Jump to content
Pro Wrestling Only

Current WWE


Smack2k

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 9.7k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

The complete collapse of the authority angle left a very sour taste in my mouth. It was Bryan's story but so many wrestlers came along for the ride. Suddenly half the roster was wrestling with purpose.

 

The downfall of the angle and the problem with creative is/was a lack of patience.

 

The WWE creative model is madness. It is very difficult to get a wrestler over long-term without a prolonged push. But if when the push begins the guy is not an immediate draw he gets dropped down the card. The result is there is one draw and five over guys on the entire roster.

 

The writing needs to be less reactionary. You're going to have no idea what will draw 2 years in the future by looking at this weeks quarter-hour ratings. Dropping an untested draw (Bryan) into four consecutive ppv main events and watching him struggle only shows that he is not there yet. Not that he never will be.

 

Traditional scripted tv shows are written and filmed in a vacuum. A big chunk of the season is in the can before ratings come out. Before the critics/fans can tell the writers what they think. The writers can do what they have to do without constant fear that the rug will be pulled out from under them by a loss of viewers between commercial breaks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was Summerslam not a swing and a miss? I guess the idea is that last year's number was inflated.

Summerslam wasn't good, no, but the point is, how can you blame Bryan for that? It was his first proper main event and they spent the build telling people that he didn't belong there.

 

I'm not even complaining about the last part, because it was all part of the story being told where the company didn't believe in him and he was going to prove them wrong (until he didn't, but thats the other issue). But I mean, you can't start a story like that and then bail when the number a guy drew based on the fans being told he wasn't a big star isn't good. No kidding, you're the ones that booked him like that.

 

Sure, if the numbers are still down when the story is finished and Bryan has been established as a legit player, then yes, that is a problem and maybe he isn't a draw. But they never got that far so they'll never know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't see or listened to the conference call so I may be completely wrong here, but why do people take the "swing and miss" quote from Vince and think he is just talking about Bryan vs Cena? Punk vs Brock was built as just as important as the WWE title match and it got a lot of tv time too. To me that was even worse because you have Punk as their "1B" guy (to Cena's 1A) and you put him against a legit draw like Lesnar in a very well booked angle...and it still bombs.

 

The Summerslam number always struck me as a bigger indication to Punk as a draw than D-Bry. And it weird to me how WWE seemingly didn't see it that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure that Bryan got "buried" or is fated to never be in the main event anymore. Several RAWs since HITC have been headlined by Bryan, and the last two RAWs before Survivor Series ended with Bryan's music playing and him celebrating. Him and Punk are in the second biggest feud happening now. He hasn't exactly gotten the Ziggler treatment.

 

I think Bryan's situation was similar to Ryback last October in that he was a victim of timing. The time wasn't right for Bryan to win the title and triumph over HHH because they're building the heat for the Vince-HHH thing at Mania. It sucks but it is what it is.

 

But to say he's buried back to the midcard isn't really accurate either. He'll get more opportunities, as opposed to guys like Ziggler or Ryback who had their chance and now are legitimately done in that role.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Apparently they're running Rhodes Bros vs Real Americans in a cage at MSG this month. Someone needs to fancam that.

 

EDIT: I really liked Rhodes/Show vs Shield too.

 

It's crazy how WWE has really embraced the double-FIP structure with all of these 6 mans this year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good question. Tyler Black was terrible in the independents and then he became Seth Rollins and now will most likely land in my top 25-30 in the world this year. Claudio was pretty good in the independents and then became Antonio Cesaro and is the best wrestler in the world. It's amazing to think that the WWE style is making wrestlers better rather than worse.

 

I wonder if say, Sin Cara, had gone through developmental he might be better as well?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good question. Tyler Black was terrible in the independents and then he became Seth Rollins and now will most likely land in my top 25-30 in the world this year. Claudio was pretty good in the independents and then became Antonio Cesaro and is the best wrestler in the world. It's amazing to think that the WWE style is making wrestlers better rather than worse.

 

I wonder if say, Sin Cara, had gone through developmental he might be better as well?

In a way having all that footage and having the production team they have had at their disposal has been some of their biggest and best tools in training their wrestlers. It has given them a special kind of focus and sharpened their sense of the kind of wrestlers they should be instead of aimlessly grasping at the notion that cosplaying video game matches=5 star outings. If you aren't a world class versatile talent the WWE will help you find what it is that you are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if say, Sin Cara, had gone through developmental he might be better as well?

Mistico was pretty shitty the last year or so of his run, so I don't doubt this for a second.

 

Fair enough. I still wonder if he ever would have grasped something like selling a little better or I don't know working safe. His offense would still be terrible I suppose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bryan didn't get buried. They just didn't go the full monty with him. In the "smart" fans minds, that automatically gets generalized to buried.

 

I really wish that they would sign the Briscoes so that they could join the Wyatt Family. It would be an awesome way to bring them in.

Yeah, it's kind of a part of the Alvarez-ization (or at least that is who I credit it to) of the "smart" fans. Practically anytime someone loses a match, they have been BURIED~!.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone is saying Bryan's being straight up buried and having his career destroyed on the undercard. But he is being held back in the mid card. He's in a great position in his career right now, but he could possibly be a lot more. He's still outrageously over with the live crowds and has a lot of charisma. Maybe he couldn't have been a really big star but he has obvious potential and they didn't really try. Instead they just kicked him back down to a midcard feud and kept Randy Orton on top for pretty much no reason except that he's their guy and Bryan really isn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone is saying Bryan's being straight up buried and having his career destroyed on the undercard. But he is being held back in the mid card. He's in a great position in his career right now, but he could possibly be a lot more. He's still outrageously over with the live crowds and has a lot of charisma. Maybe he couldn't have been a really big star but he has obvious potential and they didn't really try. Instead they just kicked him back down to a midcard feud and kept Randy Orton on top for pretty much no reason except that he's their guy and Bryan really isn't.

I'm really hoping that they are just setting up Bryan-Cena II for WrestleMania. Cena can win the match at TLC and Bryan can win the Rumble. Triple H thinks Bryan is not worthy so they have a match at Elimination Chamber, where Bryan puts his title shot on the line.

 

I don't see what else they could possibly be building to.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if anyone is saying Bryan's being straight up buried and having his career destroyed on the undercard. But he is being held back in the mid card. He's in a great position in his career right now, but he could possibly be a lot more. He's still outrageously over with the live crowds and has a lot of charisma. Maybe he couldn't have been a really big star but he has obvious potential and they didn't really try. Instead they just kicked him back down to a midcard feud and kept Randy Orton on top for pretty much no reason except that he's their guy and Bryan really isn't.

He's not even really in the midcard though - he's not having thrown together TV matches with Sandow and Fandango. He's in the second-most pushed issue right now, him and Punk feuding with the Wyatts and Shield. He's main evented numerous TV shows, including this last SD with Orton. The only thing getting more attention right now is Orton and Cena.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...