Assorted Thoughts On 6/2/14 Raw

You have your turn. Seth Rollins turned on The Shield and joined Evolution. I am glad they did not drag this on for weeks. This feud was really getting stale. Batista had quit earlier in the show. That opened up the question of whether or not they would replace him to continue the feud against The Shield. I was thinking Cody Rhodes might end up as the new member of Evolution. When Seth Rollins went out to get those chairs, his possible turn entered my mind. A lot of fans seem upset about it. The Shield would have broken up sooner or later. Let's see how it plays out.

Is John Cena ready to be inserted back into title matters? I had said just yesterday that I didn't feel the storyline between Cena and Wyatt got proper closure. On Raw, Cena got involved in the issues between Stephanie McMahon and Daniel Bryan. Daniel Bryan's injury leading to Cena being forced back into the title picture would be a believable excuse to not continue his feud against Wyatt. Could go either way. Bray Wyatt is returning on Smackdown this week. If the feud is going to continue, it will probably be brought up there.

Rusev had this elaborate segment on Raw. It just seemed totally pointless. I was waiting to see if anyone would interrupt him. If Rusev had beaten a better opponent than Big E or had beaten Big E in a feud that had been developed a lot better, I could understand that segment they had for him. Not the case. This shows that this gimmick does have potential. They can make up segments like they had last night. They can hype this guy to be a big deal. But the feud development for Rusev needs to be a lot better than this. That is how you make him into something that people won't view as simply overrated. Make him into a strong heel.

Cena/Wyatt & Evolution/Shield: Is It Over?

John Cena and Bray Wyatt had a brutal Last Man Standing match at Payback. Cena won. Was that the rubber match that ends it? Cena has beaten Bray Wyatt twice now. That could very well be the end of it.

I do not think it is over. I do not think it should be over. Not that way. I wish it would end, but I don't feel it is the right way to end it. Cena beat Bray Wyatt in a match that very well could be seen as the final chapter to a feud. Problem is, I do not see it as the final chapter to the storyline. I have been saying for months that there was a storyline to this feud that would impact the matches and the overall feud. How does Bray Wyatt losing that match really end the storyline? He had the whole world in his hands. He had turned Cena's fans against him. He had the children helping him to beat Cena. This feud cannot simply end with The Usos helping Cena. It would make storyline sense for this to end with the children once again standing by Cena's side. Makes you want to roll your eyes, I know, but that is the kind of thing you would expect to end this storyline. If they do walk away from Cena/Wyatt now, it would have made all that development they had before seem pointless.

Evolution does not look like Evolution. And I'm not talking about Batista's ring gear at Payback. Evolution got swept at Payback against The Shield. Evolution looks pathetic right now. This is becoming a feud where I am actually hoping for the heels to win. Yes, I am more of a fan of Evolution than I am of The Shield, but that is not the reason I want to see it. Stephanie McMahon has done such a great job terrorizing Daniel Bryan, I want to see her get what she deserves. And I actually like Stephanie McMahon. This feud has not been developed right to make me want to see The Shield win the feud.

Is it over? I don't think so. Where do they go from here? More weekly brawls? That was getting stale even before Payback. They need to do some real storyline development now. Insert someone else into the mix. Have a turn. Make a stipulation where the losing team in the next encounter has to disband. I would really like to see that last idea. Evolution can finally win and The Shield can disband somewhat amicably. And that can still branch off to some of the members feuding against the members of Evolution in singles feuds. They cannot keep The Shield together forever and keep handing them all these big wins. Where are they going to go with it? This feud against Evolution is pretty much the top of the mountain as a faction. The split should be coming soon.

The Shield Vs. Evolution At Payback

Not surprisingly, the feud between The Shield and Evolution will continue to another PPV. They definitely put on a great match at Extreme Rules. Many fans were also happy that the young team won. WWE building stars. And this feud definitely had a fresh feel to it when Evolution came back together and it first started. That is pretty much all the good stuff I can say about it.

It has gotten pretty dry. They just attack each other every week. The Authority sent out a bunch of heels to attack The Shield last week, but they had done that kind of thing before. The development has just gotten very boring.

And Evolution does not feel like Evolution. It isn't just because Ric Flair isn't with them. I'll get to that in a moment. When Evolution was first formed, they just gave off this vibe like they were elites. They held so many titles. They had Ric Flair to give them a rub. They went out there like they were the top guys. Now, this is just like gang warfare. It is like a bunch of thugs fighting a bunch of thugs. That elite feel isn't in the group anymore. I know this isn't about making Evolution look good. The Shield deserve to look good. Nevertheless, I feel making Evolution look more like the top dogs they once were would make this feud more interesting and give The Shield something better to work against.

What could the WWE possibly do to make this feud better? Let me give one idea. Go back to Ric Flair. Get him more involved. Make him a wildcard in this feud. He came back before Extreme Rules for a meaningless vote of confidence for The Shield. A lot of fans were anticipating Ric Flair getting more involved in this feud. It hasn't happened. They can still make it happen for Payback. How can you have Flair come back that night, get slightly involved, and not follow up at all on that point? It really does make his part in that segment seem trivial. I would like to have confidence that the WWE will not leave that storyline thread hanging like that. Potential right there to make this interesting again.

Let me change topics. The WWE stock had a huge drop at the end of last week. There were a few factors why. Let me just focus on one interesting development. The WWE Network is hurting the company right now. They will need at least 1.3 million subscribers now to compensate for losses.You can read an article about it here. The goal everyone was talking about was originally a million by the end of the year. That will still lead to a loss for the company. People are saying that the WWE will get 1.3 million in this country or that country alone. Okay. But what if the WWE was already anticipating those results? The WWE was thinking 1 million by the end of this year. Even if they do get that, they still lost money. When they go international, they will definitely get more subscribers. But what if they were anticipating a certain amount and the real number comes in lower than expectations or unexpected obstacles pop up? That is what has spelled doom for the WWE so far. And you still have to wonder how many will drop their subscription when 6 months end. To put it simply, recent developments are showing the WWE Network was not a great move. Will the WWE be able to take these short-term losses and turn them into long-term profit?

Extreme Rules 2014: Looking At The Main Matches

How can Daniel Bryan possibly overcome these odds? That is the question you usually ask for John Cena. I think it applies to the storyline you have with Daniel Bryan right now. He has to defend his WWE title against monster Kane. Daniel Bryan has an injured neck. Kane has been playing mind games by going after Daniel Bryan's wife, Brie Bella. And in a match where anything goes, that just seems to favor Kane even more.

Daniel Bryan should be retaining here. This title reign has already lasted longer than what they did with him at the end of last year, but there is no reason to cut this run that short. Even if they did, it's obvious Daniel Bryan will get it back again soon. This does really feel like a feud that should go on beyond this Sunday. A crippled Daniel Bryan beating Kane and Kane losing all that momentum so fast would just be bad.

Let me talk about what this storyline development has meant for the diva division. Brie Bella is getting a huge periphery angle. This is the best use she has ever had. She held the Diva's Championship before, but the reign was mediocre. They were  not actually pushing her as the centerpiece. This is a top-tier periphery angle right here. And what about Paige? She was facing Brie Bella when Kane came out for her. Reminded me of Eve being involved in that feud against Kane and Cena a few years back. Beth Phoenix had a match with Eve. Kane came out after that match to get Eve. Same vibe here. Paige is in Beth's place. Brie is in Eve's place. And Kane is still Kane. Will this lead to Stephanie McMahon vs. Brie Bella? That would be interesting.

If it isn't John Cena, it's usually Triple H. Evolution is trumping title matters right now. Evolution vs. The Shield looks to be getting the development to be the main event of Extreme Rules. Yeah, you do have 3 multi-time World Champions, not to mention the return of Ric Flair. It is a good excuse to not feature Daniel Bryan in the top spot, but it isn't a great sign for what they might do with him after this PPV. Holding that title does not look like it has made him an A+ player at all.

The Shield have all the momentum right now. It seems obvious that Evolution will be winning this match. No need to complain. The feud will continue and you will likely get The Shield winning a big match down the line. The wildcard will be Ric Flair. Fans are already anticipating Ric Flair turning on The Shield and costing them the match. It's supposed to be a swerve, but it is the kind of swerve many have gotten used to seeing. I don't care. I like Ric Flair. I'm looking forward to the expected swerve.

Being completely honest, the storyline between John Cena and Bray Wyatt interests me more than anything else. Not necessarily because I find it entertaining. I'm just interested in seeing how they can make it work. I had said that the WWE might have an issue on their hands with fans reacting the way they would like them to so that they may sell that Bray Wyatt is brainwashing them. Some nights, it's there. Other nights, Bray looks bad. How about bringing in people to react the way you want them to? That's what the WWE did. And they took it to another level. Children. They brought in a choir of children to put over Bray Wyatt's power to brainwash. The WWE really went all out. It was creepy. That was what they were aiming for. Did they go too far? They've done worse. Part of me really hated seeing it, though. This is all for the benefit of John Cena.

What can you possibly expect from the story of this match? I have said before that there will be a story to this match. You can say every match has a story, and I agree with that, but this match will have a real elaborate story to it. This isn't just two guys that hate each other fighting it out or two guys battling for a title. The match at Wrestlemania between Wyatt and Cena had the story of Bray trying to get inside Cena's head and whether Cena would allow his legacy to be lost. Things have been developed further since then. Cena talked about this match like he had to stop Bray Wyatt and Bray Wyatt's message from escaping the cage. If they really play that into the match, it can become very interesting. As far as the winner, Bray should either win the match or get some kind of psychological win to keep him strong. This feud seems likely to continue.