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 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.

What About Baron Corbin?

There have been a lot of changes on the roster just this month. You have had returns, debuts from NXT, and the trades recently. With that has come some questionable pushes and the failure to push some people properly that might deserve it. I want to talk about another person being underutilized today.

Just a month ago, Baron Corbin was involved in a feud for the Intercontinental Championship with Dean Ambrose. I would have had him win the title at Wrestlemania. That didn't happen. Okay, no problem, just let the feud continue and he will eventually win it. The feud did continue, but then Dean Ambrose got sent to Raw and Baron Corbin lost any opportunity to get the title.

I don't think he can be the next face of the company, but he can be a solid midcarder right now. Midcarders can really help the WWE right now. The answer isn't to bring back guys like Shelton Benjamin and take guys from Impact Wrestling. There are midcarders on the roster now that can be used much better. Baron Corbin is one of them.

He is higher on the ladder than Jinder Mahal, but he was not even in that match last week to decide a new #1 contender. Not only would I have put him in, but if the WWE wants to give a big push to a new guy so much, it should have been in. Instead, he has just been a supporting player in recent weeks in the feud between AJ Styles and Kevin Owens.

The WWE just seems to be in one of those periods where midcarders are not doing well in the midcard. Kevin Owens, a former Universal Champion, is holding one midcard title. He won it from a guy with some World titles to his name, Chris Jericho. Jericho won it from Roman Reigns, a former WWE Champion. AJ Styles, a former WWE Champion, is feuding with Owens now. With the other midcard title, Dean Ambrose, Miz, and Dolph Ziggler are the only really relevant names in recent months. It might be time to let the pure midcarders shine again.

Wrestlemania 33 Preview: Part 3

Today goes to the Smackdown matches. I will talk about Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt on Friday.

Let me start with the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. It is not Smackdown exclusive, but I will include it here. Big Show is in this. His match with Shaq is not happening. That is sad for Big Show and too bad for the WWE. This match would have been a draw. Even if the actual match was terrible, the hype would get mainstream attention, especially during NBA season, and it would draw. The WWE really has no great feuds likely to draw big this year. As for who wins this, it should be either Braun Strowman or Luke Harper. Both these guys had a lot of interest on them this Wrestlemania season. Many fans might see it as a little disappointing that neither are doing anything more important, I will say Braun Strowman wins.

Dean Ambrose defends the Intercontinental Championship against Baron Corbin. An actual singles match for the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania? I never thought I would see that again. I am not surprised to see Corbin getting this push, and I expect him to win. But I just feel it should have been Dolph Ziggler in the position Dean Ambrose is currently in. Ziggler had so much momentum when he won the title a few months ago. The WWE ruined that for no good reason and Ziggler is stuck with mediocrity for Wrestlemania. They ruined him. I am not saying it was intentional. They had planted the seeds for a heel turn since his WWE Championship feud with Dean Ambrose, but they should not have gone through with it. Fans have just not reacted to it very well. It should be Ziggler dropping the title to Baron Corbin. Free up Dean Ambrose for a better feud.

John Cena and Nikki Bella take on Miz and Maryse. Before I talk about what this match means for some of the performers, there is speculation that Cena might propose to Nikki after they win. I never thought this would be something I would preview for a match. It would be a huge Wrestlemania moment, but I will just leave that alone. If it happens, it happens.

What does this feud mean for Nikki Bella? This is a periphery angle. It is on the periphery of the title scene. The WWE created all their successful stars during the diva era through the periphery. The only woman during the previous era to get very over without proper periphery angles was Mickie James, and that was not because the WWE wanted it. But I would say this push is once again showing why so many women became stars in the periphery back in the day. Nikki Bella is looking good. She is getting a rub from one of the top stars in the company. She is knocking men around, even if they are jobbers. She is guaranteed a spot on the Wrestlemania card that is not on the pre-show. All these elaborate segments. Big Wrestlemania moment. This is how you push a woman as something special. I wish Mickie James had gotten these type of pushes back in the day, or even now.

Compare it to the mess that is the Smackdown Women's Championship match. It's Alexa Bliss vs. everyone. Naomi just returned. There might still be more women in this match. No one has gotten proper development here. It is just a cluster. This match is on the pre-show and it deserves to be on the pre-show. That is not an insult to these women. That is an insult towards how the WWE has handled the title picture here. No one should feel bad for Nikki Bella not being in this match. She is in a better place.

Does she deserve it? I think so. The WWE put a lot of work into her to make her into a star. She is not absolutely terrible in the ring. She is more over than some fans seem to want to admit. And since the WWE needs more women properly pushed as stars that can get over beyond just the wrestling fans, they should push her well.

What does this feud mean for John Cena? I will say that I feel Cena deserves better than this. When you think of all the big feuds they could have had this Wrestlemania season, Cena vs. The Undertaker was one. Or Cena could have continued his feud with AJ Styles to some sort of gimmick match at Wrestlemania. Or turn Ambrose heel and have him feud with Cena. I already said Dolph Ziggler should be in the spot Ambrose is in. Or a feud with Miz that isn't also about the women in their corner. John Cena will likely win this match, but I feel the feud is better for Nikki Bella than John Cena.

Lastly, AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon. This is another match that really does not need to happen. AJ Styles should be doing better than this. And Shane McMahon does not need to be wrestling every year. Yes, welcome back. You've been gone a long time. That doesn't mean you need to wrestle every Wrestlemania. Whether it is the WWE wanting Shane to wrestle because they think it would draw or it is an ego thing for Shane wanting to go out there and sacrifice his body for cheers and respect, just ease it down. Save it for special occasions, which will hopefully not be forced.

And that is what this feud is, forced. Someone has issues with an authority figure, so they have a match. Stephanie McMahon has had issues with Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Bayley in recent years. No matches ever came of it. You can run down the list of times a wrestler and authority figure have had issues and not wrestled each other. The WWE tried to force this feud through clumsy booking to make it seem like AJ Styles had a heated reason to want to destroy Shane McMahon. Yeah, some nice segments here and there, but it was still forced and not organic. Ignoring the botched battle royal result, AJ Styles wins a match to get a title shot at Wrestlemania, but then the WWE makes him put it on the line against Orton? How often does this happen? Usually, they just make a triple threat or some other situation where both guys get title shots. You would think that is what face authority figures would do. No, the WWE went with clumsy booking to sell this feud. The development has not been smooth.

What should AJ Styles be doing? As I said, he could still be feuding with Cena. And maybe it should have been for the WWE Championship. I have said before that I don't think Orton/Wyatt needs to be for the title. Why not send one of the best feuds of the last few months to Wrestlemania? Or they could have done Styles vs. The Undertaker.  Even Styles vs. Luke Harper might have been good, since it would have given Harper something meaningful and would have been a very good match. There were options.

Who wins? AJ Styles has still yet to win at Wrestlemania. He should have won last year. This should be the year. Shane McMahon does not need the win. As for match quality, Shane McMahon does have a history of going big in big matches. Let's just hope he doesn't injure himself.

Previewing Smackdown's Wild Card Finals

Some fans have said that tonight's Smackdown is like a PPV. I am all for Smackdown having special episodes, but here is another weird name to go with. In any case, I will be looking at the announced title matches. I will not talk about John Cena returning.

The tag titles are on the line. With Zack Ryder injured, the WWE has decided to go with three teams challenging The Wyatts. The Usos, American Alpha, and Rhyno & Heath Slater are getting the shot. What will decide who wins is whether or not the WWE is ready to go anywhere with the storyline between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. They might just carry this story all the way to Wrestlemania. I doubt Orton turns on Bray Wyatt tonight. I also doubt they do anything to split Luke Harper from Bray Wyatt, which is another point you can expect this storyline to reach. Until they get to all that, the tag titles are likely not going anywhere. The Wyatts retain.

Alexa Bliss defends the Smackdown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. Common sense might say that Alexa Bliss retains. She just won the title not too long ago. Becky Lynch seems to have the momentum heading into this match. But you can never tell these days with how the WWE treats title reigns. Everything is about history, whether that means long title reigns or juggling titles around to inflate the number of reigns. If they want this special episode of Smackdown to have a title change, I feel like this is the one that changes hands. But I will say Alexa Bliss retains.

AJ Styles is back in the ring after his injury and making up for lost time. He knocked off James Ellsworth last week. Tonight, he faces Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. Baron Corbin? Where did he come from? I am all for other people on the card getting title pushes, and it looked like they were building Corbin up for a push, but the build up for this match just feels awkward. A lot of people praise Smackdown's writing and booking, but this show is still far from perfect. On the other hand, I don't mind little things like this now and then to shake things up. I just hope that is what they are doing. Don't make this kind of booking the norm. This is not how you build proper feuds. In just the few weeks since moving on from Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles has had to deal with James Ellsworth, Dolph Ziggler, and now Baron Corbin. Is it all filler? Or are they building something here? Oh, and as for who wins, AJ Styles.

Previewing The TLC 2016 Undercard

Before I talk about the men's matches, let me update something I talked about yesterday. When talking about the women's matches, I said Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch should have a stipulation for TLC. Later that day on Smackdown, they made it a tables match. Good move. It still feels like Smackdown needs to catch up with Raw's women's division, but this is a start.

Moving on to the men's matches, Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin is a feud I like. It is a non-title midcard feud. No former World Champions involved. It is pure midcarder vs. midcarder. I like how it has been treated these past few weeks. And it is a chairs match. The WWE could use good midcard feuds outside the title picture. As for who wins, Corbin is the one that seems to be on the rise.

Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship back to The Miz a few weeks ago and gets a rematch. It is a ladder match. I hate how the WWE has been tossing certain titles around recently. Remember how much emotion there was in Ziggler's title hunt these last few months. Then there was the big payoff when he finally won the Intercontinental Championship. You can't toss the title around like this and expect the fans to always be as emotionally involved. I was all for Ziggler heading into Survivor Series to defend against Sami Zayn. That did not happen. Now what? Toss the title back on Ziggler. That seems like what the WWE might do, but I don't like it. Build up your Champions to look good before losing the title. I don't mean that everyone needs to have a title reign of doom like New Day, but some of these title reigns just don't get a chance to get established before it comes to an end, and ending at the hands of the person that was just beaten for the title. I am not saying this kind of booking should never be done. You don't want to become formulaic, but this is just too much. I don't think it really adds anything to the feud or storyline. The WWE is just forcing things to be extended because of the brand split. Anyway, I would say Ziggler gets back the title and eventually drops it off to Baron Corbin.

The tag titles will be decided when Heath Slater and Rhyno defend against Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. Bray Wyatt has been on the main roster for years and has never won a title. If he wins it here, however, it will be more about furthering a storyline than really putting him over. When will Randy Orton strike and turn on Bray Wyatt? One possibility is obviously to have Orton cost Wyatt the tag titles this Sunday. I do not think that is the way things will go. Have Orton help Wyatt win the tag titles, further proving his loyalty to him. Once Wyatt is manipulated to truly think he and Orton are partners, then Orton strikes. This storyline has not been set up as smoothly as it could have, but there is still potential to do something interesting heading forward.

Final No Mercy 2016 Preview

Jack Swagger jumped ship to Smackdown and finds himself in a feud with Baron Corbin. This will be the pre-show match for No Mercy. Both of these guys have potential, but Corbin really needs to look a little better in his rookie year. Let him win this.

The tag titles will be defended when Heath Slater & Rhyno face The Usos. Normally, I would say that the person or team that just won a title will obviously retain so soon after the win. But the smart thing to do would be to give the titles to The Usos. Giving the titles to Slater & Rhyno was not a mistake. That angle involving Heath Slater was the best thing going for a while. It deserved the tag titles. But the WWE should not make the same mistake here that they have made with New Day. A lot of teams that had momentum and could have used the tag titles for their own credibility and to create fresher feuds were passed up so New Day can still hold the titles. Heath Slater had his moment. Rhyno is over 40 and got to make history in the wrestling business one more time. The Usos were stale as faces for a while, but have been refreshed since turning heel. There is also the fact that American Alpha is a project the WWE is working on and a feud between them and The Usos might just be a better title feud. It's not like Slater & Rhyno just won the titles and are dropping them immediately. Not even counting house shows, they had a successful title defense on Smackdown against The Ascension. It would be no tragedy if The Usos won, especially while they still had the freshness.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Miz has everyone guessing. I have seen speculation and rumors for every possibility. Some say this feud is obviously building up to Ziggler getting his moment and winning the Intercontinental Championship. Some say Ziggler is really leaving the WWE. Some say he is just taking a break and will be repackaged when he returns. Remember when there was all this speculation and excitement for CM Punk when he got his big push? Would he win the title? Would he leave the WWE with it? That was for the WWE Championship. This is for the Intercontinental Championship. I still feel it is a waste to spend all this emotion just for a midcard title Ziggler has held multiple times. He's not breaking the glass ceiling here. But this has still become a very heated feud. Many fans might say that this is classic booking. You build a heel up to look terrible, the face gets his revenge, and everyone is happy. I would rather see Ziggler lose. I don't hate Ziggler. I don't love Miz. But I just feel Ziggler winning would be kind of dull, and for the same reason I just gave. This is just a midcard version of what they did with CM Punk. It is not as exciting. The WWE has tried to make it heated with these big segments, all the emotion, and everything else, but I just don't care for it as much as others. I would have Miz retain. The WWE, however, might have Ziggler win.

Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt has been one of the more enjoyable feuds for me. That is obviously not the popular smark opinion. Them fans love them some complainin'! If you are a smark and love those "Reality Era" storylines that feature all that complaining and drama based off real events, that's you. Don't mean to offend anyone, but I even joke about myself sometimes, so people should know I am not just being a jerk. I have seen some fans irritated by this feud because it doesn't make sense. They are trying too hard to read into the segments. Why does it need to make sense? The Hardys have been having success these last few months off of a gimmick leading to matches that don't always make sense. Some fans want Bray Wyatt to bring up the history he and Randy Orton have. Orton had punted Bray Wyatt back when he was still Husky Harris. Those fans seem to want this feud to just be Wyatt complaining about Orton doing that to him. I am glad the writers have not gone in that direction. Just feed off of Bray's gimmick. I love that they are having Orton play the same games. Is it possible to still have an intriguing storyline that is not tied to some real-life drama? Here's one that has been doing a pretty good job. As for who wins, Randy Orton has still not won a PPV match in a year. Bray Wyatt has also not had the best win-loss record this year, but he has been on the winning side of some PPV matches. Let Orton finally win a PPV match here. Either way, the feud might likely continue. And smarks might finally see the storyline turn more real and Bray mention getting that punt years ago. Until then, it has been my favorite current storyline.

The WWE Championship will be on the line when AJ Styles defends against John Cena and Dean Ambrose. This feud seems pretty routine. There have been some heated promos. You've seen that a lot these days. I already pointed out that these kind of storylines and segments just don't do it for me. Cena has stuff to do outside the WWE. I hear Ambrose is taking time off to make another movie for the WWE. AJ Styles just won the title a few weeks ago. No need to take it off him so soon. Just to keep talking about this match a little more, who takes the pin? A lot of people are saying Ambrose is just in the match to get pinned. It just seems like this feud will not end with AJ Styles looking so good against Cena. I would say Ambrose does take the pin, leaving Styles/Cena to eventually continue their feud. Cena might be the guy to win the title from Styles at Wrestlemania next year.

Previewing The Money In The Bank 2016 Undercard Matches

Titus O'Neil gets a shot at the United States Championship. Some people might question whether or not he even deserves this push against Rusev. It is likely he is just being used as fodder for Rusev. Nevertheless, it is nice to see Titus still getting something meaningful to do on TV after that incident a few months ago. Rusev retains here.

The tag titles match seems interesting. New Day defends against The Club, The Vaudevillains, and Enzo & Cass. But this should really boil down to two teams. It will either be New Day retaining or The Club getting the titles. If New Day retains here, the WWE might as well head towards these guys breaking the record for longest reign with the tag titles, or at least make an angle out of them possibly doing it. The Club, however, can really use that credibility from winning the titles. The commentators keep on putting over how dominant these guys are and whatever else. Show it, don't just say it. So far, these guys have not looked as impactful as Nexus, The Shield, and other such groups. They don't really take over the show like the NWO did in WCW. Honestly, it is pretty lame. Wrestling fans are eating these guys up because they are familiar with their work prior to the WWE. I would like to see more from them in the WWE, and I think there are a lot of other viewers that share that same belief. I would give them the titles.

I am going to lump Apollo Crews vs. Sheamus and Baron Corbin vs. Dolph Ziggler together. The new guys should be beating the veterans. Neither of the two new guys have been too stellar so far, but they have potential and bad feud development could hurt them. At least they are getting feuds. It is better than the WWE just giving a new debut a random win streak without an actual feud. Crews and Corbin win their respective matches.

Baron Corbin Vs. Dolph Ziggler: When Will It End?

The issues between Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin continue. This feud should have ended already. I have not come across anyone that is that interested in this feud. It doesn't even matter who wins this feud, it should just end.

Of course, I do have to give the WWE credit for one thing. This is a midcard feud where no title is on the line. There was a time when the WWE was pretty bad at developing feuds without any titles involved. If this was just a feud that lasted a month or two to help introduce Baron Corbin to the main roster audience, that would be fine. But they just should have moved on already. The actual story here is not that interesting. It is just a feud that won't end.

What could Baron Corbin have been doing instead? A midcard title feud would have been out of the question. Heels hold the two midcard singles titles. Or how about have both Corbin and Ziggler feud against Miz or Rusev? I don't want to see Ziggler and Corbin facing each other anymore in any way. They could have plugged Corbin into Money in the Bank. If there weren't so many guys tied into that match, one of them might be a fresh feud for Corbin. The WWE could have plugged Kalisto into Money in the Bank and have Cesaro feud with Corbin. Or have Corbin feud with Kalisto, who just lost the United States Championship not that long ago and should not be made to look irrelevant so soon. There definitely are possibilities for a new feud for Corbin.

What about Ziggler? Could the former Mr. Money in the Bank not find his way into this year's ladder match for the briefcase? The WWE could have put him there. Would fans have been more interested in Ziggler vs. Rusev than Rusev vs. Titus? There definitely is a story between Ziggler and Rusev, as well as Lana. As long as the WWE didn't push the same story they did last year, I doubt fans would hate these two guys feuding against each other again. Again, there are possibilities for Ziggler besides Corbin.

Unless the WWE has an idea to freshen this feud, it was just pointless to continue it. Corbin should be working with other guys. Ziggler has the credibility and potential to deserve better than this. These two continuing to work against each other for this long really isn't helping either of them.

How Goes Things For Baron Corbin?

One of the debuts this year from NXT is Baron Corbin. He won this year's Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Don't make too much of that. No huge push has been associated with that win. But it is still a nice thing to do yearly. Back to Corbin, how goes things for him since his Wrestlemania moment?

He has been feuding with Dolph Ziggler. They have traded wins already. That kind of kills some of the hype for Corbin. Remember the last fresh NXT debut to feud with Dolph Ziggler? Tyler Breeze hasn't been doing too well since that. I am not saying Dolph Ziggler buries people. But I just find it hard to get excited for this feud. I am not saying the WWE needs to put Corbin in a title feud for him to be interesting, but this feud against Ziggler just doesn't feel that fresh. I feel like they just did this thing a few months ago with Ziggler and Breeze. There may be a few differences, like Summer Rae not involved in the current feud, but it still feels like the same feud. Ziggler vs. NXT call-up. It might have been fresher to have Corbin feud with any other available face. The issue isn't even whether or not he loses so soon after his debut. Just give him someone else to feud with.

How far will Corbin go? I can picture him winning a midcard title one day. I do not think he will end up exactly like Tyler Breeze. The WWE has shown some signs of interest in him since his debut. They can just do better. A little win streak might have been nice. As I said, however, he just really needs some fresher guys to feud with. Then they can move him up the card and give him a title reign.

What about overness? Like everyone that gets called up these days, Baron Corbin had the opportunity to get over with vocal wrestling fans that follow NXT. A lot of these fans don't seem to have been too impressed by him for a while during his time in NXT. But he has shown signs of improvement. How about connecting with the wider audience? They still matter, right? I don't think this guy has what it takes to stand out on his own. That's where proper booking comes in. If the WWE books him right, I think he can get over with the gimmick he has. Time will tell how that works out.