WWE TV 02/26 - 03/04

[FMKK]

Nak is not responsible for the booking. They gave him the Rumble win then they had him cut that awful promo in broken English to set-up a dream match against AJ, so now they figure the work is done. Total lazy stuff as far as booking goes. Of course if they get creative at Fastlane it can only go worse (because who wants anything other than Nak vs AJ at this point ?).

 

That being said, it's no worse than Roman Reign Push-to-Mania #152727 where there's absolutely zero narrative (except "Roman has to go and win at Mania" despite our audience not wanting him to) and where it leads to another match against Lesnar, who has been the poster boy for not giving a fuck for, what, two years now ?

 

Mania is all about Rousey & Angle vs Stephy & HHH now. Well, at least it *could* be fun.

 

That's entirely untrue.

[The Chief]

Is there a reason why Nakamura has been off tv so much since the Rumble? Even by current Smackdown standards that's unusual.

[sek69]

Oh my God. I just saw maybe the single worst example of WWE Camera production EVER.

 

https://twitter.com/AndrewTRich/status/968941863087550467

 

this is like... awful

 

That's the one I was referring to, I never got motion sickness from TV before that.

[Childs]

God knows the Mania title match could use SOMETHING. There's no direction or purpose behind it at this point. None whatsoever. It's just a standard match that would feel at home any other night of the year.

 

Nak is positioned as a baby face, and he gets baby face reactions appropriately. But that's about it. He's a bare minimum act, generating bare minimum effort. There's no reason to invest any care or concern into the character, because the effort just hasn't been there. They still have plenty of time to infuse some life and energy into the act, but Christ. It's dire at the moment.

 

The guy's just another baby face at this rate. His entrance and signature spots get pops. But there's no indication that he's actually any more over or any more buzzworthy than a Bobby Roode - or hell, even a Tye Dillinger when he shows up. They're all practically interchangeable. Seriously. Slide Roode or Tye into the same role and nothing changes. I mean, I guess some neckbeards might get bent out of shape and blog about it, but those people would still watch, regardless. Wouldn't put even the slightest dent in business though.

 

All of that just to basically say - the Smackdown scene feels so ice fucking cold.

To be fair though, they probably will at least attempt a more focused build after Fastlane. Though I agree they squandered whatever momentum Nak might have had coming out of the Rumble. I do think Nak-AJ is catnip for smarks and will generate a good response in the stadium no matter how underwhelming the builld.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Yeah I think they just have to clear this show and then get down to business for Mania. Can’t say I’m all that enthused for the Smackdown side of the card at this point, though.

[SomethingSavage]

Don't get me wrong - I understand why they're running with Styles versus Nak. I get it. It's the goodwill match for the diehards. It's the make-good and the counterbalance for whatever celebrity match or hoss fight or godforsaken musical concert that will have the Bullet Club fanboys all up in arms and bitching about elsewhere on the show.

 

My issue isn't with them booking Styles versus Nak as the title match. My issue is with the meaningless, lifeless, aimless direction of their program. There's no heat. There's no meat to the matter. There's zero reason to care about it, outside of it being two guys that the diehards really dig. There's simply no narrative.

 

Plus, yeah. Despite this dream match supposedly being this endgame all along, they've shown no real sign of that. Some of you guys are mentioning that Nak's faded since the Rumble, but what the hell was he really doing before that? Nothing worthwhile. It honestly feels like he fell off the planet after those two losses to Jinder back in the fall.

 

It's not strictly a Smackdown issue either. Their booking leaves alot to be desired all across the board. There's such a giant gap between what's actually presented on TV and what the stories are intended to be. I honestly don't understand how a casual fan could catch on anymore. It's like everything they do requires you to have some inside knowledge about what's going on backstage or who's talking trash about who on fucking Twitter. And nine times out of ten, they don't even attempt to connect the dots for you or make an explanation. They just start babbling about how EVERYONE knows what Roman Reigns posted on his instagram last weekend, and so now we have this feud... Or some such horse shit.

 

It honestly feels like, with almost every one of their programs, you're always just walking right into the middle of a story. There's rarely ever a logical beginning, middle, and end with anything they do anymore. That's the issue.

 

With Nak versus AJ, it's just so evident that there's been NO effort to make it anything more. They've become so work-rate dependent that they don't even bother telling stories anymore. It's practically a 180 from how they used to promote and do business, which is really fucking weird when you think about it.

[KawadaSmile]

I actually feel the opposite. SmackDown may be in the shitters in general, but WWE has done quite the good job of keeping storylines easy to follow. Some quick examples:

 

• It doesn't take much to understand what's going on between Sasha and Bailey, for instance. The former upstaged the latter at every possible opportunity, the latter stood up for herself.
• The dynamics between Rollins/Jason Jordan were also pretty straight-forward. One guy lost his former tag partner, the cocky and brash son of the manager stood up and they worked things out until an injury took him out.
• Cena had no clear path to Wrestlemania for the first time in a long ass time, and you are seeing this frustration build from week to week.

 

All of those feuds, never mind others like Asuka/Nia or even Titus Worldwide/The Bar, need any sort of social media to be understood.

 

Hell, Roman Reigns pretty much made the narrative of his program against Lesnar explicit this week: he's there day in, day out, Lesnar is no-showing, taking pictures with Dana White; he's busting his ass full-time, Brock seldom even talks.

 

If those stories are good or not, it's not up to me. But they are very, VERY clear and easy to follow.

[Strummer]

from Dave's article at mmafighting.com. Looks like the mixed tag wasn't always the plan for Ronda. Think they initially wanted her v Charlotte

 

 

Rousey’s debut has been in the works since last summer, but the match idea has changed several times in the planning stages.

[gordi]

 

It had totally flown over my head that there was yet *another* PPV before Mania. And now I discover that the title match is a multi-man cluster. And that you get Randy Orton vs Bobby Roode, which has to be the blackest hole of all black holes.

If they would add Ziggler and Corbin to that match (instead of the 6 pack shit at the top) I am sure that the first few rows of fans would end up inside the Schwarzschild radius.

 

 

Best laugh I've had this week. Nice one.

 

Oh my God. I just saw maybe the single worst example of WWE Camera production EVER.

 

https://twitter.com/AndrewTRich/status/968941863087550467

 

this is like... awful

 

Yeah... reminds me why I pretty much only tune in during Rumble-Mania season these days. Do they - does anyone - think that kind of nonsense ADDS to the appeal of their show in any way?

[Zoo Enthusiast]

from Dave's article at mmafighting.com. Looks like the mixed tag wasn't always the plan for Ronda. Think they initially wanted her v Charlotte

 

 

 

Rousey’s debut has been in the works since last summer, but the match idea has changed several times in the planning stages.

 

I like the mixed tag better. I don’t have much faith in Charlotte having a great match with someone so green. If it was going to be a singles match, I would have wanted it to be vs Lynch. I think as long as they keep the physicality during the build to a minimum, the mixed tag will be hot.

[El-P]

Yeah... reminds me why I pretty much only tune in during Rumble-Mania season these days. Do they - does anyone - think that kind of nonsense ADDS to the appeal of their show in any way?

 

It's funny, because people always talk about the "great production value" of WWE, but in fact, it's not true. The camera work and live editing is god awful. The backstage stuff is embarrassingly badly shot and paced, with those awkward pauses. There's a lot of money on the screen, but the director really sucks.

[Stiva]

They always changed angles on impact of moves and strikes to try and sell the effect of them but they always refrained from doing it in big brawling angles. Looks like theyve changed their mind. And yeah, thats completely unwatchable and does nothing for anyone involved.

[fakeplastictrees]

The Styles/Nakamura stuff is slightly weird, though completely expected. WWE has positioned itself to ensure no wrestler is bigger than the WWE brand. This has lead to trading wins/losses, stop/start pushes, and scripted babyface promos that are designed to take any and all heat from a babyface. A WWE wrestler, no matter what he/she does, becomes another cog in the WWE machine. So, what is there left to do? If a wrestler has to give a rambling promo about "The King in Yellow", perform a bad Bret Hart impression, or stare at the WM sign for five minutes -- How does a wrestler get over? The answer? WRESTLING! Some fans have worked themselves into (truly) believing the story leading to a match just doesn't matter. The bell-to-bell is the only thing that matters. Everything else is the dressing. While the dressing is nice--its all about the bell-to-bell. WWE, knowing WCW isn't around, knows it can take short cuts. Fighting over a lost spot in a Japanese shampoo commercial was deemed by fans and critics to be completely stupid, silly, and insulting. In that situation, WWE actually (half-assingly) tried to create a reason for Booker T and Edge to square off at Mania.

 

Vince and company know the 'traditional' bare minimum isn't needed, and some fans are completely okay with that as long as the bell-to-bell portion checks out. Expectations are low from both the company and the fans. Its an unspoken truth. WWE is having its cake and eating it too with "the build" to Styles/Nakamura. This match is a glorified rehashed exhibition that is designed purely to accomplish a few things, none of which really need any meaningful build. I am not an apologist, its just the way I see it.

[El-P]

Great post, that one.

 

(and really, chances are that Nak vs Styles won't be nearly as great as what they used to do in NJ a few years back, so it's a dream-match-in-WWE-Universe only, as it's already been done)

 

Cena's "I have no Road to Mania^tm" stuff is another level of idiotic though. Yeah. There's a risk John Cena won't be at Mania. Sure. Really compelling stuff.

 

At this point, the only compelling thing about the main event are : could Lesnar take his ball and run back to MMA ? could Roman be involved in that steroid stuff ? Where Braun could fit in this, in either case ? Which, of course, has nothing to do with the WWE writing.

[Matt D]

Great post, that one.

 

(and really, chances are that Nak vs Styles won't be nearly as great as what they used to do in NJ a few years back, so it's a dream-match-in-WWE-Universe only, as it's already been done)

 

Cena's "I have no Road to Mania^tm" stuff is another level of idiotic though. Yeah. There's a risk John Cena won't be at Mania. Sure. Really compelling stuff.

 

At this point, the only compelling thing about the main event are : could Lesnar take his ball and run back to MMA ? could Roman be involved in that steroid stuff ? Where Braun could fit in this, in either case ? Which, of course, has nothing to do with the WWE writing.

It's more like Cena's quest to avoid being in a multi-man match with Miz.

[Stiva]

Also, Cena is worried that he won't be at Wrestlemania. Not that he isn't fighting for a major title at Wrestlemania. The very concept of simply being at Wrestlemania is elevated higher than the quest for titles these days.

[El-P]

WrestleMania Moment^tm >> any title ever. (which, in a way, kinda makes sense as WM is the only time of the year the promotion appears to be hot, although it's all make-believe at this point, Mania is its own beast)

[fakeplastictrees]

Cena being worried he won't be at Mania doesn't even make sense in the WWE Universe. 98% of the roster makes it to Mania. The ones that don't are hurt or suspended. As a viewer, WWE has done nothing to make me believe the stakes are high much less even real. Cena is a free agent for a reason. For someone reason WWE wants to push the directionless narrative despite the fact that both Raw and Smackdown GMs have gone out of their way to accommodate Cena in a number of ways. There has just been nothing in the narrative that supports a 16 time WWE champion (and a man who JUST finished main eventing a PPV) will have a hard time getting booked on a show that he has been a part of, and main evented a number of times, since 2004. Forget being in the main event. Cena wants us to believe he won't even be in the ATGMBR.

 

If Curtis Hawkins had this concern due to the fact he is on a massive losing streak--fine. If Heath Slater is worried because HE'S GOT KIDS~!--fine. If Goldust is worried because he knows he only has a few more years in the tank--I can buy that. Cena? No so much. Good story. Wrong person.

[FMKK]

On the Ronda reporting, I agree that a Charlotte match should be held off til she has more ring time. Itll be interesting to see how they book her post-Mania because the instinct to me would be to not have her work TV matches and maybe even hold off her first singles match til Summerslam. And her first singles match should be a 6 minutes Goldberg vs Lesnar style bombfest-sprint.

[El-P]

I'd have her make Nia Jaxx cry like a bitch in two minutes, Ken Shamrock-on-Billy Gunn style.

[Childs]

Cena being worried he won't be at Mania doesn't even make sense in the WWE Universe. 98% of the roster makes it to Mania. The ones that don't are hurt or suspended. As a viewer, WWE has done nothing to make me believe the stakes are high much less even real. Cena is a free agent for a reason. For someone reason WWE wants to push the directionless narrative despite the fact that both Raw and Smackdown GMs have gone out of their way to accommodate Cena in a number of ways. There has just been nothing in the narrative that supports a 16 time WWE champion (and a man who JUST finished main eventing a PPV) will have a hard time getting booked on a show that he has been a part of, and main evented a number of times, since 2004. Forget being in the main event. Cena wants us to believe he won't even be in the ATGMBR.

 

If Curtis Hawkins had this concern due to the fact he is on a massive losing streak--fine. If Heath Slater is worried because HE'S GOT KIDS~!--fine. If Goldust is worried because he knows he only has a few more years in the tank--I can buy that. Cena? No so much. Good story. Wrong person.

 

This was my initial reaction, but I don't think the story is really whether he'll be at Mania. It's whether he can create a Mania narrative worthy of his career. He's an old god fighting, and perhaps failing, to meet his standard. That's actually kind of different and neat.

[El-P]

That reminds me those old DVDVR reviews where Dean used to make his own storylines. Gotta do that too with WWE. Since I realized Eric Young in TNA circa 07/08 is actually Butters from South Park, it's way easier to watch.

[SteveJRogers]

 

 

Cena being worried he won't be at Mania doesn't even make sense in the WWE Universe. 98% of the roster makes it to Mania. The ones that don't are hurt or suspended. As a viewer, WWE has done nothing to make me believe the stakes are high much less even real. Cena is a free agent for a reason. For someone reason WWE wants to push the directionless narrative despite the fact that both Raw and Smackdown GMs have gone out of their way to accommodate Cena in a number of ways. There has just been nothing in the narrative that supports a 16 time WWE champion (and a man who JUST finished main eventing a PPV) will have a hard time getting booked on a show that he has been a part of, and main evented a number of times, since 2004. Forget being in the main event. Cena wants us to believe he won't even be in the ATGMBR.

 

If Curtis Hawkins had this concern due to the fact he is on a massive losing streak--fine. If Heath Slater is worried because HE'S GOT KIDS~!--fine. If Goldust is worried because he knows he only has a few more years in the tank--I can buy that. Cena? No so much. Good story. Wrong person.

This was my initial reaction, but I don't think the story is really whether he'll be at Mania. It's whether he can create a Mania narrative worthy of his career. He's an old god fighting, and perhaps failing, to meet his standard. That's actually kind of different and neat.

I agree. Cena, the character, would be insulted if say Bryan said okay, your opponent is this random local [enhancement] talent that you can face [squash in a few minutes] early on the Mania card! Ditto just about any other former champion who has had this sort of Im not booked storyline (Miz, Angle).

 

Granted the jobber being the focus of the storyline as a face would be more compelling, but it is the idea of having one more among the GOAT moments as the lasting image of my career on this stage that is Cenas storyline here.

[Childs]

That reminds me those old DVDVR reviews where Dean used to make his own storylines. Gotta do that too with WWE. Since I realized Eric Young in TNA circa 07/08 is actually Butters from South Park, it's way easier to watch.

 

I'm 100-percent comfortable making my own fun.

[Migs]

 

 

Cena being worried he won't be at Mania doesn't even make sense in the WWE Universe. 98% of the roster makes it to Mania. The ones that don't are hurt or suspended. As a viewer, WWE has done nothing to make me believe the stakes are high much less even real. Cena is a free agent for a reason. For someone reason WWE wants to push the directionless narrative despite the fact that both Raw and Smackdown GMs have gone out of their way to accommodate Cena in a number of ways. There has just been nothing in the narrative that supports a 16 time WWE champion (and a man who JUST finished main eventing a PPV) will have a hard time getting booked on a show that he has been a part of, and main evented a number of times, since 2004. Forget being in the main event. Cena wants us to believe he won't even be in the ATGMBR.

 

If Curtis Hawkins had this concern due to the fact he is on a massive losing streak--fine. If Heath Slater is worried because HE'S GOT KIDS~!--fine. If Goldust is worried because he knows he only has a few more years in the tank--I can buy that. Cena? No so much. Good story. Wrong person.

This was my initial reaction, but I don't think the story is really whether he'll be at Mania. It's whether he can create a Mania narrative worthy of his career. He's an old god fighting, and perhaps failing, to meet his standard. That's actually kind of different and neat.

I agree. Cena, the character, would be insulted if say Bryan said okay, your opponent is this random local [enhancement] talent that you can face [squash in a few minutes] early on the Mania card! Ditto just about any other former champion who has had this sort of Im not booked storyline (Miz, Angle).

 

Granted the jobber being the focus of the storyline as a face would be more compelling, but it is the idea of having one more among the GOAT moments as the lasting image of my career on this stage that is Cenas storyline here.

 

 

But this is where the sledgehammer of plot really hurts. They might be able to get this across if Michael Cole wasn't yelling about a "path the Wrestlemania!" but just said, "hey, Cena wants to be in a big match, and the big matches are usually for titles." The yelling actively makes the plot worse.