Orton And Mahal Inside The Punjabi Prison

Last time, I talked about how Smackdown could have progressed certain feuds in fresh directions through how they booked certain matches this week. They failed to do it. They booked things in a manner that makes things feel the same as they were coming off the recent PPV last week. Whether the WWE continues in the same direction or not remains to be seen, but there are other feuds that are also not over yet for the blue brand.

Randy Orton and Jinder Mahal will go at it for a third PPV. Was this truly necessary? I don't think so. This is not really that great of a feud that warranted another PPV.

Who else could face Mahal? Not Nakamura. It is too soon for him to win the title and it is too soon for him to lose to Jinder Mahal. AJ Styles is still tied up with Kevin Owens. How about the returning John Cena? The WWE is obviously not going in that direction, but he is returning next week. He could have started a feud with Jinder Mahal. John Cena is one title win away from breaking Ric Flair's record. Why not have him enter a WWE Championship feud right away. Play with the chase. He obviously won't win the title at a throwaway PPV like Battleground, but it could have been the start of a fresh feud. They even could have had Jinder Mahal talk trash about Cena these few weeks between Money In The Bank and Cena's return to help hype his return and build that feud. Instead, more of Randy Orton.

The story does not end there. This will be a Punjabi Prison match. This has not been a popular match type, but it fits Mahal's gimmick. On the one hand, if you are going to continue the feud, it might as well end in a gimmick match. On the other hand, is this feud worthy of this match? I didn't think this feud was worthy of a third PPV, so I obviously do not think this feud is worthy of this match type. It is like how Hell in a Cell has been overused in the last decade. It is no longer as special. But the WWE is obviously relying on tricks like this to get a ratings boost and get more subscribers. If they improved the quality of their product, they would have a better time drawing people in and would not have to rely on hype and cheap tricks for momentary boosts.

Did Smackdown Accomplish Anything This Week?

In terms of drawing, Smackdown obviously did what it needed to do. Ratings aren't out yet, but they hyped big matches for this week's episode. Developing angles and promoting matches and segments will lead to people being interested. But that is not what I am talking about today. The booking last night, did that accomplish anything?

First, Lana got a rematch against Naomi for the Women's Championship. It was a short match. Lana hit her finisher and Naomi just kicked out and went on to win. That doesn't really make Lana look good. A lot of people have been critical of Lana's wrestling ability. I would be one of them to some degree. But there are fans that were hoping for competitive matches in this new era. The WWE definitely could have told a different story in that match.

And is it really over? Lana has had a lot to say on Twitter.

I obviously did NOT get pined! I want a FAIR title match! Clearly the ref & all of @WWE are cheaters & favor @NaomiWWE over me! #SDLive pic.twitter.com/puUUrbWIap

— CJ (Lana) Perry (@LanaWWE) June 28, 2017

Does this lead to Lana complaining next week and getting another rematch? Should it? On one hand, it would be nice to just move on already, especially if the WWE is not planning to give Lana the title right now. On the other hand, it is at least a real possibility that the WWE continues this, especially now that fans on social media have gotten wind of Lana not having both shoulders down.

Second, the briefcase ladder match. No Ellsworth this time. Of course, he still got involved. This time, however, Carmella took the briefcase down herself. Ignoring the Ellsworth ban and it being violated, this is how the match should have ended at the PPV a few weeks ago. Ellsworth tries to cheat. He gets taken out. Carmella gets the briefcase. The whole controversy of a man grabbing the briefcase in a match that is supposed to be about the women does not exist.

Once again, is this really the end of it? There was once again a controversial finish that might lead to another segment featuring the women complaining. And they would have a point. James Ellsworth was banned. He violated the rules. Shouldn't something happen?

This is exactly like what happened last year with Seth Rollins. Rollins was getting way too many title shots. On an episode of Raw, he got a shot against Kevin Owens, with Chris Jericho banned from ringside. Jericho ended up still finding his way to ringside and he interfered. Owens ended up retaining. As much as I hated Seth Rollins getting so many title shots, isn't this a situation they created where he should have gotten a rematch? There was a rule and that rule was broken, resulting in Rollins losing the match. It just seems like bad writing.

It seems like the WWE has once again written themselves into a bad situation. They obviously should not do the ladder match for a third time, but it does seem pretty stupid that they created this rule, the rule was broken, and Carmella ended up benefiting to win the match. The previous situation with Seth Rollins was not handled in the smoothest way, and I expect this situation to not be handled in the smoothest way.

I made a point last week that there would be no reason to redo these two matches if the outcome would be the same. And it seems the outcome was exactly the same. Not only did the same woman win both matches, but both matches ended in a possibly indecisive or controversial fashion that makes you wonder if it is all over yet. That is why I would say the booking of these matches did not accomplish anything. It was just a bunch of hype for no big developments in these storylines. They could have used the situation to give the briefcase to someone new, while Carmella carried her momentum from the whole controversy into a title feud with Naomi, who could have definitively been free from Lana, who is complaining on Twitter about how the match ended.

Moving on to the men, Zack Ryder & Mojo Rawley took on The Usos. If the faces won this match, they would have gotten a shot at the tag titles. I was all for this happening. But the WWE had The Usos win. A triple threat feud also involving New Day would have been good. It would have made things more interesting.

It just feels like everything is as it was coming off Money In The Bank. The women's ladder match ended with Carmella winning and controversy involving Ellsworth. That is where we are at right now. The women's title match ended with Naomi retaining and Lana having a complaint she believes warranted a rematch. That is where we are right now. The tag title match ended in a way in which it was obvious New Day was not finished with The Usos yet. And that is where we are right now. Nothing has changed. All Smackdown accomplished last night was maintaining the status quo. It remains to be seen what direction they will go with this, but last night's Smackdown didn't serve to progress anything in a fresh direction.

The Hype Brothers Back In The Mix

If there is any team that stands a chance to take the tag titles off The Usos instead of New Day, it is Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley. These two had earned a title shot last year, but Zack Ryder suffered an injury that killed the push. Ryder recently returned. The Usos retained the tag titles against New Day by shady means. And here we are.

Ryder and Mojo will have to beat The Usos to get a title shot on Smackdown tonight. Just in terms of fairness, they should have just gotten the title shot. But this makes things more interesting and provides a match to get some hype on a stacked Smackdown tonight. The face team should be winning this.

What about New Day? Keep them in the title picture, as well. A triple threat would be nice. Both face teams have an argument for another title shot. Both are pretty over. Both can stand a good chance of getting the tag titles. This should be a solid feud.

Maria And Her Husband Come To Smackdown

Even though she is married, I still refer to Maria by her maiden name. She is Maria Kanellis. Just one of my quirks. It seems I am not the only one doing that. The WWE is, as well. They are even taking it a step further.

Maria and her husband, Mike Bennett, made their Smackdown return/debut last week. And it seems to be all about Maria. Her husband is even called Mike Kanellis.

What do I make of this? My first reaction is that it is just dumb. It makes the guy look bad. It makes him look like he will be standing in his wife's shadow. I don't want to sound sexist, but it does seem unfair to Mike Bennett.

There are relationships where both the man and the woman look good. Look at Rusev and Lana when they first debuted. Lana looked like the brains of the duo and Rusev was the muscle. And the dynamic worked. Rusev could go out there and crush, while Lana had her sexy, entertaining character. Later on, however, there was a span where Rusev got much more of the focus and Lana was just there. And that was unfair to Lana.

Maria and Mike obviously do not have that dynamic. Mike isn't the kind of guy that go out there and be the brute, while Maria is his sexy, charismatic manager. They cannot both stand out in their own way like Rusev and Lana could.

But after my first reaction, I gave it more thought. How far can Mike Bennett really go? I have come across some of his past work. He just doesn't look like someone that will be a great star in the WWE. If that is the case, what's wrong with having him ride his wife's coattails? She was in the WWE before and will have an easier time connecting with the fans than him through her sex appeal and character. The WWE might be able to create something entertaining out of this.

People might still moan about this hurting Mike's credibility, but what is wrong with him just being a midcarder? He is definitely not main-event material. If he was, this gimmick would kill him. The midcard is not just a breeding ground for future main-eventers. It is also a place for entertaining gimmicks to get featured. The Godfather is in the WWE Hall of Fame. He was a midcard act. The WWE has a ton of guys to push as main-eventers and upper-midcarders. It is their midcard that needs life. If Mike and Maria can help that with this gimmick, I am fine with that.

One more thing to consider, and this has to do mainly with Maria. A point I have brought up a lot over the last year is the impact Maria had in TNA with their women's division. She got in the way of the respectability of that division, and at a time when the WWE was preaching respecting women's wrestling. It was really just bad timing. TNA didn't really lower their standards. They just ran a storyline that got in the way of their standards. Things have been fine since Maria lost the KO title.

What impact will Maria have in the WWE and this era in the women's division? During her first run in the WWE, Maria had the sex appeal and character to fit right in with the diva era, but was never good enough in the ring to be pushed as centerpiece. Even though this era is supposed to be about women's wrestling, they have already shown signs of leaning towards divas. It could be easy to say Maria will never get in the ring to wrestle, but she might.

Will Maria Kanellis hurt the WWE women's division? Unlike what happened in TNA, this is not likely to be a storyline getting in the way of respectability. The WWE has already lowered their standards and done some crappy things to hurt the respectable atmosphere they had created last year, although I will admit that it was too sour and serious and things needed to be made more fun. But the WWE should keep Maria out of the way of the other women. There are already too many women to be featured as priorities within the women's division. Naomi is holding the title. Lana just debuted not too long ago. Charlotte is likely to get a good push soon. Carmella has some interest on her. Some fans would love to see Becky Lynch get featured better. You cannot push everybody. Maria being added into this mix would not help. Not only would it be adding another woman into a congested scene, it would be adding a woman that is not a good wrestler. As of right now, I would draw the line and say no more adding women to Smackdown for the rest of the year. If they are going to do a trade with Raw, that's one thing. But Maria coming to Smackdown is it. Handle the group of women you have in front of you. The writers already have enough on their plate right here. 

The Sloppiness Of The Raw Women's Division

Both the Raw and Smackdown women's divisions have their issues that are resulting in fans getting irritated and women not realizing their full potential in terms of how they are being pushed and how well they are connecting with the fans. I talked a lot about the issues with Smackdown recently. I cannot let Raw off the hook.

A couple weeks ago, Raw had a very dumb interaction for their women that I briefly mentioned. Alexa Bliss defended the title against Nia Jax in a pathetic match. But that was not even the issue. Mickie James and Dana Brooke were out there because they are also not on good terms with Alexa Bliss. They end up going after her. Nia Jax pushed them out of the way because she wanted Alexa for herself. She attacked them again. The segment ended with Mickie and Dana just getting in the ring with Nia and letting her destroy them. That was bad writing. After Nia Jax already knocked them around a few minutes earlier, why would Mickie and Dana just get in the ring to stand there like they could trust her? Why wouldn't they at least try to get revenge? They could have even just stared down both Nia and Alexa from outside the ring. Mickie and Dana just looked stupid with that kind of writing.

And the stupidity continues. This week on Raw, Sasha Banks and Nia Jax had another match that was nothing to get excited about. Once again, however, that was not the issue. Another brawl broke out. It seems all the women hate Alexa Bliss. Emma came out to get some of Alexa, who did walk out on the other two heels the week before in a tag match. Nia Jax held Alexa for Emma. Emma accidentally hit Nia Jax. A little while after that, Emma and Alexa just shrug off their issues and attack Sasha Banks. I know two enemies might put aside their differences to attack a common enemy, but Emma was just focused on going after Alexa Bliss a few moments ago, how could you just shrug that off so easily? Alexa Bliss was her immediate target, not Sasha Banks. Mickie James and Dana Brooke then come out to go after the heels. Bayley runs out after. I was watching this segment on Monday. Part of me expected Bayley to attack Mickie James and Dana Brooke? Why? Because it would match the rest of the stupidity going on here.

There are various reasons why none of these women are as over as they could be. I think two of those reasons came up in this very segment from Raw.

First, the WWE's writers are not doing a proper job building characters, relationships, and feuds. Fans just don't know what to make out of a lot of what they are seeing. Emma comes out there focused on getting Alexa Bliss. Next thing you know, they seem to be on the same side again. You also have Mickie James and Dana Brooke together. That's fine, but they could have done a much better job creating that relationship to make it easier for fans to care about it.

The second problem I saw on Raw was that things are just congested. This has been an issue I brought up for the Smackdown women. Too many feuds and PPV matches involving too many women. That problem has really taken over on Raw recently. Things started out as Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax, with Mickie James and Dana Brooke also involved in the story. That was fine. The WWE could have done something good with those four women. Next thing you know, Sasha Banks is in the story and the spotlight seems to be on her more. Emma returns and is thrown into the story. This week, Bayley runs out. Is Alicia Fox going to get involved next week? This is just not good. The WWE has added way too many women to this thing and created a mess.

Let me focus on Bayley. I would be the first one to say that the WWE has not treated her right since she debuted on the main roster. And she looked terrible in her feud with Alexa Bliss. But she lost the feud and the WWE looked like they were moving on. She has to take a backseat. Either find her another angle or rest her for a few weeks. It isn't fair to other women to have her pushed back into the picture. I said the same thing about Sasha Banks. She deserved a proper title run. But if the WWE was unwilling to do that and just continued the endless feud with her and Charlotte, that was just unfair to other women. In this case, it was unfair to Bayley. Even when Bayley won the title, Sasha Banks was out there. What face woman was sharing the spotlight with Sasha when she won he first title? This is one of the reasons Bayley has not worked out better. She has not had that individual spotlight properly on her when her push started. But it is unfair to keep sending her out there when there are other women that could use some proper attention.

Not only can you talk about congestion in terms of women in this picture, you can talk about creative congestion. Everyone dislikes Alexa Bliss. Not only does she have a title everyone would like to have, but she has done things to ruin her relationships with various women, even though the WWE is sloppy with that. You also have the fact that everyone has to keep an eye on Nia Jax because she will attack both the faces and the heels. So what is the feud that is going on right now? It is not clean at all. The WWE can try to toss together some multi-woman match for Great Balls Of Fire, but they have not set this up properly at all. What is the story? All these women want the title? All these women want revenge on Alexa Bliss? Should the focus be on Nia Jax? Things were already messy even before Bayley ran out this week. What is her story? And will it properly fit in with anything else? Then again, stories don't seem to matter here. Everyone is just going to fight each other.

How would I do things? First, Sasha Banks should be the one getting a singles feud against Alexa Bliss. She has the freshness. It could have started this month and gone to Summerslam. There was no need to have this congested mess. If the WWE wanted to toss all the women together for a #1 contender's match, they could have just done that by now and without all the sloppy half-developed angles that they have been throwing out there.

Second, Mickie James, Dana Brooke, and Emma should be doing something separate. Emma is returning from her injury, so it would be nice if she could get some proper focus on her. Mickie and Dana have that partnership that can really be featured a lot better. Dana and Emma used to be partners. The story just seems to write itself. Instead of having all these women focused on either going after Alexa Bliss or defending themselves against Nia Jax, create an interesting storyline away from that which might help the character development of these women. The story could either lead to Dana turning on Mickie James to go back to Emma or Dana finally knocking her former partner to the curb. It would be something the audience would have an easier time getting behind than the sloppiness of the last few weeks. And Mickie James vs. Emma would be a good singles match, certainly better than just Emma vs. Dana Brooke.

What about the other women, namely Nia Jax and Bayley? They can either feud with each other or just take a backseat for a while. It happens. It happened all the time in the diva era. It just becomes hard to come up with an angle for everyone on a consistent basis in the women's division. If you force yourself to do it, you end up with the sloppiness you now have. What is wrong if these two women are just supporting players in another feud? Be there as tag partners for the Alexa/Sasha feud or to put these women over to give them momentum in the feud.

The WWE needs to fix the problems. Come up with clear angles for these women and stop trying to give them all something to do. It is just not practical. It makes it harder for fans to connect with a lot of what is going on.

Redoing The Money In The Bank 2017 Women's Matches

The last few days have not been very smooth for the Smackdown women's division. Money In The Bank featured two women's matches. Carmella won the briefcase, thanks to a controversial assist to James Ellsworth. Lana failed to beat Naomi for the Women's Championship. This week on Smackdown, the outcomes of these two matches seem to have been voided. Carmella was stripped of the briefcase and there will be another ladder match next week to decide who gets it. Lana gets a rematch for the Women's Championship against Naomi.

First, let me start with the controversy. The controversy isn't really that Ellsworth grabbed the briefcase. He didn't go rogue and do anything he wasn't supposed to do. The controversy is that the WWE had this happen. A moment that should have been about the women ends up being about a man that got in the way. But the WWE is acting like mere interference is the issue. As Carmella mentioned in her promo and Daniel Bryan also brought up, these matches are No DQ and interference has happened before. But that was not what made how this match went down so annoying.

The WWE has done this kind of thing in the past. There is a kayfabe controversy that the WWE tries to push over the legitimate issue. Remember when Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble? He got an assist from The Rock. The fans gave that match a nuclear reaction. They hated it. The WWE tried to sell the controversy as The Rock getting involved. No, the issue was that fans hated how the match was booked, including Roman Reigns getting that big push over Daniel Bryan, besides the growing resentment against Reigns.

Mistakes are going to happen. The women will botch in the ring. The writers will come up with dumb ideas. Vince McMahon will want something done that fans just hate. But you should try to limit these things. As I have mentioned before, the women's revolution has not gotten over as well as it should. The WWE is not helping with some of these dumb things that they do, like having Ellsworth be the most talked about individual coming out of that women's ladder match. Fans have more of a reason to get excited for this guy doing something than the women doing anything. This is not the kind of controversy the WWE should be doing.

I mentioned that promo Carmella did. I went back to look at it. Fans were talking about how great it was. It was decent, but nothing that great. It was the typical self-righteous speech a person gives about being held back and slamming those people that are supposedly ahead of the individual. Smarks eat this stuff up, so I am not surprised they like this. Just talk about working your ass off and scream for respect. You don't even need to try to be entertaining. AJ Lee, Paige, and other women have done similar promos.

How about the decision to redo two PPV matches next week? Well, Smackdown's viewership was terrible last week. It got the second lowest number since the brand split came back. And there was no good reason for it to be so low. It did not go against any major sports competition. No huge political drama that night, even though news shows did well that night. And yet, Smackdown flopped in terms of viewership. I can see why they would try to drum up some controversy to draw for them this week, and then create some big matches for next week.

But does redoing these matches hurt the value of anything? I see a lot of fans complaining about all these rematches. Why bother watching PPVs? Were the matches meaningless? Does this hurt the value of the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match? The second one is coming so soon. I can understand fans being annoyed by the situation. Some rematches are obviously going to happen, but redoing the ladder match, and on free TV, is kind of awkward. The WWE just better hope it draws.

Another thing to consider, what is the point of redoing these two matches if both end in the same way? Carmella wins the briefcase back and Naomi once again retains against Lana. Seems like a whole lot of trouble for nothing. There is a chance at least one match might end differently.

A lot of people are talking like Carmella was screwed. I don't feel that way at all. It isn't like she's lost a push. Focus is still on her. The only reason I was okay with Carmella winning the briefcase in the first place is because the WWE needs to develop a fresh heel that can go in the ring to work with the faces. Natalya is a veteran. Tamina is not that great and not fresh. Lana isn't great in the ring. Smackdown doesn't structure their women's division very well. They seem to try to push too many women and they can't do it. Raw's division is looking even more like a mess these days, but that is a different story. Carmella should just be built as a credible jobber. If attention is now on her for the cheap way she won the briefcase and she is starting to get a reaction and even smarks are feeling bad for her, she is set for a push, with or without the briefcase. I would have no problem with another woman getting the briefcase.

Getting down to it, if another woman is going to get it, it should be either Becky Lynch or Charlotte. Whether you like it or not, Charlotte has gotten the career of a star. Getting the briefcase is something you would expect the WWE to do for her. Personally, I do not think she has proven she deserves to be the centerpiece and some other woman should get a legitimate shot. I would go with Becky Lynch winning the briefcase next week. For all the talk about her being the first woman drafted to Smackdown and being the first Smackdown Women's Champion, her career has been mediocre. She lost a PPV match to Natalya. She had no proper focus heading into the match where she won the title. Her reign was short and mediocre. She won a feud with Mickie James and went nowhere from there. She has not regained the title. She has not won the briefcase. She has not done anything noteworthy. She should be the top female star of Smackdown. Some people can talk like she is, but she is not booked like it at all. Getting the briefcase can be a good start.

What about the other women's match? Lana gets another shot against Naomi. The fact that Lana is not great in the ring might not necessarily stop the WWE from giving her the title. You would think in an era that is supposed to be about women's wrestling, standards would make it unthinkable that Lana would get the title, but she could. And it just feels like Naomi has run out of steam in this title reign. They made her look untouchable when feuding with Alexa Bliss, but she has looked more human since Alexa Bliss left Smackdown and Charlotte came. I will say Naomi retains. If Carmella fails to get the briefcase back, she can get a title shot against Naomi.

Will the woman that wins the briefcase cash in that same night? Probably not. The ladder match will likely be the main event, not the women's title match.

Cass Turns On Enzo

For a while now, the WWE has been running a mystery angle over who was attacking Enzo, and then supposedly attacking Cass. I gave my thoughts on the angle a few weeks ago. I said that it should not be Cass as the attacker, which would also mean the end of the team. I gave various reasons why I did not like the idea. It would be the end of a popular team before they ever won any tag titles. Individually, these guys might not go far. And most importantly, the tag division just needs them.

The WWE had the big reveal on Raw this week. It was Cass all along. He faked those attacks on himself. He has turned heel and officially turned on Enzo. The WWE didn't have to follow through with the angle. The Revival were right there. I also saw some fans hoping it was American Alpha, hoping that a heel turn and change of scenery might help them. Instead of doing any of those options that might add some creative depth to the tag division, the WWE kills a popular tag team.

It was a nice segment. Cass gave a good promo. But did it deserve to be in the main-event slot? Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe should have closed the show. Give Joe some main-event credibility. And the return of Braun Strowman was also a pretty big deal. It's not like Raw went against heavy sports competition this week. When they go against football, they typically turn chicken and don't put segments that deserve to close the show in the final slot. Just makes you wonder if it really is an honor to be in the main event of Raw these days.

Back to my original fear about this hurting the tag division. Has the WWE really done anything in the last few weeks to make the loss of Enzo & Cass be less detrimental to the tag division? I don't think so. There aren't many face tag teams. Rhyno & Heath Slater don't have that magic anymore and they are not pushed well. It is unfair to expect Matt & Jeff Hardy to be the top face team in a tag division in the WWE in 2017 for much longer. But that is where we are. Not only that, but what face teams are there for these other heels teams to feud with? The Revival just returned and I did notice the lack of reaction they had. That happens to a lot of people these days, but dropping the ball with these guys by not giving them a proper feud is not putting them in a position to succeed. The depth in the tag division is not good right now.

Ellsworth Grabs The Briefcase

Carmella won the women's briefcase. That is not surprising. There are some complaints from fans, however. Let me talk about those.

First, I see some fans groaning that a woman that has failed to get a good reaction since debuting is suddenly getting a big push and made history. I have seen one person point out that the first man to win the briefcase was Edge, a legend and Hall-of-Famer. And Carmella being the first woman to accomplish a similar feat is just not the same. Yes, she will likely not get the storied career Edge had.

Something I have brought up in the past is that there are three scenarios where a person should be booked to win a major piece of history. They are either really over and deserve it, are already getting a legendary career, in which case this accolade will fit right in with their resume, or the company plans to build them to be something big, in which case this accolade is a launching point for that big career.

Carmella does not seem to fit into any of those categories. And yet, I don't have a problem with her winning. The Smackdown women's division is in a certain situation right now. They don't have any fresh, young heels to be a top credible jobber right now. Lana is not good in the ring. Tamina is neither young nor fresh. Natalya is a veteran. Carmella was just the best bet right now. They could have given Charlotte the win and turned her heel, but she just turned face a few months ago. It is too soon for her to turn again. You could also bring up Becky Lynch winning it and eventually turning heel by cashing in on a face. Whatever you want to bring up, Carmella was just the easiest option available without having to turn anyone.

And I don't even mind if she had to win in some shady way. Again, Edge won his first briefcase in a more respectable manner than Carmella did. But there is nothing wrong with a heel winning in a shady way.

Problem is, and this is the second complaint from fans, Ellsworth was the one that grabbed the briefcase and helped Carmella win it. Carmella may possibly not even keep the briefcase, but ignore that point for right now. Just stick with Ellsworth getting involved. Having Carmella win in a controversial fashion is one thing, but what do I make of James Ellsworth getting involved like this?

I think it is terrible. In an era where the WWE is trying to treat women's wrestling with more respect, this is not the kind of thing they should be doing, especially when the women's revolution has not been smooth at all and I would say is not at a truly successful place. If things were working out better, maybe then you would let some of this stuff go.

Look at TNA. They have established respectability in their women's division. They might sometimes have little things that go against that, like Velvet Sky, Maria Kanellis, and Eric Young, but these momentary angles and individuals have not strayed them from their main course. That is why it is important to establish that identity before you think about straying from it. Even if you stray, you know who you are.

The WWE has not established that identity for the women's revolution era. That identity was really still in limbo and needed a lot of work. You have had sloppiness from the writers and bookers that have hurt feuds and the development of characters. There have been some terrible botches and sloppy spots from the women last year that would make you wonder if the WWE should keep giving women so much freedom. The overall tone was sour and not entertaining. For all the fans that wanted a women's revolution and the women treated with more respect, terrible things like I just mentioned just sent many fans into the waiting arms of women like Lana and Alexa Bliss, women known for their looks and characters, not for being great wrestlers. And I see fans pointing out that Ellsworth got cheered last night, as if that justifies what the WWE did. No. Do it for the women. Help them get over and get cheered.

Something that I frequently say is that the women should be working more alongside the men in their angles. Even today, that can really help freshen things up. Moreover, the WWE can do angles there that go beyond comedy. Lita being with various men throughout her career was not just comedy angles. Same with Chyna. But when a man gets involved in the women's division, it usually is comedy. Remember Harvey Wippleman? He won the Women's Championship during the first dark age of the diva era. Remember Santino Marella? He dressed up in drag and won the Ms. Wrestlemania battle royal a couple years ago as the division was declining, stealing an honor that could have gone to a woman. There is precedence for what the WWE just did, even though Ellsworth did not actually win the briefcase. He sure got in the way and took the spotlight. Is this really the time that the WWE should be bringing men into the women's spotlight for the sake of comic relief? It was just a really stupid, crass idea.

How could the WWE have done it differently? Have Ellsworth pull Becky Lynch off the ladder. Have Becky suplex him, which she has done before. Then have Carmella take out Becky Lynch, then grab the briefcase. Ellsworth still does something out there, but the spotlight is at least more on Carmella than a man when the match ends.

I spoke before about the identity of the women's division. In a way, the problem is that the WWE cannot move away from their previous identity, the diva era. They may seem to stray from that with all this talk and hype about women's wrestling, but you still have divas around, you still have a diva being pushed as centerpiece on Raw, you have a man hurting the respectability of the division, and it just feels like a lot of the respectability is going away fast, especially on Raw. Smackdown has always had the weaker of the two women's divisions since the brand split came back. I shouldn't be too surprised by the stupid way they handled the women's ladder match last night. I heard the title match involving Lana was also not something to get women's wrestling fans excited. If the WWE had properly established a new identity that works, then these little things might be overlooked. But old habits die hard for this company. This is more than just a storyline getting in the way of respectability. This is the WWE showing more signs that they are not heading in the right direction with their women.

Lastly, what do you do with Ellsworth? Everyone was fine when Becky Lynch was knocking him around all over the place. When he takes the attention away from the women with the controversial finish, a lot of these same fans are annoyed. And there is no good place to put him. He was a hindrance in the main-event scene. Only thing he was good for was getting squashed by AJ Styles. Creative has not had anything for him since. Sticking him with Carmella just put him out of the way. But he is now in the way of women's angles, and at a time when the WWE needs to improve how these women are being handled. He becomes a distraction. If they cannot find a way to push him in the midcard in the men's division, he should be released. Sadly, the WWE does not typically do mass releases anymore, and you cannot expect him to do anything that will get him fired. He will continue to be in the way somewhere.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2017 Men's Ladder Match

Whether the WWE puts the men's briefcase match in the main-event slot or Orton/Mahal, this is the main match of Money In The Bank. It features two guys that were WWE/Universal Champions just a few months ago. It features guys that may very well be on their way up to main-event status. AJ Styles vs. Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler.

AJ Styles has already been WWE Champion. But there is more for him to do in the WWE. Will he one day win the Royal Rumble? How about that United States Championship he was going after a few weeks ago? Right now, he has the chance to win the briefcase, which is certainly a pretty big accolade. Some might say he does not need the briefcase to chase after the title because he has already been WWE Champion. That didn't stop John Cena, Kane, Sheamus, and other former World Champions from winning the briefcase. AJ Styles definitely stands a chance.

Kevin Owens has had more title success in the WWE than AJ Styles. He is holding a title right now. He has never won the briefcase. Would the WWE let him hold a title and the briefcase? It could happen. But I just don't think he needs it at all. He was Universal Champion just a few months ago. He won the United States Championship shortly after that. He lost it and won it back. There is no need to always keep this guy in the title scene.

Shinsuke Nakamura just debuted a few months ago to a lot of hype. His debut match was not as great as some would have liked. But he is finding his place. One thing I hate about the WWE these days is that they just rush certain people. They don't give them a proper chance to get established and they do not work out. American Alpha is an example of that. They just handled them the wrong way when they first debuted, killed their push for a while, still gave them a title run, and they have not been featured that well since losing the titles. Go slow with these new guys. Help establish their characters. Pro wrestling should be more about entertaining, not overrating. Will giving Nakamura the briefcase be going too fast with him? Well, it isn't like he will have to cash in immediately. They would still have time to build him, while he holds the briefcase.

I see a lot of people thinking Baron Corbin is a favorite to win. I think that would be a terrible idea. This guy is a midcarder. He is a midcarder that deserves a good push in the midcard, including a midcard title. The problem with giving him the briefcase, and possibly the title, is that they would be rushing too many first-time World Champions. Jinder Mahal just became a first-time WWE Champion a few weeks ago. Nakamura will eventually be a World Champion on the main roster. You are going to end up with main-eventers all over the card. That means less good opportunities for the pure midcarders. And because it often looks pathetic to have a former World Champion hanging around with nothing to do, the WWE will have pressure to give these guys things to do. The WWE needs to slow down on giving titles to new guys and be more selective.

I can repeat a lot of what I just said now for Sami Zayn. He does not need the briefcase and a big main-event push. Give him a midcard title. Worry about a main-event title next year and beyond.

Dolph Ziggler has been a World Champion before and he has won the briefcase before. I would say he is least likely to win here, but at least giving him the push would not be creating a new World Champion. He already has some credibility. Maybe if his storyline about him being a loser had worked out better, this would be the point where they turn things around and started pushing him well again. But I don't think it would be right to do it now.

I will say Shinsuke Nakamura wins. He is not the person I would want to win, but the WWE does have that recent history of rushing people, so I would not be surprised to see him get the briefcase this quickly and eventually cash it in down the road.

One last thing to consider, will the winner of the ladder match cash in that same night? Why bring this up? The card is so thin, the WWE might try something special to take up space. The ladder match would obviously not close the show in this situation. But I don't think it will happen. The WWE will wait a while.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2017 Undercard Matches

This Smackdown PPV has a pretty thin card. You can't blame that on injuries. Injuries put Raw on the spot a couple weeks ago, but that is not the issue for Smackdown right now. It is all because of the Money in the Bank ladder match taking so many individuals. I will talk about that on Friday. But this is a sign that there is still a depth issue. And that depth issue becomes more troublesome when they still insist on doing these matches that pull away so many singles feuds. Maybe this should have been a multi-brand PPV.

The Usos defend the tag titles against New Day. New Day have an act that actually got popular. I think the WWE got carried away by having them hold the tag titles as long as they did last year. I also have seen some people question whether New Day have just gotten stale. They will break up sooner or later. And you might question if splitting them up might be a good thing. It will provide more midcard depth. But that might not be happening anytime soon.

Will New Day win the tag titles? There aren't many credible, fresh tag teams that look like they deserve to take the titles of The Usos. It might as well be the New Day that take the tag titles. After that, Jinder Mahal's lackeys might get some title shots. Helping them look more credible might help Jinder Mahal even more.

Speaking of Jinder Mahal, he defends the WWE Championship against Randy Orton. I pointed out a while back that the main-event titles have been changing hands too much this year. Kevin Owens retaining against Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble is the only instance of a main-event title being retained so far in 2017. It is about time the WWE develop a good reign that includes successful PPV title defenses.

That being said, Jinder Mahal retains here. You can talk about the possibility of the WWE trying to hand Randy Orton enough title reigns so he gets to 16 and makes it some kind of race between him and John Cena to see who beats Ric Flair's record first. That might be interesting, but I doubt the WWE does it. Just let Mahal retain and build a fresh feud going forward.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2017 Women's Matches

Of all the women to get a shot at the Smackdown Women's Championship at Money In The Bank, it is going to be Lana. It would be easy to write her off. She's a diva. She's not that experienced in the ring. She just debuted last week on Smackdown. There is no way the WWE will have her beat Naomi for the title.

I remember when Alexa Bliss was feuding with Becky Lynch for this same title. I remember some fans saying that it was obvious that Alexa Bliss was just there to be a successful title defense for Becky Lynch. Alexa Bliss ended up winning the title. Even I wanted to give the WWE a fair chance back then. I wasn't a fan of the self-righteous tone of the new era in women's wrestling, but I thought the WWE was more serious about it than it seems now. Smackdown was a throwback to the diva era in some ways, but it still does not seem right to give the title to eye-candy divas in the manner the WWE has been doing since the brand split returned.

How about Naomi? She steamrolled Alexa Bliss for the title. I hated that booking. She won every match and never looked weak even in brawls. It is not that I like Alexa Bliss. I just hate the booking. And I don't recall any other fans criticizing it back then or even making a topic out of it. Recently, the WWE pulled the same kind of booking on Bayley, having Alexa Bliss pretty much steamroll her. Now I see fans asking if Bayley has been buried. Some are upset about how she was booked. Some are chuckling at it. There are always people like that. It is nothing new or weird. They did it to Alexa Bliss. But back to Naomi. After making her look so good for a couple months, including ignoring her injury history, she now looks mediocre. I am not surprised. It makes the big push she got even more irritating. If they were doing this to make a star or create someone to put over someone in a big way, it would be different. It doesn't feel like either of those two things are true. Naomi looks very beatable right now.

Should Lana win the title? On the one hand, it would seem bad to have her lose so soon, like how she lost her first main-roster match at Wrestlemania last year. On the other hand, she shouldn't win the title so soon. I don't care if she is good in the ring, have her prove it to the main audience first, then worry about giving her the title. But the WWE has shown that they don't have proper standards. They dumped title reigns into the lap of Naomi, despite her issues staying healthy. Lana should lose here, but I will say that she wins.

Onto the match fans probably are more interested in. The women are getting a briefcase ladder match. Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina. I will say a little about each woman.

Charlotte seems like the popular choice to win. The WWE has already shown a desire to push her hard and hand her a ton of history. Since coming to Smackdown, however, she has not looked as glorious. Alexa Bliss made history by being the first woman to hold the two Women's Championships that were recently created. I am sure Charlotte will make history again by being the first woman to have held those two titles and the NXT Women's Championship, for whatever that is worth. But I don't think it is a guarantee she makes history on Sunday.

Natalya is a veteran heel. It just seems like a heel should win the briefcase. Natalya has been featured better since the women's revolution really got rolling than she was prior to that. But when it comes to winning titles or anything major, she hasn't gotten anything in the last year.

Carmella seems like a good choice as the next fresh heel credible jobber. Charlotte can eventually win the title from whichever heel and Carmella can immediately cash in on her. That would give Charlotte a fresh singles feud and inflate her title history even more when she wins the title back from Carmella.

Becky Lynch has not really been pushed that well. She won the Smackdown Women's Championship when it was first created, despite not having any proper focus on her. After losing it to Alexa Bliss, the only thing Becky accomplished was winning a feud against Mickie James. And Becky went nowhere after that. The fact that she doesn't seem like a favorite to win this match doesn't mean she should be counted out. Winning the briefcase might revitalize her.

And Tamina is Tamina.

Of the five women, I am going with Carmella. What the WWE has a history of doing with Charlotte does not mean anything. Everyone knows Nikki Bella was someone the WWE was serious about pushing very well. She had more focus on her prior to the match to crown the first Smackdown Women's Champion than Becky Lynch. She did not win it and has never won it. Charlotte has not been buried on Smackdown, but she is not getting the same push she got on Raw. I can see Smackdown spreading out some of the accolades. Carmella winning would just help to set her up as a fresh heel to push that can go in the ring. Lana does not have any credibility, yet. And Natalya, as I said, is a veteran. The WWE needs to aim to build someone young. I just feel that person is Carmella. And needless to say, Tamina is not young. She is 39, the oldest female wrestler on the main roster. Carmella just seems like the best choice. She was the person I was going with before the WWE had Lana pop up last week and get a title shot. We will see how that influences things.

Improving The Presence Of Mickie James

When you are talking about the presence someone has, that can mean a lot of different things. It can be based on someone's appearance or charisma. If a beautiful woman walks into a room, that can turn a lot of heads. On the other side of that, if a person that comes off as a tough guy walks into a room, people might want to stay clear of him. Both individuals have a presence.

In sports, presence also matters. And it usually has to be earned. In football, if defenders know they have to go against Tom Brady, that might make them a little worried. In baseball, if someone known as a good hitter steps up to the plate, the pitcher might pitch him very carefully, or just intentionally walk him. In basketball, a player with a great presence might draw extra defenders to him, which will open up opportunities for other guys on his team to score.

Wrestling is a funny business. Not only can you debate whether it counts as a real sport or not, the presence of a wrestler isn't just based on his own appearance, charisma, and overall greatness as a performer. How they are being pushed also has a lot to do with it. I would say how they are being pushed is even more important than their personal qualities. I have seen mediocre performers be pushed hard and connect with the fans mainly off of that big push. I have seen people that seemed to have a ton of potential be underutilized and have that hurt their success.

That brings me to Mickie James. She is obviously not connecting well with the fans. The way she has been pushed obviously has a lot to do with it. I have seen some fans think the return of Mickie James was a success a couple months ago, like this writer. He wrote that article shortly after Mickie James finally won a match since re-signing with the WWE. The fact that it took that long to give her a win was a sign that this was not a good start. And the mistake that writer makes is thinking too much in terms of in-ring value and not enough in terms of overness. I questioned even before she returned whether having her be La Luchadora and a heel was wise. She then had that poor feud with Becky Lynch. And she has been treated even worse since coming to Raw. No, the return of Mickie James to the WWE has not been a successful one. She will get pushed sooner or later. She is back for a good amount of years. But that push will likely be a mediocre, typical push that doesn't do much for her.

The WWE obviously does not care about doing anything to help Mickie James, but let me bring up something they could do to help her connection with the fans, anyway. Improve her presence. Right now, she just looks like a loser. Not only has she lost every televised match she has been in on Raw, but she has frequently been laid out in every appearance she has made in the last few weeks. The commentators can put over all the titles she won in the WWE and say she helped the women's revolution, but when she's jobbing like she is and looking so bad, the words mean nothing. Her presence does not match the empty hype. It is hard to get excited for someone like this.

I don't mean just a gimmick change. I keep on seeing fans roll their eyes at how many opportunities The Colons have gotten with various gimmicks. They have had a lot of gimmicks, but I don't know how many opportunities they have had. Their presence has never been that great. They have never been pushed as that big of a deal, especially during the title run Epico & Primo had. The WWE just sends them out there for a while, then doesn't follow through. The same thing with Brodus Clay. They gave him a dancing gimmick that no one expected and got people talking. He had a win streak for a while, but the WWE never really developed a proper feud for him when he had that momentum. His presence was that of just a gimmick. He wasn't going anywhere. And there are other examples of people with gimmicks that just didn't seem to be actually pushed properly during those gimmicks.

Right now, a lot of fans can look at Mickie James and think she's nothing special. And that is terrible. The WWE is simply not presenting her as anything special. I am going to bring up four ideas of how to present Mickie James as something special. And this is without inventing anything out of thin air. Just based on things Mickie James already has associated with her, it is possible to treat her in a unique way. Again, the WWE isn't likely to do any of these, but if they ever did have a change of heart, here are some ideas.

First, she has that music career. It isn't like she abandoned it. She came out with a new single last year. TNA obviously did a real job making something of her country music career. They could have done better with Mickie James in a lot of ways, but they did do some good things. They let her perform her theme song on Impact. They sold her second CD on their website. I also remember reading that Mickie James would sometimes do music shows right after some TNA house shows back then. Some fans got a "2 for 1" experience.

The WWE can obviously do more than just mention her music career on their website. Present her as something more than just a wrestler on Raw. That can help her get more fans interested in her. While Mickie James is out there furthering her music career, she might be able to win over people that like her music into wanting to watch Raw to see her wrestle. I am not saying she will be a huge draw, but presenting her in this way could widen her appeal. The WWE frequently brings in part-timers like The Rock and Brock Lesnar, hoping their appeal in Hollywood and the MMA community, respectively, will draw for them. I am not saying Mickie James will work out as well as them, but they have a full-time performer that has potential to at least draw some interest outside of wrestling that is not being utilized.

Second, Mickie James is married to a wrestler, Magnus. Once again, TNA did a better job with this than I expect the WWE would. Two years ago, Mickie James was involved in two big feuds for Magnus. People can roll their eyes at what TNA had done in the James Storm angle, but it still got people talking and led to a nice moment of Mickie giving her DDT to Storm. I always wanted periphery angles for Mickie James and being married to Magnus just makes for a convenient option. And they wouldn't always have to be involved with each other. Magnus can have some solo feuds against the men. Mickie can have some solo feuds against the women. But the two can then come together for some good storylines, feuds, and segments. A lot of women in the WWE became stars in the periphery, so presenting Mickie James here would not be bad for her.

Why do I not think the WWE would do a good job with Mickie and Magnus? Even if Magnus comes to the WWE, I expect him to not go that far. The two of them might end up just being a jobber couple. They might job to Miz & Maryse. Mickie and Magnus would just be treated better together in TNA. Not only were they treated well back in 2015 together, but Magnus has held multiple titles in TNA, including the TNA World Championship. I doubt TNA would put a title-reigns limit on Mickie James like the WWE might still be keeping on her. They would be willing to do some interesting things with her. And when you include her husband in the mix, there is the potential for a power couple to be presented. I don't think Mickie James would have that presence in the WWE with Magnus.

The third idea for presenting Mickie James as something special has to do with her title reigns. Look at Ric Flair. This guy has been retired for almost a decade, ignoring the fact that he actually came out of that retirement to wrestle in TNA. But he still has a presence. He does not even need to show up for that presence to be felt. Whenever someone talks about breaking the record for most World Championship reigns, the number is 16 and the name is Ric Flair. Ric Flair won multiple titles in various promotions, not just the WWE. Years after he has retired, fans can still know he is a big deal and know other wrestlers are trying to chase his legacy. John Cena will break the record, but Ric Flair still saying he is a 16-time World Champion is something to be proud of.

Mickie James has won more major female titles than any other woman. But it means nothing. The WWE will not acknowledge her TNA reigns. Women like Charlotte are not chasing Mickie James. They are chasing Trish Stratus. If her true title legacy was acknowledged, that would help to present her as someone a lot more important. It is not going to happen in the WWE. The WWE knows TNA exists and will often play chess with them, but they will not acknowledge her titles there. Her title reigns become just something for her to be proud of and her fans to talk about.

Lastly, how about the impact Mickie James had on the status quo? During the diva era, she took a career in which she was being used to put over other women and being used as filler and overcame that to get more over than the women being pushed as stars. She never got the career she earned and the WWE continued to try to force the diva status quo. Back then, the WWE could not stop her. Obviously, today is a different story. But can being an enemy to the status quo help a worker stand out? Look at what it did for Daniel Bryan. He looks like a hero. CM Punk said what fans wanted to hear and became a rebel. He's a hero to smarks. To some degree, even Zack Ryder is still looked on as a guy that beat the status quo. And before all these guys did what they did, Mickie James did what she did and no one understands it and no one gives her credit for it.

How would you present Mickie James as this woman that beat the status quo? Have her go out and say it. Call it a pipebomb. Instead of having her go out there and give a bitter promo about women of today not giving her respect, which does not match reality or anything Mickie James said in sincerity in an interview, have her stand up for herself and shoot on the reality of her career. If nothing else, smarks will love it and she will definitely improve her overness. But the WWE will never acknowledge just how much the mistreated female wrestlers in the diva era. And if the diva era is sneaking back in, the WWE will not want fans to catch on that women like Bayley are just being used to put over the eye-candy centerpiece, then getting tossed aside. But if Mickie James ever was allowed to do this kind of promo, she would gain the kind of presence as men like Daniel Bryan  and CM Punk.

One thing I would not say is that Mickie James screwed her own presence. Back in the day, Lita had that affair with Edge and that hurt her presence. A lot of fans turned on her. She has since regained some of that respectability. Mickie James has had to deal with sour dirtsheet reports and other garbage since 2009. But that didn't hurt her overness. Fans still were upset when she got released. She worked as a face in TNA and the indies. A lot of fans were excited when she was coming back to the WWE.

I would say it is just the era. A lot of men, women, tag teams, cruiserweights and whatever else that you would expect wrestling fans to eat up just do not get good, consistent reactions. You need to be pushed hard to get that kind of reaction, like Roman Reigns, for better or worse. You need a huge gimmick, like New Day. Fads help, just as Chris Jericho. When it comes to the women, fans are once again getting drawn to the eye-candy, like Lana. Sadly, the WWE just gets lazy and sloppy with a lot of things.

But it is starting to look like the WWE's mistreatment of Mickie James is more deliberate than a botch. They have made her look needlessly bad recently. I remember having a conversation with someone somewhere on the Internet a long time ago. I told that person that the WWE would love to turn Mickie James into the next Victoria. This was during the end of Victoria's WWE career when she was essentially just a lame duck. That's what happens to credible jobbers. They don't win an infinite number of title reigns. And because they are not priorities, they do not get moved to great spots in the periphery. Beyond not winning too many title reigns, another reason they get treated so poorly is that younger, fresher credible jobbers are around. These older credible jobbers just get shuffled around until they get released, their contracts expire, or they leave on their own. That person I was talking to said that wouldn't happen to Mickie James because she was more over than Victoria and better than her. It is true that Mickie James was more over back then and was a better choice to be the centerpiece then over the divas that were failing than Victoria ever was in her career over Trish Stratus. But the WWE still viewed Mickie James as a credible jobber.

The WWE career of Mickie James has picked up right where it left off. Back in 2010, Mickie James had gotten 6 title runs. A lame duck credible jobber is not going to win as many as Trish Status, not to mention continue to be in the way of the chosen successor to Trish Stratus. Everyone talks like the WWE releasing Mickie James was the worst thing ever for her. It might have been the best thing for her. She was not going to accomplish much else in the WWE, if anything. Now that she is back, she seems to be immediately back to being the lame duck she was just becoming when they released her. Even if she will never win another title, I do think they can at least improve her presence to help her connect with the fans better. Moreover, some of these ideas can lead to angles that can have an impact in putting over other women and creating situations that sometimes draw. John Cena sometimes gives these promos where he makes it seem like his opponent's accomplishments mean nothing. Smarks usually hate that. Well, if all these accomplishments of Mickie James, whether you are talking her title legacy or her impact on the status quo, never get used to create the same drama that you have with Ric Flair's title legacy or storylines with CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, what do they become? Nothing but things for Mickie James and her fans to be proud of and talking points. Her career does not have to go out with a whimper like this. There are still ways to present her as something better for the rest of her years in the WWE.

How TNA Does "Diva" Better Than The WWE

Eye-candy has always had a place in pro wrestling. WCW had the Nitro Girls, who danced around. ECW was more known for catfights than respectable women's wrestling. Even today, there are women in the indies that are obviously just there for their looks. They may take bumps and have matches here and there, but they are mostly valets and just personalities.

What made the WWE's "diva" agenda different was that they would often look for women with no pro wrestling training at all and develop women like that in the ring to be their centerpieces. They took women that were really models and cheerleaders and treated them like they were as good as, or better than, women that had more credibility. Some of these women eventually became very respectable in the ring, like Trish Stratus, but there have been more failed centerpieces than successful ones during the diva era.

This is supposed to be a new era. This is supposed to be the women's revolution era. Let's face it, the women's wrestling revolution is turning into the revitalization of the diva era. I have pointed it out before. I see more and more fans bringing it up. Alexa Bliss being pushed like she has is straight out of the diva era. And Lana now looks like she is bringing back more of that diva flavor to Smackdown's women's division.

Bayley and Alexa Bliss are just coming off a feud where Bayley looked terrible before their recent PPV match. Without even bringing up how much fans disliked that elaborate segment last week from Alexa Bliss, just sticking to the wrestling, their PPV match was not good. I talked about how the story would matter in that match. It was likely that Alexa Bliss would retain, but I said that Bayley needed to at least look good and give Alexa Bliss a little comeuppance. I am not a sadistic individual. I do not have a fetish for seeing women getting hit by sticks. I am talking in terms of helping the characters and telling a good story in the ring. And it was awful. Bayley looks terrible. I have pointed out multiple times in the last few months that Bayley has not gotten a fair shot. She had to take a backseat to Charlotte/Sasha at a time last year when it looked like she would finally get her shot. That did not make her look good. And the WWE has just not presented her character right. They have taken her and just expected her to be something that just doesn't work for her.

Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss had a "match" on Raw this week against Nia Jax. It was more stupidity that hurts the image that Raw's women's division used to have since last year. Alexa Bliss just should not be the centerpiece. I hear some fans justifying her push because she sells merchandise. Okay, why does she sell merchandise? It is because of her looks and her charisma. No sensible wrestling fan out there thinks she's a great wrestler. If she is valuable for her looks and charisma, why can't they push her as a periphery diva? Present her as something special there. Because pushing her in the ring is definitely damaging the development of women that are better in the ring than her and irritating a lot of fans out there.

Onto TNA (Impact Wrestling). TNA obviously has a history of taking former WWE workers. They have even taken some of their divas. I don't just mean female wrestlers taken from the diva division, like Gail Kim. I mean those women that were true eye-candy divas in the WWE, like Taryn Terrell. This is also a company that has a history of featuring respectable women's wrestling that goes back even further than the women's revolution in the WWE.

How can these two things coexist? How can you have a company that is going to push respectable women's wrestling, but also hire these women that only got into the business thanks to their looks? Because TNA has maintained their standards. Women like Taryn Terrell and Brooke Tessmacher had to train and put on solid, respectable performances before they got title reigns. Taryn Terrell and Gail Kim had a great rivalry that even wrestling fans respected. Might these former WWE eye-candy divas sometimes botch? Yeah, but so does Gail Kim. And Velvet Sky is also one of the least-credible women TNA has ever had, but you can't blame the WWE for bringing her up. But even Velvet Sky had to at least be presented as a serious competitor before finally winning the KO title.

Go back to the lowest point of the KO division. I would say that was last year. Maria Kanellis won the KO title. You look at the list of women to have held the title. Is any woman on that list less credible than Maria Kanellis? TNA did not even sell her as a threat. She was abusing her power, relying on henchwomen, and using weapons. Allie (Cherry Bomb) got a short title reign during this time that looked terrible in terms of how she won it and lost it, but at least she has shown she is a good in-ring worker in the indies. Indeed, I would say Maria is the worst woman to have held the title. To make matters worse, this was going on at the same time the WWE was touting their women's revolution. It was terrible timing. As the WWE was moving away from the diva era, TNA gave the title to a diva.

Thing is, however, you can argue that TNA did not really lower their standards. They did not try to sell Maria like she could hold her own in the ring as Gail Kim. It was just a storyline getting in the way of that respectability the women's division is known for. The whole storyline was even that Maria running the division was ruining it. Gail Kim got her revenge on Maria Kanellis and the KO division has gone back to being treated better.

How is that different from what has been going on in the WWE recently? They are actually trying to sell Alexa Bliss as a woman that can hold her own against women a lot better in the ring than her. She may be better than Maria Kanellis in the ring, but that isn't saying too much. And the WWE isn't doing it by maintaining respectable standards and having Alexa Bliss rise up to meet those standards. The WWE has lowered their standards. That is what have so many fans unhappy about the direction things are going. Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley just did not come off as Taryn Terrell vs. Gail Kim at all. Would it have at least been better if it came off like Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim? Gail Kim got her revenge on Maria and everyone moved on. Bayley didn't get her revenge on Alexa Bliss and it does not look like the WWE is planning to move on from going in the direction of Alexa Bliss. This is not a storyline of Alexa Bliss hurting the women's revolution. This is the WWE damaging the women's revolution through their desire to push Alexa Bliss. I am sure there is a good chance there might be a storyline of Alexa Bliss hurting the women's revolution when she feuds with Sasha Banks, but will that storyline really lead to the end of Alexa Bliss? Or at least lead to her stepping up and being more respectable in the ring? Or will this just be a storyline for the sake of exciting smarks and not really change anything?

So, how was TNA able to do "diva" better than the WWE? By actually putting the divas they took from the WWE in a position to be featured as serious performers. There might be some sloppy matches here and there and the whole situation with Maria Kanellis I just mentioned, but their identity has still remained respectable. Meanwhile, the WWE seems to lower the bar when they want the divas still on their roster to look good. Female wrestlers are made to look bad and match quality is definitely taking a hit. And this is not a storyline that these eye-candy divas are hurting this new era. This is the WWE letting old habits take over again.  

Smackdown Women's Money In The Bank

The WWE is going back to hyping history for their women. Money in the Bank, a Smackdown-exclusive PPV this year, will feature a women's ladder match for a briefcase. It will be Charlotte vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina.

The "cookie cutter" response would be to say how great this is for the women. They're getting to do something only men have been allowed to do in the past. History. Historic. Amazing. Yeah. That's nice.

I am not impressed. This is once again a situation where all the Smackdown women are tossed into the same picture. There is no creative depth and the booking is lazy. I have pointed out numerous times that Smackdown has a tendency to do this ever since the brand split returned.

You want to talk about being treated as equals to the men? Do you see all the men that have nothing else to do being tossed into the Money in the Bank Ladder Match for the men's briefcase? No. That's not the way it works. That has never been the way it works.

My issue is that the WWE is relying on hype and not properly developing any of these individual women to be stars. Where's the proper character development? Where are the great personal feuds?

The WWE can release every woman on the main roster and nothing of value would be lost. I honestly believe that. Just replace them with women from NXT and the indies. Tessa Blanchard can replace Charlotte. Melina can replace Mickie James. Mandy Rose can replace Alexa Bliss. The replacements might not come in all at the same time, obviously, but the WWE can just phase all these women currently there out and keep doing what they are doing. That is because they are just relying on hype to draw for them. They are relying on quantity over quality. In the case of Alexa Bliss, they are relying on sex appeal with character. Just help Mandy Rose develop a character. Or Lana can get some time being pushed as the new Alexa Bliss. There is a lot of underachieving in the women's division these days and no one is bringing A+ results. And a lot of the blame has to go on the poor way the WWE is handling these women. The WWE can just bring in these new women and start handing them whatever history is left to be had.

I have nothing against a ladder match. Women in TNA have had them all the time. And if the WWE had done a better job creating personal feuds for the Smackdown women prior to this, I would probably be all for it. But they have not, so I cannot get excited for more of the same that I have come to expect from Smackdown.

Lana made her Smackdown debut this week. She tried to get in the match. She ended up attacking Naomi. She will face Naomi in a singles match for the title. Will she win? Whatever way they go, they are putting her in the same picture with everyone else. Moving forward, there will obviously be some separation, but I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

What do you make of Lana? I would say she fits right in with the brand that is keeping the diva era alive. Of course, Alexa Bliss is bringing a diva revival over on Raw. How far will Lana go? She has been training to wrestle. She's beautiful. She has charisma and a great character. She can be another Alexa Bliss. That will appeal to many fans, but also annoy wrestling fans. I do see fans annoyed by how Alexa Bliss has been pushed on Raw. They feel the quality of the women's division there has been slipping in the last few months. The WWE switched a centerpiece that was very good and respected in the ring, Charotte, for one that just isn't, Alexa Bliss. And it shows. Smackdown isn't really as centerpiece-driven, so Lana will not have the same impact here as Alexa Bliss is having on Raw. That is, unless certain backstage officials love Lana so much that they start having everything revolve around her.

And just one aside to end the day. One thing really bothered me on Raw. Mickie James and Dana Brooke went out there to get some of Alexa Bliss. What happened after was Nia Jax just pushed them aside to get some of Alexa Bliss for herself. She then pushed them down again after when they confronted her about shoving them aside. And what does the WWE have Mickie James and Dana Brooke do? Just go and stand in the ring with Nia Jax as Alexa Bliss is walking away. And Nia Jax beat them up, again. Why would Mickie and Dana do that? It is just incredibly stupid. A woman that is not your friend and was just knocking you around is standing in the ring. What do you do? Go stand with her! What else would you do? How about just stare down Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax from ringside? How about get in the ring and at least try to fight back against Nia Jax for shoving you around? It was just incredibly stupid.

That is one of the reasons it is hard for many fans to care about Mickie James during her current run in the WWE. Her character is terrible. It was terrible on Smackdown and it might be even worse on Raw. Having her job so much is one thing. But putting her out there to be knocked around and do stupid things like what happened on Raw is not helping her. I would say it is doing even more damage than having her lose. She just looks terrible.

Samoa Joe Gets Shot Against Brock Lesnar

Samoa Joe ended up winning the title shot last Sunday. I did not even bring him up. When you think about it, though, it does make sense for him to face Brock Lesnar.

Braun Stowman was the guy they were grooming to face Lesnar. What is Braun Strowman? He was a destructive monster. He was tossing people around and looking extreme. He even beat Roman Reigns. The injury killed what they were building him up for.

Of the 5 men in that #1 contender's match on Sunday, who matches Strowman the best? Who was that destructive monster? Obviously not Finn Balor. Not Seth Rollins. Bray Wyatt is more of a heel that plays mind games. Roman Reigns may be a powerhouse, but he is not really a destructive monster. Besides, the WWE wouldn't waste this match so soon. Samoa Joe is that destructive force. They sell him as a destroyer. They sell him as the guy that took out Seth Rollins. They portray him as this intimidating force that beats people up. He is the best replacement for Braun Strowman, if the WWE wants to sell that same kind of story.

There were obviously other stories they could have gone with. I would have gone with Finn Balor finally getting his rematch for the title he never lost. Bray Wyatt and Lesnar have unfinished business. You can talk about the rest. But this is the story they are going with.

Samoa Joe will have to be protected in the weeks to come and made to look very strong. He will likely beat Roman Reigns in the weeks to come. It might even be a clean win. The same kind of push Strowman was getting, that is what you might expect for Samoa Joe. They have to sell him as a huge threat to Brock Lesnar.

Does this all mean that Samoa Joe will stand a fighting chance against Brock Lesnar? The WWE loves having Lesnar just mow people over. Rarely does Lesnar look bad, like when he faced Goldberg. Strowman was obviously someone they were building to feed to Lesnar. And Samoa Joe is just filling in for the injured Strowman. It would be easy to say Samoa Joe will be on the receiving end of a whole bunch of suplexes and an F5. Let's see how the WWE builds things.

The End Of Enzo & Cass?

The WWE likes to have Enzo get beaten up. And there is a bit of a mystery over this one. There is a good chance the attacker might be revealed to be Big Cass, Enzo's own partner. That will spell the end of that team.

I will give the WWE some credit for creating a storyline like this. Keeps the fans guessing and trying to figure out who did it. Problem is, the WWE did this same kind of thing just a few months ago. Someone attacked Nikki Bella. Was it Carmella? Was it Natalya? Was it Mickie James? We all know how that turned out. I know there are not an infinite number of storyline ideas out there, and I am not saying the WWE can never redo storylines, but it does seem too early to redo a "Whodunnit?" storyline like this.

Onto the bigger issue, breaking up this team. The WWE can definitely go in another direction, but the heel turn for Cass and end of the team is a strong possibility. I am against this direction for a variety of reasons.

First, it is pretty sad that this team never won the tag titles. They are a popular team that had momentum at times. If it wasn't for New Day last year, they should have gotten the titles back then. If it wasn't for The Hardys this year, they should have gotten the tag titles at Wrestlemania. If they break up, there is always a chance they come back together down the road and get the tag titles, but that is no guarantee.

Second, how will they work out as singles wrestlers in the midcard? Enzo is not a great in-ring performer. Cass is not really that charismatic. Cass will probably thrive better between the two of them. But the midcard is terrible these days. You cannot say there is no one to push in the midcard. The WWE just does not push a lot of these guys right. Main-eventers continue to dominate the midcard title scene. That doesn't help. Miz just won back the Intercontinental Championship. Guys that could be solid midcarders get treated poorly, which hurts their chances to develop. How about that match between Apollo Crews and Kalisto just getting tossed on the preshow last night? I see a lot of fans just rolling their eyes at these guys. Most of the blame should go to the WWE. How far will Cass go in this environment? And what will become of Enzo?

Lastly, the tag division just needs them. There are no good face teams on Raw to build for the future. The Hardys, who are old and could very well split themselves in the near future for solo pushes, just lost the tag titles to Sheamus & Cesaro. Was that a good idea? If the heel team holds onto the tag titles in the rematch against The Hardys, who is left for them to feud with? Goldust & R-Truth, who were a jobber team, have broken up. Enzo & Cass might be breaking up. The only other true face team on Raw is Rhyno & Heath Slater, and Slater has lost that magic he had last year. There are no good options. If the WWE does not give the titles back to The Hardys, I can only imagine a Shield reunion and Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins getting the titles. Once again, that would be main-eventers being pushed in a scene where they do not need to be pushed.

Let the attackers be The Revival. Seems boring, but it is a safe choice that can save a lot of trouble. I would also give the tag titles back to The Hardys so they can eventually drop it to The Revival. Sheamus & Cesaro holding the tag titles is just unnecessary. I don't like the idea of The Hardys getting another title run, but it just seems awkward for Sheamus & Cesaro to hold the tag titles right now. A face team should be holding them. And if that is not going to be Enzo & Cass, what other options do you have?

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Main Event

Let's start by talking about the elephant that's not in the room. That would be Brock Lesnar, the Universal Champion. I had high hopes when Lesnar won the WWE Championship a few years ago. That did not work out like I would have hoped. Lesnar winning the title again was not something I was too eager for. Right now, moreover, the WWE has the brand split back and in full force. That limits their overall roster for Raw. If that isn't bad enough, it only takes one bad injury to really mess things up. That is what the WWE got when Braun Strowman got injured. Life would just be a little bit easier if the top titleholder of the brand was someone that can show up regularly to help take up some time with feuds revolving around the title. This just seems like the dumbest situation for the WWE to have given Lesnar Raw's top title.

I noticed someone point out on a message board recently that there has been only one successful title defense of a World Championship in the WWE all year. That would be Kevin Owens retaining the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns at the Royal Rumble. Hard to be believe, but true. We are now in the sixth month of the year and the belts have been going all over the place all year. We will have to wait a few more weeks for another successful title defense of a World Championship. That will likely be Jinder Mahal. Who would ever have believed that?

With no Universal Champion around, the main event is a 5-way Extreme Rules match for the #1 contendership. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt. As I have brought up before, this match is in response to Braun Strowman getting injured. The WWE essentially combined Joe/Rollins and Balor/Wyatt, then tossed in Reigns.

I am still not impressed with the match type. Triple threat matches are no disqualification by default. Imagine if the WWE hyped a triple threat match as a "No DQ" triple threat match. Redundant. This multi-man match is already no disqualification. How "extreme" will it really get? And just in terms of drawing interest with a unique match type, this match isn't that unique. Could they have made it a ladder match? Too similar to Money in the Bank? I think this PPV would be an okay place for a ladder match. Elimination Tables Match? I'm sure there were things that were more interesting.

As for the winner, I see some wanting Roman Reigns to win just so the WWE can get Reigns vs. Lesnar out of the way. It doesn't work like that. Even if they wanted Reigns to win this and face Lesnar now, that will not stop them from doing a rematch down the road. But I don't think Reigns wins here.

Rumors are saying Finn Balor and I'm going Finn Balor. It just seems fitting for the guy that never lost the title to get the first title shot. Does that ruin the feud between Balor and Wyatt? Considering their gimmicks, that could have been an interesting feud. But the WWE can always get back to it after Balor/Lesnar.