Sorry I haven’t been posting as much lately. I decided to rest my brain a touch and also to actually make some good progress on my goddamn VC to do list. Yes, the one I’ve had in mind basically since we moved the place over from Blogger in…2012? Yeah, 2012. Jesus. And amazingly, I think I’m accomplishing those things. We’ve got a new theme that nobody’s complaining about and visits are starting to pick up again, so mission pretty well accomplished, I’d say. I’ve also been plugging away at some small stuff that most of you likely won’t even notice and finally getting around to adding a few new categories that we should have had years ago. It’s going to take a while to fill them in because sometimes we can be pretty verbose which makes it hard to remember quickly what should go where, but I’ve gotten a decent enough start on it to be fine with them being a work in progress.
And now I shall yap about wrestling for a few minutes.
1. While the retirement of AJ Lee is a disappointment, it will not end up hurting the WWE Divas division.
I’d be a lot more worried about this if NXT didn’t exist, but there are women down there with a lot of potential that WWE can try to slide into that spot whenever they find they need it. Without that fall back plan, they’d be screwed. Other than AJ and maybe Paige (even she’s iffy at this point), who do they have there that they haven’t 50-50 or stupid ass storyline booked into absolute irrelevance? Please do not say the Bella Twins, because I will punch you. Other than “sister’s fight sometimes,” there’s literally no reason why they’re together after the events of the summer. You don’t just tell somebody “I wish you died in the womb”, repeatedly beat that person up, cost her opportunities at important things like titles and personal redemption, belittle her while she’s forced to be your personal assistant and then suddenly waltz out happy as could be a few days later where I come from. It’s lazy, nonsensical storytelling that I can’t take seriously, not to mention that for the most part they’re pretty terrible at the execution of these stories, such as they are. Not that the company does them any favours, but still.
2. You are disappointed that NXT will not be running monthly specials.
Absolutely not. One of the best things about NXT is that it rarely feels rushed. Things have time to breathe and build slowly to where they need to be. If they were constantly having to be ready for the next big show and the next big show and the next, the product would absolutely lose something. They won’t learn it, but I think there’s a lesson in there for WWE proper.
3. Randy Orton challenging Seth Rollins for the WWE Title was the right main event to make for the Extreme Rules PPV.
Yes. Orton beat him at Mania just a couple hours before the biggest moment of his career (cashing in MITB to win the WWE championship), so he’s got a built-in reason for getting another shot at him. Plus it still feels like a fresh match that people may want to see and it allows WWE to save Seth vs. Reigns and Seth vs. Lesnar for some of the more important shows like Summerslam, Survivor Series, Rumble or even Mania next year if you want to get crazy and think really, really long-term.
4. While WWE reportedly wants Ronda Rousey to be a part of WrestleMania 32, Dana White will never allow her to do a match.
If the timing, money and whatever other circumstances need considering can be made to work for everyone, I can absolutely see a match happening. To not allow it would be to leave some pretty crazy money on the table, because based on the angle they did at Mania a mixed tag between her, the Rock, HHH and Stephanie would be huge. Hell, I’d pay for it and I’m not even much of a UFC guy these days. Show clips of Ronda arm barring everybody within reach and then almost getting her hands on Steph over and over again leading up to the PPV and everyone else will, too.
5. The booking of the Seth Rollins vs. Neville match on Raw was poorly done.
Ahh, the controversy that isn’t. I have no idea why people are making such a big deal out of this. Yes, the new guy lost a match on just his second week in. I get that. But he lost to the world fucking champion. Everybody should be losing to that guy, because he is the champion. You wouldn’t know it watching WWE most of the time, but winning is what champions are supposed to do. That’s precisely why they are champions. And even though the new guy lost, he looked great in defeat, coming across as anything but the afterthought or off night that the champ was expecting. He gained a lot by losing, in other words. Now that said, WWE needs to be careful about how they handle this from here because there’s a fine line between hard fighting loser that’s eventually going to win one and jobber to the stars. Too much “aww, he was so close” and the audience is going to paint him with that second brush for a long time.
6. Kurt Angle as TNA champion is a good move as long as it leads to Angle dropping the title to a fresh talent like Ethan Carter III.
Absolutely. TNA is getting itself established on a new network and Angle is a name people are going to know. He’s also somebody who can have good matches with everybody provided he can stay healthy. He has credibility, something a lot of people in TNA don’t have to a wide audience. So to use him to show that the TNA title is something important makes perfect sense. And as long as it’s done properly, whoever eventually beats him is instantly more important.
That’s all for now. I’m off to eat, crash through some more to do list and then to the Blues Hall of Fame tour at Centre In The Square. It’ll be our second visit to the Centre this week. What a great live entertainment city KW is. It’s one of the things that’s made our move absolutely worth it. Expensive, but worth it.