Daniel Bryan Joins The Wyatts

The WWE pulled the trigger on having Daniel Bryan join The Wyatts. He did so at the end of Raw last night. They had been developing this for weeks now. It started with the heel stable randomly attacking Daniel Bryan, as well as CM Punk on the same night. It led to a tag match. CM Punk was just taken out of that feud and started a feud against The Shield. Daniel Bryan continued solo against all three members of The Wyatts. No one came out to help him last night, but that is another issue. Based on his promo after the beating he took, he is just giving up and agreeing with Bray Wyatt. They broke him down physically and mentally and got him to join.

Is this a waste of Daniel Bryan? Especially at this time of year? I have brought this up before. It was the main reason why I felt they shouldn't bother following through with this angle in this way. Just have Daniel Bryan eventually overcome Bray Wyatt and move on to better things for Wrestlemania season. A lot of fans are unhappy. They say the WWE is burying Daniel Bryan. I wouldn't go that far. He is still getting a big storyline. But you would expect that this guy should be going after the WWE Championship, winning the Royal Rumble, feuding against Triple H, having an angle with Shawn Michaels, or something more major like that. It would have worked out better if the WWE had done this Wyatt angle with Daniel Bryan sooner and developed it quicker. This is an angle that is going to have to last a while. You can't just have Daniel Bryan revert back to his normal self next week and set up the big match between him and Bray Wyatt at the Royal Rumble. You have to develop him as a member of the stable. A lot of fans are going to want to see how that works out. To just drop it quickly would be stupid. I don't think it was the right decision to have him join the group, but I don't think having him quickly leave would make much sense now.

I did like the idea of him joining the title feud with Randy Orton and John Cena. He deserved that a lot more with all the momentum he had. However, a certain someone has returned and is hovering around the title picture. I will get into that tomorrow. All I will say is, with that decision, I am not going to complain too much about the WWE not having Daniel Bryan chase after the title now. That does not mean they could not develop him to win the Royal Rumble or keep him feuding against The Authority. Nevertheless, having him join The Wyatts still gives him something interesting to do. It is not like he gets the inconsistent treatment and lack of storylines that midcarders like Kofi Kingston and Fandango get. He is not buried.

Is this some kind of trick on the part of Daniel Bryan? Is that how the storyline will go? Did he realize he could not handle all three Wyatts by himself and decide to play along with them until the right time? That would be the easy way to handle this storyline. And it would make The Wyatts look somewhat bad. Bray Wyatt is supposed to be this cult leader. After almost 6 months, he has not succeeded in showing off his ability to brainwash new members? That is how it will look if Daniel Bryan is not really loyal to him. Another way to handle the storyline is to have someone "free" Daniel Bryan from Bray Wyatt. Brie Bella? Some wrestling fans may not like that sappy, romantic stuff, but it depends on how the WWE handles it. It could work. No matter what happens, the WWE did some things last night to create some buzz.

The Year Of Fandango

Of all the guys to debut in 2013, Fandango is probably the most interesting. It isn't because he has accomplished so much this year and is so great. It is just interesting how his theme song has become so much more popular than he has.

He got some big wins early in the year. He beat Chris Jericho. He entered a feud against The Miz,which I still think was a waste of time. I promise you, that will be the last time I complain about that this year. Since then, he has gotten filler treatment. He is not really getting pushed. Just inconsistent treatment you would expect with midcarders these days. I don't think that is too bad for him. If he was actually more legitimately over, then I would say they should push him better.

Will 2014 hold anything better for him? Specifically, should  he get a midcard title reign? He seemed like he might have gotten one a few months ago, but an injury led to other plans. Should they give him a title next year? The main issue is that he has lost a ton of momentum. Back when his theme song was really helping him get some hype, it was the best time for a title reign. Now, I wouldn't have confidence in the WWE to push him well even with a title. He has just gotten lost in the shuffle. He might not get a good angle again until the WWE is ready to have Summer Rae break away from him.

Another aside on the theme of what it means to be great. Greatness isn't defined by what you have handed to you, but what you accomplish. What is the difference? A singer might win a Grammy. Fans of that singer might say that singer accomplished something. Bitter haters might say the singer was handed the award. In the end, how much do those kind of awards really mean?

Let me give another example. A long time ago, I remember watching a boxing match. The guy that won the fight won it rather easily. It looked like the guy that lost did so on purpose. Even the commentators said something that implied that the guy was paid off to lose the match. I don't remember exact details, since it was so long ago. The funny finish and the commentators acknowledging it are the only reasons I vaguely remember it. It was the best finish money could buy. The guy that won the fight came out with a fancy entrance and I believe they said he was undefeated. How many of those wins were bought? It made sense that someone might bribe his opponents to take a dive for him to keep him looking good. But those kind of wins don't make you great. What do you really accomplish by beating a guy like that? That guy was handed that win. He's not great. I don't care about how much hype they can surround the guy with by buying him wins and giving him fancy entrances, he didn't accomplish anything to make me say he is great. I don't know what became of him, but he probably got knocked out in 5 seconds when he had to face real competition.

In pro wrestling, you can argue that title reigns are not what make you great at all. Any wrestler can be booked to win a title for any reason. There have even been some non-wrestlers to win titles in major promotions. Are these guys really accomplishing anything when they win titles? Or are they just being handed something? A pro wrestlers job is to go out there and perform to entertain the fans, not simply collect titles. There have been some people that do not do a good job connecting with the fans and still get title success. To me, those title reigns do not make them great. Just like a boxer getting cheap wins is not something I view as an accomplishment, a wrestler being handed a title reign for no good reason is not something I view as an accomplishment. The title does not make you great.

Switch it back to Fandango. If they had given him a title reign earlier this year for his theme song's success, or still do next year, did he really accomplish anything? Or is he just being handed something? I don't consider this guy great. I don't like his theme song, but I cannot deny it has caught on. You can say he has a great theme song, but it is not like he produced it himself. If it was a theme he sang himself and it had success, I would be saying something different, but that is not the case. Assuming Fandango never truly gets over, if he ever gets a title reign just off of the hype his theme song had, that does not mean this guy is great. He didn't actually accomplish anything to be viewed as great in this situation. He is being handed a title. I am not saying I would be completely against him getting a title reign. You need fresh guys winning those midcard titles. What I am saying, I just won't buy into this guy just because of a title reign.

Win And You're In?

A few months ago, I talked about the NFL preseason. I compared that to the way TNA runs their company, always rotating around their stars, never settling on whom to be consistent with. This is another unique point in the football season. This is the final week of regular season games. Why not compare that to something?

Sunday will feature the last games of the regular season. And nothing is absolutely settled. There are still wildcard spots to be had, division winners to be decided, and even the top seeds have not been decided. How is all this settled? All a team has to do is win and they're in? Only in some cases. The Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are in a "win-and-you're-in" game to decide the winner of their division and which of the two goes to the playoffs. The same for the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Things are very simple in those two sets of games. Whichever team wins the game gets the division title and goes to the playoffs, while the loser is eliminated.

Things are not that simple for other teams. The San Fransisco 49ers can only win their division if they win their game against the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks, the current division leader, loses to the St. Louis Rams. The 49ers and Seahawks will both have 12-4 records, but tiebreakers would give the 49ers the division. And that is the kind of thing you have for a few games this Sunday. The only hope some teams have to make the playoffs is if another team loses. Their destiny is not in their own hands. Winning does not automatically get them in.

Switch to pro wrestling. There is this idea many fans have that all a wrestler has to do to get pushed better is get over. That's it. It is like one of those "win-and-you're-in" situations in football. Obviously, it isn't that easy. Zack Ryder got over and the WWE did not want to push him. Mickie James got over and continued to be pushed the same way she would have been pushed had she not gotten over. The Dallas Cowboys may control their own destiny this Sunday in terms of only needing to win to make the playoffs, but wrestlers in the WWE do not control their own destiny in the same way in terms of just needing to get over. You need other things to work your way. Even then, it is still not guaranteed that you will get the career you earn. Meanwhile, some individuals can fail to make it and still get treated very well. Michelle McCool is an example of that. She was pushed as the centerpiece of the diva division. She never got over enough to match how she was pushed. The diva division is very unfair. Of course, the same thing happens in the men's division, but the fact that you have so much more space to push the men makes it less of an issue, usually.

Recently, Jericho and Edge discussed the Nexus angle. They talked about how Nexus should have won that match at Summerslam. To them, the loss hurt the careers of those rookies and Wade Barrett's career has flopped. I disagree with them about the outcome of that one match really mattering that much. Yeah, you can complain about Cena winning and how he won. And the members have all mostly not gone too far, except for Daniel Bryan, but he was out of the group almost immediately. And Wade Barrett is not in a great place now. But one match outcome could have changed all that? Really? With all due respect to Edge and Jericho, that just sounds ridiculous. Would the rookie heels winning that match automatically have gotten them over with the fans? I doubt it. Would that match outcome mean that the WWE would have to continue pushing them well until they did get over? I don't see why. And is this really an "over-and-you're-in" situation? I don't think they were giving these guys an opportunity to get over and earn better careers for themselves. The main point was to create a situation that would put John Cena, the centerpiece, over. As for Wade Barrett, he was not immediately buried after Nexus. He has had some title success. I think he was showing signs of getting over. What really screwed him over was that injury a few years ago when he had a ton of momentum. But even if he had returned very over, there are still other guys the WWE wants to push well. This is like a situation where a football team needs to win and for another team to lose to get into the playoffs. Not only does Barrett need to get over, he needs other guys ahead of him to not work out so that the WWE can finally decide to push him better. To put it simply, I don't think that one match outcome really changed the outcome of much. If the WWE was really serious about giving these guys fair chances to get over or develop any of them to be over, like Barrett, one match outcome would not have changed anything. It isn't like Nexus performed horribly in that match to screw themselves.

Look back at Survivor Series last month. The Shield looked good in their match. Specifically, Roman Reigns looked great. And how has the WWE followed up with them since? After that big win, they have pretty much gone back to doing what they were doing before. They are henchmen for The Authority. That was not the start of some huge push for them. Especially Roman Reigns. Even I wondered if this was the start of a big solo push for him. Nope. Giving someone a great match outcome is not a guarantee that they will be followed up with immediately after. What happened with The Shield at Survivor Series is an example of that. And that example makes me further believe that the match outcome for that Summerslam match with Nexus would have also not been a guarantee of anything. As I frequently say, never make too much out of one moment.

Making too much out of one match outcome is like making too much out of one football game's outcome in a situation where you need one or two other teams to also lose. Yeah, it is great that you won your game, but you are not in the playoffs yet. Yeah, it is great that the WWE gave you a nice moment, but that does not mean you are someone they want to be a star. I am not taking anything away from stars that put over younger talent and want to see them succeed, but that one match outcome is not a guarantee that the company will treat them well. Some things are not within your control. Some fans really need to stop believing that all a wrestler has to do to get treated better is get over and an over wrestler still being treated poorly had to have done something wrong. The WWE has too many individuals to push and they will often go with their own favorites, not the fans' favorites.  

Corporate Kane: A Waste?

Kane has been aligned with The Authority for over a month now. He lost the mask and has been repackaged with a suit. He isn't wrestling. He does seem to have some storyline power when it comes to making matches. There are a few glimpses of the former Kane here and there, like his pyro, so he has not been completely changed. When you get right down to it, is this a good change?

First, how about the fact that he is not wrestling for now? I am not saying Kane was horrible in the ring, but I am not going to say that he had this amazing, unique wrestling ability that was a huge draw. The corporate heels have a member that has been World Champion before. He has that credibility. That could make for some good feuds and matches. I am not saying that Kane needs to be treated as just a pure henchman. They have The Shield for that. In terms of the tiers within the stable, Kane should be between The Shield and Orton. Triple H is one of the top leaders of the group, so you can understand him not wrestling regularly. But I don't think Kane should be held out of matches. Of course, it is only a matter of time before he does get a big match.

How about the fact that he now has some authority power? Good for Kane. When WWE.com eventually does a list of top wrestlers to become authority figures, I am sure Kane will be in there between William Regal and Shawn Michaels. Those lists are what it is all about, isn't it? For the moment, I do see one problem. Brad Maddox and Vickie Guerrero have really been phased down. A few months ago, I brought up the potential that those two could have had when it came to storylines for themselves. That got buried away under Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. They are now getting buried away further under Kane. Honestly, I would just come up with some way to write them off and let Kane have their spot officially. You don't need all these authority figures running around. When Kane does eventually lose his kayfabe position, then you can make GMs out of whomever.

Last thing to consider, is this repackaging of Kane the right option? Keep in mind that he could have come back with a huge beard and dressed as a guy you would expect to clean your septic tank. That is to say, he could have been a Wyatt. That most likely would have had him wrestling more than he is now. He wouldn't have the position to make matches he has now. And it really would have been a bigger change than you have now. In terms of The Wyatt's angle, that would have been huge for them. Big storyline development. In terms of what is best for Kane, I think where he is now is a lot better for him. Still, it would have been interesting to see how joining Bray Wyatt would have worked out for him.

When you get right down to it, is this all a waste of Kane? Kane is a versatile character. He has been one of my favorites since I started watching in 1998. This current storyline isn't making me hate him. I enjoy this better than seeing him job. I do wish they developed some feuds for him within the angle, but I can wait for that. Personally, I am not going to complain about how they are using him. A wrestler's legacy isn't just based on what they do during matches. It is also based on angles outside the matches. And this is good for Kane. It is keeping him fresh.

Christmas is tomorrow. I think I'll skip blogging. If you are one of the few that read my blog regularly, no need to check tomorrow. I'll be back on Friday. Merry Christmas!

Should Daniel Bryan Feud With The Wyatts Or For The Title?

The closing image of Raw last week was that of Randy Orton holding his title belts over John Cena and Daniel Bryan. If you were to go in the direction of what that image might foreshadow, you would say that a triple-threat match would be coming up for the title. And why not? John Cena will get his rematch against Orton. Orton did not actually defeat Daniel Bryan last week. Why not combine the two and have Orton defend against both guys?

Problem is, Daniel Bryan is not done feuding with Fuzzy Lumpkins and the Fuzz Busters. That is to say, The Wyatts. Bray Wyatt is still trying to recruit Daniel Bryan. I had said before that one of the problems with running this storyline between Daniel Bryan and The Wyatts around this time of year is that you might not have enough time to develop it properly before you have to move Daniel Bryan onto bigger and better things for Wrestlemania season. Putting Daniel Bryan back in the title picture is definitely something bigger and better than a feud with The Wyatts.

Which direction would I like to see them go? How Raw ended last week just makes me eager for a feud between all three guys. Daniel Bryan's feud against The Wyatts will probably not end in an interesting way. Daniel Bryan will likely overcome, then move on. Given the possibility of a 3-way feud for the World title, I would have rather they ended Daniel Bryan's feud against The Wyatts at the last PPV or rushed a finish prior to the Royal Rumble to still leave room for Daniel Bryan to be inserted in the title feud. How many times have John Cena and Randy Orton faced each other in title matches? Yeah, these two are big rivals, but inserting Daniel Bryan would at least add a little variation. Orton and Cena already faced each other at TLC. Change it up a bit. To put it simple, I think having Daniel Bryan feud for the title with Orton and Cena would be the fresher option for him. His storyline with The Wyatts will likely not be developed properly from here and not end in a great fashion.

Natural Selection & Basketball

Charles Darwin wrote so much about evolution. Natural selection was a part of that. I am not even going to get too sciencey about it. Natural selection is the idea that the best traits win out.

How do I relate that to the diva division? You look at the whole history of the diva division. There certainly has been change. As I have said before, the overall agenda the WWE is pushing is pretty much the same. What has really changed is their ability to get the job done with that same agenda they have liked to push for over a decade now. Is it natural change? In biology, natural selection isn't about some scientists in a lab deciding what traits they want a given specimen to have. It is nature doing it. It is the natural flow of things. What the WWE has been doing in the last few years is not going in a natural direction.

Go back to when the diva division started. You could understand why they would want to do it. Women like Sable and Sunny were connecting with the fans very well. Sable was starting to develop wrestling ability. And after a certain female wrestler had dumped the Women's Championship in the trash, that could be seen as another factor in wanting a women's division that showed favoritism to model-type women. Putting it simply, you can argue that it was only natural to take the women's division in this direction.

Following the great success they had with Trish Stratus, that is where things went wrong. The WWE tried to keep things going in the same direction they previously did. Problem is, the model-type women could not get the job done, particularly those pushed to be the centerpiece of the division. It was a female wrestler being pushed to put these women over and used as filler when they were not around that was succeeding. That would be Mickie James. The natural decision to make would have been to select Mickie James to be the centerpiece. Go with the flow of what the fans want. Give a worker that is earning that better career the career she earned. Let those with the best traits to succeed in that WWE environment win out. The WWE didn't do that. They have continued to push things in the direction they want to work. They are forcing things.

A lot of people like to bring up AJ Lee like she is the savior of the women's division. Many point out that the WWE pretty much made their own version of Mickie James. And that is it, they made her. They developed her as a periphery diva. She has been benefiting from the current dark age to get a lengthy title run. I am not taking anything away from AJ Lee, but she is not an indicator that the WWE is willing to let things go in a natural direction. They are still picking whom they want to succeed and trying to make them a success. This isn't even just about Mickie James or AJ Lee. The division outside of AJ is still a mess. Are those women getting fair opportunities? If another woman not pushed well gets over, will she get the push she rightfully earns? Or will she be used to put over whom the WWE wants to be a star, then depushed? The best thing in the diva division right now is a woman they selected to be a star and have engineered to be a star by utilizing traits from other women. That is not natural selection. If you want to believe AJ is a copy of Mickie James, you can say she is a "genetically-engineered" version of Mickie James. Speaking figuratively, of course.

What should the WWE be doing? Go with the flow of what fans legitimately want. Give these women fair opportunities and run with those women with the best qualities to succeed. Of course, pay attention to how they are succeeding. If you ever find yourself in a crisis situation and you need to really make a star because none of your women are connecting well with the fans, do what you have to do. That is pretty much what they did with AJ Lee. Again, I am not denying her success. I am just not going to say that she did in that diva division what Mickie James did in that diva division and that her success means things are getting better in the diva division in terms of them treating their women better. Right now, the WWE is still playing God. They are like those scientists in the lab that can modify traits of organisms. The WWE needs to do less of that and more promoting and developing what fans legitimately want to see.

Moving away from science, let me talk about a sport beside football. I have started to watch NBA basketball more this year. I don't watch the college games. With wrestling not entertaining me as much as it used to, I just decided to find something else to watch. And it also helps that Brooklyn, the part of New York City where I live, now has an NBA team. Anyway, is this the start of me making as many comparisons to basketball as I do football? We'll see.

When a player is fouled while in the act of shooting, they get to make free throws. Depending on where they were on the court when the foul happened, they will take either two or three shots. But there is more to the rule than just that. If the player that got fouled still ends up making the basket, the shot counts and he still gets a chance at one free throw. Count it & 1! I just like that rule. A player is hindered from getting a fair, legal shot, still makes it, and they still get a bonus. Football doesn't have that. If a receiver is interfered with when trying to catch a pass and still manages to catch the pass, which does sometimes happen, the penalty flag is picked up and the catch counts. No bonus yardage is added on. In basketball, you get a little bonus in the form of one free throw.

How does that relate to pro wrestling? You don't have fouls and penalties in the same way you do in basketball and football. You have screwjobs. You have people not being given fair shots to succeed by the company. What happens to those people that succeed from these situations and still get screwed out of the better pushes and careers? Fans usually speculate that they had to have done something wrong or are lacking something for them to get treated like that. Dirtsheets usually come up with some big stories. There are no officials to blow the whistle and penalize the WWE for what they do. They were not giving Zack Ryder a fair shot to get over. He got over on his own. What was his reward? The U.S. title? Yeah, after a few months of the WWE not really wanting to push him and finally using him to make Cena look like a hero. And Ryder soon got buried again. Mickie James got over from a career where no diva had ever done it. They kept pushing her the same way. No one brings that up. Where is she now? She was not given a fair shot to succeed, still succeeded, and got screwed out of it. I don't even need to ask what her "free throw" bonus should be in regards to the basketball analogy. Not a fair situation all around.

If you combine what I said about natural selection and basketball, the common theme is that the WWE is not running a fair diva division. They take things the direction they want it to go, not the the direction things should naturally go. And if a woman should succeed when she is not supposed to, overcoming that unfair opportunity, she doesn't get added respect or praise for what she has done. The WWE just continues doing what they want. What do I say should happen? The WWE should stop trying to control so much and they should take blame when they screw their own workers more. They can't just be able to turn it into a storyline to play it off. They need to be held responsible. 

Random WWE Thoughts

A lot of small things going on right now that I want to give my thoughts on. First, Brodus Clay is back to being a heel. He was a heel prior to the whole dancing gimmick. This has also coincided with the debut of Xavier Woods. The supporting players, R-Truth and Tensai, also end up with something to make them relevant for a while. Given the WWE's lack of pushing midcard workers consistently, I would not imagine them to go too far with anyone involved in this feud. What was Brodus Clay doing prior to this push? Nothing. He will be doing that again soon. The same goes for Tensai. And R-Truth. As far as Xavier Woods, I cannot imagine great things for him. Nevertheless, give the WWE some credit for creating a storyline for some workers that have not been pushed well for a while.

"Bad News" Barrett. Wade Barrett has himself a gimmick. It is getting him some segment time. I like it. I really like his character. Of course, the obvious problem is that he is not getting any feuds or actual storylines, yet. All he has is this gimmick and a small amount of segment time to do his promo. This is better than nothing. He has not been relevant since he held the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the year. But it shouldn't be too hard for this to branch into a feud for Barrett. Just have him say something that offends one of the faces. The face comes out to confront him, and there is a feud. How long before they do that? Normally, I would say that doing the same thing over and over again will lead to things getting stale and you have to know when to develop things. In this case, I think Barrett handles these segments well enough to keep this going for a while. That is, as long as they have fresh material for him.

Alberto Del Rio suffered a concussion that has kept him away from wrestling recently. This seems to be the only December injury, so far. December has proven to be the month in recent years where you get injuries to big stars or performers that were in the midst of important pushes. Del Rio is a former World Champion, but he wasn't doing anything too important. He was involved in that mini-feud with Sin Cara. Seems like basic filler. Now that there is only one World title, what is a guy like Del Rio to do? A lot of fans say that this guy has always been chasing after a World title since he debuted. He has spent a lot of time doing that. They are going to have to think of something else for him. I have always said this guy's character has a lot of potential. Will they finally start utilizing that more?

Big Show and Rey Mysterio are a tag team. Another instance of the WWE simply sticking two guys together that they want to feature, but cannot come up with good solo feuds for at the moment. Moreover, they are in the tag title hunt. I am not going to complain about trying to get these two something to do, but the WWE continues to keep more legitimate tag teams down in favor of having these kind of tag teams made up of singles wrestlers getting the title feuds. Some fans point out that the WWE has so many tag teams. Some say that this is great for the tag division. Problem is, a lot of these teams are just being used as filler. Have Los Matadores gotten a legitimate feud yet? Are The Usos ever getting the tag titles? What can you expect from Xavier Woods and R-Truth? Having Kane and Daniel Bryan dominate the tag division for a while was acceptable, since there was a good angle between them, but I hope Big Show and Rey Mysterio do not last too long as a team.

Finally, let me talk about Layla. Layla? She's not doing anything. What is there to talk about? Well, I think she should get something to do. Of the divas currently on the roster, she is my favorite. That was not true during her first few years. Maybe I just didn't like her hair? And I didn't like her during her run in LayCool. Not only did I not like the gimmick, but Layla and McCool did not perform it well to make me like it. They were often too dry and annoying in their execution. A little more arrogance/cockiness and youthfulness would have been nice. They were the kind of heels that made me want to change the channel, not like them, which I usually do for good heels, or see them get owned by the faces. Enough of that. Since then, Layla has grown on me. I liked her face run after that. Nice fresh spirit. She has definitely become very good in the ring. And she is sexy. Of course, she is an eye-candy credible jobber, so I don't need to ask why the WWE is not pushing her. Nevertheless, I still believe the WWE needs more creative depth in the diva division right now. Give Layla something meaningful to do. Periphery angle or an in-ring push? I don't know how well she would work in a periphery angle. If the WWE starts developing a better midcard, that might make things better for a periphery angle for her. Give her a feud. I would make her face. Given the WWE's desire to push eye-candy divas as the centerpiece of their diva division, I would have Layla get that position. Not happening. I wouldn't be surprised if Layla is not kept around by the WWE. They aren't exactly treating her as someone they would keep around.

The Wrong Kind Of Uncertainty

I once took a seminar class on the theme of uncertainty. We basically read things where you couldn't blindly go by what the writer was telling you. I don't think anything I read in that class represented that idea better than The Trial by Kafka. That was the weirdest thing I had ever read. It was so inconsistent. It created this mysterious atmosphere that just kept me reading to see what this was all about. I have read myths, fairy tales, mysteries, and things like that, but this story was something else. It just seemed like a type of story that you would expect to be based on reality, but it was like the writer was on drugs when he wrote it. And yet, I enjoyed reading it. Even though it would leave you wondering so much, I still enjoyed going through it.

Randy Orton won at TLC. It looked like he was on top of the world. It looked like The Authority was back on his side. What happens on Raw? Triple H and Stephanie put him in a match against Daniel Bryan that he did not want. What is with this storyline? They just keep shifting from Randy Orton and The Authority being on the same page to having big issues. This is inconsistency. You either have to say the writers do not know what they are doing or they are purposely doing this to build up to the breaking point for either The Authority or Randy Orton. If you go by the former possibility, do not place all the blame on the writers. The bosses above them might be causing that inconsistency. Even if they are not, they should take control and guide the writers better. If you go by the latter possibility, that there is a storyline purpose for this inconsistency, you can also argue that they believe that being inconsistent like this might make people curious about what will happen and get them to tune in. Basically, there is thinking behind their madness.

I am not certain about what the WWE is trying to do here with this storyline between Orton and The Authority. This is the kind of uncertainty that I do not like. Kafka created this atmosphere of mystery in The Trial that would keep you reading to the end. The WWE is creating an atmosphere of incompetence with how they are handling this storyline. That might be a bit harsh. But it really doesn't seem to be like they know how to handle this storyline the right way. Either develop Orton to be The Authority's top star, and develop a face to eventually conquer him, or pull the trigger on having Orton separate himself from the corporate heels. Do a linear storyline. Stop going back and forth every week. Speaking for myself, I don't know what to get excited over when it comes to where the storyline might go. And the atmosphere they are creating, as I have mentioned before, isn't drawing me in. Maybe some fans out there love what is going on here. I am getting a little tired of the same insincere promos from The Authority. The storyline needs to go in a definitive direction.

As an Orton fan, I am glad to see him holding both titles. As someone that wants to see a great storyline, their recent actions are not exciting me. Even though I am a fan of Randy Orton, I was more excited over the possibility of some kind of screwjob that would lead to Orton feuding against The Authority. Basically, you have unified the titles, but the storyline is the same as it has been for months now. Orton being Champion is not enough to get me excited enough to forget about this inconsistent storyline.     

Miz Goes Back To Being Heel

I have not even mentioned Miz's recent heel turn. Let me talk about that now. It has come about with this feud involving Kofi Kingston. Before focusing on Miz, let me talk about this as it relates to Kofi Kingston. Kofi Kingston has gotten a feud against a former top star that does not involve a title. The last time he got a major feud like this was against Randy Orton a few years ago. It showed a great side of Kofi Kingston. He showed a great attitude. This feud against The Miz isn't as great as that feud against Orton, but it is something for Kofi to do.

Moving onto Miz, can you say his face run flopped? I usually do not like saying something like that. I usually feel the WWE did not do a proper job developing the superstar. This is not one of those situations. I thought Miz had the potential to be a good face. He could be a face character with some edge. He just has not connected well with the fans. Certain instances of him getting negative reactions from the fans during his face run have been made clear. The WWE has not really pushed him down the fans' throats, so I can't blame them for that. I cannot blame them for not giving him anything to do. He has been featured well, although not as great as certain other main-event faces, obviously. I really cannot blame the WWE for turning Miz heel again.

Does the negative reaction mean Miz is a great heel character? Or do the fans just dislike him as a performer? You watch a movie and dislike a certain character in the movie, possibly the villain. Do you hate that character because of how well the actor makes you hate that character? Or do you hate how the actor is performing? When I watch a movie, I usually am not too critical of anyone's acting. Miz is heel. He will probably still get booed. Are those fans booing him because he does a great job playing that heel character? Or do they just don't like him as a performer? This isn't even a question about whether they don't like him as a human being. That's just stupid. Even though I think Miz has potential to be a great heel, I think there are a lot of fans out there that hate him because they don't like how he performs, not because his skills are drawing that emotion from them.

Now that Miz is heel again, what can you do with him? I'll just bring up one possibility. If the WWE still eventually pulls the trigger on Randy Orton separating from The Authority, how about Miz takes his place as the corporate heels top star? He isn't the worse choice. It is a possibility. And yet, it is a possibility I do not like. I don't think he has enough credibility to pull it off. He has only been WWE Champion once. And he has not been deeply involved in major storylines in a while. To toss him into that position would not be wise. You would have to build him up first. Nevertheless, just wanted to mention it.

Randy Orton Vs. John Cena: Final Preview

Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, and Lurch. If you don't get that reference, just pretend it's a bunch of Jinder Mahal enthusiasts. Either way, things don't look good for Randy Orton.

Not only does the honeymoon appear to be over between Randy Orton and The Authority, they seem to be closing in on a divorce. Raw ended with Randy Orton accidentally hitting Stephanie McMahon, Triple H giving him a Pedigree in retaliation, and John Cena standing with The Authority. When this feud between John Cena and Randy Orton was rekindled, I was hoping for a great feud between the two of them to see who walks out as Unified Champion. It would be just between them and the titles. I was expecting some amazing build. I was expecting the kind of build you might get for a Wrestlemania match. Instead, friction between Randy Orton and The Authority and the possibility of Cena joining the heels has kind of overshadowed things. These storyline points are more interesting than the actual title matters. I usually love a great storyline, but I don't like it for this situation. Unifying the titles should be a big deal in itself.

Will there be a double turn? Randy Orton turns face and Cena goes heel? Since I last brought up that possibility, the WWE has done a lot to tease things going in that direction. However, Cena isn't really acting that heelish or evil. Stephanie got knocked down and he checked on her. On the other side of that, Orton really isn't acting like a face. He didn't mean to hit Stephanie. Yes, he has his tension with Triple H, but does that really mean you have to have a double turn? If Cena does turn heel now, it might just be a pretty weak turn. He still seems like a good boy scout. They can run an angle where The Authority tries to get him to join them, but I don't picture Cena actually turning heel with this storyline. What about Orton turning face? With how much friction there is, they better just do it soon. They are just going back and forth with Orton and Triple H being on the same page and having issues. It is getting annoying. That might leave the heel stable without a top star to be Champion, but that is another issue.

Who wins the title? I have seen some people say that Triple H will somehow walk out with the titles. Ignoring that possibility, let's just keep this between Orton and Cena. How about that option of them each coming down with a title? I don't imagine the WWE going that route. They already have enough drama concerning Orton's tension with The Authority to keep things interesting after TLC. I think they will actually go with one winner, unless Triple H pulls some screwjob to have things end some other way. Ignoring all that stuff, who wins just between Cena and Orton? Just because Cena is the centerpiece, that does not mean he has to win this. Over a decade ago, many would have expected Austin vs. The Rock to decide who would be Undisputed Champion. It came down to Austin vs. Jericho. When that ended up being the match to decide it, you might have expected the title to go to the top star of the company, Austin. Jericho won it. However, I do think Cena will win here, but more for storyline reasons. Triple H will somehow screw Orton out of the title, whether intentionally or not. This will further the issues between them. And it will not necessarily mean that Cena has to turn heel.

Big E Langston Vs. Damien Sandow At TLC

Big E Langston will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Damien Sandow at TLC. Since getting done with Curtis Axel, this is Big E Langston's first feud with the title. As for Sandow, this is the best thing he's gotten since losing to John Cena when he tried to take the World's Heavyweight Championship away.

Who should win? I believe Sandow deserves a run with a midcard title. He is a good midcarder. Some midcarders that have not even been on the main roster as long as him have already had title success. Big E Langston would fall into that category. Problem is, Big E Langston just won the title a few weeks ago. Why take it away so fast? Sandow is deserving, but I cannot picture them ending Langston's title run now. I don't think they should do that. Big E Langston will most likely retain here, but I don't think that means Damien Sandow will be completely out of the picture after.

Let me switch slightly to talk about the other midcard title. That would be the U.S. Championship, which is held by Dean Ambrose. When he is the only member of The Shield with a title, it kind of makes him look like the leader. Is there really any contender in sight to take the title off him? He is always so engaged in whatever The Authority is having The Shield do, the title just gets lost in the shuffle. He has not gotten a good title feud in a while. If they ever get around to transitioning that title to a face, that might give Damien Sandow another title to go after. To put that in a broader sense, getting the title off Dean Ambrose might open up title feuds for other people. The title isn't doing anything right now on him.

Daniel Bryan Vs. The Wyatts At TLC

The WWE certainly has a thing for 3-on-1 matches right now. Daniel Bryan will face all three members of The Wyatts at TLC. More important than the outcome of the match, will Daniel Bryan join The Wyatts?

I didn't like that the WWE didn't just have Daniel Bryan return as a brainwashed member of Bray Wyatt's stable. They could have done that with Kane, but they did not. Bray Wyatt is supposed to be this cult leader that can brainwash people. He is coming off looking like Kane did over a year ago when he tried to turn Cena heel. Cena did not turn heel back then. But will Daniel Bryan turn heel now?

Seeing how long they have dragged on this portion of the feud, I don't think they should bother turning Daniel Bryan heel and having him join the group. Look at what comes after TLC. Wrestlemania season begins. I would hope Daniel Bryan has something more important to do around this time than be stuck with Bray Wyatt. This would have been a great angle to run earlier. If you do turn Daniel Bryan heel and insert him in the group, you cannot immediately kill that off after 2 weeks. His involvement in the group is something I would like to see last about 2 months, then start running some angle to finally free him from the group. Develop that climax for this storyline. I don't think they can properly do that now. If they did, you might eventually see Daniel Bryan vs. Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania. Bray Wyatt is not a worthy opponent for Daniel Bryan at that big event.

Now, let me look at the match itself. Daniel Bryan has to face all three men at the same time? Why not just Bray Wyatt? Saving that for another time? If that is the case, you would expect the heels to win here. You might want the heels to win here. How would it look for this entire stable to be beat by one guy? That is the same question you can ask for CM Punk vs. The Shield. Would you expect the same outcome in both matches? That is to say, would you expect to see the heel stable win in both matches? Either Daniel Bryan or CM Punk can pull out a fluke win by a roll up, but I cannot imagine either one just dominating all three opponents. If I had to predict the winner of this match, The Wyatts win here, but Daniel Bryan stays face. The feud continues, then Daniel Bryan eventually beats Bray Wyatt in a singles match. Daniel Bryan is not a bad option to hand Bray Wyatt a loss.

Curtis Axel And Ryback To Go After The Tag Titles?

Last week, I mentioned some teams I would like to see feud against The Rhodes for the tag titles. I did not mention Curtis Axel and Ryback. It did cross my mind to mention them. They are heels. They aren't exactly lower-midcarders. Why didn't I mention them? To put it simply, this was not a team I wanted to see The Rhodes go against. Since it looks like the WWE is going in this direction, I should talk about them.

Why exactly did I not care about seeing these two get a title shot? For one thing, in comparison to Swagger & Cesaro and The Wyatts, this team has barely been around for long. Curtis Axel was aligned with Paul Heyman. A few months ago, Ryback joined Heyman and a partnership was formed. This is still a pretty new tag team. But it is more than just this idea of seniority, if you want to consider it that. Ryback and Curtis Axel have no real gimmick together. The Real Americans have a clear gimmick that links them. The Wyatts have a clear gimmick that links them. Curtis Axel and Ryback's bond is based on the fact that they used to be aligned with Paul Heyman. Heyman is gone now. They have no common gimmick. This is pretty much two midcarders that they still want to feature for a while and a tag team is a convenient way to do it. More teams are deserving.

Should this team win the tag titles? I don't think they will, but should they? I am not against Ryback winning a title. Curtis Axel has already held some titles in the WWE. But why would this team need the tag titles? To drop it off to another deserving face team? It would be a waste of time. There are more deserving heel teams that could be used for that. I would say that this feud will just amount to The Rhodes getting a successful title defense, then moving on to better things.

Even though I do not like this tag team, I am not saying that Ryback and Curtis Axel should have nothing to do. Why not have them feud against each other? Their current angle might lead to that. Turn one of them face. I would pick Curtis Axel for that. Ryback makes for a very good heel. Many might say that Curtis Axel would never make it as a face. Well, he isn't exactly becoming a major star as a heel, is he? Try something different with him. If it does not work, start depushing him. But having these two feud against each other could make for a good non-title midcard feud.

Alberto Del Rio And Big Show Out Of The Hunt

Last time, I talked about how great it was that the men's division is so open that you have room for guys to still get featured well even outside of the top feud and outside the title picture. I pointed out that CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were both getting good storylines, even though neither had to do with the title picture and neither were as big as Cena vs. Orton. Let me follow that same idea to two other wrestlers. Big Show and Alberto Del Rio were both involved in the title picture until recently. Both failed to win their title match at Survivor Series. Both have been depushed. The analyst in me would be quick to point out that an eventual depush was obvious. That doesn't mean I cannot critique how the WWE has been handling Big Show and Alberto Del Rio during this depush.

Alberto Del Rio was being used to put over the centerpiece of the company. A jobber to the centerpiece in the diva division usually has mediocrity to look forward to after being done with that. How about Del Rio? The guy lost to a man known as Sin Cara on Raw. He lost clean. He isn't getting any big storyline. This is a real depush. This might end up being the biggest depush Del Rio has gotten since he started in the WWE. Nevertheless, the WWE could start a "losing streak" angle for Del Rio. Have him keep losing and destroying people out of frustration. It's still some kind of storyline. Granted, it is a lazy storyline. If the WWE wants to feature someone on a consistent basis and cannot think of a good way of doing it, two things they might typically do is give them a losing streak or team them up with someone else lost in the shuffle to make them a tag team. It gives fans something to talk about for that individual. I would rather Alberto Del Rio get his own stable or be more involved with The Authority, but if neither of that will happen, a storyline about a losing streak and frustrated Del Rio might not be bad. This is a guy that likes Alberto Del Rio saying he would be fine with him getting a losing streak. Just making that clear.

Big Show was being used to put over the storyline "face" of the company. He has not only been depushed out of that, he is no longer a major player against The Authority. I don't mind what they have been doing with Alberto Del Rio recently, but I really dislike how they have depushed Big Show. After Triple H and Stephanie McMahon made life hell for him for so long, he switches focus to trying to get the WWE Championship, fails to win that, and then gets lost in the shuffle in terms of not being still right in the middle of the current major storyline. Things were really personal between him and Triple H and Stephanie. That could have been a big storyline right there. They instead move him into a lackluster title feud and depush him further after that. At the very least, still keep him a strong player in this storyline and have him team with CM Punk to face all three members of The Shield at TLC. This has just been bad development for Big Show on the part of the WWE.

Time for an aside. I have taken 4 creative writing courses during my many years in college. The first 2 were taught by the same guy, and those were my favorite. Not only was the instructor a nice guy and funny, I liked how he structured the class. The other workshops I took after that just seemed disorganized. In a writing workshop, you obviously come up with ideas for stories and write the stories, but you do more than that. You also read and critique the works of the other people in the workshop. In those first 2 courses I took, we would go around the room and say something we liked and something we didn't like about every piece we workshopped. You might sometimes notice that I sometimes say things I like about a certain angle and also turn around and say things I don't like about the same angle. It isn't that I can't make up my mind about it. I'm just trying to critique it as fairly as I can. Well, usually. In these writing workshops, you also read the works of published writers, getting a sense of how they do things, and have to write an analysis paper on that. Analyzing, critiquing, and coming up with stories. That is really not too different from what I do on this blog. I analyze how the WWE is pushing their workers, as well as ratings numbers and other things like that, I critique what the WWE is doing, and I come up with creative ideas on how I would handle things. I personally don't like how I structure this blog. I'm not as organized as I should be. Anyway, just wanted to draw the comparison between what I do on this blog and what was done in those writing workshops.

CM Punk Vs. The Shield At TLC

Even though I do not like The Rhodes always facing The Shield so much in recent weeks, I never said CM Punk had to face The Shield alone. Regardless, CM Punk will face The Shield at TLC. No partners for Punk.

CM Punk is now officially feuding with The Authority. What I really do not like about how they handled this is that it wasn't really CM Punk jumping right in to stand up against the corporate heels. In terms of the storyline, this all seemingly started off of Punk saying something bad about The Authority. They then sent The Shield to take Punk out. CM Punk is supposed to be this guy that is against the status quo and the establishment. It would have been so much better if he took the fight to them. I am not implying his character has become that of a sellout. I just find it weak that it took The Authority targeting Punk for Punk to really start being against the establishment again.

You have CM Punk in a match against three guys. The Shield has been booked to look so strong as a team. What would it mean for one CM Punk to beat them all at TLC? The only way it can properly happen is to have The Shield tease friction again and have that lead to their downfall. To have CM Punk simply overcome them all as a united front by himself would be unbelievable. Go back a few months to when CM Punk feuded against Paul Heyman and his minion. I brought up the point that they would either have to take Curtis Axel out of the picture or get CM Punk a friend to help him even the odds. To have CM Punk go through both Curtis Axel and Ryback by himself to knock off Heyman might have been too much. Having CM Punk go through all three members off The Shield by himself would be even more unbelievable than that.

You have CM Punk getting involved in a good storyline where he is not chasing after a World title. You have Daniel Bryan involved in a good storyline where he is not chasing after a World title. Not surprisingly, John Cena, the centerpiece, is involved in a storyline involving the World titles. This is just another great example of what it means for the men's division to be an open division. You do not need to be the centerpiece or in a major title feud to get a good feud. You have three big faces all getting separate feuds and storylines. So much space to still feature the guys well. The diva division is not like that.The diva division is a closed division. If you are not getting pushed as the centerpiece or a major periphery diva, you are likely being wasted or just being used to serve a purpose and will eventually be wasted. The men's division still has some issues, like developing good midcard storylines and developing better tag-team feuds, but it is better than how things are in the diva division.

Let me switch gears. On last Sunday night's NFL game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants, you had a controversial finish. During the final drive of the game for the Redskins, the refs signaled that the Redskins had gotten enough yards for a first down. A "down" in football is an opportunity for the offense to make a play. You have 4 downs to get enough yardage to get a new set of downs or score, or the ball automatically goes back over to the other team's offense. Thing is, after the Redskins made their next play, believing they had a new set of downs, the refs changed their minds about them getting the first down before and signaled that it was now 4th down. The Redskins go from thinking they will have at least a few more shots to being told this is their last shot. Personally, I don't think it was a big deal. The Redskins still had a chance, almost still kept the drive alive, and it was a turnover that caused them to lose. Of course, I'm no football expert. And you cannot deny that this confusion by the refs might have had a mental impact on the Redskins players and coaches as they tried to prepare for what ended up being the last play of the game. And the commentators mentioned the fact the plays the coaches are going to call when it is first down are not necessarily going to be the same in this situation if it is 3rd down or 4th down. They have to know how many chances they have left to help plan what to do. What does all this have to do with anything? It goes back to the idea I talked about just a few weeks ago on playbooks in football. The coach is going to have different plays planned and different strategies for different situations in the game. The commentators pretty much said the same thing. How is that relevant to what I talk about? When you are analyzing the diva division, you have to understand the situation, or landscape, the division is currently in. That can help you better understand why the WWE is pushing this diva that way and that diva this way. You cannot take things out of context. Just like the situation in a football game influence the plays that might be called, the situation in the diva division influences the decisions the WWE will make. What happened on Sunday just reminded me of what I was talking about before, so that's why I wanted to bring it up again to mention it alongside the controversial finish.

Is Kaitlyn A Victim Of Total Divas?

I saw someone on a message board recently say that Total Divas was the reason Kaitlyn has been depushed as she has in the last few months. That seems like a good topic to talk about.

Kaitlyn obviously has been depushed. There is no arguing that point. She was Diva's Champion for a few months, continued her feud against AJ Lee a little while after losing the title by teaming with Dolph Ziggler to face AJ and Big E Langston, and has not been too relevant since. But is it because of Total Divas? The rise of that show has coincided with Kaitlyn's depush. Fact is, it really is just a coincidence. If Kaitlyn was a priority to the WWE, this reality show would not be an excuse to do what they have done to her. Look at how Kaitlyn has been pushed since last year. She was developed as a jobber to the centerpiece against Eve. After Eve left, Kaitlyn really just got filler treatment. The fact that they were not even pushing her for a few weeks around Wrestlemania tells you a lot. They are pretty much telling you that you should expect a depush once the title reign was over. And Kaitlyn's title reign ended in a feud where she was being used to put over the top periphery diva during this current dark age, AJ Lee. AJ has since moved on to feuding against "Total Divas" divas. Does that mean you should blame Total Divas for Kaitlyn's depush? No. Kaitlyn still would have gotten depushed no matter what. Kaitlyn and AJ were not going to feud forever. AJ Lee is a top periphery diva. She is someone the WWE wants to be a star. Kaitlyn has never gotten great periphery angles and has obviously not been pushed to be the centerpiece. In this age of lowered standards, Kaitlyn is a credible jobber. Her depush was going to happen. I don't think Dave Meltzer has gotten around to saying anything outrageous to slander Kaitlyn as to why she has gotten depushed. If he ever does, just remember what I just said.

The person on that message board also brought up the point that Kaitlyn was getting over. That makes some fans wonder even more why the WWE would mistreat her. Kaitlyn getting over off the type of pushes she has gotten is similar to Mickie James getting over off being pushed as a credible jobber during her time in the WWE. Why would the WWE mistreat an over diva? It has to be Total Divas! It has to be a weight issue! It has to be an affair! Yeah, sure. Did you analyze the way the diva in question was being pushed to make sure they wanted her over in the first place? Nevertheless, Kaitlyn has shown some potential to connect with the fans. If it needs to be said, I really don't care about her too much myself. However, since she does have potential, she deserves to be treated better. I don't think she is good enough in the ring to be the centerpiece. She has gotten good, but I don't think she is experienced enough. I would give her an angle in the periphery. Exactly what? I don't know. I don't think she needs to be shot all the way to a main-event position. A midcard position would be good, but the midcard is such a mess. Would it be wrong to pair her with Big E Langston? They were somewhat involved in a storyline together a few months ago.

Let me switch to talking about Total Divas. I have still not watched an episode of the show. At one time, however, I did say that the show is good for the diva division because it gave other women something interesting to do. While AJ Lee and Kaitlyn were feuding, the women in Total Divas had their own thing going on. It added some creative depth to the division. There wasn't just one diva angle to be interested in. Recently, that is no longer the case. AJ Lee is involved with the "Total Divas" divas. The "Total Divas" divas are involved with AJ. What other storylines and feuds to you have developing? I don't really see anything. The WWE is just tossing all these women together, as you saw around Survivor Series. The women on the show are still getting attention, but other women are not getting anything great to do, except for AJ, obviously. Things would hopefully be better if they got the title off AJ. Have the women on Total Divas fight amongst themselves over the title and give AJ a great angle somewhere else. Until that happens, Total Divas is no longer helping with the creative depth of the diva division.

Who Should Get A Feud For The Tag Titles Against The Rhodes?

Cody Rhodes and Goldust entered a feud against The Shield a few months ago. They got some big wins over them, including winning the tag titles off them. Months later, these two teams are still feuding against each other. You have other heel teams and it would be nice if they eventually got legitimate feuds against The Rhodes for the tag titles. The Shield can serve other purposes as The Authority's henchmen. They do not also need to always be stuck against the Tag Team Champions.

How about The Rhodes feud against Swagger and Cesaro? I know they started a feud a few weeks ago, but it was never properly developed. Keep them chasing after the titles. This can be a strong heel team and they are the ones I would want to see get the titles.

Bray Wyatt's group is also in the mix. As it seems CM Punk is moving on to feud with The Shield, that leaves The Wyatts with only whatever they end up doing with Daniel Bryan. If they are going to have him join the family, what better way to do it than have him return when they are getting a shot at the tag titles to screw The Rhodes out of the titles? Aside from The Shield, The Wyatts are your top heel tag team. They have been getting some development in the main-event scene. I don't think you need to have that kind of credibility to get these titles, but the WWE has been building them well, so a title reign is not out of the question.

Whichever team gets chosen for a legitimate feud for the tag titles, just don't let it be The Shield. I know they have put on great matches with The Rhodes, but this is getting really stale and there is no reason for it. You have other options to push. The Shield feuding with CM Punk is not a burial. Have CM Punk team with The Usos or Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry. Leave The Rhodes to something else.