniel Bryan, if he recovers, continuing to feud with 'The Demon' Kane - anyone else die a little inside every time they use that nickname? Cena vs The Authority, yawn. Can't see who they will put Bray Wyatt with, probably Sheamus or RVD, urgh. Then the Shield breakup angle which the cynic in me says will be a horrible trainwreck.