Seth & Dean Back Together

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have been giving fans a mini-Shield reunion in the last few weeks. They have been working together against The Miz and have an angle going that will lead to something.

What will it lead to? Tag Team Championships? The division is rather poor. People are speculating on a heel turn, as well. Not Seth. People are thinking Dean Ambrose might be the one that turns heel. Considering Seth Rollins stabbed him in the back years ago, Dean Ambrose being the one to turn might be a good story.

For whatever reason, the current angle of having Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins work with each other just doesn't seem natural. It seems like both guys should be doing something else right now. It just feels like Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt didn't end right. If both Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe weren't tied up in the Universal Championship feud, either one could go against Ambrose. It just feels like the writers didn't have anything else to do, both with these two individuals and the tag division, and are fixing multiple issues with one angle. It might still lead to an interesting angle, but the development of things just doesn't feel smooth.

Another Shake Up?

There are rumors that there will be another shake up in the WWE. More superstars could be changing brands again. The last shake up was just 3 months ago in April. Is it really time to shake things up again? The WWE has really mismanaged talent on both brands. I just want to give some general thoughts on what this might mean for the men's division, the tag division, and the women's division.

Before I go there, let me just give one reason that the WWE might want to do this. It draws in viewers. It did the last time they did this. Fans just are likely to tune in to see what happens. You might say it is a cheap trick. Problem is, you cannot go to the well too often and expect it to always produce for you. The WWE still has to do more to draw.

Of course, the shake up can also help a few men get some fresh feuds. For example, Dean Ambrose and Miz have been feuding with each other way too much in the past year. It might be refreshing to get these two on different shows to make sure they don't face each other again for a while. Finn Balor has not been treated that well on Raw since coming back from an injury. Maybe Smackdown can treat him like the main-eventer he should be pushed as. He is the first Universal Champion. Looking at how they push him, you might not tell. Who can Smackdown afford to send to Raw? Will John Cena end up there? Some might also say that Smackdown does not need both Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles. One of them could move.

An issue you had with the last shake up is that Smackdown lost a lot of top guys and didn't get back many from Raw. Jericho recently returned, so that helps a little. Besides that, they ended up having to push Jinder Mahal as a main-eventer. Let's see if that investment in the Indian market works. This time around, that should not happen. Raw is stacked. It does not need to raid Smackdown. An even change should be okay. If Smackdown sends over two top guys to Raw, Raw should send back the same number.

The tag divisions are terrible right now. The big issue is the WWE breaking up so many tag teams. Right now, Raw's tag division might be worse because it lacks a clear direction. What is the big focus there? The Hardys becoming broken, or whatever word the WWE will use to avoid issues with GFW? Is it the Tag Team Champions, Sheamus & Cesaro? Heading into the biggest PPV of the summer, the division is sloppy. But I would not say the answer is to bring in more teams from Smackdown to Raw. The writers just need to develop clear feuds. It might not be easy to do with The Hardys in limbo over their popular gimmick. Overall, no teams really need to change in the shake up, even though there will likely be a switch just for the sake of it.

There is a reason 2009 was the first and only full year during the previous brand split that featured two titles in the women's division. It is just hard to keep it going and keep things fresh. Injuries made things even more difficult. Keep in mind, there were multiple drafts and trades in 2009 that had women changing brands. Were the moves necessary? Pretty much.

This year is the first full year where there are two women's titles during the current brand split. It hasn't been pretty. Injuries are not the issue. For the most part, the depth is good. But things still do not feel fresh and it just feels like changing shows for some women would be a good thing. Why is that? Because the WWE just mismanages the talent on both shows. On Raw, the WWE is juggling Sasha Banks and Bayley as the contenders to face Alexa Bliss. I am not saying Dana Brooke deserves a title shot, but how about Mickie James? How about have Nia Jax play tweener and get pushed against Alexa, just for the sake of freshness? Over on Smackdown, everyone frequently wrestles each other in multi-women feuds. All the freshness goes away very quickly when you do that. And there are just some feuds Smackdown forces that don't feel heated, which they then have to force to get fans interested. I would say Naomi vs. Natalya falls in that category. There is a price to pay for forcing yourself to give everyone something to do. You run out of fresh options fast.

What are some likely moves? How about Charlotte back to Raw? Seems stupid. She just moved to Smackdown in April and hasn't done anything. Moreover, can two queens coexist on Raw? I would move Becky Lynch to Raw. Who goes to Smackdown? Mickie James? I have seen some fans say it would be great if she went to NXT to take Asuka's spot. That's just dumb. It would make sense to send Sasha Banks or Bayley to Smackdown. I'll go with Sasha Banks, since they are pushing Bayley against Alexa Bliss again. However, just like I said with the tag division, the writers just need to develop feuds better on both shows. Switching a few women around won't fix everything.

Natalya Gets The Title Shot

Of all the women that had a chance to challenge Naomi at Summerslam for the Smackdown Women's Championship, I believed Natalya was just the least deserving. She wasn't fresh. She didn't have an angle going for herself. She wasn't built up to deserve it. There was no interesting storyline that you could get from her winning. Naomi vs. Natalya was just not a big match for the WWE's biggest PPV of the summer. There just was not one good reason for Natalya to win.

And to the surprise of no one, Natalya ends up winning. Smackdown has a tendency to do this kind of thing with their women. From last year, Becky Lynch didn't really have any momentum or creative interest on her prior to becoming Smackdown's Women's Champion. She won it. Some believed there was no way Alexa Bliss would beat Becky Lynch for the title. She did. Naomi just returned from an injury and steamrolled Alexa Bliss for the title. She returned from another injury and got the title handed back to her. The WWE didn't even wait to see if she could stay healthy. They just do not build things properly in their women's division.

Obviously, I would not have had Natalya win it. This is nothing personal against Natalya. I just believe, if you are going to do it, do it right. Build her up to deserve it. Do it at a time when there aren't other women that are fresher or have some angle going for them that might make for a better story with Naomi.

I would say the problem is Smackdown trying to give too many women something to do. Of the in-ring performers, Naomi is Women's Champion, Natalya is the challenger, Carmella has the briefcase and her angle with James Ellsworth, Tamina and Lana have their angle together, and Becky Lynch and Charlotte beat them in a tag match this week. Everyone has something going. But does that mean they have something great going anywhere? I don't feel it. You need supporting players and that is hard to do when everyone is tied up in some angle already.

Of course, another variation of Smackdown's issue with giving everyone something to do is these multi-women matches. Let me go back to that six-woman tag they had on a PPV a few months ago. They made this heel stable, The Welcoming Committee. They even had that stable beat the faces. And what really became of that? Nothing. Carmella has obviously broken out. Now Natalya is getting a solo push. Tamina has a separate angle with Lana, who wasn't even in the group back then. What was even the point? Creating that stable just looks like flavored filler now. The story didn't go anywhere. The WWE will obviously have the commentators mention it and website writers talk about it, but in terms of building a great storyline, this was nothing. There are some women on Smackdown that have not won a PPV match in months, namely Becky Lynch and Charlotte. And that is because they have been caught on the wrong side of these multi-women matches. The Welcoming Committee storyline should have led to a moment where the faces eventually conquered a strong heel stable, if the WWE was interested in doing this right. If they had done it right, maybe Natalya might have even looked more deserving of her current push. Money in the Bank also got in the way. I would say telling a proper story matters more than screaming history to get fans to tune in. The WWE has really been fumbling around on Smackdown and not utilizing these women right.

Bayley Gets Another Shot At Alexa Bliss

Summerslam is starting to take shape. Challengers for the women's titles are already set. Over on Raw, Bayley defeated Sasha Banks to get another shot at Alexa Bliss.

I do not like it. Going back a few months, I would agree that Bayley was not treated right in her feud against Alexa Bliss. Losing the title is one thing, but the WWE made Bayley look bad. But they had to move on. And they did. To Sasha Banks. Even getting to her was not done smoothly and there was no time to develop a proper feud between her and Alexa Bliss. But sticking to Bayley, she wasn't even relevant for a number of weeks. All of a sudden, she is the one getting the title shot again. This is sloppy.

I would have stuck to Sasha Banks getting the title shot. She didn't exactly lose decisively to Alexa Bliss at their last PPV encounter. Sasha getting another shot just made sense. Some people were even expecting a triple threat when Bayley vs. Sasha Banks was made. That match would end indecisively and both would go on to face Alexa Bliss. Even that would have been okay. This kind of feud development of moving away from Sasha Banks before her feud with Alexa Bliss has proper closure and moving back to Bayley after the story has stopped being about her for so long is just not good. If Sasha Banks was injured and they had to go back to Bayley, then I would agree with what they did. But if there is no special situation right now, this is just bad development.

What people are expecting now is that this turns into a heel turn for Sasha Banks. Remember when Sasha was supposed to turn heel months ago? It didn't happen then. If it happens now, I don't think the ends would have justified the means. Heel Sasha Banks would obviously feud with face Bayley, but these two have wrestled each other multiple times on the main roster already. Another possibility is Sasha Banks going to Smackdown. Even then, it does not change the fact that the development recently has been terrible.

The WWE needs to stop this dance they have going on with Sasha Banks and Bayley. These two seem to be involved in every Raw Women's Championship feud since around this time last year. Throw in Alexa Bliss dominating the title scene for much of the year, regardless of which brand she is on. And the only other thing you have going on is the occasional insertion of Nia Jax being a monster and beating everyone up, which does not have any long-term value.

There are other women on the roster that can make for some fresh feuds. Smackdown has put the NXT elite on the back burner at times. Neither Becky Lynch nor Charlotte have been pushed very well these last few months. Smackdown could do better in a lot of ways with their women, but at least they aren't overdoing it by forcing one of two women into every title feud like Raw is doing. It is just getting ridiculous.

Emma got squashed by Nia Jax. Some say it is because she complained on Twitter about not being given a chance. She should keep complaining. Either the WWE will give her something to do or they will release her, freeing her to work somewhere else. There are multiple angles she could have gotten these last few weeks to feature her better on Raw. The story with Emma, Mickie James, and Dana Brooke is underdeveloped. That could have been a solid secondary feud. There was that point where Alexa Bliss walked out on Emma and Nia Jax and Emma came out to confront her. Something could have been made of that. Nothing. Is what is going on now a legit storyline they will follow through with? Instead of anything great, there is this sloppy juggling act going on that results in either Sasha Banks or Bayley getting the spotlight in these terribly-developed feuds.

The Great Khali Returns

Jinder Mahal did indeed retain the WWE Championship against Randy Orton at Battleground. And he did it thanks to The Great Khali.

I have said for a while now that the WWE should stop bringing back people. There are various reasons why. First, it costs money to pay all these people. A lot of fans are unhappy with certain cuts that have been happening recently. Some of those cuts are due to budget issues. There hasn't been mass releases this year, however. Second, the WWE has so many workers already and can't do a lot of them justice. Instead of spending time properly building stars and utilizing talent right, they just look for easy answers by bringing in all these people. Lastly, it doesn't do anything in the long run. After the initial buzz, the WWE just goes back to fumbling around. Ratings continue to decline. Fans are not consistently energized. The company finds themselves in these situations where they need to cut costs. Bringing in all these people just doesn't solve the issue, so why rely so heavily on this? Stop it.

Bringing back The Great Khali is just scraping the bottom of the barrel and shows the WWE has no solid direction right now. For a while, it looked like they were going in the direction of treating wrestling with more respect. You had the women's revolution. You had the return of the cruiserweight division. AJ Styles. Nakamura. A lot of guys from NXT. Roman Reigns has not held a World title in a year. But then the WWE does stupid stuff, like all the crap with James Ellsworth. The Great Khali returning just fits in with that garbage. He is not a great wrestler. Of all the people to bring back, not him. You have already had the return of Mickie James, Kurt Angle, and The Hardys this year, among some others. But these names I just mentioned are at least known for being good in-ring workers. Even if age has slowed some of them down, they are still known by wrestling fans for being good in the ring. The Great Khali is not. If the WWE is going to bring people back, they have to know what they want to be and try to stick to that identity. That doesn't mean they should never sign anyone that goes against that identity, but don't make it a habit. And don't sign someone as terrible as The Great Khali.

It doesn't matter how long he is back for. He should not get too physical at all. He obviously will. He cannot attack Randy Orton and think nothing more will come of it. Some people have talked about the idea of The Great Khali being Jinder Mahal's bodyguard. On paper, it sounds nice. But when you take into account the WWE's budget issues, all the other workers being misused, these returns not helping, and The Great Khali just not being great, it isn't a good idea in reality.

Previewing The Battleground 2017 Men's Matches

It is sometimes amazing how the WWE can hype a crappy kickoff match like it is something special on their website. Tye Dillinger faces Aiden English. I don't care. Dillinger wins.

Climbing the ladder of relevance, Mike Kanellis vs. Sami Zayn. This is just a rematch. Nothing too special. But this is another match I just don't care about. The gimmick Mike and Maria have might have some potential, but boring feuds against a midcard jobber like Zayn won't bring that out. I will say Mike Kanellis wins.

Baron Corbin faces Shinsuke Nakamura. The fact that Corbin has the briefcase means nothing. The WWE has a history of having the person with the briefcase lose a lot. On the other hand, the WWE has a recent history of overpushing people they are grooming to be main-eventers, like Jinder Mahal. But I don't think that happens at the expense of Nakamura this Sunday. He wins.

New Day get another title shot against The Usos. The tag divisions are just so terrible on both shows. There probably won't be a Twitter movement to turn things around. The WWE might as well let New Day win the titles. If The Usos do retain, who is left to take the titles off them? They could go back to Tyler Breeze and Fandango. They have been gaining momentum. But New Day will likely get a reign before them.

Kevin Owens tries to win back the United States Championship from AJ Styles. No reason for Styles to drop the title so soon. That is, no GOOD reason to do it. The WWE might do it if they want a lame excuse to prolong this feud. Just end it either here or Summerslam. Create some fresh feuds with these midcarders many people, including myself, don't care about.

John Cena takes on Rusev in a Flag match. I'll give them credit for a gimmick match. But these two? Again? They feuded with each other before. The rivalry just isn't fresh. I am going to tell you what I would have done with both guys a little later. As for this match, Cena wins.

And inside the Punjabi Prison, Jinder Mahal defends the WWE Championship once again against Randy Orton. This feud should have been over already. And it just wasn't heated enough to deserve this gimmick match. Some people are speculating The Great Khali will return to help Mahal. We'll see. If nothing else, this match should give Jinder Mahal further credibility. He should be retaining.

How would I have done things with the last two matches I just talked about? Switch the opponents around. Jinder Mahal could have been entering a feud against John Cena. It could have been the same pro-USA feud you have in Rusev/Cena. Meanwhile, Rusev feuds with Orton. That is a fresh feud. These two have never feuded. Rusev was wanting a title match a couple months ago. Just have Randy Orton go out there after losing to Jinder Mahal at the previous Smackdown PPV and start talking about wanting another shot. Instead of getting it, however, Rusev shows up to continue his angle of wanting a title shot. Those two then feud. If the WWE wanted to put a title opportunity on the line, fine. It would have taken things in a fresh direction and not messed up the storylines that were going on too much.

Previewing The Battleground 2017 Women's Match

 

There just comes a point where you get sick of complaining about the same thing. I have frequently criticized Smackdown for having too many multi-woman matches at PPVs. They fail to properly develop good personal feuds a lot of the time, especially for the big PPVs since the brand split came back. Recently, there have been a couple Smackdown PPVs in a row to feature multi-women matches.

I saw a dirtsheet report in the past week mention that the WWE is doing a ton of multi-person matches because it is just convenient for the writers and they believe it gives everyone heat with everyone else, or something along those lines. Did you really need a dirtsheet report to know the writers were being lazy? Even then, I would not say it is that bad. Most of the PPV main events are still singles matches. Even other title matches outside the main event are mostly singles matches. It is a little annoying how they frequently toss everyone together for the sake of finding #1 contenders, but even that isn't done all the time. But this issue with the Smackdown women's division is really annoying.

Battleground will not be anything new. Five women compete to find out who faces Naomi at Summerslam. If there is any silver lining, it is that this match will lead to a singles match at a big PPV. Even then, that does not kill the bad habit. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte vs. Lana vs. Natalya vs. Tamina. I don't think there are any fresh, smooth options here.

Naomi is a face, so it might make you wonder if they would really let Becky Lynch or Charlotte win. Would a face vs. face feud really be interesting? Would they turn someone heel just for the sake of this feud? Even then, you have a heel, Carmella, looming with the briefcase. Neither Becky nor Charlotte would make for a smooth feud.

Would Natalya vs. Naomi be considered a fresh feud? Natalya is not really fresh. She does not have much attention on her, creatively. I just feel like the other women seem to have more going than her.

Normally, I would say Tamina is Tamina. But the WWE has decided to give her a storyline. This is another example of a person that has not earned something getting something. This angle involves Tamina training Lana. If there was not a women's revolution going on and the writing was better, the story to tell would be that Tamina successfully trains Lana to finally beat Naomi for the title. After that, Tamina could want a title shot. Lana refuses. And a feud happens between the two, with Tamina going face. But how likely is it that Lana wins this? And Tamina is not worthy of getting a title shot at Summerslam.

Who wins? I think it comes down to the fact that this is Summerslam, one of the biggest PPVs of the year. Charlotte has not been pushed well since coming to Smackdown, but she has the most title credibility in this match. The WWE would likely give her the push. As for the awkwardness of face vs. face, the WWE will likely have Carmella cash in on Naomi prior to Summerslam, possibly even this Sunday, and the Summerslam match becomes a triple threat. And Smackdown continues its streak of multi-woman matches.

The Big Reveal: Angle Has A Son

The WWE has a PPV coming up this Sunday. I usually like taking three days to talk about PPVs. But the Kurt Angle storyline is my topic for today. I will just cram PPV talk into Wednesday and Friday.

Kurt Angle made his big reveal last night. I actually tuned in right in time to watch it for myself. What would it be? An affair? An alliance with Dixie Carter? The storyline was a draw for me, and I expect a lot of fans tuned in just for this. It turns out Kurt Angle has a son. And that son is Jason Jordan, one of the members of American Alpha.

This reveal was just disappointment built on disappointment. First, this kind of angle is not exciting. It is not energizing. Nexus was a better summer angle. Even CM Punk's pipebomb was more energizing. This kind of angle is just a storyline that will not lead to anything that epic.

The other reason that this is disappointing is that Jason Jordan is the one getting the role. No offense to the guy. He is talented in the ring. But he is not a big deal. He just debuted on the main roster last year. He has not gotten over. His career, despite winning the tag titles on Smackdown, has been mediocre. Even though this storyline, itself, is kind of dull, I feel like it might have meant something more if someone better was involved. This isn't like Jinder Mahal, a lower-midcarder, becoming WWE Champion, but it is the same kind of issue.

Let me go back to the disappointment with the storyline. The storyline is obviously not over. It just started. There are various ways they can go with this. And I still fully expect this to lead to the return of Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. The WWE can run an angle where Kurt Angle shows too much favoritism for his son and Stephanie McMahon returns to put a stop to that. They can run an angle where Triple H had Jason Jordan lie about being Angle's son. But are any of these options really exciting and energizing? Is any likely option exciting and energizing? This is just not a storyline likely to lead to any good big moments from here.

Back to Jason Jordan. This is the end of American Alpha. The WWE needs to stop splitting up so many legitimate tag teams. It is true that the WWE can just toss any two guys together and form a team, but that doesn't always mean they will have a legitimate gimmick that they share. American Alpha already won the tag titles, which is more than you can say for Enzo & Cass, but there was more that the WWE could have done with them. They could have helped the depth in the Smackdown tag division. I feel like splitting all these teams is just lazy booking. It always results in an automatic story and feud and possible PPV match. It is much harder to keep teams together and come up with good uses for them, but I think it is worth it. The alternative is just a bunch of lazy feuds and the tag division getting hurt. Jordan and Gable may not feud now, but they could have just stayed together.

Lastly, how about Kurt Angle? One of the silver linings for this storyline was that it would finally unlock some personality for Kurt Angle. I brought this point up when I previewed that storyline last week. He has just been very boring. And hearing and watching him give that promo on Raw didn't change my mind about him. This is definitely a storyline personal to Kurt Angle and his career. He can give a rub to a younger worker. I am not even going to talk right now about the fact that the WWE is pushing too many new guys too hard right now. Just sticking to Angle, he still looks like a guy smarks would probably boo if they did not respect him so much. Even if he is a face, he is just that kind of face smarks would heckle. Remember when New Day were first faces? That didn't go over well. When is Kurt Angle going to be entertaining? Might that help him deliver better promos? That whole promo on Raw just didn't feel epic. I didn't have high hopes for this storyline. It looks like it will be a flop.

Samoa Joe Vs. Roman Reigns: Who Faces Lesnar At Summerslam?

What do Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns have in common? Both are on Raw. Both are Samoan. Both are in a match tonight to decide who faces Brock Lesnar at Summerslam for the Universal Championship. And both lost their respective matches at Great Balls Of Fire.

And yet, here we are. Wins and losses obviously do not matter. I have seen some fans say that it would make more sense for Bray Wyatt to get the title shot, or at least an opportunity to win the title shot. He didn't lose at the last PPV. What about Finn Balor? He surrendered the title due to injury and never got his rematch. And yet, this is the match they are going with.

I am not going to pretend to be excited for this match or either man potentially facing Brock Lesnar. Samoa Joe had a solid showing against Lesnar. Some say he looked impressive. Don't forget that Lesnar was protected in that match to some degree. And Roman Reigns has been in the ring with Lesnar before. He has not beaten him. You know it is coming sooner or later. But Roman Reigns has not won a PPV match since Wrestlemania. Unless this booking is to imply The Undertaker put a curse on him, it might make it hard for some fans to buy into Roman Reigns right now.

But what is likely to happen is that Braun Strowman comes out for revenge against Roman Reigns tonight. Instead of this leading to Strowman/Reigns and Lesnar/Joe for Summerslam, the same matches you just had at the last PPV, all four guys will fight at Summerslam for the title. Strowman was obviously being built for a match with Lesnar. Some fans might argue Joe deserves another match. Roman Reigns obviously needs something to do, even with his PPV losing streak. Fatal fourway just makes sense.

A Broken Tease

The Hardys lost to Sheamus & Cesaro at the PPV last Sunday. On Raw, they did a promo where they teased returning to that TNA gimmick a lot of smarks love so much. And yet, it seems like the WWE might still not own the rights to use the gimmick to make all that money they would off the merchandise. Nevertheless, there are a few points I want to bring up based on this.

First, this is a good example of how losing a match, and even a feud, does not have to be a burial. If that loss serves a storyline purpose and branches off to something else that fans can get excited over, that is a good thing.

However, I hope the WWE didn't book things the way they did solely to tease the "Broken" gimmick. I have pointed out before that there are no good, fresh face teams to feud with heel Tag Team Champions on Raw right now. The Hardys feuding against The Revival for the tag titles would just have been good booking to give a young, new tag team a good rub. I feel like the WWE just buried the tag division last year by pushing New Day too much with the tag titles. They would have done fine without the tag titles. This time, it would be a case of a gimmick being pushed as a priority over the tag titles. For the sake of putting the attention on The Hardys and the potential gimmick change, the WWE books the tag division in a way that just isn't best. More excitement is still on The Hardys than over whatever is going on with the tag titles. Can't we share the spotlight better? Is it fair that these guys that were relevant over a decade ago are priorities like this in the tag division?

Another issue is the reaction from the live audience that the promo got on Raw. I pointed out on a message board that a lot of the audience just didn't care. Some fans thought I was crazy. Didn't I see the fans doing the "Delete" gesture? Didn't I hear the chants? Yeah, I saw it and I heard it. As I said, a lot of the audience didn't care.

It reminds me of when Samoa Joe debuted a couple months ago on the main roster. One guy on the message board I mentioned made a topic laughing at Samoa Joe not getting a reaction. Other people came in to talk like he got a great reaction. What was the truth? Did Samoa Joe get a reaction? Yes. Was it a great reaction? No.

It is like a lot of fans today only know two responses when it comes to crowd reactions today. You are either getting no reaction or you are getting a great reaction. That is just a dumb way to look at things. Some people will get a great reaction. Some will get a mellow reaction. Some will get no reaction. It might be different every week for the same wrestler. You cannot judge overness based on one reaction to one moment or even one night. You got to understand how much of the audience is reacting.

What was the truth about The Hardy segment? Did they get a reaction? Yes? Was it a great reaction? No. The fan reactions were mellow and did not last that long. The entire audience was definitely not reacting.

Someone I was talking to on that message board actually posted a Youtube clip to show them getting a reaction. Yeah, and it only confirmed for me that the reaction was not great. But the reason I mention this is that I read some of the comments and one that stood out to me was that someone said something along the lines of that 500 TNA fans could give a better reaction than an arena full of fans. And that is exactly my point. The reaction was there, but it was not great.

And why would you expect a great reaction? This was a gimmick from TNA, a company that was nowhere close to the WWE's numbers last year. Yes, The Hardys helped TNA's numbers with this gimmick, but Impact Wrestling wasn't averaging even half a million viewers. A lot of the WWE's audience does not care. If they cared, they would have watched TNA.

Do I believe The Hardys can eventually get epic-level reactions? Yes, if they continue to tease the gimmick, the fad will catch on and grow. And this is without being in smark-heavy arenas. Fans just love fads and things to play along with. This can definitely grow. But let's not overrate how popular this thing is now. It has potential, but the entire WWE audience is not hot for it, and it definitely will not draw much more viewers.

The Kurt Angle Mystery

The WWE typically likes to do a big angle every summer. You might take a look around and wonder where it is right now. The Kurt Angle mystery is it.

The big reveal is supposedly going to happen next week. Who has Kurt Angle been communicating with these past few weeks? There is a lot of speculation over what is going to happen. It will definitely lead to something big. But will it be good and actually help draw?

One of the ideas floating around is that Kurt Angle has been having an affair with Stephanie McMahon. They did interact back in the day in a few storylines. On one hand, it is not out of the question that they would revisit the storyline. It would be an excuse to get Stephanie and Triple H back on TV. On the other hand, that just seems like a terrible storyline for this PG era. The WWE has done some crass things in recent years. But it just doesn't seem like something they should do, and it probably would not lead to anything that would draw. It would just be a crass storyline out of some soap opera. It would be like the drama with The Bellas a few years ago. Wrestling fans hated that. This storyline could be just as bad.

The other idea floating around is something involving Dixie Carter. She has been working with the WWE recently. Whoever thought she would one day become an on-screen character for the WWE? Even if they did an affair angle between Dixie and Kurt Angle, it might be less controversial as Stephanie McMahon being involved. The whole affair direction still isn't something good for this era, but I can leave that alone. The real issue is that the majority of the audience won't know who Dixie Carter is. They won't care. When Eric Bischoff came to the WWE, that was a guy from WCW, a company that was beating the WWE in the ratings war for a number of weeks. Dixie Carter is coming from TNA, a company that has never threatened the WWE, despite being the #2 wrestling promotion. The WWE already has a whole bunch of TNA talent all over the place. Needless to say, it isn't drawing.

If it is anything else than something involving Stephanie McMahon or Dixie Carter, it will likely be something stupid or disappointing. I have already pointed out that angles involving those two individuals with Kurt Angle will likely not be great and not draw. This thing is likely to flop no matter what. Even if wrestling fans love it, the WWE will likely not draw.

I can give the WWE credit for at least giving Kurt Angle a storyline that will likely be personal to him and his career. Kurt Angle has been very lackluster as GM. He just needs to show more personality. This storyline might, at the very least, unlock that for him. For wrestling fans, they can get excited over this storyline possibly leading to a match for Kurt Angle down the line. In this way, even if the storyline itself is bad, it might do some good for Kurt Angle.

Mid-2017 Ratings Review

This will be the last ratings review I do. As usual, I get my numbers from here and here. Some numbers are missing, but you can still get the general idea of how the shows are doing.

Let me start with TNA/GFW/Impact Wrestling/The Company Of A 1000 Names. They are averaging 297,700 viewers so far in 2017. They averaged 310,800 viewers in 2016.

The prediction I had made for TNA was that they could do just as well as they did last year or better. It is not likely that they will do better in 2017. Nevertheless, they can still meet the 300,000 benchmark and come close to as well as they did last year. They have to be consistent with what works and build around that. They have not done a great job at that. The fact that they have gone through so many changes just this year is not good. Losing The Hardys was obviously a part of their ratings not being better than they are, but the overall confusion with the company is also a problem. The GFW thing ended up being a decent angle and has led to the company being rebranded. But they need to not make the same mistakes of the past.

Over to the WWE and Smackdown. They are averaging 1.78 in the ratings. They averaged 1.72 last year, which featured part of the year having Smackdown go live on Tuesdays and be its own brand again. Looking at their viewership numbers, they have regularly been doing over 2 million viewers this year, with one episode doing over 3 million. They have not gotten more viewers than Raw so far in 2017.

Who says ratings are down for everything on TV? Smackdown is doing better than they did last year and will likely finish the year with a better average than last year. This shows that it is still possible for the WWE to improve their numbers if they make proper changes. Most of the changes that have led to better numbers are structural. Changing nights, going live, and just making Smackdown a big deal again has led to improvements. The show does rely heavily on hype. It gets a little annoying at times. Rely on quality feuds, segments, and characters. For example, stop tossing all the women in the same picture and actually build stars. They have been relying too much on all these historic segments recently. Moreover, Smackdown seems too smark-friendly a lot of the time. Most viewers are not going to be entertained by this. Smackdown could be doing even better than they are, but they would have to make some changes that will likely not happen.

Over on Raw, they are averaging 2.12 in the ratings. Last year, it was 2.26 for the annual average. They have averaged over 3 million viewers 17 times so far this year, but will likely not reach that benchmark much for the rest of the year because of football season.

Raw is already below last year's average for the year. Their worst part of the year is coming up soon. There is no way they will avoid doing worst than last year. The annual ratings average has been declining since 2013. Ratings were about even from 2012 (3.0) to 2013 (3.01). 2012 happened to be an election year. Wasn't 2016 an election year? The idea was that ratings were so bad last year because of all the election coverage. You would expect some kind of improvement this year. At the very least, things should at least remain about even. And if the trend of Raw losing about 700,000 viewers from the start of the year to the end of the year continues, they will be in really bad shape.

I talked about how structural changes have helped Smackdown do better than they did last year. The big structural change for Raw is obviously cutting that third hour. It has been around since 2012. It is no coincidence that ratings have been sinking for most of the years since then. Declining is one thing. Declining at a terrible rate is something else. Three hours is just too much. The brand split being back just makes things harder. The WWE has to sign people just for the sake of filler. They are obviously not stars and not draws. And the WWE is terrible at making stars right now. They can probably be more efficient with just two hours. That efficiency would help the workers get over better with the audience.

Outside of cutting the third hour, Raw just needs to clean up how they run the show. Make better booking decisions. They don't need to pander to a smark audience like Smackdown does, but even a casual audience might not care too much for some of the things going on. A guy like Finn Balor should not be demoted so soon. Kurt Angle is lacking a real personality. There is just a lot lacking. A lot of wasted potential.

If Smackdown can be doing better than they did last year and GFW in a position to do just as well as last year, Raw does not need to be doing as poorly as it is. The excuse about no one watching TV anymore does not hold. I do not believe the WWE's ceiling is collapsing just because of TV viewing habits changing. They have issues that they can fix. If they fix them, things can improve in a lot of departments. They can get more viewers. They can get more people coming to shows. They can get more lively people coming to shows. Workers get more over. And the WWE just makes more money without having to work their workers to the bone, raise prices, and all those other things many people don't want.

Should Gail Kim Retire With The Title?

It is no secret that Gail Kim will retire from TNA/GFW this year. And they are having her set her sights on leaving on top. Specifically, will she be able to retire with the company's women's title?

Does Gail Kim deserve it? Some might say that Gail Kim has already had a storybook career in TNA. She was their first KO Champion. She has won the title numerous times. She held that title and the tag titles at the same time. She is the closest thing the company has had to a true centerpiece these last few years. She was the first woman in their Hall of Fame. They have done a lot for her. In return, she helped to develop the respectability that helped the KO division stand out for a number of years and gain a lot of praise from wrestling fans.

Trish Stratus retired in the WWE as Women's Champion. She was not the first Women's Champion. She was not the first centerpiece of the diva era. But if you think Trish deserved that honor of retiring on top, you can argue that Gail Kim also deserves it. Just like Trish Stratus was pushed as the greatest diva of that era, Gail Kim is just as legendary in terms of the KO division.

A couple years ago, Mickie James returned to TNA for one more match. Not only did she win that match, it was a nice moment for her. The way things are going for Mickie James in the WWE, it would not be surprising to see her back in TNA/GFW again. Ignoring that, Gail Kim is obviously a bigger deal in the company's history than Mickie James. If TNA let Mickie James have that moment, they can very well let Gail Kim have a moment to go out as a winner.

Overall, I think they should let Gail Kim retire with the title. There is no woman in the company more deserving. It is a respectful thing to do. If Gail Kim doesn't want to go out with the title, that's up to her. But TNA should want to honor Gail Kim now that she is retiring.

Will GFW continue to push a proper women's division without Gail Kim? They have done it before. I think they have enough women on their roster and free agents out there to supplement things. If they still want to create a centerpiece, which I think they should want to do, they can go with Allie. She knows how to wrestle. She is attractive. She can show personality. And she is going to be 30 in a few months. They can do some good things with her for a number of years.

Last thing to consider, should Gail Kim go back to the WWE? Even for just one match? Even if just in NXT? Some fans want it. I don't think she should. Leave the memories alone. The WWE mistreated her a lot. TNA was the company that was loyal to her. Don't be one of those people that has a huge farewell when they retire, then comes back for more, especially in a rival company. Gail Kim is 40. She was never over in the WWE and she has had some sloppy moments you cannot blame entirely on the WWE. As for coming back just for one match in NXT, what would that accomplish for the WWE? It might be something Triple H does to promote his love for women's wrestling, but there are a ton of women out there that would love to get a chance to shine in the WWE's developmental territory. Asuka has kind of been burying a lot of the division lately. If Gail Kim is going to retire, her final match should just be in TNA, not NXT.

Previewing The Great Balls Of Fire 2017 Main Event Matches

If Brock Lesnar was not gracing us with his presence, Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman would be the main event of this PPV. This is an Ambulance match. This feud has been going on and off all year. It got started at the Royal Rumble in January when Strowman cost Roman Reigns the Universal Championship. It took a break for Reigns to face The Undertaker. It took another break when Strowman was injured. This should be where it ends.

If the WWE still wants Strowman to face Lesnar, you might think that they let him win this match to get momentum. That is not necessary. AJ Styles lost to Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania last year and went on to become #1 contender for the WWE Championship. A PPV loss would not hurt Braun Strowman. Moreover, this being a gimmick match might give some room for a finish that still keeps Strowman strong in a loss. Remember when he had that Dumpster match with Kalisto? Strowman lost that match. Did it matter? No. Reigns, who has not won a PPV match in a while, is likely winning here.

Brock Lesnar finally defends the Universal Championship. Samoa Joe was obviously not meant to have this push a couple weeks ago. He still had unfinished business with Seth Rollins. Due to injuries back then, this is the title feud we are getting.

How has the WWE done in developing this guy that the mainstream casual audience just saw debut a couple months ago? Wrestling fans know who Joe is. But a lot of people don't. And he has not had the greatest few months prior to this push. He debuted before Wrestlemania and didn't even get on the card. He lost to Seth Rollins. All of a sudden, big push against Brock Lesnar for Raw's top title.

Not surprisingly, they have booked him as a beast. They have to if they want people to buy into this match. Some fans are loving it. It is not hard to please these kind of fans. It's just booking. It helps that Lesnar has also looked weak to put over Joe. I am not saying Samoa Joe does not have a "tough guy" presence, but how the WWE has presented him has really helped.

On the other side of that, I have seen fans say that Lesnar looks like a wussy. Some have used more colorful language than that. That is obviously a side effect of how the WWE has booked this feud. But could this hurt some of Lesnar's luster? I think it is possible to create a feud without one side having to look weak for the benefit of the other. Just have Lesnar and Joe spend a few weeks attacking anyone but each other. Joe can go after Heyman, like he has. Joe can also wrestle regularly and pick up wins against top guys, like he has. Lesnar can come in and F5 someone that tries to confront him, like Big Show. Joe and Lesnar can then have a face off, but not actually get physical yet. On the last Raw before the PPV, they finally brawl and have to be pulled apart or brawl to the back, leaving no clear winner to the fight. This way, Lesnar does not have to look too weak.

Should Samoa Joe win? I am not talking about whether he is likely to win. Does he deserve to win the title from Brock Lesnar here? No. All those fans in love with how he looks need to realize it is mainly thanks to booking. If I felt like Samoa Joe was really breaking into his own here as something special, I would say he does deserve to be the guy that beats Brock Lesnar. Unlike the last time Lesnar lost the title, there is no briefcase that is going to come into play here to save him from taking the pin or submission himself. The guy that ends this title reign might just get a big rub. Samoa Joe does not look like he deserves that.

Will Joe win? Probably not. This is not a main PPV. This is Lesnar's first title defense. Samoa Joe was just filling in for Strowman. Signs just point to Lesnar retaining.

Last thing to consider, the story of this match. Some fans are dreading that Samoa Joe will get squashed. Considering that Lesnar has helped Joe look strong in this feud, I don't think it will be the worst thing in the world. This should not be a match where Samoa Joe dominates for 99% of the match and Lesnar hits a desperation F5 for the win. That would just kill Lesnar's mystique. He's not exactly a grand draw for the WWE, but if they make him look that bad in this match, he just becomes like Ronda Rousey. He just won't be that big of a deal anymore. The match should last about 5 minutes. Let Joe look good to start out, but then have Lesnar bounce back with his usual stuff and win it.  

Previewing The Great Balls Of Fire 2017 Midcard Matches

Neville defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa. If Austin Aries couldn't win the title in a million tries, Neville might as well retain here.

Cass takes on Enzo. This was an elaborate storyline. That is a good thing. But they broke up one of the best face teams they had on Raw. That is a bad thing. Cass should be winning this feud, but how long will the feud last? Will the WWE take this to Summerslam? I will say Cass wins this Sunday.

The Hardys get a rematch for the tag titles against Sheamus & Cesaro. This time, it will be a 30-minute Ironman Match. The WWE has really forced this rivalry by extending it like they have and including so many gimmick matches. Have to kill time. Not too many tag teams, especially if the WWE keeps killing them off. Are we really supposed to eventually buy into Titus & Apollo as contenders for the tag titles? Rhyno & Heath Slater are not that interesting anymore. If the heels retain here, what do they move on to? If the faces regain the titles, after retaining against Sheamus & Cesaro to end the feud, they can move on to The Revival. Those guys look terrible right now. That is why I believe The Hardys should be getting the titles back, even though the idea of these two getting so many title runs in just a few months back leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Dean Ambrose gets his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship against Miz. Why does Miz get so many title reigns? Contrary to what fans might chant, no, he does not deserve it. This is his third run with the Intercontinental Championship in the last year. Dean Ambrose doesn't exactly need the title back. And since the WWE has invested a lot in The Miz recently, he is probably keeping the title.

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt in an overrated feud. They probably would have gotten a better story out of Balor/Wyatt. Seth Rollins will win this feud against Bray Wyatt. Bray is just a jobber to the stars. The question is whether this will be an extended feud or just a 1-PPV thing. If it is extended, they might give Bray Wyatt the win here to give him momentum. If it is a short feud, Rollins wins and Bray can move on to Finn Balor. I will say Rollins wins.

Previewing The Great Balls Of Fire 2017 Women's Match

It will be Sasha Banks getting a title shot against Alexa Bliss. She won an over-hyped gauntlet match on Raw last week. It is not surprising that Sasha Banks is getting this push, but I do not like how we got here.

They could easily have had the gauntlet match two weeks prior to when they actually had it. Why does it matter? Because then they could have time to build a good feud between Sasha and Alexa heading into the PPV this Sunday. More importantly, the other women in the division would then be free to develop their own storylines in the remaining weeks, whether it leads to a match at Great Balls Of Fire or not.

Another reason they should have done this sooner is the fact that things were just a mess prior to Sasha Banks just getting the title shot. The first Raw after Alexa moved on from Bayley, it looked like they were starting some angle involving Mickie James, Dana Brooke, and Nia Jax all having issues with Alexa Bliss. Week after that, Sasha Banks becomes more involved and Emma returns. Alexa Bliss walks away from her heel partners in a match that night, Emma and Nia. You now might start thinking that might be a story they would develop. Week after that, Emma comes out to confront Alexa Bliss, but then ends up shrugging off her issues with her. Bayley, who had been mostly irrelevant during this time, runs out to save the day during a brawl. You have just had multiple angles being developed every week and it seems a lot of it has been killed off when the WWE just gave the title shot to Sasha Banks. Terrible feud development.

I was all for Sasha Banks vs. Alexa Bliss since before Bayley lost her rematch. I anticipated the WWE going in this direction. But with the way the WWE handled things all these weeks, it just doesn't feel like something to become creatively invested in. I already mentioned all the other storylines that were brewing. Creatively, some fans might have started to get excited for Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax vs. Mickie James vs. Dana Brooke at one point, or some other multi-woman match. I am not a fan of too many multi-women matches, but it just feels like that is what the WWE should have done here. That would have somewhat justified the sloppy developments in the Raw women's division all these weeks. All these women have an issue with Alexa Bliss. All these women have to watch their backs with Nia Jax. This situation just calls for a multi-woman match. To just kill that off two weeks prior to the PPV to go with a singles match involving Alexa defending against a woman that has not been properly developed creatively in this picture all these weeks seems terrible. Not only might it be hard for some fans to care about, it is completely unfair to the majority of Raw's women. They lose out on proper creative development.

Alexa Bliss will likely retain here. This is not a one-PPV feud, especially with the rushed job it has had. Sasha Banks will likely win the title at Summerslam.

Lana Gets Another Shot

The Smackdown women's division has just become a saga in recent weeks. And I don't mean that in a good way. They are just stuck in the same situation and keep making a big deal out of it.

I already pointed out how Lana took issue to how her match ended on Smackdown last week against Naomi for the title. Daniel Bryan has granted her another rematch for the title. It will happen tomorrow on Smackdown.

Rematches happen, but this is kind of ridiculous. Should fans really get excited for PPV matches when they get rematches like this? Naomi should have already moved on to someone else. While Lana continues to get title shots, almost all the other women of Smackdown are stuck with just one thing to do. And that is be upset about Carmella and James Ellsworth breaking rules to win the briefcase. That is another saga I will not even get into right now. Those women just need to move on to something new. Less complaining, more entertaining. Less repeating what happened two weeks ago, more freshness.

Should Lana win the title here? If they don't let her have it, what was really the point of all this? To bring Rusev back? I am sure they could have came up with another angle to do that. Prolonging this feud has just not been good. And Naomi has a fancier title belt right now, so that might make you think that she doesn't lose it. I felt like Lana might win the first time. I went with Naomi the second. And I will go back to Lana this time.