Reigns And Ambrose Still Need Help

If you ever want to lose really, really badly, get Chris Jericho on your team. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose recruited him for Night of Champions. They ended up losing. The feud against The Wyatts continues.

Seeing Chris Jericho make returns these days is lackluster. There was a time when I would get excited. I am not even a fan of the guy that much, but there was usually that hope that something big would happen. It is hard to get excited for a part-time jobber. He might win some matches here and there, but it is usually to build him up to feed to someone else. And the WWE always seems to fumble with whomever he puts over, which makes his appearances even more pointless.

Randy Orton is back from vacation for revenge against the guys that took him out. Why do I get the feeling that The Wyatts will still win? Even if the faces win, Luke Harper will probably take the pin. They will keep Braun Strowman strong.

And will Reigns and Ambrose need to find another partner after that? Or will another trio need to face The Wyatts? That is a real possibility as to how the WWE can handle The Wyatts. And I don't like it. This is the kind of booking they did with The Shield. They would put together teams of three guys and have them feud against The Shield. When Randy Orton came back to be the new partner for Reigns and Ambrose against The Wyatts, I realized the WWE could go back to that booking they did a few years ago. It might lead to great matches, but the booking isn't great.

Why don't I like this kind of booking? First, it is lazy. If you have nothing to do for a few guys you want to feature, just toss them together and put them against The Wyatts. It is one thing when you have two guys with nothing to do and make a tag team out of them for a while, but the WWE might get comfortable doing this with trios now. Second, it can ruin the personal feel of some feuds. Bray Wyatt had a personal feud going with Roman Reigns. That has gotten watered down. There was a time I was expecting Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton to have a personal feud. It looks like the feud they have now will involve a few other players. Last reason I do not like this booking, it can hinder the individual development of some wrestlers. Can they push Roman Reigns right as a singles competitor? Dean Ambrose sometimes felt like he had no real direction since breaking away from The Shield. He sometimes looked like he was just a jobber to the stars. Bray Wyatt could have had a great solo career, but they put him back in a stable just a year after ending his first stable run.

It's not just The Wyatts. New Day is a trio. Stardust has teamed up with The Ascension to form a group. The Wyatts are obviously above these other group, but you see all these three-man stables, which might often lead to six-man tag matches. I won't even bring the diva division up here. You can imagine that some of these groups might fade in the coming months, but will others rise up to take their place?

I have said before that it is not efficient for the WWE to hire all these people, including bringing back legends, and not release people on a consistent basis like they used to. You just get more people than you can properly handle. And here you see one of the things the WWE is doing. They aren't doing a brand split. They aren't creating another main show. They aren't creating more feuds and storylines. They are adding people to the feuds and storylines already there. Things are still getting crowded. Less is sometimes better.

Seth Rollins Retains Against Sting, Then Meets His Next Challenger

Night of Champions for Seth Rollins went pretty much how I thought the WWE would handle it. He dropped the United States Championship back to Cena. He retained against Sting. Sheamus cashing in was teased, but that did not go anywhere. Masked Kane returned to break it up, making Seth Rollins his main target. The return of Kane was the only thing I did not bring up.

If they had just brought Kane back and had him act like nothing happened after Seth attacked him, I probably would have given up right there. That is not what they are doing, but what they are doing is interesting. It is better than just a regular title/revenge feud. They are showing some creative interest here. Rollins will likely retain, since Kane hardly ever wins World titles, but it is still an interesting storyline.

I have seen fans complain about Kane. They say no one cares about him, whether he has the mask on or not. But he has a gimmick that allows for some interesting storylines and feuds, and also segments. It does cause a stir, whether some fans realize it or not. I am not saying it will draw, but it will get fans already watching interested more. There was a time when a lot of people came to this blog because they were searching for Kane. This was around the time he came back with that metal mask. And I think the storyline they are running now once again has potential to get fans talking.

What about Sting? It was not a good night for him at Night of Champions. I am sure many fans would still love to see him face The Undertaker. I do not think Sting is done. Even after Lesnar, The Undertaker will not be done just yet. But what will the feud look like when Sting has not won one feud in his first year in the WWE? In that span, The Undertaker has at least beaten Bray Wyatt and Brock Lesnar. There are some individuals that do not need to win a lot to be over and have credibility, but Sting should look better than this before facing The Undertaker. And the longer they wait, the less likely the match will be great. I know Sting won that tag match on Raw recently, but I am thinking he should win a major match, and not by some DQ finish. Hopefully what they do with him next helps him a lot more than his first two feuds.

Seth Rollins Vs. The World At Night of Champions 2015

Seth Rollins will be having a busy night this Sunday. First, he must defend the United States Championship against John Cena. After that, he has Sting with the WWE Championship on the line. If he is still holding the title after that, Sheamus might just cash in on him.

First, the U.S. title match. If John Cena had won at Summerslam, I could picture the WWE having him relinquish the U.S. title. He would give some nice speech about giving the younger guys a shot to do what he did with U.S. title. Seth Rollins won at Summerslam. Not surprisingly, a heel is not giving up any of his titles. He can't go long with holding both titles. I wouldn't be surprised to see him lose it quickly. But back to Cena? I know he put on some great matches during his run. I also think a midcarder beating him for the title would have meant more. But I still do not like the idea of giving it back to Cena. Nevertheless, it just wouldn't be good to have Seth Rollins hold on to both titles for long, so I will say Cena regains the title. Reports are already speculating that Cena regains it, anyway.

Should Sting win the WWE Championship? I think it would be a nice gesture. I have to give him and the WWE credit for actually having him be around on Raw every week to help further the feud. Some part-timers don't do that. Judging by how Sting is willing to show up every week, a short reign would not be bad. Should be better than giving it to Lesnar last year. On paper, that looked like a great decision. But the WWE did not handle it properly and ratings were poor. Not only against football, but even in the weeks heading into Wrestlemania. All the blame does not go on the decision to make Lesnar WWE Champion,  but it was still part of it. As long as the WWE does not handle Sting's title reign like they did Lesnar's, it should be fine.

Even if Seth retains the WWE Championship, he would have gone through what would likely be two grueling matches. He would be in a perfect state for Sheamus to want to cash in the briefcase. I think that is something you are likely to see, should things play out like this. How about Rollins acting like a weasel and trying to get out of his first match in a cheap way, even if that means letting Cena win? Cena would not want to win it like that. No, I think they will play on the story of Seth being pushed to the limit by the end of the night. Sheamus doesn't have anything else to do for Night of Champions.

How about Sting winning the title and Sheamus cashing in right after? Or the next night? I would be fine with that. Sting at least gets his name added to the list of men to be WWE Champion. Seeing as how putting the title on part-timers for long reigns is not a guaranteed draw, there is no need for Sting to hold it until Wrestlemania.

There are a few different ways the WWE title picture can go. I personally would go with Sting winning the title and Sheamus winning it after. What do I think is likely to happen? I do not think the WWE will sell this as the worst night in Seth's life by having him lose both titles. I feel it is more likely he drops the United States Championship than the WWE Championship. I say he retains against Sting. Does that mean Sheamus should fail when he tries to cash in? I still have trouble buying Sheamus as a main-eventer. But he will probably keep the briefcase. No need to have Seth Rollins beat Sheamus in this situation. But Sheamus cashing in will be teased. Can Super Rollins overcome the odds?

Cesaro With Nothing To Do For Night Of Champions?

One thing that seems common these days in the WWE is guys you would expect to be featured well not have anything to do for PPVs. Does Cesaro fit in that category? Is he a guy you would expect to be featured well? He was just being pushed against Kevin Owens. I have seen some people say he was the hottest guy in the company not too long ago. And yet, it seems he has nothing to do for Night of Champions.

This just feels like what you had between Jack Swagger and Rusev. Jack Swagger turned face to feud with Rusev. Fans actually connected well with him. The feud was pretty good. Just one little problem. Swagger lost a lot and the WWE just deflated him after that. It was obvious the WWE was using him to put over Rusev, but it would have been nice if the WWE still followed up with him better after, since he was connecting well with the fans.

That is the same vibe I am getting with Cesaro now. They just used him to put over Kevin Owens and he has been without a proper direction since. And people were actually ready to say Kevin Owens was ruined after feuding with Cena? He wins his first feud after Cena and has another feud immediately after that. Cesaro is the one that looks to be in a worse place. Just like Swagger, Cesaro was connecting well with fans. And yet, he is lost in the shuffle.

There is still a chance for him to be relevant on Night of Champions. One option is putting him in a filler match. The card does seem like it has space on it. Long matches? Sheamus cashing in? A lot of backstage segments? How about a filler match? You might get something like Cesaro vs. Bo Dallas, with Cesaro winning. Probably not.

How about having Cesaro be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against The Wyatts? Not likely. It will likely be someone that will cause some buzz. It will probably be a debut or a return. If the WWE uses someone that is a regular on the roster already, it might be disappointing, even if it is Cesaro.

Not too many options. In the end, I do not think Cesaro will have anything meaningful to do for the PPV. It is a shame, but nothing too personal. The WWE seems to not know what to do with Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose at times. I also do not think there would be loud fan support for Cesaro right now to get him pushed better. You had that for Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan. The WWE will probably have as easy a time shuffling Cesaro around as they did Jack Swagger. Maybe those two should team up again?

Nikki Bella Breaks The Record

Nikki Bella tied the record for longest-reigning Diva's Champion on Monday. She needed one more day to break it. The WWE made things a little interesting by having her defend the title against Charlotte on Raw. It appeared Charlotte had won the title, but there were shenanigans. Without getting into the mess, Nikki retained the title. She has broken AJ Lee's record. Charlotte gets a rematch at Night of Champions.

I have already said that I would have made the same decision to have her break it. It isn't about honoring Nikki or being petty towards AJ. It is about sending a message that workers cannot get away with the kind of things AJ Lee did during her WWE run. The WWE was more loyal to her than they should have been. They deserve part of the blame for being foolish enough to think she would be as loyal to them. I see nothing wrong with sending the message that loyal workers that bring great results will be pushed the best. Nikki Bella is not the greatest example of that, but I would have still done it to send the message to keep the workers in line. You want to create an environment that gives your workers fair opportunities to succeed and earn better, but you cannot let some of them get too pushy and possibly ruin that environment.

I also have to give the WWE credit for how they handled the situation. They hyped that Nikki was near to breaking the record. They created a situation on Raw where Nikki might have failed to accomplish her goal. There were some shenanigans, which you would expect from a heel. And Nikki ends up still making history. That is how you build up to something. It might not be productive. That is to say, it might still fail to draw against a good NFL game on Monday. I believe the title match came on right against the closing minutes of that game. It might also fail to help Nikki get more over. A lot of fans are still bitter about the situation. They hyped a celebration on Smackdown. Again, another good thing to do, since they need to do more interesting things on Smackdown, but we will have to see how it plays out and how well it draws. TNA should take note of what the WWE did. You do not just hand someone a record. You use it to add to a feud or storyline. You use it to build to elaborate segments. You use it to develop stars, especially those that deserve it. How the WWE has handled Nikki Bella breaking a record is better than how TNA handled Taryn Terrell breaking a record.

As I said, some fans are unhappy about what happened. It isn't because a heel just accomplished something. It is because many say Nikki is sleeping her way to the top and Charlotte was screwed. This issue has been talked about a lot in the last few weeks. The wrestling journalists have stirred the pot.

When you analyze, you should never make too much out of one moment. That is probably good advice for a lot of things. I think some fans are making too much out of a moment. Nikki Bella retaining the title on Raw and breaking the record does not mean Charlotte will never win the title. She is the daughter of a legend that is on great terms with the WWE. Some fans also read reports that Charlotte would have won the title when she debuted, she and the other NXT divas would dominate the diva division, and whatever else. Given what the WWE has a history of doing in the diva division, and seeing as how the status quo is still alive, it would not have turned out as well as some fans think. The WWE putting the title on Charlotte does not mean she will be pushed as the new centerpiece of the division.

Is Night of Champions the night for Charlotte? I think so. Nikki Bella has her record. A few more days will be added to it until this Sunday. Why not give it to Charlotte now? The only way I can see her losing is Paige turning on her. Paige has not had a good time the last few weeks. If having her tap to Sasha does not lead to a heel turn, it was pretty much just filler matches. Sasha maintains momentum, but where is she going? If Nikki does lose the title, it will be interesting to see how the WWE pushes The Bellas moving forward.

Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose Search For A Partner

When it comes to the feud between Ambrose/Reigns and The Wyatts, I would have either ended it at Summerslam or just turned it back into a personal feud between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt again. The WWE debuted Braun Strowman and had him join The Wyatts. He and the rest of the group have been on a rampage since. There will be a 6-man tag at Night of Champions. Will Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose find a partner?

I like recent developments. If it looks like Reigns and Ambrose might find a partner, The Wyatts attack him. Who will be crazy enough to team with these two faces? There are a lot of rumors and speculation about who it will be. That is a good thing. Will it be Randy Orton, the man attacked by The Wyatts on Raw? Rowan, the former member of the group? Will it be someone from NXT, like Baron Corbin? Some fans think it has to be someone big to match Braun Strowman. I do not think that has to be the case. There are a lot of possibilities.

Is there a chance the WWE just goes with a 3 vs. 2 match? I think that would be a wasted opportunity. This angle is leading up to someone being a hero. Let someone get that spot. If it is just Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose going against all three members of The Wyatts, it would just look bad if they won. Braun Strowman is enough to handle those two. When you add in Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, you have a situation that the two faces should not be able to overcome.

Kevin Owens Moving On To Ryback

Kevin Owens won his feud against Cesaro. He won at Summerslam. He won again on Raw recently. And that seems to be the end of that.

Owens is moving on to Ryback, who is still the Intercontinental Champion. Some people were ready to stick a fork in Kevin Owens after he tapped to John Cena. It looks like he's getting the Intercontinental Championship. Yes, I think he will be winning it from Ryback.

I do not like how the feud between Kevin Owens and Cesaro ended. I would have continued it a few more weeks into Night of Champions. Have Ryback defend against either Miz or Big Show for Night of Champions. I am not saying Cesaro needed to win the feud, but prolonging it a little longer might have been good. There was a time when this felt like one of the best feuds they had going. It was fresh and featured two guys that could go in the ring. This is a feud that could have lasted two PPVs.

How about Cesaro? He seems to be lost in the shuffle again. Moreover, I do not like how he's acting recently. He's trying to be a clown. It just isn't natural. It seems someone backstage told him he had no charisma and how he's acting is a response to that.

Charisma does not come in one flavor. Charisma is something about your personality that helps you to connect with people. The Rock had charisma. It especially showed when he was on the mic and doing promos. Jeff Hardy is considered a charismatic guy. It's in how he dressed and acted. His mic skills, however, were not that great. Mickie James didn't get the mic much during the majority of her WWE run. And they pretty much left her generic after the psycho gimmick. But she had an energy and wit to her that a lot of fans connected with. That was the source of her charisma. Then you have someone like Roman Reigns. As a badass, this guy has the potential to get fans to like him. But when you try to make him into the next Rock, he just cannot do it.

Cesaro is not the greatest on the mic to be on the same level as The Rock. He doesn't have the mannerisms of Jeff Hardy. Skipping around like Mickie James would be silly. He doesn't need to be a serious badass like Roman Reigns. I have said that he seems like a likable guy. He doesn't need to yodel and he doesn't need to wear JBL's hat. Just let him play a character he feels natural playing. He already has fans loving him for his wrestling ability. His swing move is something fans can get excited for. The answer for a lot of fans is to turn someone heel. I think Cesaro can play a face. He has some wit. Just don't turn him into a clown.

Diva Beat The Clock

Raw featured some diva "Beat The Clock" matches this week. That was the first time the concept has been used with the divas. I do not see it as too big of a deal. Charlotte won it and will get a title shot.

There are some people that feel Paige should be getting the title shot. Her match, which came after Charlotte had set the time to beat, ended in shenanigans. Naomi and Tamina pulled Sasha Banks out of the ring when Paige was about to beat her. Shouldn't that be a DQ? Heartbreaking moment for Paige, but no heel turn, yet.

Some also feel Sasha Banks should be getting a title shot. Why? She made Nikki Bella tap out a while ago. Some people might make the argument that beating the Champion like that means you should be getting a title shot. But that just isn't what the WWE wants to do right now.

I have not been a fan of the 3-way stable war that has been going on. If that is the way they want to do it, however, I think they should have kept it up for Night of Champions. Make it a triple-threat match. I would have had two battle royals heading up to the PPV. The winners of these matches would face Nikki at Night of Champions. It is a PPV dedicated to the titles, so it would be nice to have more than one challenger developed for some of the matches. I would have had Charlotte and Sasha Banks win these battle royals. Each stable would be represented.

The WWE has a countdown going for Nikki Bella breaking the record. You just get the feeling that the WWE will do something to at least tease spoiling it. They already have Charlotte trying to get her title shot before Night of Champions to stop Nikki from breaking the record. Having Charlotte win the title early is one option. I can also imagine Nikki and her gang celebrating that she is going to break the record, then Charlotte does something to spoil that celebration. It would be similar to how Sting ruined Seth Rollins's moment a few weeks ago on Raw. Obviously, the WWE will not handle it the same exact way. Even if Charlotte does get her match moved up sooner, which is something that might have been better if it was treated as a surprise sprung on Nikki when she least expected it, the match might end in a DQ. Brie Bella and Alicia Fox might interfere. Paige might interfere, jealous about Charlotte getting the spotlight. Team B.A.D. might get involved. But it is better to at least tease that Nikki might not make history. Go back to Michelle McCool being the first woman to hold both the Diva's and Women's titles. If they didn't treat it like Mickie James had a chance to possibly do it, it wouldn't have been that big of an accomplishment. It would have been simply Michelle McCool walking her way to history. Of course, she still did walk her way to history, multiple times. It all comes down to how the WWE wants to book it.

Even if Nikki does not break this record, she might still be in a position to break other records. The record for most reigns with the butterfly title is 3, done by Eve Torres and AJ Lee. Nikki has held the title twice. If she is the woman the WWE wants the division to revolve around, she will regain it. The record for most combined days with the title is 406 days, held by AJ Lee. Nikki is at 291 days right now, in terms of combining her first reign and this current reign. If she wins the title for a third time, she only needs to hold it a few months to break this record. It is not a record the WWE usually brings up, but it is something wrestling fans will definitely acknowledge. It all comes down to whether she is the diva they want as the centerpiece.

The Authority Makes Night Of Champions More Difficult For Seth Rollins

This was something that seemed obvious, but it was made official on Raw this week. In addition to defending his WWE Championship against Sting at Night of Champions, Seth Rollins must defend the United States Championship against John Cena. Stephanie McMahon made the call.

Even before that final segment where this match was made, you had Sting playing some mind games earlier in the night. He was causing some friction between Seth Rollins and The Authority. I don't think there needs to be a special occasion for there to be friction between The Authority and anyone else on their side. Anyway, it is at least good that Sting is showing up on Raw to help further the storyline. And with John Cena also feuding against Seth Rollins, Sting won't be needed to do too much to keep things interesting for the next two Raws before the PPV. You have had some feuds involving part-timers become annoying because the development just doesn't work out. The feuds going on right here should be fine.

Back to the WWE once again teasing friction within The Authority. I seem to bring this up way too much, but I guess I have to if the WWE keeps doing it. Being consistent does not mean you do something 100% of the time, but you should be doing it closer to 100% than 50%. I am not going to go back and look at every segment with The Authority to determine whether they came off as faces or heels in that segment. Just know that they have been teasing friction within the group almost since it started and Triple H and Stephanie do sometimes come off as faces in certain segments, even though they are supposed to be heels.

Last week, you had Triple H acting all mad about Sting coming back. When The Authority made the match between Sting and Seth Rollins, they were obviously in heel mode. This week, you had Stephanie McMahon not happy about how Seth Rollins was talking about her husband. When John Cena left it to Stephanie to decide, she made the match between Seth Rollins and Cena official. That was a decision Seth did not like. Stephanie made a face decision right there. Is this stable on the same page?

Is part of the problem that there are no face authority figures to make decisions and counter the heel authority figures? I do not think that is necessary. There can be times where a face authority figure makes an unpopular decision or a heel authority figure makes a decision fans like. But I do not remember authority figures being as inconsistent as Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have been since taking over. And the whole "best for business" thing is no excuse. There were times in the past where they would do things that were obviously meant to screw a face and use the "best for business" excuse. Everyone knew they were being hypocrites. And if they stuck in that direction, it would be fine. Instead, they go all over the place and it is just annoying. If they were pure faces, they would probably just bore me. If they were just pure heels, I would probably enjoy them. But the way they are now, it just irritates me. I cannot get behind them. I do not even know what to make of them.

The Dudleys & Sting Return

The Dudleys made their return to Raw and put themselves right in the middle of the tag division. After having said for almost a year that the tag division was mediocre, filled with lower-midcarders and midcarders that are really not going anywhere, THIS is something that can cause some excitement.

But let me look at some of the cons to this. The WWE once again shows that they have to rely on part-timers and guys that were stars at the turn of the century to create hype for them right now. That is a lack of confidence in their current talent and failure to properly develop them. I cannot imagine any team in the WWE tag division this year before The Dudleys came back that can generate that kind of hype in 10 years. You can talk about The Dudleys giving a rub to these teams, but it probably won't work out as you would like. A rub means nothing if the company does not follow up. I do not expect the WWE to follow up with any of these younger teams after The Dudleys do go away again.

Weighing the pros and cons of The Dudleys return, I would say it is great overall. I have said that the WWE should stop signing and bringing in all these guys because they have so many already and cannot use them efficiently. The only exception to bringing in guys from other promotions is if they can really create a boost in your main product. NXT does not need it as badly as the main product. The Dudleys can help the tag division. The tag division needed this boost badly. The Dudleys are not the future of the tag division. They aren't even the present of the tag division. They are both over 40. But they can create some excitement for a while. The New Age Outlaws did it a few years ago. I expect The Dudleys to be used in a similar way.

Sting also returned on this week's Raw. He will be challenging Seth Rollins for the WWE Championship at Night of Champions. He loses his only match in the WWE earlier this year, and now gets a title shot? Sting is a legend, so I'm willing to overlook that.

I have to repeat what I said before. This is another example of the WWE relying on part-timers and guys that were stars at the turn of the century to create hype for them right now. Utilizing Sting for big PPVs is one thing. This is Night of Champions. You don't have faith in your own guys? Your full-timers? Cena? I am not saying Cena needs to be gunning for the WWE Championship, but do you need a part-timer to do it? Why is Sting even still mad at The Authority? He shook Triple H's hand after their match at Wrestlemania. Don't ask me why. The Authority hasn't even been too heelish in recent months. Of course, given how poorly the WWE has created new stars, there are really no fresh options for Seth Rollins and his WWE title defense. I'm fine with Sting.

Let me do an aside. The divas once again got a bad reaction during their match on Raw this week. They weren't in Lesnar Country this time. They were in Brooklyn, my hometown. New York is a smark city. It also does not help that NXT put on a show just a few days ago in Brooklyn where the women's match arguably stole the show. Sasha Banks was in that match, which explains why some of those Brooklyn fans wanted to see her. The match on Raw was not that exciting. Moreover, none of the divas involved have gotten that over with the fans. Paige has shown signs of being capable of becoming very over, but has not clinched it. Charlotte being the daughter of Ric Flair will not carry her. The Bellas have shown promise, but the WWE has not handled them properly, and they are not going to be liked in a smark environment. Alicia Fox is Alicia Fox. I don't know what to say for Becky Lynch.

I have seen some of these women criticize the fans for how they act. I won't say the fans never should be criticized. There are some situations where they definitely are asses. And they definitely should not be allowed to attack the performers, like what you had with Roman Reigns a few weeks ago. But I do not think the fans should be criticized for how they acted on Raw. If you want to keep their attention and get a great reaction, you have to earn it. What you did on NXT should not carry you on the main roster. And it won't. I am not saying the blame should go entirely on the women for a mediocre match. Blame the WWE for poor character and storyline development. Blame the WWE for not demanding better from these women in the ring. How can these women that put on amazing matches on NXT look so mediocre on the main roster? They have some impressive spots here and there, but it is not enough. The WWE needs to raise expectations. It is not enough to just increase match time.

If these women want to criticize someone, they should criticize their bosses. This is not about being insubordinate or selfish, which sometimes seems to motivate certain workers to criticize the company. This is about demanding to be used properly. They don't need to do it on Twitter or riot in the streets. Do it backstage. Do it professionally. But do it sternly. If that fails, then go on Twitter. This whole thing wasn't even started by these women standing up for themselves. It all started because Emma lost a quick match and that was the straw that broke the camels back. Fans complained. And now some of these women and the fans of the diva movement want to criticize bored fans? It's not their fault. These women are not delivering. And I blame the WWE, not them. But they need to demand better from the company or things will never really get better. The WWE can shrug of fans very easily. I doubt they can do the same to a strong stand from their own workers.

The Tag Division Heading Into Summerslam 2015

You have most of the contenders in the tag division getting the spotlight right now. The Prime Time Players are still holding the titles. The Ascension, New Day, Los Matadores, and Lucha Dragons are in the hunt. I have mixed feelings on this feud. Initially, I liked that there was this kind of focus in the tag division. Spread the attention around.

After thinking about it a little more, why not save this for Night of Champions? Night of Champions is a PPV dedicated to titles. It would make better sense to have a tag-team feud that features so many contenders heading into that PPV. You can have Tag Team Turmoil there.

Thinking about it more, why have this feud at all? This is not the first time this year that the WWE has had a multi-team feud for the titles. They had it at Wrestlemania. They had it at Elimination Chamber. They are doing it again at Summerslam. They will probably do it again before the year ends. How about creating a personal feud between just two teams for the titles at Summerslam? I don't mean just a feud where the tag titles are on the line. Make it more personal. Make it mean more. When John Cena and The Rock went at it for the second time at Wrestlemania, it was about more than just the WWE Championship. It was about Cena bouncing back from his previous loss to The Rock. I am not saying the WWE can produce anything like that in their tag division, but create some kind of solid feud between two teams for the titles. That might make some of these teams feel like more than just lower-midcarders.

What Do You Do With Bray Wyatt Now?

Ever since he debuted, Bray Wyatt has been featured pretty consistently at PPVs. He didn't have a match at last year's Survivor Series, but his lackeys did. At this year's Night of Champions, neither he nor his guys had a match. And he still seems lost without anything meaningful to do.

Ever since his feud with Cena ended, you can make the argument that they really haven't had anything meaningful for Bray to do. He was in a ladder match at Money in the Bank, but that was really just as an extra body. How about that epic feud against Chris Jericho? If they had not brought back Jericho for that feud, Bray Wyatt probably would have been lost in the shuffle earlier than he ended up. Not surprisingly, Jericho put Wyatt over. And the WWE has no way to follow up. It kind of makes that feud with Jericho seem even more like filler. Bray Wyatt has beaten all these top stars. He has all this credibility. He has all this momentum. And he has nothing to do with it.

Should Bray Wyatt be treated as a priority? I am not saying he should be pushed as a main-eventer right now, but you have room in the midcard to push some interesting characters and develop good feuds. Moreover, the WWE has lost some guys they might have been interested in pushing recently. Aside from Daniel Bryan, you have Roman Reigns getting injured and both Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho leaving again. Problem is, all these guys are faces. If you wanted to talk about whom they could push to full the void from losing those guys, you would probably have to list faces. They could turn The Wyatts face, but is now the time for that? I think you can do more with them as heels. And I do think they are good enough to deserve to be featured in some kind of storyline.

What do you do with them? You had Rupert and Murdoch feuding against Big Show and Mark Henry in a pointless rivalry. While that was going on, Mark Henry also had issues with Rusev. Mark Henry losing to Rusev has left him a broken man. You also had some signs that Big Show might feud with Bray Wyatt. Let's combine this all. Mark Henry is broken. Bray Wyatt comes in an gets him to join his side. Enter Big Show to save his tag partner. What does that leave Rusev to do? Forget about that for a moment. This is just about what to do with Wyatt. All of a sudden, things tie together a little better. Mark Henry and Big Show's feud against The Wyatts does not look as pointless. You transition what happened with Mark Henry in his feud with Rusev into another angle with another heel. Big Show now has a more creative reason to feud against these guys. I am not implying at all that this was the plan all along, but I think it is a plan that can make the WWE look more clever than they may really be. And this can culminate in Big Show and Mark Henry facing all three members of The Wyatts. The WWE featured some 3-on-1 handicap matches last year, so 3-on-2 should not be so unbelievable, especially when the guys that seem to have the numbers disadvantage are Big Show and Mark Henry.

They really should do more with Bray Wyatt from a creative standpoint. Some fans complain that The Wyatts are booked badly. What exactly do they mean by that? They don't win matches or just win against jobbers? Bray Wyatt has won some big matches. His two guys looked like legitimate contenders for the tag titles a while ago. The issue isn't wins and losses. It is more about the storylines than how they are actually booked. Bray Wyatt winning matches means nothing if you are not pushing him in an interesting manner. He'll get a cheap pop from mentioning what town he's in and his entrance has become a fad. But when it comes to how he is actually being pushed, they can be better creatively with him.

They Win Titles, They Lose Titles, And They Win Back Titles

There was a time when I was very good at remembering all the titles any wrestler currently on the roster had held. I could list out the title lineage for any of the titles from the time I started watching regularly in 1998. I could remember years worth of information. These days, I can't do it anymore. It's a lot to remember. 16 years. It also doesn't help that I just don't care about pro wrestling as much anymore. To top it all off, it is kind of hard to keep track when titles are going back and forth so often.

I couldn't think of any good reason why Miz should win the Intercontinental title at Night of Champions. He won it. Okay. Not the first time the WWE booked a match differently than I predicted they would. Next night on Raw, Dolph Ziggler won the title back. That was annoying. What's the point? To let people see Miz and his understudy both come out holding titles? Funny moment, sure, but it seems like pointless booking beyond that. Is that the closest Sandow will get to a title reign? Could you imagine Miz one day beating Chris Jericho's record for most Intercontinental Championship reigns? If they keep handing Miz 1-day reigns, it could happen before he retires.

AJ Lee. Paige. AJ Lee. Paige. AJ Lee. Those are the Diva's Championship holders this year. That is not how you book a diva centerpiece. That is just bad. You have other women to push. And the development between these title changes has not been that great. I didn't feel Paige should have won it at Summerslam. She did. After that, I didn't think AJ Lee should win it back so quickly at Night of Champions. It should either go to Nikki Bella to make her feud with her sister mean more or keep it on Paige. They give it back to AJ Lee.

You might say that 2008 was worse than 2014 has been. The Women's Championship went from Beth Phoenix to Mickie James, then back to Beth. That's all. Keep in mind that Candice Michelle was the centerpiece at this time. She was injured, got injured again soon after her first return, and flopped after returning again. Had that not happened, she would have regained the title that year from Beth Phoenix. Also keep in mind that Mickie James was the only face credible jobber on Raw. They really didn't have any other options. These days, the brand split is dead, the WWE has lowered their standards on whom they will push as credible jobbers, and even ignoring all that, there is no reason to shoot the title back and forth like this. It is a dark age, and you can expect weird booking that doesn't look too respectable during these times, but I don't think you need to shoot the title around between Paige and AJ. Some stability in the title scene would be nice.

It would be better if the storyline between the two was better. They were supposed to have this "frenemies" thing going. I never bought that. It was obviously not something they were going for from the start. Paige debuts to show some respect to AJ. AJ was clearly heelish towards her. Title change happens. When AJ came back and won the title back, I never really bought AJ Lee wanted to be friends. She wanted her title back. And it is hard to take her seriously with her psycho gimmick. Is she being genuine or playing mind games to get her way? The two were then pushed like they were on the same side, but you could feel a heel turn coming for Paige. And it happened. After that, you had Paige skipping around and all that. Paige got the title back at Summerslam. AJ turned the tables on Paige a bit. I don't see any of this as a real "frenemies" thing. They were just playing mind games. Paige was mocking AJ. You go back to that Trish/Mickie storyline. Mickie James dressing like Trish Stratus made sense because she wanted to be like Trish in that storyline. Trish dressing like Mickie made sense because she turned the tables to play mind games with Mickie. They eventually went back to their own looks as the story continued. There just came a point where some of the things they were doing in this Paige/AJ storyline just did not make sense anymore. I think it came after The Bellas were inserted. Around there, the storyline between Paige and AJ just stopped really being developed. It just sat one place and they were playing with each other, including using each other's moves. That is where you can sell a "frenemies" story, but it really was not developed well to that point. You should be at a point where Paige and AJ are clearly feuding without still teasing that they are on the same side.

They aired a great Paige promo at Night of Champions. Not only was it put together well and Paige did a great job, but what that would have meant for that storyline would have been so much. Paige was clearly a heel in that promo. She was mocking AJ and Nikki. This promo should have been done on a Raw or Smackdown at least a week prior to the PPV. After that, which is essentially the turning point that gives this feud the emotion it should have, you can build up to AJ overcoming this heel that betrayed her. They aired the promo, then had AJ win the title just like that. No proper development. It doesn't seem Paige will be skipping anymore, but I doubt the WWE will let her follow up on the great character she displayed in that promo.

I think things would be better if AJ Lee was pushed back in the periphery. Some people sometimes say that a certain wrestler is at his best when he is chasing after the title, not while he is holding it. It is exciting to see whether or not they will finally get it. After they get it, some fans might lose interest. This kind of thing has been said before about Randy Orton. He might have even said it about himself in an interview. He likes chasing after the title. I vaguely remember that. Don't hold me to it. How about with AJ Lee? Is she at her best chasing after the title or holding it? The chase to her first title reign was an extension of her periphery angle at the time. Big E played a role in it. How good would that feud development between AJ and Kaitlyn have been without that? The chase to her second title reign was nonexistent. She won it back the very night she came back. And the road to her third? It got overshadowed by The Bellas for a while. It was not properly developed. The way it was handled, speaking for myself, she should not have gotten it back so fast. How about when she is holding the title? Her first title reign was long, but it did not feature good feud development. They were just going through the motions with her. They ran through the entire division. Her second title reign only featured her feuding against one person. I don't think it was developed well to have her lose it that quickly. She is now on her third title reign. I don't blame AJ for bad feud and storyline development around the title scene, but I think she is at her best when she is in the periphery. That is what got her over. That is where there is still great potential to feature her well. She's over, but I don't think she is maintaining the connection she had back in 2012. And I doubt the WWE will just keep tossing titles on her until she has 70 by the end of next year, so returning her to the periphery will eventually happen, unless she leaves the company.

Going After The Seth Rollins Championship

I am not surprised that Cena would move on to a feud with The Authority after Lesnar. The way they set it up was not what I was expecting. Just yesterday, I talked about a face vs. face rivalry that I would have between Cena and Roman Reigns that would culminate with Reigns eliminating Cena to win the Royal Rumble. You seem to have a bit of a face vs. face rivalry between Cena and Dean Ambrose. What are they both after? A title? No. They both want to get their hands on Seth Rollins. Rollins has his obvious issues with Dean Ambrose. At Night of Champions, he cost John Cena the match.

I could imagine The Authority booking Cena vs. Ambrose with the winner getting Seth Rollins. I could also imagine Randy Orton, Kane & Seth interfering in that match. Beyond that, there really is no real tension between Cena and Ambrose. They both want the same target. This feud will most likely lead to some tag match at Hell in a Cell. If Roman Reigns was still around, he would most likely be in that picture.

Many fans viewed this feud between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose as the hottest thing going for months. You sometimes have John Cena inserted into angles that are hot or feuding against guys that are hot. Is this another example of that? One of the things people liked was these crazy brawls and Ambrose chasing after Rollins. Last night, Cena was in on that. What can you do? The WWE doing this should not be shocking.

I mentioned how the title match at Night of Champions ended. Seth Rollins interfered and tried to cash in on Lesnar. Cena stopped him. As you might imagine, a lot of fans complained about that match. Brock Lesnar looked weak. Some say that ending made no one look good. As I said last week, you were not going to get the same story you had at Summerslam. Just be thankful Brock retained. I am not surprised at how Cena looked. I am not surprised there was some kind of shady finish. I was not thinking it would be Rollins trying to cash in. I didn't think they would run an angle that might cause tension between Lesnar and The Authority. Not so soon. But that was the way they chose to do it. Overall, I am not going to complain. Lesnar could not look completely invincible forever. The way they handled the match was a convenient way to transition Cena to something else. At least he didn't win the title.

Roman Reigns Is Out

Roman Reigns had to have emergency surgery a few days ago. He obviously could not compete at Night of Champions and will be out for a while. Dean Ambrose is back, so Seth Rollins still has something to do.

What impact will this have on the push Roman Reigns was getting? He was obviously being developed to be a top star. Some say the WWE plans to have him take the title off Brock Lesnar. How serious is that? Is it bad speculation on the part of dirtsheets? Is it one of those things the WWE might tell people but not be serious about actually doing? A few months ago, the talk was Cesaro feuding with Brock this year. The WWE never pushed him well enough to make me believe they were really serious about it. You might point out certain moments here and there, like Cesaro being in a Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE title during his push alongside Heyman. Yeah, Bray Wyatt was also in that Money in the Bank ladder match. Call me when Bray is doing something that really matters again. Point is, I don't think Reigns was going in the path of Cesaro. They actually looked serious in grooming him to be a star. He was not there yet. He was still in the process of being built. I am sure they will still push him well when he does return. There is a lack of fresh stars right now.

Let me talk about a feud idea for John Cena and Roman Reigns. There were a few feud ideas I had for Cena away from the title scene that I wanted to elaborate on, but I wanted to see if the WWE would put the title back on him last night first. Have Cena and Reigns feud. This will be a non-title feud. Obviously, it will also be face vs. face. Cena has been in this kind of feud before. He once feuded with face Batista in a non-title feud. His feud with The Rock started out like that. No need to turn either guy heel. Start a rivalry by having Reigns call Cena out on his inability to get the title back from Lesnar. But don't actually turn Reigns. Have them still be on the same side. Have them team together to face heel teams. Have Reigns refuse to tag in Cena and pick up the win himself. Have Cena return the favor the following week. Have them save each other from heel attacks. They can exchange blows here and there, but don't turn Reigns heel. And have this feud in December. It builds up to a PPV match where both men look good, Reigns comes close, and Cena wins in the end. Have them shake hands at the end. The show of respect is always a good way to keep the two performers faces. And have the feud linger after that, which often happens heading into the Royal Rumble. The Royal Rumble match comes down to Reigns and Cena. Reigns eliminates Cena to win. He gets some payback on Cena and gets his title shot at Wrestlemania. Why do I like this idea? It keeps Cena out of the title picture and gives Reigns a feud that can really help his credibility. He pushed Cena to the limit, came up short, and bounced back to eliminate Cena from the Royal Rumble to earn a title shot at Wrestlemania.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The WWE Championship Match

Prior to this week, I planned to start the preview of the Night of Champions main event by going over all the inconsistency the storyline between John Cena and Brock Lesnar has had since Summerslam. What they did this week will provide me with enough to talk about. Paul Heyman comes out to cut a promo. John Cena comes out to demand Brock Lesnar. Lesnar isn't there yet. Cena plans to hold Heyman hostage until Lesnar does arrive. And the deadline he gives? Until the end of the show? No. He wants Lesnar in about 80 minutes, give or take 5 or 10. Halftime. Of course, the segment ended up happening a little bit later. Lesnar did show and the two brawled.

What was the WWE doing? They were pretty blatant. They wanted that segment to happen during halftime of the NFL game that night. That is when they would face the least competition during the game. That is why they stalled a little bit longer than Cena had said in his promo. Indeed, during halftime of the game, that is when the segment happened. On the final Raw before Night of Champions, your main-event segment is between Rusev and Mark Henry, a non-title feud, while the feud for the WWE Championship is placed below that for the sake of saving it from NFL competition.

What do I think about this? I find it stupid. It was cowardly. This feud between John Cena and Brock Lesnar is the best feud you have going. That is to say, it is supposed to be the best feud you have going. You have your centerpiece and an A+ part-timer that has been having a monster year going at it. If there is any feud they should have faith in drawing for them, it should be this one. And what do they do? They protect it. They don't send it out there at the time it would make sense to send it out there. They don't put their best foot forward.

Don't get me wrong, the segment probably would still have gotten destroyed. Ratings were very bad for Raw. No hour's average saw over 4 million viewers. The second hour did see the highest of the three hours. Huge drop in the 3rd hour. If the WWE did put Cena/Lesnar in the end of the show, at a time when the football game that night was getting good, what would ratings have looked like? Can never know for sure, but the act of not putting it there just shows a lack of confidence. If they can't have that kind of confidence in this feud featuring those guys, I don't feel confident in the WWE to make good decisions right now. You have probably already seen enough to draw that conclusion a long time ago. Football season just started. This was the second week. As the season goes on, games will count a lot more and teams with a larger fanbase will be going at it. The WWE can definitely be in for worse than they got this week. And they didn't even handle that show in a confident manner. How much worse could it get?

Onto the actual preview for the match. Two things to talk about. One is obviously who wins and whether that's the end of the feud. First, let me talk about the story of the match. You saw an obvious story at Summerslam. The dominance of Brock Lesnar and Cena taking the beating of his life. Some people say that the WWE must tell that same story again or it ruins Lesnar. Some people just want to see that again because they want to see Cena get destroyed. I don't think they can tell that same story again. I don't think they will tell that same story again. They have already sold that Cena is more focused now. He fought back against Lesnar on Raw and got the better of him before being separated. This will be more competitive than the match at Summerslam. You can picture Cena coming very close to getting it done, then Brock pulling it out in the end. If they had ran this story in a manner in which Cena was really crazy about proving he could do to Lesnar what Lesnar did to him, I could picture Cena getting disqualified for going too far in his match. Let him refuse to stop beating down Lesnar or snap and use a weapon. I think you can sell that without turning him heel. Of course, they have not developed the story in that direction and the direction they have developed it might make it look like Cena is turning heel just because he uses a weapon. Not the likely story here. How about Cena beats down Lesnar so much, Lesnar walks away from the match and gets counted out? Cena finds a way to get his arm raised, but Lesnar is still WWE Champion. Again, I don't feel they have developed this match with that kind of story. I would only expect a more competitive match.

Who wins? I would say Lesnar, but the WWE has developed this feud in a way where it seems more about Cena than Lesnar. Will he overcome? And there is still the whole issue of Lesnar being a part-timer. Will the WWE think that they need a full-time WWE Champion to draw for them? I still think Lesnar will retain. He should. There are still a few fresh challengers for him. He can feud against both heels and faces. But will the feud continue between Cena and Lesnar? Why should it? Hell in a Cell is coming up. What better way to end a heated feud than inside that structure? Both guys have been in Hell in a Cell matches. It could be good. But there is no need to drag this feud on. Let a fresh challenger step up.

Let me bring up my current favorite concept, the wildcat centerpiece. Before Lesnar even won the title, I imagined him winning it and getting a good run at the top, even if he wouldn't be there every week. Depush Cena. Let the hype of the unstoppable Brock Lesnar settle in on the main event. It hasn't really worked out like I had hoped. Lesnar would have been a wildcat centerpiece, even though I did not have that term in mind back then. His character has so much hype and dominance around it, I think he could bring a fresh change if pushed right. How can you push a guy that's not there every week? Remember when The Undertaker got injured a few years ago and they still ran a storyline about Kane taking him out? That was an interesting way to do things. How about those times Cena was out with an injury and they still developed title feuds for him? They did that just last year when Alberto Del Rio was World Champion. If they could make Cena look so important when he is not there, they could do that with Lesnar. I don't think they are doing a good job of that. Cena could be feuding with Seth Rollins, or some other heel The Authority puts against him, while Lesnar and his challenger get the main spotlight. Can anyone conquer The Beast? And if you hype Lesnar right and develop feuds right, that might increase his potential to draw when he does show up. When he's not there, you are creating fresh hype around something other than Cena's stale character. This is how you combat Monday Night Football with a confident strategy.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Non-title Matches

Did they really end Raw with Mark Henry and Rusev? Wow! It must be football season! I know very well this was not done because this feud is so important to the WWE. The WWE wanted the Cena/Brock segment, the segment that was the most important on that show, to occur during the halftime of the NFL game on Monday. Cena pretty much spelled it out in his opening promo. I'll talk more about that on Friday. Let me just focus on Mark Henry and Rusev right now. I didn't feel this feud would be as good as the one between Rusev and Jack Swagger, but it is better than I expected. I still wouldn't say it has the same feel as seeing Swagger turn face and it working, but it is a good feud with some good segments. I am not a United States patriot, but I do like these recent feuds. How many more can they possibly come up with? And can they keep them fresh? Mark Henry has all the momentum and I don't think they are developing Rusev to put him over. Rusev wins this match. And I would expect this feud to continue.

Chris Jericho faces Randy Orton. Why? I don't know. I figured they would go with this match. You can spend hours trying to explain the storyline reason for this feud to me. I don't care. This is obvious filler. Both men had feuds that were ending in the weeks before Night of Champions, leaving them with nothing to do. It is a rushed feud, if you can even really consider this a feud. How will the WWE write Jericho off? Punt to the head? Have Christian do something to Jericho? I am actually more interested in how they write Jericho off than in which guy wins the match. The outcome will really be meaningless. Jericho doesn't need to be put over, especially if he is leaving. Orton doesn't seem to be doing anything important right now. I can see Jericho winning and Orton taking him out out of frustration. I'll go with that. Jericho wins.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins go at it. I feel like I have seen this match before. Very recently. Might have even been on Raw. Why would you do that? Again, I am not talking about a storyline reason. It is just this booking is stupid. Reigns won that round. He did it cleanly. You would expect Seth to win at Night of Champions. Why hand Reigns two straight wins against another guy you want to build to be a star? And because you had that clean finish, I would expect something different at the PPV. Ambrose returns? Kane does something? That match on Raw has to lead to something more at Night of Champions.

The Wildcat Centerpiece

I was watching the Jets game yesterday. They like to employ some wildcat plays. These are plays that involve a bit of trickery to confuse the defense. I have said before that the best plays a coach comes up with are often the ones that involve confusing the other team. The wildcat is where the regular quarterback is not the one receiving the ball from the center. It is usually the running back getting it or the backup quarterback, if he happens to be a good runner. He then has options. Run with it? Throw it? Hand it off? It gets defenses thinking about what might happen even more with this new guy in the quarterback position. It doesn't always work, but it sometimes comes in handy in situations where you just want to run it.

You know how much I like comparing football to wrestling. The centerpiece is like the quarterback. Watching that game yesterday, I started to think how you might have some kind of "wildcat" centerpiece. This is not like an interim centerpiece. An interim centerpiece is getting a filler push. She is pushed in place of the true centerpiece when the true centerpiece gets injured, is getting angles where she does not need to be near the title, and so on. The interim centerpiece is a credible jobber. They are not pushed to be over, are usually not very over, and usually do not have an interesting gimmick or are not pushed too interestingly during the filler push. That is not what I am thinking of at all. I am thinking of pushing a woman as centerpiece for a while that you actually want to be over. This would obviously be a periphery diva. It would be a top-tier periphery diva. I am not talking eye-candy periphery divas, especially those that cannot wrestle well. I am talking those periphery divas that know how to wrestle, which would help keep matches respectable in terms of wrestling quality. You might see this kind of thing during dark ages when no centerpiece is around, but why not do it by design even when a centerpiece is there? And you know how you really make it a "wildcat" centerpiece? Have this diva have a wild or unique gimmick.

Why would you want to do this kind of thing? For one thing, the women the WWE has pushed as centerpiece don't tend to have fancy gimmicks. They have these hot, glamorous characters. Being sexy connects them with many men. Being glamorous can help them connect with many women. As they become solid wrestlers, they get those wrestling fans on their side. After that, the WWE just hypes them up as something great. Sable didn't have an over-the-top, unique gimmick. Trish didn't. She wore that mask as part of an injury angle when she was heel, but I really don't consider that a gimmick. Candice Michelle didn't. Maryse was sexy and French, but no real wild gimmick. Eve Torres was showing some character as a heel centerpiece, but not really a unique gimmick. Kelly Kelly was generic. Michelle McCool did have a wild gimmick, but that was because she was failing to get over without a gimmick. She also failed even with a gimmick. And she was the centerpiece, not a wildcat centerpiece. And that was just an annoying era in the diva division. They were not featuring any other women properly as stars. It was all LayCool and their failure to properly get over with that hard push. If they had a wildcat centerpiece back then, it might have freshened things up. And that is my whole point. Having a wildcat centerpiece can add more flavor to the division, especially the title scene. While that woman is doing that, have the true centerpiece get storylines in the men's division, feud with women in non-title matters, or even have angles with other eye-candy divas. She does not have to lose her momentum.

Have you ever had a wildcat centerpiece? Not really. The WWE has never designed it that way. Lita's first title reign came during the first dark age and wasn't that long. Her next two title reigns all involved Trish Stratus, the centerpiece. For this wildcat centerpiece treatment, you are going to keep the true centerpiece away. Let another star have the legitimate spotlight. And Lita's final title reign was for her retirement angle. Chyna's one run with the title came off a Playboy push. It also came during the dark age.

How about AJ Lee? I think she would be a great wildcat centerpiece. She has definitely not been pushed as the true centerpiece. Her first title reign did not feature the kind of feud development a centerpiece gets. She has been getting that kind of development recently to some degree, but it has recently been overshadowed by The Bellas. AJ Lee has the kind of gimmick I am thinking of for a wildcat centerpiece. She's, well, wild! But I feel that gimmick can be a nuisance if she was the centerpiece. For one thing, can the writers consistently come up with good storylines for her? For another thing, most of her opponents might either be overshadowed by her gimmick or just be blatant supporting cast for her benefit. Paige is copying AJ Lee. That feud is really about AJ Lee. I am not getting the vibe that it will help Paige get over or that they will continue to push her well. Go back to Michelle McCool and that "mean girls" gimmick. The whole division was pretty much at her mercy. Everyone LayCool feuded with just became victims for them to bully to try to either get booed for being heels or cheered for trying to be entertaining. The title didn't even matter that much, except when it was used to sell McCool making history. Even though AJ Lee is more charismatic than Michelle McCool and more over, I feel she can be just as overbearing. The fact that I find her creepy doesn't help. Not as creepy as Bo Dallas, but she can be too much.

But the thought of how AJ Lee can work as a wildcat centerpiece does warm me up to her a little more. Let's say there was a centerpiece. Let's say Eve Torres never left. After Eve had won 2 or 3 title reigns during her centerpiece run (to go with the 2 she had won before being centerpiece), rotate her out for a little. No need to rush her to 7 or 8. Put her back in an authority figure angle. What do you do while you rest her? Bring in your wildcat centerpiece. And this won't be just a filler reign, like you get with interim centerpieces. Let AJ's crazy gimmick shine. Give her a lengthy title reign, two short ones, or however you want to work it. And when you are ready to push Eve in the title scene again, she will be fresh. Fans can't complain of one diva hogging the spotlight or boring storylines. You might get your dry, typical diva title feuds with Eve, but your wildcat centerpiece will add more flavor. Aside from keeping the performers fresh, it also keeps the writers fresh. They won't have to come up with storyline after storyline for just one woman around the title, especially a woman that is pretty generic like most centerpieces are in the diva division. It might be more fun for them to write up storylines for a diva with a unique gimmick, like AJ Lee.

Does it have to be a psycho gimmick? Not necessarily. Just have some kind of gimmick that can really make for some interesting diva storylines and that you were keeping fresh in the periphery. Remember when I was talking about Kharma having some kind of bodyguard role? You can transition that into pushing her as wildcat centerpiece. How about Gail Kim being pushed as a ninja-like enforcer? Transition that into the wildcat. What's the importance of having some kind of unique gimmick at all? Because this isn't just about resting the centerpiece from the title scene and getting titles to your other stars. This is about featuring characters that can offer different storylines in the title scene without the centerpiece needing to be involved or possibly even overshadowing it.

Assuming AJ stays, can the WWE run this kind of women's division with her and The Bellas. I doubt they will try. This whole idea I gave isn't just about coming up with a game plan to be creative with your divas, but also do things efficiently. The WWE is just messy right now. You have never really had top-tier periphery divas get a fair shot in the title spotlight unless there was no centerpiece around. Going by what the WWE has a history of doing and their recent actions in the diva division, I don't think they are interested in running an efficient, productive women's division.

Since I am on the topic of the diva division, let me do a quick preview of the title match at Night of Champions. Paige defends against AJ Lee and Nikki Bella. Who wins? This match is going to come down to how they want to work things with The Bellas. They just tossed Nikki into this match. That could be a clear sign Nikki wins. Why toss her in if she won't win? Just to feature The Bellas at the PPV? You could have had some in-ring segment involving them. You have had those kind of segments on PPVs before. Let them talk and catfight. I could also imagine Brie costing Nikki the match. If Nikki gets taken out of the equation, leaving it just between AJ and Paige, I would say Paige retains. They need to stop tossing the title around. Overall, I am thinking Nikki wins and her feud with Brie becomes even more dramatic with the title involved.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Tag Titles Match

Aside from the Diva's Championship match, none of the title matches at Night of Champions features multiple challengers going for the title. I think that is disappointing. You could make some of these title feuds and matches seem more interesting by making it look like a number of challengers stand a chance to win a title. The tag title feud heading into Night of Champions easily could have led up to a match with multiple challengers. I thought it would. Wrong about that. Instead, it is just between The Usos and The Rhodes.

Let me start by talking about some of these other teams. Specifically, how about Big Show & Mark Henry and The Wyatts? That is still going on. Why? This is the most annoying thing for me since Miz vs. Fandango last year. It seems pointless. Mark Henry has something else going for him. Big Show could easily have something else going for him. Porcupine Pete and Aardvark Dan don't need a feud. They can just be an extension of whatever Bray Wyatt is doing. Have Wyatt feud with Big Show. And if you are going to feature these two teams so regularly, why not put them into the tag title feud? Because Mark Henry would not be able to feud with Rusev? I already brought up the depth issue right now, but I am sure they could have thought of another angle for Rusev.

The Rhodes get the title shot. I am not surprised they would get a title shot. I just figured it would be The Wyatts winning the titles and feuding against The Rhodes. You would have had two eccentric tag teams feuding with each other. Could have been pretty good. Instead, The Rhodes turned heel to feud with The Usos. I don't think this feud is as entertaining as you could have had with a multi-team feud or a feud between just The Wyatts and The Rhodes. When Cody got this new gimmick, he was fresh back then. Now, some of the freshness has faded. The WWE waited too long to push him and Goldust.

Who wins? For a while now, the WWE has been pretty good in handing the tag titles off to teams that had good momentum. That is not The Rhodes. Not now. And yet, The Usos have held the titles for a long time now. Tough one. I don't feel either team should be holding it. It just feels like a filler period right now. Give it to The Rhodes.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Intercontinental Championship And United States Championship Matches

It wouldn't be Night of Champions without every title being on the line. I've talked a lot about Cena. I've talked about The Bellas being inserted into the AJ/Paige feud. I have talked a little about what's going on in the tag division. I should say more about the other two title matches.

Miz gets his rematch against Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship. I have already said that I would have had Ziggler win the title at this PPV, not Summerslam. No point repeating that. The WWE continues to develop Miz's Hollywood gimmick. I am not a fan of it, but it provides an interesting character. It also gives Sandow something to do now. The actual feud between Ziggler and Miz hasn't exactly been amazing, but it is better than you usually get in the midcard. Who wins? Ziggler just won the title. I see no good reason to shoot it back to The Miz.

The United States Championship feud features quite possibly the two most boring guys currently being pushed in the WWE. I am not denying that Sheamus and Cesaro can go in the ring, but they aren't exactly pushed with interesting characters right now. I am actually knocking how they are being pushed, not them. Cesaro looked so much better a few months ago. And I believe he had a shot to win the United States title back then. The WWE didn't pull the trigger then. I wouldn't be surprised if they did now. What more can Sheamus do with the title? You might as well give it to Cesaro and let him have a mediocre run with it. After all his momentum has been killed, how many fans will really care about him getting the title? Smarks will care. If there are a lot of them at Night of Champions, Cesaro beating Sheamus might be the closest thing to a "feel good" moment you get in terms of a title change.