I was including the "$9.99" thing in my titles for a while. I would have done it more had Alberto Del Rio not been fired. I would have done it on Friday and again today. Of course, it is a reference to what the WWE did last week on Raw. Triple H playing with it in his promo was one thing. I could enjoy that. Matches the character he is playing. But continuing to run with the gag after that? That is when it started to get lame. Including "$9.99" in my blog entry title once may have been okay. But continuing to force it? That is when the whole thing might just get stupid. That was the idea I was going for. Kind of doesn't work when I only got to do it twice. And, yes, I am not afraid to make myself look bad to make a point. It is just this kind of thing that makes the quality of the product not seem as entertaining.
The WWE Network is obviously on the company's mind. They are now making it available internationally. Okay, that's good. If I understand it correctly, however, that million-subscriber benchmark was a goal they were aiming for before even releasing internationally. They were aiming for that many subscribers domestically. When they make it available to more countries, that is when you would expect a higher benchmark. The numbers released recently showed that the WWE Network is not a big hit. It lost a lot of subscribers, but still gained a lot to remain on the plus side of things. Still, not a big gain since they last released numbers. There are a lot of fans worldwide that are hungry for the WWE Network. But will the WWE be able to keep them? That is the issue they are facing domestically, in addition to getting new subscribers. I don't think this one venture will run them out of business if it is not successful, but it is a headache.
Dean Ambrose won the right to decide what type of match he will have with Seth Rollins at Summerslam. What did he choose? What type of match will fit the intensity of this feud? What type of match will stop Seth Rollins from always running away? What type of match will excite these fans? A Lumberjack match? Really? Well, I guess it can stop Seth from escaping. But it is such a dull choice. A lot of fans are unhappy with this. After everything these guys have done to each other, I was expecting some kind of hardcore-style match. What would I personally have gone with? Strap match. It would stop Seth from escaping and have some brutality to it. The kind of match they are having this Sunday, I cannot picture this feud ending at Summerslam. I can imagine it going over into Night of Champions. They might even have Seth put the briefcase on the line there.
What about the third former member of The Shield? He has his feud with Randy Orton. This is a match I think should also have some kind of gimmick to it. Roman Reigns faced Kane in a Last Man Standing match last week on Raw. They are overdoing it with that match type. Point is, I feel his match with Randy Orton should also be taken to another level. It has lost some of that heat to it. It felt more personal a few months ago when The Shield first broke up and Orton attacked Reigns like he did. This is another feud that might spill over to Night of Champions. I would rather it didn't, but it likely will. They probably can't come up with anything else for either guy to do.
Let me revisit the Del Rio situation. I did not bring up the possibility that this could all be a work. When CM Punk walked out on the WWE, part of me was wondering whether this was some stunt. I didn't have that feeling for this current situation. Why? There are some signs that it might be some angle. Del Rio is a victim of racism and was just standing up for himself. That is the idea that could make fans feel sympathetic towards him and support him. It could be a big work, like CM Punk's pipe bombs were. Thing is, why bother doing this with Del Rio? He has been pushed hard to be a star and not gotten it done. Moreover, you have other guys that already seem to be getting groomed to be stars. I am talking about guys like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose. A huge angle with Del Rio could take away the attention from these guys. Back when the WWE ran with CM Punk, Edge had just retired, Randy Orton was moved to Smackdown, John Cena was his usual self, and you really lacked other stars. It made sense to let Punk do what he did to make him into a megastar. With Punk gone, Daniel Bryan injured, and John Cena still his usual self, you can say that the situation is perfect for the WWE to pull another big angle to make someone into a star. But with these other guys being groomed to be stars, I don't think the WWE would try it. I don't think this is a work.
But for the sake of discussion, let's say this is a work. This is all an elaborate plan to make Alberto Del Rio into a star due to the current lack of stars. It would be similar to what you had with CM Punk. Could what the WWE is doing be viewed as insulting to CM Punk? What do I mean? That angle in 2011 was what made CM Punk into a top star. He became a legend after that. Does the WWE honestly think that they could make a star out of anyone simply by giving them a big, controversial storyline? I am not saying they are purposely trying to take a shot at CM Punk. I am asking whether this might cheapen what CM Punk did. If you can take a guy that cannot connect with fans very well like Alberto Del Rio and make him into a big star so easily, was there anything really unique about what CM Punk did? Just like controversy the WWE created would lead to Del Rio becoming a star now, controversy the WWE created back then was what led to CM Punk becoming a star. He is a WWE guy. Does that still make CM Punk such an "anti-status quo" guy? Or was what he did all just the WWE's plan to make him into a star, and they would like to cause the same buzz again to make another star?
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