Daniel Bryan At Payback: Will He Or Won't He?

To me, there is only one really interesting thing to talk about for this year's Payback. And it's something that I feel should not even be happening at Payback.

Will Daniel Bryan surrender his title belts due to his injury to Stephanie McMahon? Or will Brie Bella be fired? Why do I not think this should even be happening at Payback? They could have done it this week on Raw. They could have had Stephanie McMahon just strip Daniel Bryan of the title the week before that. They could have taken it from him the week before that. They have dragged this all the way to the PPV. At this rate, they could pretty much keep dragging it on until Daniel Bryan is healed. That would be stupid. You usually talk about what matches will be the big draws for a PPV. How great have the feuds for those matches been developed and hyped to draw? A segment between Daniel Bryan and Stephanie McMahon looks to be one of the big selling points for this PPV.

Will Daniel Bryan give it up? It seems likely. You can have the heartwarming moment of Brie telling Daniel Bryan not to do it just for her. Brie stands up to Stephanie. In the end, Daniel Bryan will still give it up. It just makes storyline sense for The Authority to take advantage of this situation to get the title off Daniel Bryan. Outside of kayfabe, it would be nice to have an active wrestler hold the title for those few months Daniel Bryan is out. If they just keep on running a storyline where Stephanie McMahon is struggling to take a title away from a guy that can't even defend it right now, that would just end up looking stupid.

I do understand the WWE might be in a bit of a tough spot. Who gets the title? Cena, Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton are tied up in their own storylines. If they had stripped Daniel Bryan of the title before Payback, who gets it or who gets put in a match to decide a new Champion. I think they still had options. Award it to Kane. He was feuding with Daniel Bryan, he took Daniel Bryan out, and he is aligned with Stephanie McMahon. If they wanted a match to determine the new Champion, book some kind of battle royal with all former World Champions that are not already in a match at Payback. That would include guys like Kane, Big Show, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, and Alberto Del Rio. Or just make it a triple-threat or four-way match. If they really wanted to, toss in Cena and those other former World Champions already booked on the card. Let them pull double duty. I think a match involving the World title would mean more than a segment involving the World title.

Sheamus Vs. Cesaro At Payback

What else does Curtis Axel 2.0 need? He has Paul Heyman as a manager. He is getting a mediocre push. A midcard title! Curtis Axel won the Intercontinental Championship last year while aligned with Paul Heyman. And Cesaro stands a chance at regaining the United States Championship at Payback.

Sheamus will defend against Cesaro at Payback. Cesaro was supposed to be someone that did not need generic midcard title feuds to stay interesting. I said Curtis Axel got a mediocre push last year. Some might disagree. He wrestled top guys like Triple H. Thing is, that push was more hype than substance. He was getting fluke wins. No one in their right mind could really take him seriously. Cesaro is better than that. I would rather he was getting those rubs with top stars. And I'm not talking about fluke wins. Sheamus is a former multi-time World Champion, but he doesn't have that credibility right now. He's a midcarder. He's a B+ player. And that is the same type of treatment Cesaro is getting. It is better than where he was a few months ago, but he should get more.

Who wins? Sheamus just won the title a few weeks ago. Did they really give it to him just to shoot it to Cesaro? Losing could hurt Cesaro's momentum even more. Could this be a good feud if they carry it beyond Payback? Sheamus somehow retains at Payback, but Cesaro stays in the hunt and eventually wins the title. If developed properly, this might not be a bad feud to extend. Hornswoggle vs. El Torito is a bad feud to extend. Yes, I'm an old man and I hate fun. No, not really. You could just be devoting that time to pushing other guys better that could really use it or deserve it. As for this U.S. title match, I think Cesaro should win. They need to do something to improve his push.

Paige Vs. Alicia Fox & The Rise Of Summer Rae

Alicia Fox will be getting a title shot against Paige at Payback. This "feud" has been the opposite of what you had between Paige and Tamina. Paige was being featured regularly, but Tamina was not being developed very well at all. This time around, Alicia Fox has had a ton of creative interest on her and it is Paige that is just there. Not good.

What they are doing here is not good for Paige at all. Alicia Fox has a crazy gimmick. Mickie James had a psycho gimmick. But Mickie's psycho gimmick was tied to a storyline with Trish Stratus. The storyline started with Mickie James putting over how great Trish Stratus was. She idolized her. It went on to Mickie annoying Trish Stratus. Trish tried to be nice about it and handle it the right way, and it was Mickie that ended up turning on Trish. The character then turned to a psychotic threat that Trish would have eventually overcome. But Trish got injured and retired soon after. The whole storyline was really for the benefit of Trish, much like many storylines involving the centerpiece are meant to benefit the top star, not really the one being used to put over the top star.

What you have with Alicia Fox and Paige is nothing like what you had with Mickie James and Trish Stratus. Alicia is not putting over how great Paige is. The storyline does not really involve Paige at all, aside from the fact that Alicia is getting a title shot. And they don't seem to be developing Alicia to be a character Paige has to overcome. I am talking about the gimmick. As a contender, Paige might likely overcome Alicia. But the gimmick Alicia Fox has just seems pointless for Paige's benefit. I understand they don't want Paige as the centerpiece, but this just seems like a creative burial. Not blaming the writers.

I don't want to make it seem like I don't want Alicia Fox to get over. This gimmick can definitely get her over. I just don't think they really want her over and will push her with the consistency they would a diva they want over. They have already shown that Alicia Fox is a credible jobber to them. She was doing almost nothing meaningful for years before this recent gimmick and push. I am not convinced they will be consistent with her with star treatment. And her act kind of takes a lot. Not only do you devote time to her matches, but for the aftermath where her gimmick really shines. She needs people to work off of and victimize. I cannot imagine the WWE continuing this for long.

While center stage features a title feud between two credible jobbers during this dark age, on the periphery of that is what just might be the rise of the centerpiece that will end this dark age. I guess Summer Rae coming back to make out with Fandango and having a catfight with Layla is the PG equivalent of Sable powerbombing Marc Mero. Summer Rae has a ton of creative investment on her recently. Her issues on Total Divas are branching out to storylines on the actual wrestling shows. Her issues with Fandango and Layla are not over. They are really trying with this woman. She fits as the kind of diva they would want as the centerpiece. She is getting the kind of creative interest they would give a centerpiece prior to pulling the trigger on her. Consistency? Unless she flops, I think they will be consistent with her. Hype? That will come after she wins the title.

Let me go back to the beginning. Alicia Fox will be getting a title shot against Paige at Payback. Who wins? I think a lot of it depends on how quickly the WWE wants to pull the trigger on Summer Rae and whether she will be a face or a heel. Right now, they can go either way with her. If she is a face, it would make sense to put the title on heel Alicia Fox. If she is a heel, Paige should keep the title. Just ignoring Summer Rae, there is a lot of creative interest on Alicia Fox. And the WWE has shown that Paige is not a top priority. On the other side of that, Paige's title reign just started last month and I don't see a need to give it to Alicia Fox. I would say Paige retains and eventually feuds against a heel Summer Rae.

A Dark Age On Top Of A Dark Age

I usually use the term "dark age" to refer to those periods in the history of the diva division where things got inefficient and the WWE was not running the kind of diva division they would like to have. The term could also pretty much apply to what has become of the overall product. When I started this particular blog, I talked about how the WWE had lost its feel. Things seem to have just gotten worse since then.

On paper, this should be a great time in the WWE. You have John Cena, the man they have pushed to be centerpiece for so many years now. Women and children love him. You have a former centerpiece in Triple H. He is playing a great top heel role right now. And despite his recent surgery, you have Daniel Bryan. He is the hottest guy in the company. And all these guys have been sharing the spotlight in the last few weeks. They all have separate storylines going for them.

Some fans talk about how great things were around Wrestlemania. I actually think things were pretty one-dimensional around then. The biggest storyline heading into the PPV was Daniel Bryan's. The build for all the other feuds were dry. I think the WWE were showing better creative depth after Wrestlemania. I gave them credit for it. But they couldn't keep that momentum going very well. And sooner or later, you are not going to have all three of these top guys doing separate things. The WWE doesn't have a history of rotating centerpieces. What will become of Daniel Bryan? Will Triple H be an on-screen character for years to come? Cena certainly hasn't held his last World title.

While the issues with the top stars getting this dry treatment is an issue, it is trickling down to the other guys on the roster. The Wyatts won't feud with Cena forever and The Shield won't feud with Evolution forever. These factions will not exist forever. What will happen to them in the future? And you have a ton of guys with gimmicks not being utilized correctly. No consistent feuds being developed.

What can the WWE do? Two things come to mind. One is a short-term solution and the other is a long-term solution.

First, how about a quick injection of adrenaline into the product? Summer is coming up. Is the WWE going to have a big summer angle? Nexus was a summer angle. CM Punk's pipe bomb was a summer angle. I'm not sure what the WWE thought the big summer angle was last year. The rise of Daniel Bryan? Heyman turning on Punk? The WWE could have done better than that. What can they do this year? Bring back Brock Lesnar to chase after the WWE Championship? With the current title situation, I don't know how well that would work. If this whole CM Punk thing was some elaborate work or they have managed to bring him back, you can also have a huge summer angle around him. Been there, done that, but they can still make it good. I am not a fan of the guy, but I think things would be better if he was still here. How about the return of Chris Jericho? I am tired of getting excited for his returns just to see nothing much come of it. Point is, we are entering a time of year where you should be hoping for the WWE to do something big and exciting. And it could help a lot.

That long-term solution to the dryness and talent being underutilized? How about you bring back the brand split? It is crazy how the WWE doesn't seem to be able to be consistent with anyone outside of a few top workers. Even former World Champions are not safe. The WWE might need to release some workers. It doesn't matter what their current policy on releasing talent is. They can change it easily. And if they are not going to release talent to make it easier to focus on using other guys better, splitting up the roster might help. You still have two midcard titles. Each of the two main shows could have one. The tag titles and Diva's Championship can be defended on both shows or become exclusive to one brand. What do you do with the World title? You could either split it up or have the Champion appear on both shows. Splitting would probably be the best choice. Problem is, I don't like the idea of splitting them so soon after unifying them.

The WWE just does not seem to be able to keep any momentum going. Even someone becoming very hot cannot get the entire company back to an efficient place. And as long as they cannot be consistent, the whole product will suffer.

How Goes Things For Rusev?

Rusev and Lana have been doing their act for a few weeks now. For the most part, Rusev is still stuck crushing jobbers. How much longer until legitimate feuds come around?

The interesting thing with Rusev has been his character development. He obviously has a gimmick, but I feel the WWE has done some work developing his character more. You have the whole Putin thing. And Lana is a great manager for him. You can essentially have a Russian takeover with Rusev and Lana. Of course, they are not going in any real storyline direction with him. That is a problem for many midcarders. They have interesting gimmicks, but no real storylines to utilize those gimmicks.

I could picture a feud between John Cena and Rusev. Two things are stopping it from happening. First, Cena is still tied up with Bray Wyatt. Second, Rusev does not have that credibility to deserve this feud. He needs to go over a few guys higher up the card in real feuds. While Cena is out of the title picture, a feud with Rusev would have been good. And I actually would have had it done for the next month or so. Right now, they should have been building up to the finish of Cena vs. Wyatt. At the same time, Rusev could feud against someone like Big Show or Mark Henry. Cena and Rusev win their feuds, the whole Russian thing continues, and Cena collides with Rusev. USA vs. Russia. If fans are still split on Cena in that feud, there is pretty much no hope for him. Cena would win the feud, of course, but it gives him something else to do outside the title picture. And his feud with Wyatt is getting stale. They might still get there in the future, but I think now would have been a good time to have done it. Stop wasting time with Rusev.

Cena Gets A Hand Against The Wyatts

I don't even feel like talking about John Cena's feud against The Wyatts. It isn't interesting me. Nevertheless, it is one of the main angles going on. I should talk about it.

What has been the main development in the last few weeks of this feud? Cena will face Bray Wyatt at Payback in a Last Man Standing match. Outside of that, Cena now has The Usos to help him against the Berenstain Bears. That makes sense. The WWE pretty much needed to add in a few face supporting players to help drag this storyline on further. But it is really dull development. I feel the WWE has indeed failed to keep the direction going that they had developed a few weeks ago.

Let me focus on tag titles for a moment. Should the WWE have The Usos drop the titles to The Wyatts? I don't think it is necessary. Then again, there aren't a lot of worthy tag teams. I still think the best option would have been for Randy Orton and Batista to win them, then eventually drop them to The Shield. I think that feud could use something like that. This Wyatt feud right now is really just between Cena and Bray. The Usos losing would not really help. They could try selling the idea The Usos lost because of something Cena did to inadvertently screw them, which leads to Cena further losing support of people that were on his side, but they already have so much going on in this feud. Don't cram more in.

This feud is so dry right now, I don't think it will end at Payback. I don't think they'll end it like that. They will build it back up to a climax, then have Cena go over to end it. I think this feud should have reached it's climax around Extreme Rules. After that, they should have started building to the finish. Instead, they somehow allowed all that momentum to die. As I said, I really don't think they will end it like that. Not with a storyline involving John Cena. Can they really get this to last 2 more months into Summerslam after Payback? 

RVD Gets A Shot At Bad News Barrett's Intercontinental Championship

Last month, the WWE had a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. And I thought that was a good idea. It made things more interesting in the midcard. Bad News Barrett won that and went on to win the title from Big E.

On Raw this week, the WWE decided to have one of those "Beat The Clock" things to determine the new #1 contender. RVD won that. And I don't like it. I don't have a problem with RVD getting a title shot. I have a problem with how it was done. They just did this kind of thing last month. Why not develop a title feud off of a grudge, instead of a basic title feud?

Look at that title feud you just had between Kane and Daniel Bryan. That wasn't an instance of someone winning a title shot and getting it. There was an actual story to it. The Authority have a grudge against Daniel Bryan. Most of the top stars in the stable are tied up at the moment, so they unleash Kane on Daniel Bryan. It is just as much about destroying Daniel Bryan as it is about taking the title off him. That adds spice to the title feud.

I have spoken before about the potential Barrett has with this gimmick. I feel the WWE is wasting it. Have him go out and talk trash about a certain wrestler, a certain city, or a certain idea. Having him go out there to mock RVD could lead to a feud against RVD. Having him drop some bad news on Chicago could lead to a certain wrestler from Chicago dropping a pipe bomb on Barrett. Not going to happen, but just an example. Having him slam people that like to party could lead to Adam Rose coming out. I know Adam Rose already has a feud, but it is an idea for a future feud. Point is, Barrett's gimmick has a ton of potential to branch off into great feuds. To just develop simple title feuds is not enough.

The WWE is doing some work to create interest in the midcard. They are creating some hype over the contenders, but now they need to get creative. They have so many gimmicks floating around. They need to take better advantage of those gimmicks in a lot of instances. Especially in midcard title feuds, a little creative development could make things more compelling.

Let me switch gears. There is a rumor that Mickie James is being considered to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next year. Let me discuss that on the assumption that it is true they are considering it. She shouldn't be inducted yet. This is a Mickie James fan saying that. She is still young. Lita was 38 at the time of being inducted. Trish Stratus, the youngest inductee, was 37. Mickie is currently 34. If they induct her next year, she would be inducted at the age of 35. Two years younger than Trish when she was inducted.

Something else to consider, Mickie hasn't retired yet. Trish and Lita retired and had to wait a couple years to be inducted. Some people might believe her pregnancy means she will retire, but she doesn't seem to want to retire yet. A fan tweeted about her coming back to the WWE and Mickie still seemed interested. You can see that tweet here.

I believe the WWE is trying to put a punctuation mark on Mickie's career. And I don't mean that in a good way. When Mickie did not stay with TNA and the WWE showed they were on good terms with Mickie James, many started talking about a possible return. Didn't happen. I said that I felt the WWE would likely bring Mickie James back down the road when they would not have to push her at all. The whole reason they got rid of her in the first place, contrary to what wrestling journalists are saying, was because they never wanted her over in the first place and she was getting in the way of what the WWE did want out of their diva division. Not only does that explain Mickie's release, but the WWE continuing to push the same agenda they have always been pushing in their diva division, despite it continuing to fail. Fans still would like to see Mickie return. Face it, the diva division hasn't exactly rebounded with the rise of AJ Lee all the way back to a golden age. If they induct her into the Hall of Fame, that will be the perfect way of getting themselves out of this situation. Mickie James fans would love her being the youngest inductee. The WWE benefits because they never have to push her again. Once you are inducted into that WWE Hall of Fame, you are pretty much retired or semi-retired. You might work the independent scene, but you are no longer a regular in terms of in-ring WWE action. Ric Flair is hyped as the first active member of the roster to be inducted, but his career was coming to an end soon, anyway.

If the WWE wants to continue the status quo of the diva division, bringing back Mickie James would not help. They are not going to continue handing title reigns to a credible jobber. They are not going to be happy with a credible jobber being more over than the women they are trying to develop to be the next centerpiece. If the WWE wants to continue this status quo, it makes absolutely no sense to bring back Mickie James for another run. That would be like putting an obstacle in front of you that you already knew you could not beat the first time you faced it. If they are serious about inducting her, that would be like putting themselves in a position where they would never have to deal with that obstacle again. I may sound cynical, but it does look suspicious to want to induct a woman that young (in comparison to the typical WWE Hall of Fame inductees) and that has not even officially retired yet. And when you look at what the WWE is currently doing in their diva division, not showing signs of truly giving it up, and take into account what Mickie James did in that diva division and the fact she's still over, putting an end to the desire to see Mickie James return for another run would make sense.

The Shield Vs. Evolution At Payback

Not surprisingly, the feud between The Shield and Evolution will continue to another PPV. They definitely put on a great match at Extreme Rules. Many fans were also happy that the young team won. WWE building stars. And this feud definitely had a fresh feel to it when Evolution came back together and it first started. That is pretty much all the good stuff I can say about it.

It has gotten pretty dry. They just attack each other every week. The Authority sent out a bunch of heels to attack The Shield last week, but they had done that kind of thing before. The development has just gotten very boring.

And Evolution does not feel like Evolution. It isn't just because Ric Flair isn't with them. I'll get to that in a moment. When Evolution was first formed, they just gave off this vibe like they were elites. They held so many titles. They had Ric Flair to give them a rub. They went out there like they were the top guys. Now, this is just like gang warfare. It is like a bunch of thugs fighting a bunch of thugs. That elite feel isn't in the group anymore. I know this isn't about making Evolution look good. The Shield deserve to look good. Nevertheless, I feel making Evolution look more like the top dogs they once were would make this feud more interesting and give The Shield something better to work against.

What could the WWE possibly do to make this feud better? Let me give one idea. Go back to Ric Flair. Get him more involved. Make him a wildcard in this feud. He came back before Extreme Rules for a meaningless vote of confidence for The Shield. A lot of fans were anticipating Ric Flair getting more involved in this feud. It hasn't happened. They can still make it happen for Payback. How can you have Flair come back that night, get slightly involved, and not follow up at all on that point? It really does make his part in that segment seem trivial. I would like to have confidence that the WWE will not leave that storyline thread hanging like that. Potential right there to make this interesting again.

Let me change topics. The WWE stock had a huge drop at the end of last week. There were a few factors why. Let me just focus on one interesting development. The WWE Network is hurting the company right now. They will need at least 1.3 million subscribers now to compensate for losses.You can read an article about it here. The goal everyone was talking about was originally a million by the end of the year. That will still lead to a loss for the company. People are saying that the WWE will get 1.3 million in this country or that country alone. Okay. But what if the WWE was already anticipating those results? The WWE was thinking 1 million by the end of this year. Even if they do get that, they still lost money. When they go international, they will definitely get more subscribers. But what if they were anticipating a certain amount and the real number comes in lower than expectations or unexpected obstacles pop up? That is what has spelled doom for the WWE so far. And you still have to wonder how many will drop their subscription when 6 months end. To put it simply, recent developments are showing the WWE Network was not a great move. Will the WWE be able to take these short-term losses and turn them into long-term profit?

Cesaro's Lost Momentum

What has happened to Cesaro? I actually thought the WWE was serious about this guy and would give him a good push. He is lost in the shuffle, like so many others.

Pairing him with Paul Heyman was supposed to be something good. Heyman has spent more time putting over Brock Lesnar than Cesaro. Lesnar is not even around. I know they are saying that Cesaro will face Lesnar, but how can the WWE seriously be considering that feud? Cesaro looks mediocre. He is eventually going to get tired of Heyman and that will lead to a big feud with Brock Lesnar? That would be a waste of Lesnar. I am not saying Cesaro is unworthy of such a feud. I am saying they are not developing him properly to be worthy of such a feud. I doubt they will follow through with it, if they were really serious about this in the first place.

They could have developed a proper feud between him and RVD. There could have been a great story there. Personally, I wasn't interested in it. Nevertheless, it would have been better than nothing at all. It would have been even better than a generic midcard title feud. That is, if it was done right. It is not even being done at all.

Some people say that the issue is that they didn't turn him face. Cesaro was connecting so well with the fans. Keeping him heel ruined his momentum. I disagree. They could have turned him face and still pushed him as mediocrely as they have now. He could have been treated as a very dry, very generic face. That, most likely, would have led to a loss of overness and momentum. What would fans be saying then? He's a bad face? Worst face turn since Randy Orton in 2004? The issue is not developing proper feuds for him and putting great focus on him. Heyman hasn't done him too many favors. I find "King of Swing" is a stupid nickname. But the real problem is a lack of commitment on the part of the WWE.

The Diva Division: A Melting Pot?

A melting pot. It is this idea that people from different cultures can just fit together. They say that New York City is a melting pot. You see all different cultures and types of people out there. Even during my time in college, my three closest friends were all different. One was Bangladeshi, one was Korean, and the other was Chinese. My Bangladeshi friend was Muslim, my Korean friend was Christian, and my Chinese friend was agnostic. I went to a Jesuit college. I'm not even Christian. I didn't consider my school to be dominated by other cultures, but there was a good mix and these differences stopped no one.

How do you relate the concept of a "melting pot" to the diva division? It's not about a difference of race, nationality, religion, or anything like that. It comes down to a difference of background. Are you a trained wrestler or are you some kind of eye-candy diva? Do they debut you because you have wrestling experience or because you have this glamorous look. You sometimes have non-wrestlers, like Vickie Guerrero, but that is an extreme minority. You are either a female wrestler or an eye-candy diva. What would it mean for this women's division to be a melting pot? Give the eye-candy divas a fair chance to become solid wrestlers. Give the female wrestlers a fair chance to go out there and be like those glamorous divas. Give them all a fair opportunity to succeed and keep track of how they are succeeding. Push these women in the proper positions to keep the division efficient and productive.

Is the diva division actually a melting pot? Is the agenda that makes the diva division what it is a "melting pot" agenda? I would say it is not. The whole premise of the diva division is that an eye-candy diva will hold the top spot. That kind of woman will be the centerpiece. The majority of female wrestlers get used as credible jobbers. A small minority of them have gotten great careers in the periphery in the 16 years the diva division has existed. And eye-candy divas outside of the centerpiece get pushed rather well in comparison to the female wrestlers pushed as credible jobbers. They may not win titles, but they become more over than the credible jobbers. Overness is more important than title reigns. Being treated as someone they want over is more important than whether or not you are holding a title.

Of course, everything I have said pertains to the diva division when it is working the way it is supposed to. The first dark age was the closest thing to a "melting pot" era in the diva division you'll ever see. No centerpiece. Periphery angles were all over the place, going to both female wrestlers and eye-candy divas. I sometimes like to think of those years as a "periphery soup". What brought about the end of that golden age you had with Trish and Lita was the WWE no longer able to get their eye-candy centerpieces to work. Failure mounted upon failure to bring you this current dark age. You can argue that this current dark age is a melting pot. I wouldn't. No centerpiece. You have both eye-candy divas and female wrestlers being used inefficiently. In that respect, you can make the argument that things have melted together. Problem is, there is no pot. All you have is a mess.

TNA's women's division is more of a melting pot, in regards to differentiating between eye-candy women and female wrestlers. Knockouts like Brooke Tessmacher and Velvet Sky have had success, but so have female wrestlers like Gail Kim and ODB. No one type is pushed too much better than the rest. And they are treated as equals. Problem is, TNA does not do a proper job developing anyone in that division to be stars. Giving all these women fair opportunities to succeed is great, but none of them ever prove that they can do the job better than the rest to deserve to be pushed as the centerpiece? Does TNA even know how to push a star? A woman can earn a great career and not get it.

Why bring up this idea of a melting pot? Because I think a lot of fans take it for granted that the diva division is a melting pot. They take it for granted that all these women are getting fair opportunities to succeed and earn better careers. I don't think they even consider that those better careers don't come in one flavor. During the first dark age, Trish and Lita were equals. They were periphery divas. When things got golden, the two top divas were not equals. The WWE was developing the division around one woman, while the other was getting angles regularly and primarily in the men's division. Female wrestlers do not get to be the centerpiece in the diva division. For years, they never even bothered creating another Lita after she left. Their priority, not surprisingly, was creating another Trish. The whole concept of the diva division is not to melt these women together and give them all a fair chance as if they were equals. Water and oil don't mix in this division. And as that agenda has failed, things have gotten worse for everyone.

Let me talk about current affairs in the diva division briefly. I said that if they would give Paige the kind of freedom they have given AJ Lee, she would be amazing. What does the WWE do? They give that kind of freedom to Alicia Fox. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are now talking about Alicia Fox like she's the greatest diva on the roster. Just goes to show, in a lot of instances, it all comes down to how you are being pushed. What are you being allowed to do? Will they be consistent with you? Will they be consistent with Alicia Fox? She has been treated as a credible jobber for years now. Honestly, I cannot even remember the last time she was relevant in singles matters. She'll cause some buzz. If she does get a title feud, it would be good for them to finally develop something more for Paige. But this whole idea that all the divas hate Paige, that is too similar to AJ Lee having to defend the title against all the divas a few weeks ago. A little more creative thought would be nice. And looking back at that match on Raw, Paige got a good reaction. What is with these reports that she wasn't connecting well with fans? It's a miracle she is even getting those reactions. She just debuted and has not been pushed very interestingly.

Daniel Bryan Needs Surgery

Daniel Bryan has had a pretty rough month. He won the WWE Championship and got married shortly after. A lot of sad things have also happened. The recent hurdle in front of him is surgery he will be having this week. He will be taking some time off.

Should they strip him of the title? Your top Champion will not be around for at least a few weeks. He was not being pushed as the main focus in recent weeks. That attention has gone primarily to The Shield and Evolution. Nevertheless, having no WWE Champion around is an issue. You just had this situation a few months ago. It was just a storyline back then. The title was vacated while Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan were feuding over it. What is going on now is just unfortunate. He was in the middle of a title feud against Kane. Do you just hand Kane the title? Fact is, I don't think they should wait to see how Daniel Bryan's surgery goes and how long he will be out. Neck surgeries are serious. And Daniel Bryan doesn't exactly wrestle a soft style. At the very least, he will be gone a few weeks. Would it even make storyline sense for The Authority to keep the title on him when he cannot defend it? What do you do with the title? They will think of something, but I don't think they should be banking on Daniel Bryan right now. It isn't fair to his health.

This is a pretty bad time for this to happen. Daniel Bryan was the hottest guy in the company. He is out of action. CM Punk left. You have John Cena and other top stars. You have The Shield and The Wyatts being pushed well. It could be worse, but the WWE does have a depth issue with major stars. Who takes Daniel Bryan's spot? Dolph Ziggler? He was the first name to come to my mind. I wouldn't even complain if they brought Cena back into the title hunt. He has been taking a rest period for a few months now. Luckily, the WWE seems to have a few top guys lost in the shuffle that could get called up for a push. Big Show? Mark Henry? A lot of people can complain about either of them entering a feud against Kane, but someone has to get pushed in Daniel Bryan's spot. Daniel Bryan will get back his spot when he returns.

Grading Paige

I was thinking about doing a grading entry for Paige. I have been seeing reports that the WWE is not happy with the job she is doing. Perfect excuse to finally grade Paige.

Grading a wrestler based on the type of career he or she is getting is the easiest part of this. Paige is obviously not getting the periphery treatment right now. Is she the centerpiece? The WWE has not been developing credible jobbers properly to put her over and she is being pushed very dryly. She is not the centerpiece. All that leaves is being pushed as a credible jobber. She is a C+ player. She is not as lowly as Jillian or Tamina. She is in the kind of position Mickie James and Beth Phoenix were in.

Let me grade her as a critic. She is obviously very beautiful. And she also has a unique look. Having a unique look helps you stand out. The WWE isn't pushing her with an anti-diva gimmick, but they could. And she is very good in the ring. Even though her match with Brie Bella a few weeks ago was overshadowed by the feud between Kane and Daniel Bryan, it was a pretty good match. I also like the emotion Paige was showing. Her mic skills? She hasn't gotten much of a chance to talk since coming to the main roster. And for those people who want to criticize her debut promo too much, keep in mind that the WWE isn't exactly letting her show a better character. If they gave her the kind of freedom they have given to AJ Lee, Paige would be amazing. And keep in mind she is still very young. Cross your fingers and hope the WWE gives her that better career. She can be great for many years to come. Until then, I would give her a A-/B+.

Now for the real issue at hand. How productive has Paige been? How over has she become? It has only been a month since she debuted. I honestly don't think it is fair to judge her results with the fans just yet, especially when the WWE has been pushing her so mediocrely. And yet, dirtsheets are circulating reports that she isn't doing a great job. A woman being pushed in a manner in which almost no one has ever brought A-level results is not bringing A-level results and deserves to be criticized for it? Really? No diva pushed as a credible jobber has ever become very over off of it and moved on to a better career. I am not going to pretend she is bringing A+ results. The fans aren't as crazy for her as they are for Daniel Bryan. If she were to be released next week, I doubt fans would want to riot and there would be a huge backlash. But it is wrong to say she is earning a D or F. I have seen fan support for her. I hear it. And I do see her trying to connect with the fans. Reports say she isn't engaging the crowd. I have seen some divas try to do a little extra to connect with the fans and just seem lost or not natural doing it. Remember when Michelle McCool was doing pushups? She wasn't over before that and that didn't help her get over. Paige is showing emotion better than Michelle McCool. It would help if she got featured as well as McCool did. Right now, in terms of results, I would say Paige is a B player. But I believe she has the ability to really connect with those fans even with this C+ career. Unless the WWE really does something to mess her up, she can one day be getting B+ or A- results even with this mediocre career.

These reports talk about Paige and Emma bringing underwhelming results. I wasn't much of a believer in Emma, but the WWE did her no favors by tossing her next to Santino and not developing much after that. It seems like they were just looking to bust out a new fad. But these reports are just stupid. The WWE is concerned the fans are not accepting Paige as the top WWE women's star? Yeah? Well, wouldn't it help if they actually pushed her like the top WWE women's star? And you know what the funniest thing about all this is? A few weeks ago, dirtsheets were talking like this mediocre treatment that never leads to success and better careers for female wrestlers was some kind of recipe for success. I said it wasn't. Now that Paige is not getting amazingly over off of it and might be getting treated even worse now, she gets the blame? That's a bunch of crap. Thing is, if she had gotten over and the WWE still treated her mediocrely or even worse to bury her back down, dirtsheets would have been saying even worse to explain it.

And dirtsheets want to talk about the great potential in NXT and possible future call ups? Weren't Paige and Emma in that category a while ago? When those other NXT women eventually debut, they will be at the mercy of the status quo of the WWE diva division. Right now, the main roster already has a ton of dead weight. I am not insulting those women. They just need to be treated better.

The Kids Turn On Cena

I had been saying to expect a story in the match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules. There was a storyline they were going to push in that match. It wasn't just going to be a wrestling match. I was interested in seeing what the WWE would pull. And they did pull something. When you look back at what they pulled on the Raw prior to Extreme Rules, it makes perfect sense that the WWE would do what they did at the PPV. Of course, I am am talking about a child costing Cena the match. Bray Wyatt won the match and the psychological battle that night.

A lot of fans complained about it. That's not surprising. I didn't find it that entertaining. So far, moreover, it doesn't look like Cena is going to start sticking to one emotion for this storyline. He was horrified at Extreme Rules. It would be better if he stuck with that one direction until the WWE developed the storyline in a direction to give him momentum to feel some other way. Cena just flip-flops without a good storyline reason. That has been one of the major complaints fans have had with this storyline. I think it is justified.

Where you see a bunch of children, I see little Zack Ryders. I brought up just this week that Zack Ryder was a pawn, or supporting character, in the feud between John Cena and Kane. This storyline right now is comparable to that. Bray Wyatt is in Kane's position. John Cena is playing the role of John Cena. Where's Ryder? Where's that character caught in the middle of all this that the evil heel is taking advantage of to get to Cena? That would be children. I really don't like it. And it's this kind of thing that makes me not become a fan of John Cena simply because of his work ethic and all he does for the children. Does he do it because he is such a great guy? Or so the WWE can push that image and occasionally take advantage of these children in storylines. The WWE has used children before in storylines, I know that. But I just don't like it when they do this kind of thing with Cena. Makes me doubt him. And I don't like the overall storyline that much.

I was interested to see how they would further the storyline at Extreme Rules. I am slightly interested to see what happens next. It seems obvious. You have the reunion of Cena and his young fanbase. Cena breaks the hold Wyatt has on them. How exactly will the WWE do it? That is the question. I am hoping this feud comes to an end at the next PPV. There is no further need to drag it on. Wyatt got his win against Cena and a huge psychological win to make this feud more heated. Develop things for the finish. If they drag it on much longer, it may become painful.

Daniel Bryan: The Next Zack Ryder?

A lot of fans are drawing the comparisons between what is going on between Daniel Bryan and Kane now and what went on between Zack Ryder and Kane two years ago. Let me point it out for those who don't see the connection. Last week, there was a diva match between Brie Bella and Paige. I pointed out that Brie was in the position Eve was once in, Paige was in the position Beth Phoenix was in, and Kane was his normal self. Expand on that. Zack Ryder was involved in a romance angle with Eve. Who is Brie married to? That would be Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan = Zack Ryder? They both seem to have the unfortunate luck of car issues popping up when they are trying to flee a monster with their girl.

Mick Foley had a few things to say about the development of the storyline between Kane and Daniel Bryan. He made the comparison to Zack Ryder. He implies that this storyline is what "derailed" Ryder's career. I couldn't disagree more. The WWE never wanted Ryder over in the first place. If they did, they never would have taken so long to give him a legitimate push. When they did get around to giving him that push, it was more about putting over how nice a guy Cena is. And even with using him as a pawn in the larger feud between Kane and Cena, fans still cared about the guy. The WWE just slowly pulled the plug on his momentum. Before you knew it, he was back being treated as an F player.

Daniel Bryan has never been treated as an F player in the WWE. Even back in his days of being humiliated in NXT, they were still putting focus on him. That is better than no focus at all. In terms of the storyline, yes, you can obviously draw comparisons between the last time Kane returned with the mask and his current return with the mask. In terms of the feud and how they are being pushed, however, you better be careful with comparing Daniel Bryan to Zack Ryder. John Cena was the main face in that storyline years ago. Daniel Bryan is the main face in this storyline here. This is a guy they want to be a success, but they just do not want as their centerpiece. He will get depushed. Depushed as badly as Zack Ryder? No. He will get depushed back to the place he was prior to this title reign, which was still a pretty good place. The issue here isn't a bad storyline ruining someone. The issue is the WWE's willingness to push someone as a star. It was never there for Zack Ryder. To a better degree, it is there for Daniel Bryan.

Let me move away from comparing Daniel Bryan to Zack Ryder. I see some fans really hating this storyline. Daniel Bryan has bad acting skills. Brie Bella is even worse. Kane is cheesy. Daniel Bryan needs to feud with someone else. Some fans are being too critical. I don't think the majority of fans out there are that critical of what is going on. They will continue to love Daniel Bryan for the energy he brings with him. Say what you want about Kane, but he is an interesting character that can still cause buzz. As for Brie Bella, this storyline has a good chance to get her over better than anything else she has ever had. What they do with her after that is a topic for another day. Analytically, I do not see a huge problem with this storyline. Critically, I can agree with a lot of what is being said, but this is pro wrestling, so relax. As a fan, I like it.

Your New United States Champion: Sheamus

Dean Ambrose held the United States Championship for almost a year. And for a majority of that year, the title was pretty much irrelevant. He didn't need it. And with his feud against The Authority, it was only a matter of time before they screwed him out of the title. They did come up with a good way to screw him out of it. He had to defend it in a battle royal. He could not overcome those odds.

Sheamus won the title. He held it before. And he won it cleanly. That does not mean the WWE will not develop him to be a heel. Don't expect a big feud between Sheamus and Dean Ambrose right now. The Shield is still busy with Evolution. Where does that leave Sheamus? Batista will likely eventually take time off. Would having Sheamus join the group be a good move? Put him over as a Triple H guy. Until then, there are a lot of guys the WWE can have Sheamus feud against, regardless of whether they want him as heel or face. I just can't think of whom they would be willing to push against him.

Is giving it to Sheamus a bad choice? He has been lost in the shuffle for a while. I am not going to complain about him winning it. The crowd probably would have loved it for Dolph Ziggler to win it. The WWE might want to think about giving him a good midcard push again. Until all that plays out, I am not complaining about recent developments.

Extreme Rules 2014: General Post-PPV Reaction

Nothing specific today. I just want to give my general reaction to what happened at the PPV last night. It seems the WWE produced a PPV that would make a lot of fans out there happy and create some buzz. Considering that this was Extreme Rules and not all the matches really had an extreme gimmick to them, the WWE did well.

And it didn't start at Extreme Rules. The build to the PPV was pretty good. Most of the matches had some good development to them. The midget match did. There was a tournament to lead into the IC title match. The diva match could have been developed a lot better. Even the match to put over Rusev further had some build to it in the week leading up to it. I usually point out that the WWE does a poor job developing PPVs in recent years, but they did a better job here and did some good stuff at the actual event.

Could this all be to help with the WWE Network issue? Relying on a cheap price and all that content has not produced the results the WWE would have liked. And a major issue in there is PPV providers dropping them. I noticed a few more have done it recently, not just the satellite providers. This must be a wake-up call for the WWE. They cannot afford to be lazy. If they start pushing a great product again, that will get fans interested in buying the PPVs. That will either lead to PPV providers being pressured into offering WWE PPVs again or these fans being more willing to get the WWE Network. Either way, the WWE wins. That is, if they can keep the ball rolling.

Extreme Rules 2014: Assorted Thoughts

I am just going to keep it short for the other matches on the card. After that, I want to talk about an article I came across about the WWE Network and PPVs.

El Torito vs. Hornswoggle. Yep.

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth and Xavier Woods. The winner in this is obvious. At least the WWE did a little to make Truth and Woods look credible against Rusev recently.

Paige vs. Tamina. Once again, the winner seems obvious. No need to end Paige's reign here. I have been talking about feuds that should last beyond Extreme Rules in the last few days.This is not one of those feuds. The WWE has not developed a great feud here and I don't even want to see them try. It will be painful. Just move Paige onto something better.

Big E vs. Bad News Barrett. If any title is likely to change hands at this event, it has to be the Intercontinental Championship. Big E has held it for months. He has been pushed pretty mediocrely for the majority of that time. Not surprising at all. On the other side of that, you have Wade Barrett, who has been rejuvenated with this gimmick. Bad News Barrett is great. He has a ton of momentum on his side. He can be a great thing for the midcard.

Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger. The likely match you could have had for Extreme Rules would have been between just Cesaro and his former partner, Jack Swagger. You had Heyman and Zeb to add a little spice to things. The WWE took it one big step further. They inserted Rob Van Dam. And I think they did a pretty good job of inserting him into the mix. The story is there. I usually do not like triple-threat matches where nothing is on the line, but I'll let this one go. Cesaro should win. He is the one they seem most interested in pushing in this match.

I came across an article in the last week about a topic I have brought up a lot in the last few months. It can be found here. A lot of points to bring up.

First of all, reading the article, I realized I did not properly account for international buys when I was determining what kind of benchmark you should want to have for Wrestlemania XXX. I admit it, I botched. All it really means is I should have kept the benchmark higher. Like 800,000 total PPV buys. For the millionth time, the reason is that you would want to have high standards for a Wrestlemania that should have been treated as something special.

The article mentions that expectations were at 295,000 domestic buys. That is low. I understand you have the WWE Network, it does not include international buys, and all that, but I would have expected at least 400,000, which is around the number they ended up getting. Of course, the WWE really did not create a stellar PPV card featuring legends and celebrities that generated a ton of hype. Hulk Hogan returned, but they did not do anything exciting with him. When The Rock came back, they started developing a feud between him and John Cena. This Wrestlemania season did not measure up to what you had in the last three years. That is probably the reason expectations were so low. Poor build leads to low expectations. That is underachieving.

The writer of that article said one thing I found very interesting:

Buying a PPV the old-fashioned way instead of subscribing to the network makes no sense for even casual WWE fans. One PPV costs roughly $60 -- the same price as six months of the network, which gives you access to six PPVs, around 1,300 hours of archived WWE content, and tons of exclusive programming.

It makes no sense? Really? I don't think a lot of people understand casual fans. Fans do not come in just one flavor. Let me break it down into 3 groups. You have your casual fans, regular fans, and hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are really into whatever it is they love that much. You ever see people get tattoos of their favorite sports team or get it shaved into their head? That's hardcore. Regular fans support whatever it is on a regular basis, including spending money on it now and then. Casual fans are the ones that care about it, but really are not that into it.

Why would fans that are not that into it subscribe to the WWE Network? The archived content? Tons of exclusive programming? They can live without it. And that would be why they are CASUAL fans. They just want to pay for what they want. As I have said before, drawing in the casual fans is why Wrestlemania is the most successful WWE PPV pretty much every year. These fans don't care that much about seeing the five other PPVs included in the 6-month commitment. That is why all those other PPVs would get lesser buys. It really isn't shocking at all that the number of subscribers for the WWE Network fell short of initial expectations, while the number of PPV buys for Wrestlemania exceeded expectations. The number of subscribers exceeded my expectations, but I was expecting a lot of PPV buyers. And just for the sake of repeating myself, I still feel the WWE could have done better and should have tried to do better.

Let me get to the main point of that article. PPV providers are dropping the WWE. You might have noticed how the commentators handled things on Raw. Satellite providers are not offering Extreme Rules. I have Dish Network. I had DirecTV before that. I have not subscribed to the WWE Network. I am not going to. Well, looks like I'm screwed. That is, if I am ever interested in watching another WWE PPV. Right now, I can live without it. They have gotten pretty pricey.

This is not how the WWE would have liked things to work out. They are losing money. Fans are essentially paying just $9.99 to watch these PPVs that would normally cost more than triple that. The WWE only gets about half that, while the other half goes to the PPV providers, but that's still more than $9.99. The WWE has not even gotten enough subscribers to break even yet. And what happens when 6 months are up and people start dropping it? Will the flow of new subscribers offset the drop? They will most likely have to raise the price of their network. If the WWE makes roughly half of what a PPV costs for themselves, it would make sense to charge a little bit more than roughly half of what the average PPV would cost. Make your money for the PPVs and for the other content. You cannot count on PPV revenue when those providers start dropping you.