Previewing The Fastlane 2017 Women's Matches

Another PPV with more than one women's match. I will start with Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax. They have been feuding for a while now. But that feud hit a snag in recent weeks when Sasha Banks spent more time in Bayley vs. Charlotte than feuding with Nia Jax. That feud just became a bit of an afterthought. There is a difference between two feuds crossing paths and one feud just becoming an afterthought. You might have something like Roman Reigns feuding against Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins feuding against Chris Jericho. Those feuds obviously crossed paths, but the individual feuds still remained strong. The WWE just could have done better with Nia Jax in recent weeks.

Who wins? If the WWE had done a better job with this feud, this might be the point where Sasha Banks wins it. But they have not. Since that is the case, they might as well keep Nia Jax strong for Wrestlemania. She'll get another win against Sasha. Will that lead to Sasha turning heel? That is another issue. I do not think the WWE should do it. We have already seen what bad depth can lead to on Smackdown recently.

Onto the title match. Bayley defends against Charlotte, who seems to have a fetish for being handed title reigns at PPVs. She only loses them on Raws. Speaking of that, there was an issue that Bayley is not a draw with the young female demographic. The Raw main event where she won the title did not do as well in that demographic as Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte, so some people want to spin that to mean Bayley is not a draw. There are a few points I want to bring up.

First, the female demographics for that final hour of Raw that night were still better than numbers Total Divas and Total Bellas have been getting this previous season. And all I hear is that these shows are great draws with women. Well, if that episode of Raw, including the third hour, did better ratings in the female demographic, including with younger women, why should you worry too much?

Move on from the fact that the main event still drew decent numbers, when compared to the reality shows the WWE has out. It did do less than Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte. But is it a fair comparison? Sasha and Charlotte were feuding for months before they main-evented Raw, without even including NXT and their feud with Becky Lynch also involved around Wrestlemania. The WWE stuffed a whole bunch of history into this feud. I think they could have booked it better, but you can see why it might draw good numbers. Even then, I wouldn't overrate the numbers it did get.

Compare that to Bayley vs. Charlotte. First of all, Bayley had her push against Charlotte killed off twice because the WWE went back to Sasha Banks. How is that going to make her look? Second, when they finally did let the feud really get started, it had only been going on about two months before the main event happened a few weeks ago. It was a fraction of the development Sasha/Charlotte had. It also does not help that it was not a fresh storyline connected to the feud. Viewers say this story already. It's just not fresh. You can say that Bayley just got Sasha's leftovers. There is a reason I frequently talk about feud development. If you do not develop a feud properly, don't expect it to draw for you as well as a feud that was developed a whole lot better. Bayley should not be blamed for the numbers.

Last thing to consider, Sasha Banks and Charlotte, the two supposed draws of the previous two women's Raw main events, were also involved in this. Why should they not shoulder the blame for numbers not being better? I would say they are not draws. What was the draw before was the hype and development. Because that was lacking here, even Sasha Banks and Charlotte being involved in the story could not help it. The WWE probably should have just spent the time properly pushing Sasha Banks against Nia Jax. If they expected her to give this feud a rub, it didn't work. Or is she just in the picture for a heel turn? Again, not what I would do.

Who wins between Charlotte and Bayley? If history is any indication, Charlotte is winning the title. And if I still cared enough to watch this stuff, I would probably throw my TV set through a window. The WWE could pull some swerve and have Charlotte win in some manner that she doesn't get  the title or have the match just get thrown out. Nia Jax can come out and destroy everyone. Charlotte's PPV streak is not broken and Bayley gets to defend the title at Wrestlemania. But I'll go with Charlotte winning, because the WWE seems to want her to be a 16x Champion.

Time For Another Authority Stable?

The Authority has not been a true stable for a while. Even before Triple H turned on Seth Rollins, Rollins was out with an injury for a long time and it was really just Triple H and Stephanie feuding against Roman Reigns without a real group around them.

Fans are anticipating a new Authority. Triple H has been working with Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens in recent weeks. That could be a new stable right there, or the start of one. Of course, Stephanie McMahon would also be included.

Is it a good idea? On the one hand, a strong heel stable can make for some interesting storylines and feuds. On the other hand, the WWE has not exactly done a great job with most of the things they have tried to do these days. They are very inefficient.

It has been so long since The Authority was a group, I am a little rusty on why it flopped the first time around. I do remember that they just teased friction within the group way too much. It is one thing to do that when one of the members is likely splitting from the group. But the WWE did it way too much. They did it with Randy Orton. They did it with Seth Rollins. This internal drama made it hard to build the stable into something great for faces to eventually overcome and get a great rub off of. If the WWE is going to try again with a heel authority stable, they should cut this friction out.

Another issue to consider is that both Samoa Joe and Kevin Owens are not young guys. This wouldn't be really building the future, like how the WWE could sell that Seth Rollins was being groomed to be the next top guy when he was in The Authority. Seth Rollins is still younger than both Owens and Samoa Joe. The WWE could still try hyping it like these two are the future of the WWE, but it would be pretty laughable with Samoa Joe being 37, the same age as Mickie James. When you reach this age range, your time is now. You're not being groomed for the future. You are either being pushed as a top star or not. Look at how fast they pushed AJ Styles. I don't think they should have rushed like that, but I can understand why they did it. There are organic ways to build all these guys properly. Nevertheless, putting Owns and Samoa Joe in a top stable would be a big step to get something out of them now.

Is it likely the WWE pulls the trigger on this? Probably. What else is Triple H supposed to do in between feuds? Just hide in the background? And Stephanie McMahon might look better with some henchmen to go after whomever she dislikes. I think this can benefit multiple individuals. The WWE just needs to handle it better than they did The Authority the first time around.

Naomi Surrenders Title, Alexa Bliss Gets It Back

I can say I take no satisfaction in Naomi's injury, but then I would sound like Donald Trump. And I don't want to sound like Donald Trump.

Even before Naomi won the title at Elimination Chamber, I said she should not have. One of the reasons I felt she should not win the title yet is because she was just returning from being injured. In 2016, there were at least two occasions where Naomi needed to take time off due to an injury. Before the WWE makes the decision to put the title on her, one of the things that needed to happen was that she needed to prove she could stay healthy. They did not do that. They put the title on Naomi just a few weeks after she returned to the main roster.

And she got injured. It looks like she got injured in the very match she won the title. Last week, they just mentioned it in a segment. I don't think most fans took it seriously that she was so hurt that she would have to surrender the title. This week, however, she did have to surrender the title due to her injury. It is the rise and fall of Naomi, all within about a month.

I don't blame Naomi for this situation. Yes, she could do some work cleaning up her in-ring style a bit. But the WWE were the ones that booked her to win the title. They should have been smarter. They should have realized this is a woman that has had some injury issues in recent years. They should not have rushed the title on her like they did. The smart thing to do would have been to monitor her and make sure she could stay healthy. As I mentioned before, see if she can clean up her in-ring work. The WWE put themselves in this situation.

You can say that you cannot predict injuries, and I would agree with that. You can't tell when someone is going to get injured. However, I think you can at least determine if it is likely someone might get injured. Look at three things. First, does the person in question have a history of injuries holding him back? Second, is the person in question doing something physical where injuries frequently happen? Third, is the person in question doing what is expected of him in this physical environment in a safe manner or a manner in which injuries might be even more likely?

If the WWE was smart, they would have this kind of thought process. They know Naomi has a history of injuries taking her out, especially in the last year. They know the kind of environment pro wrestling is. Keep in mind, they are giving women more freedom to go at it in the ring in this era. And they should have been able to look at how Naomi performs and see that it was likely she would get injured again. She does a lot of high-risk spots. Her execution is not always smooth. And you also have to worry about the people you are working with not doing their end of spots properly. Alexa Bliss is not a great wrestler. I am not blaming her for Naomi's injury, but these are all the things the WWE should have thought about. And if they had done that, I don't think they would have given Naomi the title as quickly as they did.

Is this the end of Naomi? I think it would be fair to give her one more chance when she does come back from her injury 100% healthy. That doesn't mean they dump the title in her lap 5 seconds after she returns. They should learn from their mistakes. Naomi needs to stay healthy. I think it can be done. Look at Sean Lee of the Dallas Cowboys. For years, he had injury issues that left many people thinking he was a bust and would never reach his potential. He was healthy enough to be available for every game this previous season. The only game he did not play was the meaningless regular season finale. He found a way to stay healthy. I think Naomi can do it. But she needs to actually do it. There are other women deserving of title reigns on the main roster. There are women in NXT that can earn them. There are women not even under contract yet that would love to get a title reign.

The WWE wasted no time in crowning a new Smackdown Women's Championship. Alexa Bliss faced Becky Lynch. Alexa Bliss got the win by cheap heel tactics. I am not going to criticize having the title be decided by these two and having Alexa Bliss win.

I will say something about how they decided to have Alexa Bliss win. It just looked clumsy. I am not saying it was botched. I am saying it looked poor. It lacked more of an impact. They had Alexa Bliss grabbing onto the ring apron and all that. I believe Alexa Bliss can be built to be a great heel, but I do not believe that because she is a great wrestler. If she was a great wrestler, maybe the WWE could have come up with a better finish to put her over as a great wrestler. But in terms of looking like a great heel character, winning like she did doesn't make Alexa Bliss look that great. It was just a cheap, clumsy win.

What should they have done? Why did they not have Mickie James be the one to screw Becky Lynch? Whether they did that or the way they ended up doing it, the face, Becky, gets protected by not taking a clean loss. And it would have looked even better. It would have looked even more like Becky got screwed. Becky Lynch and Mickie James are supposed to be feuding. Mickie James is supposed to be this thorn in the side of Becky Lynch. Not having Mickie James screw Becky Lynch is a missed opportunity that I would say in unforgivable. It would also do something for Alexa Bliss. If you want her to look like a boss heel, give her a competent sidekick that could actually help her. I will give the WWE credit for letting Mickie James get a win over Becky Lynch last week without Alexa Bliss. Mickie James is a veteran female wrestler. It is good to let her get a win through her own heel tactics. But Alexa Bliss is not what Mickie James is. She can use the sidekick rub.

As I said before, I did not think the WWE should bring back Mickie James, I did not think they should bring her back the way they did, I did not think they should have her play the heel character they want her to play, and I do not think they are handling this feud with Becky Lynch right. But if this is the way they are going to do it, they are still not getting the most out of Mickie James. I would rather Mickie James not be a sidekick, but they can get a lot out of her to help give rubs to Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss. If they built Mickie James up properly, Becky Lynch would look even better by going over her. If they built the relationship between Mickie James and Alexa Bliss better, Alexa's character would look even more amazing. Mickie James is being underutilized.

The last thing to bring up is the depth issue. Smackdown is now right back where they were before Naomi returned last month. Your faces are Becky Lynch and Nikki Bella. Your heels are Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, Natalya, and Carmella. Terrible unbalance. To make matters worse, it seems Maryse is getting a feud against Nikki Bella. I will talk about that more later on. Just with the women that have been wrestling on a more regular basis than Maryse, they might just have to rush a face turn to balance things out. But will it work properly? It really is for the sake of depth, not trying to make anyone into a star.

Aside from a face turn, there is the possibility of bringing someone like Asuka or Tamina in. They will at least help at house shows. Asuka obviously still has business in NXT. Tamina could show up on Smackdown to help the depth issue. Tamina has been a face. She has been a heel. She has been pushed. She has been depushed. She has been injured. She has just been there. She has never been really over. She is also the oldest active in-ring performer in the women's division. Yes, even a little older than Mickie James. If they do bring her in, it should only be to help the depth. Don't try too hard to give her a separate angle and push. Smackdown has tried to give all their women a role and Naomi's injury has shown how it can backfire. It has an impact in what Naomi was doing and what other women were doing. It really stings the division.

Let me end it by just saying that giving someone a chance does not mean handing them success. When #GiveDivasAChance happened, people weren't asking for the divas to be given a chance. What they really meant was #TreatDivasBetter. And that is what the WWE did. They never looked back. And I have seen similar things for women like Paige or Naomi. Their fans are asking for them to be given a chance. What they really mean is give them a push and a title. Some things should just be earned. Staying healthy is one of the things you have to do to earn something. The WWE did not give Naomi a chance. They just pushed her too quickly and gave her the title too quickly. When you are giving someone or something a chance, the possibility of failure has to be there. It is only fair. I just hope the WWE learns from their mistakes.

Who Won The Battle Royal?

Smackdown had a battle royal to decide who will face Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship. The match came down to AJ Styles and Luke Harper. Both men got eliminated at the same time. Things will be settled on Smackdown next week.

Or did both men really get eliminated at the same time? Fans are pointing out that it obviously looked like AJ Styles had to have gotten both feet down on the floor before Luke Harper. And judging by how the WWE were not eager to show a replay, it makes it even more likely that the ending was botched. Luke Harper should be the winner of the battle royal.

There have been some instances where a botched finish led to the WWE going in a direction they did not intend to go. A couple months ago, Bayley got added to a title match between Sasha Banks and Charlotte because of a botched finish. Of course, the idea here was for Luke Harper and AJ Styles to have a controversial finish and have a little mini-feud between the two. But if Harper obviously won the match, the WWE's plans look stupid. There is a controversy here, but it is over the fact that the WWE won't acknowledge what really happened. The kayfabe controversy is just overshadowed.

I will admit that I felt that the WWE was doing too much with the storyline between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt. The development for what they were doing was also weak at times. But even I am starting to want to see Luke Harper stay involved in this feud to get in the title match at Wrestlemania. It looks like he legitimately won the battle royal. His character is starting to look strong. With how much smarks love him and the momentum he is getting, I wouldn't be surprised if he gets a reaction at Wrestlemania that buries both Orton and Wyatt. It would probably be a mistake to take him out of that picture. I am not saying it would be as terrible as what the WWE tried to do with Daniel Bryan years ago, but it might upset certain vocal fans.

Is Nia Jax Going Backwards?

It is not unusual for big monstrous wrestlers to squash jobbers when they first debut. They then graduate to better feuds. Some lose momentum and get tossed aside. Nia Jax is the women's division's big monster. She had been squashing jobbers for a long time. Local jobbers, even.

In recent months, it looked like she finally graduated. Recently, she had that feud going on with Sasha Banks. She was tossing Sasha around and looking monstrous. She was finally feuding with a credible opponent. But that feud never really got finished yet.

Next thing you know, Sasha Banks is back deeply involved in the picture with Charlotte and Bayley. She was there to give Bayley an assist to win the title last week. They were again involved with each other this week. Fans are already anticipating Sasha turning heel on Bayley.

But where is Nia? She once again squashed a local jobber on Raw this week. Now, it is not unheard of for an established big man to go back and squash jobbers here and there, but it is too soon for Nia Jax to be back squashing jobbers. This can hurt her development. Most squash matches are not entertaining. Yes, James Ellsworth got his big break being a local jobber, but it was his awkward look that got people talking about him and won him a contract.

This once again highlights the depth problem. Charlotte and Bayley cannot be involved with just each other every week. They need supporting players. Enter Dana Brooke. But who sides with Bayley? They could try to force Alicia Fox into the picture, but Sasha Banks already has a stronger connection with Bayley. Problem is, how they are using Sasha now just makes the feud she was having with Nia Jax irrelevant. There are not enough bodies to go around to handle what they want to do efficiently.

Even then, I think they could have done a better job keeping Nia Jax in the picture with Sasha Banks and everyone else. She will get a title feud sooner or later, but there is no need to waste her with these short squash matches until then. Fans already know she can be dominant. Don't botch the progression she is going through. Have her still target Sasha Banks. Even just a backstage segment with any of the women currently relevant would be enough. You can say that they needed to do the squash match to kill time, but I think they easily could have added that extra minute to any other match or segment. It is just poor feud development.

Is It Still A Dark Age?

The diva era in the WWE lasted roughly 17 years. That is the span where title matters were meant to center around eye-candy. During that era, you had different stages or periods. You had the beginning of the era. That led to the first dark age. The golden age followed. The era of failed centerpieces followed that. That led to the second dark age. And the WWE was never able to get the diva status quo out of that dark age.

This is a new era. You can't refer to this as the "new era" of the women's division forever. This is the women's revolution era. Not only is the WWE featuring the women better, but they are going to scream really loudly to make sure everyone knows it. That is, figuratively speaking. But they will mention it more than they really need to and utilize it more than they really need to for storylines. Aside from that, what stage are we in for the women's revolution era?

First, I would say we are past the beginning of this era. It started in 2015 when fans on Twitter destroyed the WWE for how they were handling the women's division. A few changes started from there. A few months after that, three respected women's wrestlers debuted from NXT in one night. A few months after that, the butterfly title, a symbol of the previous era, was dumped and "diva" became a bad word (except for Total Divas). Since then, there has been a ton of history crammed into a span of less than a year and Smackdown has its own women's title again. The general idea of what this era is about has already taken shape. No, I would not say we are still in the beginning stages.

Is it a golden age? What makes that kind of era so great, in my mind, are two things. First, efficiency. You have to be handling things smoothly and without too many mistakes. That is what puts you in a position to best be successful. Second, it has to be bringing great results. In the case of pro wrestling, which falls in the category of entertainment, it has to be popular. That doesn't mean everyone loves it. You will always have some people disliking what is going on, whether for a good reason or not. But are the majority of fans loving it?

Look at the golden age of the diva era. A lot of people praise this era for the wrestling quality. For the most part, the WWE had a good group of credible jobbers to help create a strong foundation and be efficient. And the booking was pretty good. Beyond that, it was a popular era, and not just with wrestling fans. Some of these wrestling fans seem to forget that this era featured the dreaded Bra & Panties matches and other matches and segments that they would riot for if the WWE tried it today. Not only did you have an era that wrestling fans could enjoy, but fans drawn to the fun diva-related angles could have things that they could enjoy.

Look at the current product in the women's revolution era. Is this the best you can imagine for this new era? I don't think so. They are not efficient. On Raw, they have been rolling with a centerpiece that is not connecting properly with the fans to deserve her monster push. Doing this kind of thing was something you saw in the era of failed centerpieces. On Smackdown, they don't even seem to have a centerpiece at all. They just juggle attention around numerous women. And they do not have the depth to properly do what they are doing. As far as how popular this era is, yes, there are fans loving what is going on, but there are also fans that just don't care for it or even dislike it. I have seen fans that wanted change even critical of some of the things going on. All of these women coming out of NXT seem to lose their luster on the main roster. The WWE is trying hard to hype these women and what is going on in the division, but it doesn't have that wide entertainment value.

Is it a dark age? Just look at what I said about the golden age and consider the opposite. That is what a dark age is. And I would say that is what you have. Raw and Smackdown seem to have two different agendas going on, and neither one is as efficient as it should be. No woman is as over as she should be, and the WWE is to blame in most cases for their sloppy booking. And the overall atmosphere they have created is not as popular as it should be to warrant the WWE continuing to hype it so much. It is abrasive. It is as polarizing as John Cena. Some fans love what is going on, but there are also a lot annoyed by it.

Part of the problem is that this era was born from a dark age. That is not shocking. From the death of one era comes the birth of a new era. But the WWE never got around to really fixing their efficiency problems. In fact, the whole company was really in a funk. To make matters worse, they decided to do a brand split, crippling the roster even more.

Another reason this era is not yet as great as it could be is that it is too much hype. Everything is history. They did a dual contract signing on Smackdown two weeks ago and hyped that as history. Really? That was just dumb. Yes, it is good that the WWE wants to treat the women better, but don't harp on it like this. The WWE obviously didn't do all this because they genuinely care. They did it because they were pressured to do it and continue to hype it like this more out of ego than trying to be smart. You can treat these women better without making a theme out of it. It is one of the reasons some people have soured on what is going on.

Will this dark age give birth to a golden age like the first dark age of the diva era did? Not if the WWE doesn't smarten up. You need proper depth in both divisions, if they insist on continuing the brand split. You need to handle these women smarter. You can't feature everyone prominently. Some people will get the short end of the stick. They need to change the overall atmosphere of the division. Less bitterness. Less hype. Less self-righteousness. Let the wrestling speak for itself, but come up with storylines and feuds that allow these women to show entertaining characters. You will have good wrestling going on to please wrestling fans and entertaining characters being featured to please the wider audience. That will produce results. You will have a women's division that is efficient and has appeal to a majority of your fans. And that's a golden age.

The Wildcard In The Wyatt Storyline

Bray Wyatt won the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber last Sunday. He retained it on Smackdown. Randy Orton won the Royal Rumble a few weeks ago. These two were feuding with each other a few months ago. The storyline then took a twist when Randy Orton just randomly decided to join The Wyatts. Everyone is waiting for that feud to finally resume, finish up, and have everyone involved just move on with their lives.

But there is a wildcard in all this. Luke Harper has been The Wyatt pushed out with Randy Orton joining the group. He is now a bit of a thorn in the side of Bray Wyatt. How will he factor in as the feud progresses?

There will be a battle royal on Smackdown next week to see who faces Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania. People are expecting Luke Harper to win that. Whether he does or doesn't, a lot of fans are thinking about a triple-threat match at Wrestlemania. Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton vs. Luke Harper. The fact that Randy Orton said he doesn't want to face Bray is meaningless. It is not written in stone.

I am all for the WWE elevating talent with the brand split back. Seth Rollins just got too many title shots last year. And then Roman Reigns came in. Now a part-timer is going after Raw's top title. Elevate younger talent. Luke Harper is that kind of talent. And smarks love the guy.

Problem is, now is not the time I would be doing this kind of thing. This Wrestlemania season already feels disappointing when you think of the great feuds they could potentially have built. As I have said before, the feud between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt did not need the Royal Rumble win and WWE Championship to be involved. But now that you are at that point, just go with that. There is enough to work with right there. Luke Harper does not need to be in this Wrestlemania match. Save his involvement in the Smackdown title matches for after Wrestlemania.

Owens And Jericho Break Up

Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens have been partners for a few months. Their partnership included both winning some titles. They have had their ups and downs. Friction has been teased. Overall, there were a lot of good segments and most fans will call this a successful partnership. I wish the storyline between Chris Jericho and AJ Styles lasted this well. Anyway, it looks like it is over now. Owens turned on Jericho on Raw this week.

Did it need to happen now? I am not raising the question because I worshiped this partnership like some fans did. Just in terms of storylines, did it need to happen now? Kevin Owens has Goldberg as the next challenger for the Universal Championship. Shouldn't the WWE be trying to really put over that feud? After Owens loses to Goldberg, he can turn on Jericho the next night on Raw. Jericho was the one that put him in the position to face Goldberg. The two could then feud for the United States Championship for Wrestlemania. The way the WWE handled it, this could be viewed as a bit of a distraction.

Let me bring up another "distraction" so you can see what I mean. Go back a few months to when Seth Rollins was feuding with Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. This was coming off of Rollins looking so heated off of Triple H screwing him. Pretty soon, that emotion just died. I will never forget Rollins goofing around with Jericho's list. It just ruined his character. Not all faces need to be pandering for laughs. And I have seen many fans say that The List of Jericho was burying Owens. It was more over than Owens. It just became a distraction. Yes, fans loved it, but it was one of the reasons the development of certain things back then got hurt. There were other factors, like the WWE just not pushing guys right, but it was part of the problem.

Of course, you probably need a distraction right now. You have a feud involving a part-timer, and those people tend to not be used every week to help further whatever they are involved in. What is Kevin Owens supposed to do? Just beat up Gillberg? They could have continued to tease the issues between Owens and Jericho, but just not pull the trigger on the break up yet. You now have more people interested in that this week than the actual feud between Owens and Goldberg. It is just not smooth feud development. It wasn't that necessary to have the betrayal happen now.

You also have Triple H involved in this. He is in the ear of Kevin Owens. There you see another part of the problem. With Seth Rollins injured for at least a few weeks, Triple H has nothing to really do. They have to come up with something for him. And this is what they decided to do. I still think they could have waited. But I will admit the WWE is in a tough spot with what happened to Seth Rollins.

Proper feud development matters. That is why I spent yesterday talking about Smackdown's women's feuds. You have a feud between Nikki Bella and Natalya that just needs to end already. You have a feud between Becky Lynch and Mickie James that could have been booked to be a lot better than it is. You have Alexa Bliss losing the title when it looked like they could have built her to be a great heel character. You have them rushing the title onto Naomi when they could have built up to it better. The wider audience are not going to tune in for a match just because it is stealing the show. As far as matches go, people will tune in based on how well it has been hyped and the development of the feud/storyline leading up to the match. The feud between Goldberg and Owens has not had great development. It is getting buried by the distraction of Owens turning on Jericho. The WWE is just going to run on the hype of Goldberg + Title Match = $$$. Okay, but it seems like Goldberg has already lost some of his luster in terms of drawing in viewers. Let's see what he does in terms of selling tickets and getting WWE Network subscriptions.

Looking Back At The Elimination Chamber 2017 Women's Matches

The women's matches at this past Sunday's Smackdown PPV all ended in ways I did not expect. I am going to say what I do not like about these booking decisions.

First, Natalya vs. Nikki Bella ended in a double countout. This was the longest of the feuds going on for the Smackdown women and it just needed to end. All they have been doing for a lot of these past weeks is talking and brawling. They're brawling in the ring, outside the ring, outside the building, backstage, and I don't know where else. And there is really nowhere else for the promos to go. This isn't a great feud. It is being booked this way because of the poor depth.

Nikki Bella should have just won and moved on. Even if she had won, these two women might have still interacted after Elimination Chamber, but the feud with have reached its climax and they could really start moving on to something new. As it stands, this feud doesn't feel like it is over yet.

Becky Lynch defeated Mickie James. Mickie James should have won that match. She just looks terrible. She has only been back a few weeks, so it won't be hard to look back at what she has done in terms of momentum. She came back by screwing Becky Lynch. The week after that, she had that promo segment, which ended with Mickie and Alexa Bliss once again laying out Becky. Since then, it has been all downhill. She lost at the Royal Rumble. She lost on the Smackdown after that. The Smackdown after that was the contract segment, which ended with the faces standing tall. She had absolutely no momentum heading into Elimination Chamber. And she lost. That is terrible booking.

And this booking does not help Becky Lynch as much as it could. Go back to when Mickie James returned to TNA in 2010. I don't think TNA handled her right, but what they did with her was done better than what the WWE just did with Becky Lynch. Mickie James had a feud with Tara, the sidekick of Madison Rayne, the TNA KO Champion at the time. The feud lasted months and Tara, the heel, actually got a PPV win over Mickie. It culminated with Mickie James defeating Tara in a steel cage match on Impact, which was one of the best moments of her TNA run. I have compared how the WWE is using Becky Lynch now to how TNA used Mickie James back then before. TNA actually made it look like Mickie James had to overcome something back then. They actually developed the feud. This feud with Becky Lynch and Mickie James is the same kind of thing. Becky Lynch is feuding with the sidekick of the heel Champion that is in her way. But with Mickie James not looking like she had any real momentum at all, Becky Lynch does not look as amazing as she could have with a win over her.

They are just doing a terrible job with Mickie James. I said that the WWE should not bring her back. Okay, they brought her back. I said that the WWE should not make her a heel and have her be La Luchadora. Okay, they made her a heel and had her be La Luchadora. I said the WWE should not have her be this bitter, arrogant character. Okay, they had her be this bitter, arrogant character. And I said that the WWE should have Mickie James win at Elimination Chamber. And they didn't do that. They have just dug a deep hole. Going back to my first point, I did not want them to bring her back because I knew this sour, inefficient environment would not be good for her. And the WWE is proving me right.

The booking in the last few weeks has not helped anyone as much as it could have. Mickie James does not look good. The feud does not look as great as it could have been. And Becky Lynch has not been put over as best as she could have been. Yes, the feud can still go on, but it would just look pointless at this point. Becky Lynch already has her revenge and that's that. I heard some rumors say that the reason Becky Lynch vs. Mickie James might be a short feud is that Nikki Bella and whatever she is involved with is getting a Wrestlemania spot. And yet, Nikki Bella's feud with Natalya was the one that did not get closure at Elimination Chamber. I doubt it will be Nikki vs. Natalya at Wrestlemania. With the WWE running at least 3 women's angles on Smackdown, the Nikki excuse does not have merit. The WWE could have booked Becky/Mickie to end at the first Smackdown PPV after Wrestlemania, while Nikki Bella still has her storyline.

And Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win Smackdown's Women's Championship. Once again, I would say this is a feud that didn't help either woman as best as it could have.

Let me start with Alexa Bliss. Everything I just said about Mickie James lacking momentum in the last few weeks applies to her partner in crime, and it might even be worse for Alexa. Alexa was the one being pinned in all those tag matches. She just had no momentum heading into the match. Alexa Bliss is obviously not a great wrestler, but the WWE could have put a lot more work in her to make her look like a great heel. They had just paired her with Mickie James less than a month ago, now the duo looks absolutely pathetic. How is that building a strong heel duo, which can then really put over some faces down the road?

As for Naomi winning the title, I felt that Naomi should one day get a good push. Now is just not when I would have done it. She just came back from her second injury in a year that required her to miss time. The WWE should wait and see if she can stay healthy for a few months. Moreover, the build to that title win should be better. Instead, she comes back on Smackdown, pins Alexa Bliss at the Royal Rumble, pins Alexa Bliss on Smackdown, wins a brawl a week after that, and then wins the title. I've talked about women losing momentum before, but it seems the WWE just rushed Naomi to look credible. She never looked weak. It was just a 3-week steamroll. Yes, there are a lot of Naomi fans out there that are happy, but you always have to think about that wider audience. The WWE didn't really have any time to gauge how her push was really going. They just gave her the title. I don't care if she is from Florida and Wrestlemania is in Florida this year, this whole situation could have been handled better.

All of the Smackdown Women's Champions so far have been mediocre. I am not talking about talent. I am talking about how they have been built and the quality of their title reigns. Becky Lynch had no proper build whatsoever prior to winning the title. Her reign lasted a few months, featuring her missing out on a title defense due to a medical issue. Many did not think she would lose the title to Alexa Bliss. That happened. Alexa Bliss had just been on the main roster a few months and never really had any other storyline prior to that feud with Becky Lynch. And she's also not a great wrestler. Just when it looked like her title run might lead to her being featured as a great heel character, Naomi returns from her injury. And I just talked about the rushed job she got. The WWE needs to start developing these women better prior to their title wins and let them have title reigns that are better than this. They are not developing any of these women properly. It is as terrible as the cruiserweight division.

Smackdown's entire women's division just looks weak. No one really stands out that much. A lot of people like to talk about Nikki Bella having backstage influence, but she has not won the title yet on Smackdown and can't even get a decisive win against Natalya at Elimination Chamber. Natalya is getting a storyline, but she never goes far and has not held a title in about 7 years. Becky Lynch, the inaugural Smackdown Women's Champion, had no proper hype prior to winning it and the title reign was not that amazing. Mickie James, a legitimate A+ player a decade ago, in terms of how well she was able to connect with the fans from just being pushed as a credible jobber, is as big a loser in the last few weeks as my Brooklyn Nets. Alexa Bliss looked like she could be a great heel character, but she immediately dropped the title last Sunday. Naomi just got a rushed push, and there is nothing to suggest that this will be a long-term thing for her. Meanwhile, when you look at Raw, Charlotte is a long-term thing. Even Sasha Banks has managed to look somewhat more relevant than the Smackdown women. Even when she loses, there is a story there about her being a fighter. There is her potential heel turn. When these Smackdown women lose, for the most part, it is just a loss. There might be all these storyline floating around, but the actual women don't look strong over time. It is just a juggling act of momentum. Oh, and Carmella has Ellsworth. That is all that needs to be said.

Previewing Bayley Vs. Charlotte For Tonight's Raw

I usually do not preview title matches on Raw or Smackdown. When it comes to Charlotte and Raw's Women's Championship, however, title changes on Raw are not uncommon at all. Tonight, Charlotte defends the title against Bayley.

Bayley already lost a title match against Charlotte at the Royal Rumble. But Charlotte has that PPV win streak going. If Bayley is going to win the title, tonight seems like the time where it might happen.

Should Bayley win it? Is she ready? Going by how the WWE seems to dump title reigns into the laps of certain individuals these days that are not ready at all, it might even be an irrelevant question to ask. The WWE has made questionable decisions with men, women, tag teams, and don't leave out the cruiserweights.

Nevertheless, I will repeat the question. Is Bayley ready? She has wrestling ability and was very popular in NXT. Since coming to the main roster, however, the WWE has botched how she has been pushed. And I see a lot of fans criticizing the storyline she has been getting. Some say it is the same thing she did in NXT. Some say it is the same thing Sasha Banks just did with Charlotte, without Bayley bringing up Eddie Guerrero. All this is part of the reason Bayley has not been more successful on the main roster. I am not talking in terms of wins and title reigns. I mean in terms of connecting with the audience, which matters a whole lot more than title reigns.

I would say Bayley is not ready and the WWE should not just force the title change and keep on chugging along with whatever they have planned like everything is working beautifully. Yes, the WWE is making money and all that, but they are really doing it by spreading themselves out and trying to make as much money as they can off wrestling fans. They can be making a lot more money and have a lot more mainstream success if they put thought into winning over the wider audience, not just playing with smarks and wrestling fans. As for Bayley, she is looking worse than Sasha Banks. And I didn't even think Sasha Banks looked that great during her push last year. Redoing the same kind of feud is just dull.

What about Charlotte? Her booking has been disgusting. The WWE has just been inflating her title resume. Some people criticize how John Cena has been booked since becoming the centerpiece over a decade ago. I would say how Charlotte has been booked is even more terrible. People groan whenever Roman Reigns challenges for a main-event title. He has only been WWE Champion 3 times in about 2 years. Since coming to the main roster roughly two years ago, Charlotte has won 5 women's titles, which includes being the last woman to hold the Diva's Championship. In that span, there have been multiple men that have had lengthy main-event title reigns, besides Reigns. Not one woman on Raw has had a title reign last more than a few weeks in that time Roman Reigns has held his titles, besides Charlotte.

If the depth was so terrible that they had to push Charlotte this much, I probably would not complain. The WWE is in a tough spot and just pushing the best in-ring worker they have. That is not the case. And that is the only situation where this booking should be allowed. Charlotte isn't even that popular. Even if she was, this juggling act is inexcusable. If she was so popular, they would not need to overrate her to look great and could just focus on showcasing her.

If Bayley does win the title tonight, will she drop it back to Charlotte at Fastlane? I read the rumors about Bayley feuding with Sasha Banks, and the WWE has done things to tease a heel turn for Banks, but the WWE has shown that they are going to push Charlotte as the centerpiece. And she is the most annoying centerpiece since Michelle McCool. Might be even worse. I will be shocked if they remove Charlotte from the title picture for even 5 seconds.

All that being said, who wins tonight? Bayley does not feel like she has been built up properly. The WWE has created a trend of Charlotte dropping the title on Raw. I would say it is likely the title change happens. As I pointed out before, the WWE is not afraid to hand off titles to people that have not been developed properly. Bayley can just join the club.

Previewing The 2017 Elimination Chamber Men's Matches

First match to talk about will be Dolph Ziggler vs. both Apollo Crews and Kalisto. This might be another instance of the WWE trying to get too fancy with a feud. This match could easily have been just Ziggler vs. Crews. It might not be too interesting, but this PPV is featuring an Elimination Chamber match. That is the big selling point right there.

Or is the WWE planning something more with this match? The odds are against the heel. They could pull a swerve and have Apollo Crews turn heel and help Ziggler win. Ziggler is no stranger to having some muscle at his side. You can also say this heel turn for him has been a bit forced or that he might be trying too hard. Maybe the WWE will give him a sidekick to help him. As for Crews, he hasn't really done anything important in the longest while. A heel turn might at least give him a chance to show a different personality, which might help him.

Who wins this? There are a lot of possibilities and a lot of things to consider. I just brought up the heel turn option. Ziggler is the one being pushed, so he should win. At the same time, two faces would look bad if they lost this match without major shenanigans, although Apollo Crews and Kalisto aren't exactly too important. I will say Ziggler wins.

Randy Orton faces Luke Harper. Forgetting the Royal Rumble win for Orton, this match was just the logical step in the storyline Orton has with Bray Wyatt. Randy Orton drives away Bray's top disciple, then the path is cleared for Orton to turn on Bray. Randy Orton seriously did not need that Royal Rumble win.

Who wins this? I don't see Luke Harper in line to get a huge push moving forward. If he was, I might say he wins this. Since that is not the case, Orton wins.

American Alpha defend the tag titles against The Usos, The Ascension, The Vaudevillains, Breezango, and Heath Slater & Rhyno. Did I miss anyone? The tag division is probably something else I should try to take time out to talk about in this hectic Wrestlemania season. A lot has been going on in the last few weeks, including title changes. Is the WWE making good booking decisions? Are they developing teams properly? Well, there are a bunch of jobbers in this match. The WWE might have done better by just building a feud between American Alpha and The Usos.

I think this match might just come down to those two teams. One of them will win. The title reign of American Alpha is still young, so they should retain here. However, the WWE has had some questionable title changes in the last few months. It's not just with the Cruiserweight Championship. It would be nice to let more of these title reigns develop more. No need for reigns of doom, but a few months and successful title defenses would be nice. I will say American Alpha retain.

And the main event will be John Cena defending the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber against Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Miz, Dean Ambrose, and Baron Corbin. There is a lot I would have liked to have said about this match, including running down each of these guys, but I've already talked about a lot today and I'll just save time by talking about three guys. Keep in mind, the winner of this match likely faces the Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton, unless some huge swerve happens.

If you're going by what Dave Meltzer's sources are telling him, Bray Wyatt is winning the title and facing Randy Orton. I can just end it right here and go make a sandwich. Whether the WWE does it or not, this is a terrible booking decision. It is amazing how the WWE could take what was my favorite storyline going on at one time and ruin it by just trying to do too much. I thought the way they had Randy Orton just join The Wyatts was bad enough, but this was just not a feud that needed to involve Randy Orton winning the Royal Rumble and Bray Wyatt winning the WWE Championship. I am not against Bray Wyatt finally winning a top title, but now is not the time for it.

Look at the incumbent. Look at the guy holding the title heading into the PPV. That would be John Cena. He just won the title a few short weeks ago. I wouldn't be too shocked if he lost it so soon. Moreover, Cena retaining would mean Randy Orton vs. John Cena. They just faced each other in a singles match this week. These two have never faced each other in a singles match at Wrestlemania, but I think a lot of fans can live with not seeing it. Going in this direction would also put the Orton/Wyatt angle in an interesting position. What happens there?

The last name I will bring up is AJ Styles. He held the title prior to Cena. A feud and match between Randy Orton and AJ Styles would be fresh and something I have seen some fans interested in. The main problem here is that it would ruin the Orton/Wyatt feud. I can have an easier time imagining Orton vs. Cena with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background than Orton vs. Styles with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background.

Who wins this? Because of all the crappy possibilities, I am not even going to take this seriously. I'll say Jinder Mahal beats up Baron Corbin before the match, takes his spot, and wins the title. Randy Orton just should not have won the Royal Rumble. I am a fan of Randy Orton. I don't own a lot of wrestling merchandise, but Randy Orton is one of the guys I have bought merchandise of. But it is just hard to get excited for this push for him when so many epic feuds could have been built with someone else winning the Royal Rumble. I would rather see John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the title. The feud between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton just didn't need all this.

Previewing The 2017 Elimination Chamber Women's Matches

Smackdown has a PPV this Sunday, Elimination Chamber. I believe this is the first time a brand PPV will feature 3 women's matches. The Royal Rumble a few weeks ago had 3 (between the kickoff and the main show), but the Royal Rumble isn't a brand-specific PPV. Many might say that this is huge for the women, but look at it a little more realistically. This is just practical booking. The Elimination Chamber match will feature six guys. Even though that match will kill a lot of time, there are still a lot of spots on the card to fill. Also keep in mind that match isn't the only multi-man match on the card. The situation just calls for multiple women's matches.

Nikki Bella and Natalya have been feuding for a few months now. They tried to make it more interesting by treating it like Nikki was attacked by some mystery individual a few months ago at Survivor Series. The feud hasn't really gone anywhere that interesting since then. They are just talking and brawling. Very few matches. Blame it on the terrible depth. The promos are pretty sour. A lot of talking about John Cena. I wonder if the WWE ever considers this might hurt his image. I don't think it is doing anything too great for either woman involved. Thankfully, this feud will likely end at Elimination Chamber.

Nikki Bella should be beating Natalya. This is a feud for the face to just shut up the heel after all these months. A Natalya win would just be pointless, unless they continue this feud, which they shouldn't. I'll go with Nikki.

The feud between Mickie James and Becky Lynch has been going on for only a few weeks. I have said on multiple occasions that I dislike how the WWE has handled Mickie's character. I will give them credit for certain things, like giving her quality promo time. But in terms of her actual character, this is not the best way to handle Mickie James. She should be a face, or even an entertaining heel. This bitter, arrogant character is not best for her. I see some fans not even understanding what she's doing with her promos. Maybe I'll go into that another day. She is still showing her charisma, but this is just not a great situation.

What about Becky Lynch? These past few weeks, they have been treating her like all she's good for is chasing titles and seeking revenge against sidekicks screwing her out of titles. Does that sound familiar? It should. That is the same thing I criticized TNA for doing to Mickie James when she returned in 2010. I believe Becky Lynch has the potential to be even more over than she is. But she's not going to do it with the way the WWE has been featuring her. Let her personality shine more outside of these serious feuds.

Who wins this match? Becky Lynch has not won a singles match at a PPV since coming to the main roster. When it finally does happen, it would be nice for it to come in a more meaningful situation than this. As for Mickie James, she has not won at all since coming to Smackdown. All her losses have been in tag matches where she was not pinned, but it is still pretty bad for her to not win at all. Is she going to follow the path of The Dudleyz? I will say Mickie James wins here.

The title feud between Alexa Bliss and Naomi is the youngest feud of these three. Naomi came back from her injury and just immediately got this push. She has been pinning Alexa Bliss to gain momentum. I think that makes the outcome of this match obvious. Naomi has all the momentum, so it is just likely Alexa Bliss retains. Naomi should eventually get a title reign, if she can stay healthy, but I don't think it happens this Sunday.

On The Cruiserweight Division

There is a PPV coming up this weekend. I usually like to spend three days talking about PPV matches. One day for the women's matches, one for the men's undercard matches, and the last for the main match(es). But I wanted to take some time out to talk about the cruiserweights. With this being Wrestlemania season, featuring debuts, injuries, and whatever else, I wasn't sure when I would get a chance. Might as well make it today.

Is the cruiserweight division working out? I would say not. You have regular reports of fans leaving before 205 Live on Tuesdays. Trying to advertise special dark matches featuring John Cena isn't enough to get fans to stay. You also have fans dead for a lot of cruiserweight matches. This is an age where you are likely to either get dead audiences or rowdy smarks, but it seems even a lot of smarks cannot always bring themselves to care about the cruiserweights.

Why is the cruiserweight division not doing better? I would say there are numerous reasons. First, they need to stop treating these guys like they are something different. Enough of the purple ropes. Just incorporate them better into the shows. WCW had a cruiserweight division. TNA has their X division. The WWE used to have this kind of division a long time ago. It became a joke. You can also argue that the division was never handled as well as it was in WCW and even TNA. But the WWE is just making the opposite mistake now. They are taking it too seriously. It is kind of like the problem with the women's division. Yes, you are guilty of mistreating female talent for many years, but that doesn't mean you create this feminist atmosphere that just isn't entertaining. As for the cruiserweights, just let their in-ring ability speak for itself and incorporate them more smoothly with the other guys on the roster.

Another problem is that the WWE is just dumping talent in and not really developing them well. Try to put yourself in the place of a casual fan. To a lot of these fans, a lot of these matches look almost as bad as two local jobbers going at it. They don't know who a lot of these guys are. They need storylines, and storylines on 205 Live are not going to cut it. Most people don't have the WWE Network. And even with those that do, not all of them care about the cruiserweights. For the most part, those fans that care about 205 Live have already bought into the cruiserweights and the WWE is not gaining anything more.

Last issue I am going to bring up, the WWE is doing a terrible job with the Cruiserweight Championship. They are not using it to build stars. They are just juggling it around. The title is only a few months old and four men have already held it. And the WWE has not done a good job at all keeping momentum going for any of the men that have held the title already. What is even the point? Yes, titles are supposed to help feuds and storylines seem more interesting, but is that idea even alive here? I would say there have been some interesting feuds over the title here and there, but this isn't about whether I like it. Is it really helping the wider audience get interested in this division? I don't think so.

Just look at the current Cruiserweight Champion, Neville. He was on the main roster even before the cruiserweight division came back. He was featured regularly after he first debuted. He was allowed to do his style. You would think this would be one of the most over men in this division. But he suffered an injury. And his overness was just never the same when he came back. The WWE turned him heel and still put the title on him. The smart thing to do would be to worry about actually helping him get over. I see a lot of smarks loving his heel character. Smarks loving a heel character? Shocking! If history is any indication, Neville will drop the title in a few weeks and eventually be rotated out.

The WWE obviously cannot continue along this same path for a long time. They are either going to improve how they feature the cruiserweights or they are going to just cut back on the focus they are getting. Maybe a little bit of both? For one thing, 205 Live should end. I never felt it would be a show that stays around forever. Overall, I would not be surprised if the WWE views this division as a flop and loses a lot of interest. I am not saying they dump the title right away, but they do cut down on the focus.

When you are talking about the success of a division, show, or entire company, you are not just looking at one thing. You want an atmosphere that can draw. You want star power that can draw. You want entertaining storylines that can draw. What does the cruiserweight division have going for it? The cruiserweight style, which has been showcased here and there even before the cruiserweight division came back, is not drawing. The WWE is doing a terrible job building stars within the division. The storylines can be decent at times, but nothing really amazing so far. This whole thing is just a flop.

January 2017 Ratings Review

January 2017 is over. Especially for Raw, the ratings in the first month of the year will give a good idea of how the rest of 2017 will go. I get my numbers from here and here.

Let me start with TNA. They have been rebranded to Impact Wrestling. I might still call them TNA just out of habit, and because it is just shorter. They averaged 296,000 viewers in January. They averaged about 300,000 viewers in January last year. I had said I believed TNA could do even better than last year, if not at least remain the same. So far, I would say they are still in a good position to do as well as I predicted. Impact Wrestling has not shown to have the same seasonal roller-coaster pattern that you see with Raw. They will likely suffer on Thanksgiving, but that's just one night. Football season won't hurt them too much. As long as they don't make too many stupid mistakes, don't try to do what the WWE is doing, and build on what is entertaining the fans, they should remain at least decent.

It might be unfair to compare Smackdown's ratings in January 2017 to the numbers they got in January 2016. They were live back then, but they were not yet their own brand. They have averaged an 1.86 so far. They averaged 1.84 in January 2016. Again, much like TNA, they are in the same area. People give Smackdown a lot of praise. They are a little more efficient than Raw in some ways, but they do have issues. I can picture them getting derailed sooner or later. If it does happen, will it hurt the ratings?

Onto Raw. This is the show to really pay attention to. They averaged 3,225,000 viewers in January. It was 3,623,000 viewers in January of last year. We're not talking about around a 1% difference here, like what you had with TNA's viewership and Smackdown's ratings between January 2016 and January 2017. We are talking about a 10% difference. In terms of ratings, it dropped from a 2.56 last year to a 2.21 this year, once again over 10%. When numbers for Impact Wrestling and Smackdown have stayed about the same from January 2016 compared to January 2017, I don't think you can let Raw's drop off the hook.

I saw some people get excited for Raw's numbers last week, which was the Raw after the Royal Rumble. 3,615,000 viewers and a 2.49 in the ratings. This is worth getting excited over? Shows after a PPV typically do well. And this was one of the biggest PPVs of the year. It is to be expected it will do well. Even then, very mediocre numbers. These same people that thought Raw's numbers last week were impressive will be left in shock in a few months at how far it will drop. What went wrong? Was KO not a draw? Was it a bad idea to put the title on Goldberg? Blame it on Rollins getting injured? None of these things. Raw was just always trending towards bad numbers. Some people just got fooled by a ratings boost that was just obviously going to happen, and wasn't that impressive to begin with.

Where are the viewers going? For one thing, to Fox News. Numerous shows on that channel get more viewers than Raw. They might not be drawing more in the young adult demographic, but their numbers are up from last year around this time. Also, TNT is now featuring Monday night NBA games. It is true that NBA TV used to feature games on Monday nights, but now a network with a broader audience has them, and TNT is no stranger to beating Raw in the ratings. Most of these games are not likely to get more viewers than Raw, but it is still sports competition. The NBA playoffs will do more damage in a few months, but Raw still has more to deal with until then.

Of course, aside from looking at competition, the WWE just needs to look in the mirror and recognize their own faults. Last year, they had a lot of excuses. It was an election year. You had the summer Olympics. Then, football season. Okay, you are out of excuses now. The last time they dealt with an election year, and the summer Olympics, was 2012. They bounced back well in 2013. It hasn't happened yet this time around. And it is unlikely to happen. What's their big surprise to draw this year? Goldberg is already back. No other fresh part-timers that can draw are on the horizon. Will Shaq do anything? Things are going to look very bad.

What can the WWE do to help Raw? End the brand split. Some people can say cut the third hour, but ending the brand split would be my #1 step. It just holds back the WWE from having their full roster of stars available to them. And they need to get back to entertaining and stop with the self-righteous garbage. It really starts with the atmosphere. If you have a sour atmosphere, it doesn't matter how much potential your talent have to be entertaining, the sourness is likely to turn a lot of people off. Their general identity should be entertaining, not to play with what smarks want. With Impact Wrestling and Smackdown holding steady, it is inexcusable for Raw to still be doing as poorly as it is.

The Reinvention That Isn't Working

I wasn't a fan of how the WWE chose to bring back Mickie James. I did give them some credit. For instance, they had her return take place during the main-event segment of Smackdown a few weeks ago. That was a nice sign of respect. Since then, however, I see more not to like.

But let me start with giving them a little more credit. A week after she returned, they let Mickie James get some promo time to really put herself over, as well as explain her heel character. How often during her first run in the WWE did she really get a chance to stand in the ring and give a promo like that? It was a little refreshing.

As far as what I don't like goes, they had her give a bitter promo about the women's revolution. She talked about not being given enough respect by the female wrestling stars making noise in the WWE recently. This isn't based on real-life drama. I have said many times how much I am sick of angles like that. Mickie James has frequently shown respect to the women of this new era. She may joke about things here and there, but she has never shown any true bitterness to women like Becky Lynch. But it is still a bitter promo. What makes it worse, it is once again based on the women's revolution. Enough is enough with that. This has been going on for 2 years. It started as #GiveDivasAChance. It is now the women's revolution. You can treat these women better without mentioning it so often in promos and making storylines off of it.

Since that episode of Smackdown, all Mickie James has done is been on the losing end of tag matches. She hasn't been pinned. Alexa Bliss has been pinned by Naomi to further that title feud. Nevertheless, she just doesn't look very strong. As I said before, Mickie James coming back can help their depth. And that is how they are using her. They now have more options for tag matches.

Mickie James can offer a lot more than that, however. She was one of the most over female wrestlers of the previous decade. It is true that a lot of those fans are gone now. And the younger audience likely never saw Mickie James. She was gone from the WWE main roster for 7 years. Most of these fans don't watch TNA (Impact Wrestling). It will take time for her to connect with this audience.

Her current usage, however, is not likely to help her. A bitter Mickie James? Why is that a good thing? Even then, she's not really keeping it up in her matches so far. Why should she? That would just be burying herself. And the WWE should probably give her a new theme. It is true that she had that theme during her short psycho heel run, but she's not playing that character now. This heel character and that theme song just don't seem to go together. Her whole entrance needs to be upgraded. Looking at some of the entrances other women have these days, Mickie's entrance looks like something from the 1970s. If this is the "reinvention" of Mickie James, the WWE needs to actually handle Mickie James a lot differently.

Part of the problem is obviously the depth. If there were more women, Mickie James might be more free to have a better feud with Becky Lynch. She can go over some women to build some momentum. Alexa Bliss can tag with someone else. Naomi can be pinning someone else. Carmella can actually be feuding with someone on the roster. Right now, things are just spread thin. Mickie James is looking like a sidekick, even though she does have her own feud going on with Becky Lynch.

It reminds me of Mickie James going back to TNA in 2010. They didn't use her right. They treated her like all she was good for was chasing after titles and seeking revenge against heel sidekicks that were screwing her. They stifled her charisma. It wasn't until her short heel run that they let her show that charisma. This is the company that let her tie and break the record for most major women's titles, but they didn't use her properly to really deliver for them.

Let me bring up a recent example from TNA. Look at Aron Rex (Damien Sandow). When he debuted for them, he looked like an average guy they found walking down the street. He looked boring. This is a guy that got over in the WWE prior to his release. He did it by playing different characters very well. Aron Rex is not good enough as a wrestler to get over by that alone. I am not sure if he has the charisma to pull off being entertaining without a proper gimmick, something Mickie James could do. But he is this guy that can play gimmicks well. There is nothing wrong with that. He just wasn't working out as best as he could. Recently, TNA finally figured it out and let him play a more flamboyant character. I saw one fan say that TNA is terrible for doing this to him. No, this is TNA doing the right thing. This is where he is at his best. If this kind of thing got him over in the WWE, why would you not go to that in TNA?

Imagine a company that is looking to hire workers that have proven they can be successes. But when they hire these workers, they tie their hands and don't let them do the things that made them successful elsewhere. Why would you want to do that? Unless what they were doing is unethical or illegal, you shouldn't hire successful workers and do that to them. It is neither good for the worker nor the company. I am a believer of sometimes taking away what gets a worker over to challenge them to show versatility, but that's just me. But if you're company is struggling, you definitely should not do that kind of thing. And I don't think there is a major pro wrestling company in North America that can afford to act this way. TNA is trying to rebuild. The WWE is losing their audience and very sloppy. If they are going to hire workers that have shown they can be successful, they have to understand what makes them successful and help bring the best out of them. It is good for the worker and the company.

I had said that the WWE should not re-sign Mickie James. I saw the issues they had. They needed to fix their own issues before they bothered to bring anyone back. They bring back Mickie James, but then they don't really handle her right. Again, there were some nice gestures here and there in the last few weeks. Overall, however, this looks like it is going to flop. Yes, this is a botch. I am not saying they are intentionally screwing Mickie James. Mickie James has had to endure a lot of terrible situations throughout her career. She debuted in the WWE during an era where they were not pushing her to get over. She overcame that and had to endure some pretty terrible treatment from the WWE. That didn't ruin her overness. I already mentioned how TNA did not handle her right. That didn't ruin her overness. This toxic environment currently in the WWE might finally kill it. It is a shame that Mickie James has had to spend so many years not being pushed the way she really deserved. It's not about title reigns. It is about how you are actually pushed. And even though the WWE appears to want to feature her for better reasons than they did the first time she was there, they just are not doing it properly.

Triple H Vs. Seth Rollins Gets Revitalized

When Triple H first screwed Seth Rollins last year, everyone knew the two of them would start a feud. And that wasn't necessarily bad. A face turn might be fresh for Seth Rollins. His character definitely looked like it had an edge for a while. He was going to burn Raw to the ground. He wanted answers. He didn't trust Stephanie McMahon, even though she initially denied knowing why her husband did what he did. He just felt like he was on his own and stronger than he had ever been since going solo.

Things soon went south. Triple H never showed up. Seth Rollins seemed more focused on getting the Universal Championship. He then wanted revenge on Chris Jericho for screwing him out of the title multiple times. He wanted Braun Strowman for a while. I still remember watching that night Seth Rollins was goofing around with Chris Jericho's list. What happened to his edge? What happened to that serious character that this feud actually called for? I also think they ended the grey area involving whether Stephanie McMahon was aware her husband wanted to screw Seth and was on Triple H's side too soon.

And then the edge came back to the feud. Seth Rollins showed up at the NXT special a few days ago. NXT is, of course, Triple H's brainchild. And on Raw, Seth gave an edgy promo about showing up at WWE headquarters next. Or maybe at Triple H and Stephanie's house, implying he might do not nice things of their kids answered the door. None of that will be necessary, as Triple H came out later than night on Raw to answer Seth Rollins.

This feud has not been handled well. You can say that they are back on track now, but you can't just mess around like the WWE has and think you can keep your audience captivated the whole time. They should have handled things more decisively and smarter.

Oh, and Samoa Joe debuted by attacking Seth Rollins on Raw when he tried to get at Triple H. He had been stuck in NXT for ages. This is the kind of thing that revitalizes this feud more. Seth Rollins has to deal with Triple H's henchmen before he can get to him. I wish they had done this kind of thing more these last few months. The Authority isn't really a stable anymore. They really don't have anyone on their side to put against Seth. They could have tried using Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho as more "Triple H Guys" than they did, but they didn't. That whole feud was more Seth going after the title, then wanting revenge against Chris Jericho for screwing him. Triple H wasn't really a factor after that night on Raw he screwed Seth himself. It was more about the bromance between Owens and Jericho, the list, and all these other things that just killed the feel of the storyline. But Seth having to go through Samoa Joe will help this feud.


***EDIT***

I almost never edit anything. As soon as I finished writing my thoughts to the developments of the feud between Seth Rollins and Triple H, I read he was injured this weeks on Raw. Now that I have some time, I will talk about it.

This is likely a legitimate injury. Not only are sites reporting that it is, but it would just be an awkward angle. They never teased a knee injury angle on Raw. And you would think they would have announced a kayfabe injury sooner. There was a moment on Raw during Samoa Joe's attack on Rollins where it looked like Seth's knees buckled. I did not think it injured him, but that might have been it.

Assuming the worst for the sake of discussion, this kills a feud that had so much potential. It was one thing for the WWE to handle it sloppily for a while, but it looked like it could really pick up again.

What about the loss of Seth Rollins for potentially a long amount of time? That will hurt. I would not say Seth Rollins was a draw, but he was pushed as a top star and that depth will be tested. How long until Finn Balor returns? But even he never got around to truly being established before his own injury last year. You might have to prepare yourself to see a lot more Roman Reigns. There are those part-timers, but they rarely wrestle on Raw. I can say the brand split hurts things, but the WWE can get away with doing some interesting things during Wrestlemania season. And they probably should. How about Randy Orton appearing on Raw? He won the Royal Rumble. Treat him as a face on Raw. What about the WWE considering moving away from Seth Rollins given his history of injuries, both to himself and others? I will save that for another day, if this injury is severe.

What about Triple H? This was his feud for Wrestlemania. He has consistently wrestled at Wrestlemania these last few years. What will they have for him? A returning Finn Balor? Problem is, there might not be a storyline to really push with him right now. He can mock Seth Rollins, but if Seth is out for months, that won't help Triple H for this year's Wrestlemania. It also leaves Triple H's henchman, Samoa Joe, without anything to do right now. Will these two feud with each other? Probably way too early for that. Needless to say, this injury sucks.