I have nothing to say to start out, so let’s just get right into it.
1. You had no issue with the Bayley/Goldust angle/tribute to Dusty Rhodes on Raw.
Not at all. It was heels getting heat, which is and should always be their job, no matter how many moms complain about the big meanies not being nice to their kids at shows or how many perpetually offended Twitter warriors prattle on and on about how awful every slightly controversial thing is. That second group, by the way, seems to somehow also be made up of a lot of the same people who won’t shut up about how much better WWE would be if only they’d ditch the PG crap and go back to the Attitude Era. You know, the time full of cursing and beer drinking and gang wars and race-baiting and nearly naked women and porn stars and threatened penis amputations and…you get the picture. If a dude decapitating a teddy bear legitimately bothered you because of the symbolism I’ll do my best not to judge you, but I have to assume that if you found that to be in poor taste, you weren’t around when Eddie Guerrero died, or when Bruiser Brody was murdered, or for just about everything involving the Von Erichs, or even all those times in the old days when somebody would die after a match and they’d trot out the other guy and talk about how vicious and dangerous he was since he may or may not have just killed a dude by being big and strong. That last sentence isn’t me defending any or all of those things, by the way. I’m simply pointing out that this business with the bear is pretty low on the scale of arguably shitty things that have gone on in wrestling. To me the most offensive thing about the angle is that poor storytelling trivialized it. Why weren’t Goldust (Dusty’s son) and Truth out for blood? They got their asses kicked in like a minute later on in the show and we’ve heard nothing about it since. If you’re going to use the dead for heat, at least make it mean something.
2. You are excited for WWE to reunite the Shield.
Not really. I’m sure if they do it’ll be fun and make for some great matches like it did the first time around, but I can’t say I’m clamoring for it in a please take my money kind of way. That I’ll hopefully be able to save for day two, which is to say that reuniting them is the easy part, it’s what comes next that’s important. But I am a little excited to see how the crowds react. How long will it take them to forget that they’re always supposed to boo Roman Reigns no matter what he does?
3. The latest attempt to push Braun Strowman is going well.
Funny, I was just talking about this on Twitter, so let’s save me some time. And yes, I know there’s a typo in the first one.
I'm not someone that you would have ever mistaken for a Braun Stroman fan, but I've got to admit, the big lug is growing on me.
— Steve Wettlaufer (@VC_Steve) January 10, 2017
A: I could watch him squash geeks all day long. B: his promos walk this weird line between threatening and unintentionally hilarious.
— Steve Wettlaufer (@VC_Steve) January 10, 2017
C: I think there's enough talent in there that if he gets to work enough with the right people he could actually become something.
— Steve Wettlaufer (@VC_Steve) January 10, 2017
One thing I didn’t mention there is that whether or not he’s all that good yet, it’s nice to see WWE trying to push someone as an unstoppable, scary monster again. I’m not saying we need to go back to the days when the place was full of them, but having a few guys who are booked to be legitimate threats is refreshing after sitting through the years long parade of 50-50 go nowhere geeks that’s been WWE TV for the better part of a decade now. Oh, and I’m almost ready to never call him Yawn Slowman again even though it still makes me laugh.
4. Who do you think will win the Royal Rumble?
I have no idea, and that’s a good thing. I like it when it’s an open field and it seems like more than one or two people have a legitimate shot. But if the question is what might I like to see, my pick is Chris Jericho. Keep the belt on Kevin Owens right up through Mania and build to the big confrontation between the best friends. They’ll have a good match no doubt, and Owens can win in the end and hopefully by then establish himself as an actual worthwhile champion.
5. Sasha Banks will be better off as a heel.
Everyone wants to cheer her even though this babyface run hasn’t been anything special, but she was pretty fantastic as a heel in NXT at times so I’m gonna go yes.
6. What’s your current excitement level for the Royal Rumble?
The Rumble has been one of my favourite shows of the year going back to when I was a kid, so that alone bumps it up a little. And so far WWE is doing a decent job of making it feel important and just unpredictable enough that I actually feel myself looking forward to watching it, which hasn’t been the case with one of their PPVs since I don’t even know.