Let me start with Seth Rollins. A year ago, I would say that Seth Rollins had not broken out on his own. He was a weasel. He has looked better since his return this year. I don't mean his physique. I mean his character. He seems more like his own guy and more like a true top star. He doesn't have an A+ connection with the fans, and I wouldn't say he has surpassed the likes of Edge and CM Punk, but he is better than he was a year ago. Even if he is going back to be allies with Stephanie McMahon, I think his character won't be damaged too much by that. If only he would drop the Pedigree as his finisher. He isn't Triple H's son. Triple H didn't train him. A guy as talented as Rollins should be able to come up with some finisher the WWE would allow.
What can you say about Roman Reigns? His suspension is recently up. Fans were throwing a party for it on Twitter. But don't expect him to get a positive response this Sunday. More importantly than his crowd reaction, is his time at the top over already? He wasn't the top draft pick for either Shane or Stephanie. I don't think you should read too much into that. I have seen someone shake his head at Natalya being picked before Cesaro, Sheamus, and certain others. I wouldn't expect her to be featured too much better than those guys. Moreover, the recent drug issues with Brock Lesnar and the WWE's reaction to it might indicate that they won't take away the centerpiece spot from Reigns. A guy they treat even more godly than Reigns is getting negative attention for the same kind of thing and they are still promoting him and look like they will feature him as well as they did before. Drafting a part-timer? Was it worth it? Anyway, I just do not think this is the end of Roman Reigns at the top.
Dean Ambrose is holding the title and had two title defenses in one week prior to Battleground. Is that a sign that it is time for him to lose? He seems to just be a transitional champion. His title reign has been better than Daniel Bryan's infamous first run with the WWE Championship. If the WWE had given him this kind of run Dean Ambrose is getting now, I don't think fans would have gotten so upset back then. They could have gotten away with not promoting him up to pushing him as an A player.
Which of these three guys wins this Sunday? The brand split does not need to be that big of a factor. The WWE has not laid down any solid rules when it comes to the World Championship situation and they may not even know what they want. If they want one title defended on both shows, they can hand it to anyone. If they want two titles, just give the title to anyone in the match, then do something to decide who the other Champion would be. None of these men absolutely needs to win the title to help the title situation. At certain times during the previous brand split era, there were sometimes some messy title situations where it just seemed obvious the WWE only had one option. This is not one of those situations. This should come down to feud development. What is the best booking decision for the WWE to run with the main title feud that they want? I would say they want to run with Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, two guys that happen to be on the same brand. But they won't just hand the title back to Roman Reigns. It has nothing to do with the suspension. Part of the fun is making it a struggle to overcome your foe. Rollins can win it at Battleground and drop it at Summerslam or after that.
Onto the brand split. A lot of things happened this week in regard to that, but I was too busy talking about Battleground to say anything on that. I'll just bring up a few topics.
First, you have the decision to have General Managers under Shane and Stephanie. Is it necessary? I think it is a good move. Take advantage of some popular/legendary non-wrestlers associated with the WWE. It also makes this feel like a real sports organization. Sports teams have a hierarchy. You have your owner(s). He will have his executives around him, including GMs. You have a head coach and his coaching staff. And then you have players, including possible team captains and those players that are leaders even without an official title. I like what the WWE has chosen to do.
Shane McMahon picked Daniel Bryan. Good choice. If not him, I would have gone with Sting. Both of them were never utilized to their full potential in the WWE, and injuries suffered last year really hurt their careers. But they can still be useful in non-wrestling matters. Daniel Bryan is getting something big to do. Hopefully, Sting might one day get a brief run as GM.
Stephanie McMahon picked Mick Foley. Interesting choice. A heel picks a lovable face. It can have some interesting storyline value down the line. It is more likely you see tension between these two before you see serious tension between Shane and Daniel Bryan.
Overall, I see fans complaining that Smackdown got the short end of the stick in the draft. I don't see it like that. I brought up that Raw is at a disadvantage because it has to go head-to-head against Monday Night Football soon. Being live and being its own brand on a night with no football, Smackdown is going to see an improvement from what it was getting in the ratings the last few years. It had a higher viewership than Raw this week. I don't think it will be the last time that happens before the year ends.
I wouldn't have even given Smackdown John Cena. I understand it has some storyline value with how AJ Styles is also there, without The Club. If that wasn't an issue, keep Cena on Raw and send Cesaro or Sami Zayn to Smackdown. Ratings aside, some fans bring up how Cena doesn't regularly work house shows anymore. Who will draw for Smackdown? They will just have to create stars on Smackdown. They might take a hit until then, but the brand split should be an opportunity to build new stars, anyway.
All things considered, I do not think the Smackdown roster is that terrible when it comes to what the WWE needs to do to draw. They have some level of star power and can make stars out of guys that may be loved by wrestling fans, but still need some work to break out. AJ Styles falls in that category, whether smarks want to admit it or not. Don't forget that the WWE will also bring back some workers from the past. Jinder Mahal could be the face of Smackdown and it would still draw more viewers than it has in the last few years. I don't see anything wrong if the WWE wanted to buff up Raw a bit with the draft. They could have shafted Smackdown even worse than they did.
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