Evan Luebbe

Storyline Energy Manipulation of Emotions

One huge topic that is absolutely imperative to discuss is the fact that Kofi Kingston, although he did win the gauntlet match, he did not defeat Daniel Bryan. Vince McMahon is trying to make it seem as though he does not want Kofi anywhere near the WWE Championship.

I was legitimately distraught after watching SmackDown and it put a damper on my entire night. This is why Vince McMahon is a billionaire though, because he has figured out how to manipulate the energy of people’s emotions on a grand scale.

On a supplemental note, there are two smaller topics I would like to touch on, the first being with the Women’s Tag Team Titles. I’m not so sure anymore if it will be Beth Phoenix and Natalya challenging Sasha Banks and Bayley. It may be The IIconics, which would be an underwhelming match to say the least (I find them more annoying than anything). They did pin the champions so they could always be added to the match at WrestleMania.

The final topic for SmackDown this week is the fact that a ‘Mania match between Ray Mysterio and Samoa Joe was announced, even though WWE was rather quiet about it. I’m not upset about it at all, in fact it may be very quietly one of the best matches on the WrestleMania card.

On the flip side, putting Mysterio in that role eliminates the possibility of a Joe versus Cena match. As long as he is physically able, Cena has to do something at the biggest show of the year. He has already wrestled The Undertaker, so that only leaves one possibility, and that is him somehow working his way into the retirement match at WrestleMania against Kurt Angle. This would make perfect sense because Cena interrupted none other than Kurt Angle on the first episode of SmackDown on which he ever appeared in 2002. Unfortunately, no one wants to see Baron Corbin versus Kurt Angle at WrestleMania.

It will also be very interesting if Vince elects to include Mysterio’s son in the mix for this match by having him accompany his father to the ring. I have not seen Dominic since SummerSlam 2005 when he was included in the storyline of his father’s against Eddie Guerrero.

Buildups to WrestleMania Stay Strong

To start things off this week, I would like to discuss what transpired at the beginning of Raw in the confrontation between Brock Lesnar and Drew McIntyre. If Lesnar retains his title at WrestleMania, and, unfortunately, that possibility needs to be acknowledged, then this very well may be the main event at SummerSlam. I have nothing against Brock (it’s the opposite in fact: I think he is a fantastic performer), I just wish he would show up more often. It may have been cool at some point during Lesnar’s career to see him take a little more ownership of his character and not rely so much on Paul Heyman, but that ship may have sailed since Brock is so late in his career.

I also humbly think that Kurt Angle deserves better than what McMahon is giving him with the booking for his retirement match at ‘Mania. It makes sense from a storytelling standpoint, but, in my opinion, he deserves a much better opponent from a wrestling standpoint than Baron Corbin, maybe someone like Finn Balor. Corbin has not done a whole lot to stand out in his three years on the main roster.

I guess Beth Phoenix is going to come out of retirement for at least one more match at WrestleMania to challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships along with Natalya against Sasha Banks and Bayley. Personally, I have never been all that impressed with Natalya. I have never resonated with her (I know this would hurt her feelings. It’s not that I don’t want to, I just don’t).

It has become apparent that Ricochet and Aleister Black are the No. 1 contenders for the Raw Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania, and they should win because they are much more over than The Revival.

One other thing that deserves mentioning is the strength of Drew McIntyre’s booking as of late. It went through a little bit of a rough patch in the Fall of 2018 but has made a full recovery. McIntyre’s match with Roman Reigns should be a great one at WrestleMania (in part because it’s such an easy story to relate to. I read an article about it on Forbes.com written by Blake Oestriecher, one of my favorite authors on the Internet regarding the business of WWE). If I were Vince, I would use this opportunity to book McIntyre to come out of this match as the victor, cementing him as the top heel on Monday Night Raw. Roman Reigns would not be too badly hurt by this loss.

Side Note: Congratulations to Alexa Bliss on hosting this year’s WrestleMania, and also to Elias, for that matter, on being the headlining musical act at WrestleMania this year. It may be beneficial to Elias’ career and possibly solidify him as at least a mid-carder if he is booked in the future closer to the way he was immediately prior to the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view in 2018 in which a slightly more serious side of his character is explored and developed. Otherwise, WWE runs the risk of having him turn into No Way Jose (I love No Way Jose, but let’s be honest… he’s a slightly more tolerable version of Adam Rose from a few years ago), and no one wants that. Elias deserves better. He is fun, but he needs to develop a slightly more serious side to his character in the future if he wants to become a multiple-time champion one day.

Categories RAW

WrestleMania Length Stretches Fan Appreciation

Let’s talk about the length of WrestleMania. First of all, I thought it became too long starting with WrestleMania 32 in 2016. Fans were just wiped out by main event time when Roman Reigns and Triple H came out for their match. I was very surprised when WWE decided to continue this format for the next two years.

This year however, they may be taking it even further. WrestleMania is set to be as long as a typical workday. There are 17 matches that are going to be on this year’s card, and there have only been seven officially announced. This is not a big deal for the die-hard fans, but I’m worried this could turn away casual fans because they are going to deem that they have better things to do than to watch wrestling for eight hours.

I read an excellent point on thesportster.com talking about how Vince McMahon has developed the idea ever since the inception of the WWE network, that nearly every superstar needs to be included on the WrestleMania card, and that’s just not the case. One aspect of an event like WrestleMania that makes it special is that not everyone gets featured on the card, so superstars feel really valuable to the company if they have a big match at the biggest show of the year. It’s just a note for Vince and Triple H to be careful; they have a great product that isn’t going away anytime soon but, making sure fans stay engaged is critical to long-term success.

Rush Redemption & Shelton Surprises

It’s a pleasant surprise that WWE is finally finding something productive to do with Shelton Benjamin. He is clearly one of the most talented superstars on the roster but is rarely used for some reason. I’m not questioning the decision about how often he is used, it’s just rather unfortunate to see him not being utilized a whole lot. Management surely has their reasons.

Lio Rush officially redeemed himself in the eyes of Bobby Lashley by essentially winning the Intercontinental Championship for him.  This move effectively locks in an Intercontinental Championship match at WrestleMania between Finn Balor and Bobby Lashley. This makes sense because WWE has proven over the years that they really like to draw out feuds.

The situation with Kurt Angle retiring is a little bittersweet because he has always been near and dear to my heart. The entire WWE universe will be anxiously awaiting to see who his opponent is for his farewell match at WrestleMania.

I’m really not sure what to make of the Roman Reigns situation, so I’m not going to give commentary on it until it unfolds. I pray he’s ok. The second Claymore Kick he received from Drew McInyre, causing his head to collide off the rain post, was somewhat scary to watch. McIntyre went on to have a match with Dean Ambrose afterward and went on to prove that he could potentially be the top heel that Monday Night Raw is searching for to build its programming around.

Categories RAW

Orton vs. Styles Feud Officially Personal

The McMahon family may indeed have the heel persona ingrained into their DNA, and Shane is no exception. The feud between Randy Orton and AJ Styles has officially gotten personal. Both men dropped quite a few truths about the others’ career. Orton claimed that while AJ was wrestling for $20 a night, he was winning titles with WWE. AJ claimed on the other hand that one of the only reasons Orton ever got a job with WWE was because of his father. It’s good to see that WWE is trying to make it so that this match actually matters come WrestleMania.

In terms of the Charlotte and Becky thing: it’s not that I don’t like it, it just feels at this point like it’s been done too many times in too short of a time. The match between Charlotte, Becky, and Ronda is still a strong candidate to headline WrestleMania, and I have no problem with that. I’m just a little tired of seeing repetitive exchanges between Charlotte and Becky.

Kofi Kingston can’t get a break. He cut an extremely passionate promo asking Vince what he needed to do to earn a WWE Title opportunity. Vince responded by telling Kofi that he would have to beat Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, The Bar and Rowan in a gauntlet match on SmackDown next week. It’s also kind of ridiculous for Samoa Joe, a “dominant champion,” to be pinned already by Rey Mysterio, which is sure to halt his momentum. He can ill afford this if he may be going into a match with John Cena. I have to say that, from top to bottom, SmackDown has been the better show as opposed to Raw for several months and looks poised to do well once it moves to FOX. The show just has fewer segments that are unwatchable, most likely because there is less time to fill.

Black & Ricochet Reveal

The plans for the team of Ricochet and Aleister Black, at least in NXT may have been revealed this week. It looks like they may win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic by beating The Forgotten Sons, who are not all that impressive in terms of how much the fans respond to them. The situation kind of feels like WWE wanted to come up with a creative way to introduce a new superstar in Jaxon Ryker, so they figured to try and force Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake into a tag team.

Back to Black and Ricochet. They probably won’t win the NXT Tag Team Championships, because the War Raiders are excellent champions, and they probably just participated in their final round of NXT tapings before they are officially called up to the main roster for good.

It’s still so heartbreaking that Tommaso Ciampa was taken out with a neck injury, which unfortunately leaves WWE in a pickle in terms of deciding what to do with the storyline between Ciampa and Johnny Gargano. If he were a major athlete, one more major injury like that and organizations would be hesitant about signing him.

Categories NXT

Taking on the Touchy Topic of Chris Benoit with Respect

This is a touchy topic as the title states, but it doesn’t intimidate me. Instead, it gives me incentive to talk about it. I feel that Chris Benoit is one of the most underappreciated pure wrestlers in the history of the wrestling industry, and it’s a shame that he is not talked about more.

With that being said, it is more than justifiable as to the reason no one talks about him. A murderer cannot be glorified, even if it was partially because of repeated head trauma, which is why I’m just going to stick to his wrestling career.

Benoit made his name in NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) first starting in 1986 and gaining valuable experience before heading to ECW with Paul Heyman. He earned the nickname “The Crippler” after a match with Sabu in which Sabu was nearly paralyzed. He departed ECW just before Heyman was about to strap the ECW World Heavyweight Championship on him when his work visa expired.

Starting in 1995, Benoit signed for a second time with WCW (World Championship Wrestling). It got somewhat dicey with the main booker for WCW, Kevin Sullivan, because Benoit developed a real-life affair with Sullivan’s wife in a storyline. Even when Benoit ultimately left the company in 2000, they did not really want him to go. They even tried putting the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on him, but due to disagreements with management and to protest the promotion of Kevin Sullivan to head booker, Benoit left the next day along with Eddie Guerrero, Dean Malenko and Perry Saturn to debut with WWF/E as the Radicalz later in the year 2000. He received major Title matches during the early part of his WWE tenure, but the feud he is most known for during this time was the feud with Chris Jericho.

He ultimately needed to take a year off due to his broken neck. The highlight of his career clearly came into 2004 when he won the World Heavyweight Championship after winning the Royal Rumble as the number one entrant. He would hold the title until SummerSlam, Losing it to Randy Orton. The final Title Benoit would win in his illustrious wrestling career was the United States Championship. He was scheduled to win the resurrected ECW World Heavyweight Championship on the night of his death, but Johnny Nitro (who later became John Morrison) was inserted in his place.

It’s unfortunate that one of the top 5 or 10 pure wrestlers in history is never discussed. As I said earlier, it’s more than understood and fully justified as to the reason why, I personally wanted to write an article and tribute to him on my blog. I’m very appreciative to have been exposed to his wrestling style thanks to the WWE network, because without it I would’ve never seen him since I was a little young when he was at the top.

Fastlane Highlights

It’s a good thing that The Miz and Shane McMahon did not win the SmackDown Tag Titles. A WrestleMania match between Miz and Shane draws more intrigue without a doubt. It should be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

Mandy Rose is sure to be a future champion in WWE, and Corey Graves is sure to go nuts when she does.

One can’t but feel awful for Kofi Kingston after being mutilated by The Bar. If WWE is smart, they will book a WrestleMania match featuring Kofi Kingston challenging Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship. Not that I am upset or anything, but I am a little surprised

The Revival retained their Titles. I would have thought that Ricochet and Aleister Black would walk out of Fastlane with the belts, but I trust Vince with this decision. Samoa Joe is proving to be an extremely entertaining champion in WWE. He has the potential to become the most relevant United States Champion since John Cena.

All I have to say about the women’s Tag Team situation is that a WrestleMania match may be added pitting Nia Jax and Tamina versus Natalya and Beth Phoenix. Beth is not too old either, as she is only 38 years old.

It was encouraging to see Mustafa Ali added into the WWE championship match. Prior to his injury, WWE was pushing him.

The booking of Kevin Owens has been very strong since his debut on the main roster back and 2015. It’s just icing on the cake to have him add that Stunner to his repertoire. It’s still smart booking though to keep the title on Daniel Bryan, who seems to be getting more acclimated to his new character by the week.

It’s good that Becky Lynch was finally added to the Raw women’s championship match at WrestleMania, as this has been hinted at for quite some time. WWE may be officially running out of ideas in terms of ways to use Elias.

AJ and Orton should be a solid ‘Mania match, even though it feels like it was scrapped together to get them both on the card.

Lastly, it warms my heart to see The Shield teaming up again, even if it’s only for one night. Maybe WWE could fill the to a Reigns-Ambrose WrestleMania match where all three Shield members embrace in the ring. Ambrose and Reigns could also aid Rollins in his effort to win the Universal championship, ensuring that the future of Monday Night Raw will be in good hands.

Look at the Writing on the Wall for Samoa Joe

Joe is finally a champion on the main roster in WWE. He became prominent in the sports entertainment industry at about the same time that John Cena entered WWE in 2002 (Joe entered Ring of Honor, or ROH, followed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, or TNA, in 2005). It took nearly two decades, but it finally happened. It’s great to see that the trigger is finally being pulled on a feud between Joe and Cena, as it was advertised in 2017 leading up to the No Mercy PPV. WWE decided to go with Cena versus Reigns, and Joe may have been hurt.

The writing is on the wall for this to be a match at WrestleMania, as the groundwork was subtly laid this week on SmackDown during Joe’s post-match promo. R-Truth helped this by mentioning in the weeks leading up how he idolized John Cena. Based on what I am aware of, John has wanted this feud for quite some time. It should be very interesting, and exciting, to see it come to fruition. It’s very good from the perspective of Joe too. He is one of the most believable superstars in the company today due to his unprecedented promo skills.

Reuniting of The Shield

The biggest topic of discussion from Monday Night Raw this week is the reuniting of The Shield. It’s a smart decision for WWE and for Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns respectively. From the standpoint of Ambrose, it’s easy to figure out why this is a good decision because he is leaving the company after WrestleMania. This will be the final opportunity WWE has in the foreseeable future to capitalize on this faction and get a big pop from the audience. For Roman Reigns, it will be a great way to ease back into in-ring competition by having him compete in a six-man tag team match after coming off of his illness (it warms my heart to see him back and doing what he loves). Seth Rollins is the odd man out, because he is the one who had to forgive Ambrose in order to make this work, but he was a standup guy for the sake of his brother.

Moving on, I need to give props to Ronda Rousey because she may indeed be a better heel than a babyface. It seemed like WWE was trying a little too hard to force Ronda into being a fan favorite, much like they were trying to do with Roman Reigns in recent years. She was beginning to come off as a white meat babyface that wasn’t authentic (that term has been largely done away with and was much more popular in the 80s he and 90s). Jason Jordan had the same problem (remember him? – he is now working backstage behind the scenes). WWE tried to solve the issue by bringing in Charlotte Flair to play the role of the villain but not even that worked, so WWE turned its top star classically rogue.

Triple H got emotional while talking about Richard Fliehr to better sell his feud with Batista. This is one of the main matches that will be at WrestleMania. I bet it will get some pops from the audience. I would not be surprised at all if Ricochet and Aleister Black win the Raw tag team titles from The Revival, who are just not meshing well with the WWE universe. It’s a shame, but it’s pretty easy to name off the list of incredibly talented athletes who WWE has had to let go. Not everyone resonates with a live audience (for the longest time, not even Roman Reigns did, and he’s the face of the company). Finally, will someone please give me the information on where Lio Rush’s funeral is located after being run over by Braun Strowman.

Categories RAW
Menu
Disclosure: This site is not affiliated with WWE – just a diehard fan writing commentary on events.
 
Copyright 2021 Evan Luebbe. All rights reserved.