Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Main Event

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

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

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

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

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

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

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2017 Undercard Matches

This will be the third try for Austin Aries against Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship. There are some feuds where a great chase to the title would be nice. I felt AJ Styles should have had a chase to his first WWE Championship. TNA had Mickie James take three tries to finally win her first KO title, and her hair was on the line in that match. They raised the bar and made it interesting there, although I wouldn't have waited so long in that situation. Austin Aries is not someone I feel should be chasing after the title like he has. The WWE has shot the Cruiserweight title all over the place since last year. Having Neville hold it for so long is an improvement, but he should be feuding with fresh people, if Austin Aries is not meant to get the title right now.

Who wins this submissions match? I have seen some fans scratching their heads at the cruiserweights doing submissions. Even before this match, a lot of them were busting out submissions. That is not what cruiserweights are known for. High-flying moves are what they are known for. If they are going to wrestle like a lot of other guys on the regular roster, there is nothing special about them. I hear everyone talking about 205 Live not doing well and the cruiserweights frequently getting poor reactions. If they are just normal guys that have not been properly introduced to the main audience, they are going to get poor reactions. I digress. I'll say Austin Aries finally wins the title.

The tag team titles will be defended in a match that is a little more extreme. The Hardys vs. Sheamus & Cesaro inside a steel cage. How have The Hardys been doing? Like a lot of things, they are losing some of their luster. They pretty much need the "Broken" gimmick to appease certain fans. I see fans pointing out Matt Hardy just does not look good in the ring. To them, the "Broken" gimmick at least gives an excuse for his sloppiness that some fans are critical of.

I doubt the title reign ends here for The Hardys. Sheamus and Cesaro are a team that can do fine even if they break up. They do not need another run with the tag titles. They are likely just killing time until The Revival is good to go. I will say The Hardys retain.

I had said that some matches on this card are a little lackluster if you are looking forward to "extreme" matches. For the Intercontinental Championship match, if Dean Ambrose is disqualified, he loses the title to Miz. Not too impressive. Moreover, these two were feuding on Smackdown over the title just a few months ago. They come to Raw and are still feuding for the title. Fresh matches would be nice. And it would be nice if actual midcarders might get in the picture.

Who wins? It seems like a situation where it would be easy for Miz to win. A lot of smarks loved him on Smackdown. But he has lost his luster on Raw. Is there a reason to give him back the title, again? I will say Ambrose retains.

The Impact Of Injuries On Extreme Rules

Extreme Rules, a Raw PPV, is coming up this weekend. I will do the normal 3-day preview starting tomorrow. Before that, there is a topic that is definitely having an impact on this PPV. That would be injuries. Since April, there have been a few critical injuries. Not a lot, but ones that have definitely impacted things very much.

Let me start right at the top. Braun Strowman getting injured was huge. This guy has never held a WWE/Universal Championship. He has never held any titles in the WWE. I don't even consider him a long-term A-tier player. And yet, his injury really led to a shake up. He was feuding with Roman Reigns, and looked likely to move on to feud with Brock Lesnar. His likely Ambulance match against Roman Reigns this Sunday would have been one of the extreme matches to look forward to.

With his injury, however, the WWE has gone with a 5-man match to determine a number 1 contender for the Universal Championship. The first criticism for this match is obvious. Doesn't feel extreme enough, does it? That is a little disappointing.

The other issue is that the WWE has to take various feuds and essentially muddy them for the sake of throwing all these guys together. Seth Rollins and Samoa Joe were still feuding. Bray Wyatt looked like he would get a feud with Finn Balor. You now have all that in one match.

The storyline/feud issue is only part of it. This takes a number of matches off the card. This leaves the WWE with more time to kill for the PPV. One thing to do is obviously make some matches longer. I can definitely see the main event lasting at least half an hour. But they still need more matches than they have announced so far.

Will the answer come in the women's division? The key injury here has been Emma. Again, she never held a title in the WWE and is not someone I consider an A-tier player. She likely will get a title run down the road as a credible jobber. Right now, however, if she was healthy, she would be getting her storyline with Dana Brooke. Not a feud that would have led to a great match, but still something with some creative interest, and something that could have taken up some time at the PPV.

With that off the table, has the WWE done a good job creating other women's feuds on Raw to fill that spot? No. Sasha Banks has a "feud" with Alicia Fox where they are really just trading wins. It is not that interesting and some fans are annoyed by it. They want better for Sasha Banks. Mickie James and Nia Jax could have had a legitimate feud going on. A couple weeks ago, there seemed to be a partnership created between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax. Nia Jax helped to distract Mickie James in a match to allow Alexa to win. Nia then attacked Mickie James after the match. And the WWE has just not followed up with this. Alexa Bliss is back on her own, including her beating Mickie James cleanly this week, then attacking her with a kendo stick. What the WWE has done here has just not helped the partnership potential between Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax and the feud potential between Mickie James and Nia Jax. Needless to say, it has really hurt Mickie James the most. Her last two Raw matches have been losses and her getting beaten up more after the match. And the failure to properly follow up with Nia Jax attacking her just leaves her looking buried.

And yet, I would not be surprised to see another women's match added to the card. Aside from being a non-title match, it will be a match between credible jobbers. Whether it is Sasha Banks vs. Alicia Fox or Nia Jax vs. Mickie James, none of these women are pushed as stars. And that makes whatever the WWE chooses to do just a pure filler match.

That is actually something you never really saw in the diva era. How often did you see two credible jobbers have a feud that led to them facing each other in a PPV non-title match? You can bring up Melina vs. Jillian when both were on Smackdown, but Smackdown didn't have a women's title back then. Everything was non-title. Moreover, Melina and Jillian had gotten some periphery angles on Smackdown. They were not yet getting the filler and jobber pushes that credible jobbers get. We are now at a point where the WWE is willing to put two women against each other that don't have anything going for them besides wrestling credibility, and are getting lackluster, sloppy feuds. Some people might consider women getting this treatment progress. It's filler. Melina vs. Jillian was a more meaningful PPV match back at Judgment Day 2006 than whatever non-title filler match the WWE chooses for the women at Extreme Rules, if they choose anything.

The last injury to bring up is Dash Wilder, a member of The Revival. Once again, someone that had no title success on the main roster. The team hardly got a chance to do much since debuting. And yet, the WWE was obviously interested in pushing them. They would definitely have been getting another PPV match this weekend.

The WWE still has something for The Hardys to do, defending the titles against heel Sheamus and Cesaro. But what about the other teams? The WWE might be able to throw something together. Once again, much like I said with the women's division, whatever the WWE chooses to throw together will be filler. This PPV feels like it will have a lot of filler. Most of the blame cannot go on the WWE. Injuries happen. But they do deserve some of the blame for not building up these other feuds and storylines better.

Seth Rollins Returns, And That's About It

What was the story told in the main event match between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles last night at Extreme Rules? It was more of the same. The Usos and Anderson & Gallows got involved. In the end, Roman Reigns once again retained. And then Seth Rollins returned.

Before I talk about Seth returning, let me talk about how the WWE handled the storyline between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles. This was terrible. Just to make it clear, I am not saying anything about match quality. I am just talking about the storyline. People were anticipating so many things to happen with this storyline. The WWE can obviously still go somewhere with AJ Styles and the other two goons, but it will likely not have the same impact to it that it could have had if it had the main-event spotlight and WWE Championship involved.

The feud development for the last few weeks was just flat. It was Roman Reigns and his sidekicks going against AJ Styles and his sidekicks. I have seen a lot of fans eat this feud up like it was something amazing. No, it isn't. And how the WWE handled the match at Extreme Rules just further makes me stand by my point. Again, just looking at the story of the match, not anything about match quality or Seth Rollins, this was just more of the same. This was the same thing you had at Payback. The only twist you had was Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon each altering that match. But that was more their own story being developed. It didn't change the story of AJ Styles vs. Roman Reigns. This isn't even about Roman Reigns retaining against AJ Styles. This is about the WWE not taking advantage of the situation to have something big happen.

Is Seth Rollins returning something big? He never broke out as a star. He has main-event credibility. He held the WWE Championship for a long time. He won it at Wrestlemania. He never officially lost it. He beat a lot of top guys. A lot of his title defenses ended by shady means, but he has been pushed at a high level. But all the credibility in the world is not enough to automatically make you a star. Overness is based on more than just credibility. Seth obviously has the wrestling talent to get wrestling fans to love him. And this is an era where the WWE doesn't seem to know how to please the wider audience anymore, or they just don't care. Point is, this guy is not a star and the ratings issue will not be fixed just because he returned. He needs to break out beyond just connecting with those wrestling fans.

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2016 Main Event

Roman Reigns & his bloodline and AJ Styles & his club have seen a lot of each other these last few weeks. Maybe a little too much of each other. And they will be seeing even more of each other at Extreme Rules.

First, The Usos will face Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows. This is a match for Anderson & Gallows to obviously win. They just debuted a little while ago. Give them the momentum. The WWE has not booked these guys as completely unbeatable, but a win here would be good.

There is only one way I can picture them losing. The WWE can have them lose to sell the idea that they turn on AJ Styles later in the night due to frustration. AJ Styles wasn't there for them during their match, so Anderson & Gallows decide they are done with AJ. I would rather a swerve happen.

Back to the main feud. It has been getting a little lackluster recently. Having Roman Reigns and his group facing AJ Styles and his group might have been exciting the first time the WWE booked it. Even the rematch might have had wrestling fans excited. But the WWE has had these guys face each other in some form every week. They should have thrown in some other supporting characters or rely more on segments and not just matches. We have seen AJ Styles face Roman Reigns already. We have even seen The Usos vs. Anderson & Gallows already. Gimmick matches may make things a little fresher at Extreme Rules, but this rivalry is pretty much spent. The WWE cannot keep it going as it is after Extreme Rules.

So what happens at Extreme Rules? How does the WWE handle this storyline to take it to another level? Or do they just have Reigns retain and end the feud? I can talk about all the possible turns and debuts you can have, but I already brought that up for the previous PPV. The WWE went nowhere then. There is something to be said for developing a storyline, but I already brought up how the WWE hasn't really done anything too interesting with this storyline in recent weeks. It is just more of the same. They should have done something more at Payback. Smarks are still eager for whatever happens at Extreme Rules, but I am not that excited for what might happen. And as far as exciting and drawing in that wider audience, I think the WWE dropped the ball in creating a situation that could deliver for them sooner.

Since anything goes in this match, Anderson & Gallows can get involved without the match ending in a DQ. Of the many possibilities, I will say they turn on AJ Styles and screw him out of the title. Finn Balor eventually debuts, whether at Extreme Rules, the Raw after, or a few weeks later. "The Club" can then get a better name and AJ Styles feuds with them. Does Roman Reigns stick with this storyline or move on to something else? Or does a returning John Cena get involved with this? Let's wait to see what happens with AJ and his friends, then worry about all that.

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2016 Undercard Title Matches

New Day defend the tag titles against The Vaudevillains. I have said before that New Day should have lost the titles already to other teams that had the momentum. I do not think they should lose it here. The Vaudevillains don't look like they are ready. Have New Day retain here and eventually drop it to Anderson & Gallows to give The Club some credibility. 

Kalisto defends the United States Championship against Rusev. Rusev looks monstrous again. They are even running an injury angle with Kalisto. Or is he really hurt? Can't even tell these days. Are they doing all this to make Rusev look dominant and give Kalisto a bit of an excuse when he loses the title? Or is this just to stack the odds against Kalisto so he can overcome them? Speaking of overcoming the odds, I see some fans dreading that the only reason Rusev looks strong again and might win the title is to drop it to Cena when he returns. That doesn't really make sense to me. Cena does not need a title to be pushed well. Beyond that, Alberto Del Rio was the guy that beat Cena cleanly for the title last year and retained it again against Cena prior to Cena's injury. Wouldn't it make more sense to give the title back to Alberto Del Rio so he can drop it to Cena, if the plan is for another United States Championship run for Cena? In any case, I will say Rusev wins the title at Extreme Rules.

The Intercontinental Championship will be decided in a fatal fourway. Miz defends against Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. Cesaro just felt like he had the momentum when he returned last month. It felt like he would eventually win the title from Miz. Inserting Owens and Zayn certainly confuses things. These two could have had their own gimmick match at Extreme Rules. Make it a Last Man Standing match, or something like that. Owens and Zayn do have that history together. Leave the title to be decided between Miz and Cesaro, where Cesaro would win it. The WWE can still have Cesaro win it, then feud with Miz, while Owens and Zayn go back to killing each other, but I think a lot of Cesaro's momentum is hurt. I will say Miz retains.

No title is on the line, but I want to talk about Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose. This is an Asylum match. WWE must like Dean Ambrose a lot to let him have his own match. He might just be the new Mick Foley. Foley got a few runs with the WWE Championship, but he was never the centerpiece. That will be the story with Ambrose. He will eventually win the WWE Championship, but he will not take the true top spot. Until any of that happens, he has Chris Jericho. They have been murdering the other guy's favorite inanimate object. Might as well try to murder each other in an extreme environment. Logic might say that Ambrose wins this match since it is his match, but he seems to have too much of the momentum. I can see Jericho winning this to make the rivalry more interesting and extending it.

Charlotte Vs. Natalya At Extreme Rules 2016: Final Preview

Raw this week ended with the contract signing between Charlotte and Natalya. It went against the NBA playoff game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors. Which would I rather watch? Basketball. But I did watch most of the final segment on Raw.

The WWE is certainly putting work into Charlotte. If it really needs to be said, Shane and Stephanie McMahon weren't really out there to give Natalya a rub. Charlotte is the one the WWE is going to stick with and they intend to push as a star. It was just a few months ago that Charlotte and Paige closed out Raw. What has Paige been doing since? Charlotte, on the other hand, is still pushed very well. As long as she doesn't flop or do anything to screw herself, many more main-event segments will be coming for Charlotte. I do not think she has earned the career she is getting, but that's another issue.

Charlotte has been getting help from her father to retain the Women's Championship. This Sunday, Ric Flair will not be allowed at ringside. To make things more interesting, this is also a submission match. If Charlotte does retain, will she get Natalya to cleanly tap out? Or will there be more shenanigans? There were shenanigans the last time these two had a title match on PPV. Natalya got the momentum on Raw in a big way. It seems likely that Charlotte retains. But how will the WWE have her do it?

Or should the WWE just let Natalya get the title? Let her have a short reign. Not as short as what Zack Ryder got last month. She can drop it back to Charlotte next month. That's typical centerpiece booking. The WWE has done a pretty good job with this feud. With someone they want to push as a star involved, that's not shocking. This feud might have been developed well enough to deserve a title change. I was in the group that believed the WWE should just move on to someone else for Charlotte to face, I admit that, but they have done a good job since then. Many fans might have written Natalya off as just someone to feed to Charlotte, but I wouldn't mind her getting a short title reign. Once this feud is truly done, then Charlotte can move on to Sasha Banks.

Daniel Bryan Could Not Compete

Daniel Bryan did not defend his Intercontinental Championship against Barrett at Extreme Rules. He was too hurt. It was the worst-case scenario. Barrett faced Neville in a non-title match.

Earlier in the year, history repeating itself was an issue with Daniel Bryan. The WWE did not book him to win the Royal Rumble, or even look too impressive in it. Fans were unhappy. He was then put in a feud against Roman Reigns to decide who would get to face Lesnar at Wrestlemania. That was a repeat of last year. But the WWE booked Reigns to win that match. Go back to last year. A few weeks after Daniel Bryan got his big Wrestlemania moment, he faced an injury that forced him to surrender his WWE title. Is Daniel Bryan in that position again?

Daniel Bryan has not been the same since returning a few months ago. Many of his matches have not felt the same. It might be for the best if he did take some extended time off again. That would mean taking the title off him. It would be up to his health whether that means stripping him of the title, like last year, or having him work a match to drop the title.

Who should take his spot in the midcard? How about Neville? He just debuted. He is an exciting performer. He can be a solid replacement for Daniel Bryan. If the WWE does go in that direction, this would be something good to come out of this bit of bad luck. Neville probably would not have gotten too far without these depth issues. Because of these issues, his chances of being used better increase.

Extreme Rules 2015: Final Preview

I have already said all I want to say about John Cena vs. Rusev and Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton. I will talk about the other matches today.

Dean Ambrose vs. Luke Harper. If Dean Ambrose can't win this feud, there has to be some kind of running gag here. There is no reason to bury him. He is over, but there is no heavy protest to see him get pushed. Luke Harper is not going anywhere. Give the win to Ambrose.

Tyson Kidd & Cesaro vs. Big E & Kofi Kingston. The tag division is looking almost as sloppy as the diva division. I am talking about how it is managed, not the quality of matches. I would expect Kidd and Cesaro to retain. If the WWE is serious about developing The New Day as something credible, and I mean really SERIOUS, I can picture them giving them the titles. I do not think they care. It does not matter whether they are heels or faces. They have been mediocre too long.

Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett. Why don't I ever call him Bad News Barrett? Anyway, Daniel Bryan's health continues to be an issue. Is he badly hurt? If he is not that hurt, he will retain. If he is hurt but can still go, he will work the match and Barrett will regain the Intercontinental Championship. If he is too hurt for even that, you are going to have a repeat of what happened last year. Regardless of Daniel Bryan's health, I still feel he could have been utilized better in the last few weeks. There are some guys that are so over that just being out there is enough for the fans. They do not need to wrestle every night. The product has felt a little weak lately. Daniel Bryan could have helped fix that to some degree.

Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler. Sheamus just made his return a few weeks ago. They seem more interested in pushing him right now than Ziggler. Ziggler just seems to be in the position to put Sheamus over. I do not see them hurting the momentum Sheamus is developing. He likely wins this match. I do not want to imagine what will happen with the "kiss me arse" aspect of this match. Crass.That's the word I'll give it.

Roman Reigns vs. Big Show. There will be rowdy Chicago fans at Extreme Rules. You can imagine some of what they will do. They will love Cesaro and Kidd. Cena will get booed. As far as this match goes, you have two guys that smarks do not like. "Please Retire" chants for Big Show? Will Roman get mugged as he tries to make his entrance through the crowd? I usually get excited for Last Man Standing matches, but a lot of hardcore-style matches have been weak in recent years. The WWE is trying to be more edgy again. There is also no reason to be too interested in who wins. Roman Reigns is the guy they are developing to be a star. Big Show is a jobber to the stars. It will be more interesting to see how fans treat this match than anything else.

I have saved the diva match for last. Nikki Bella vs. Naomi for the Diva's Championship. Naomi is the heel and Nikki is the face. Paige had won a battle royal to get a title shot. Naomi turned heel that same night and took her out. Paige is out filming a movie. The WWE pretty much took out their top face right now. They fix it by turning The Bellas face. This is sloppy, inconsistent booking. I do not think you can put all the blame on AJ Lee retiring. They could have kept all the alignments the same and developed face Naomi to take on heel Nikki for the title. Have The Bellas take Paige out if she has to take time off.

How about the decision to turn The Bellas face? Given the hole the WWE dug for themselves, this is an okay move. You have two faces with one turn. There are still other divas they can treat as faces. More faces will eventually debut. The main issue is how randomly they did it. Not developed well. In one year, The Bellas have gone from being faces to being heels to being faces. Paige has gone from being a face to a heel to a face. AJ Lee was a heel, turned face, and if she had not left, would have turned heel again. Some people complain about how long John Cena has been face, but you can bring up the opposite complaint about the diva division. Stop turning them so much. A lot of these turns are done because of depth issues, not for the sake of good creative investment.

I would not make too much out of Paige starring in a movie for the WWE. Extracurricular activities do not determine your place on the roster. Brodus Clay also starred in a movie for the WWE. Where is he now? TNA. Things like movies and Total Divas usually do not do the most for helping you to get over. Not everyone can get over through extracurricular activities like Zack Ryder did. It comes down to how you are actually pushed. Let's see how Paige is pushed when she returns.

Who wins between Nikki and Naomi? I would say Nikki. After that, you will probably eventually get a triple threat involving those two and Paige. Paige will still have a title shot coming and Nikki will probably still be face. Face vs. face? Insert heel Naomi. I would not be surprised if the WWE books Nikki to hold the title long enough to break AJ Lee's record. She's almost halfway there.

Kane: The Keeper Of The Gate

Kane will be involved in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules between Seth Rollins and Randy Orton for the WWE Championship. He will be the keeper of the gate. I have no problem with that. I said a while ago that the WWE should have had Kane get involved somehow as the stipulation Rollins chose for this match. Put the odds against Orton that way. The WWE is also teasing friction between Kane and Rollins.

I have not been a fan of the WWE teasing friction within The Authority. They started doing it not too long after the group formed. I don't know how they could think it is a good idea. Yes, you are creating something that can get fans wondering what would happen, but you are also making your top heel stable look bad before it even gets solidified. The Authority has solidified since then. It wouldn't be so bad now to lose Kane. Regardless, I think the writers should come up with better ways to keep The Authority interesting. I usually do not like blaming the writers for things. Most of the problems I talk about are about whom the WWE chooses to push as their stars. The writers are not responsible for that. They are there to come up with creative ideas. They need to do better than this and their bosses need to want to go in that fresher direction. Is it time The Authority angle just end altogether? That is another issue.

Kane can split from The Authority and feud with Rollins for the title after Extreme Rules. I have seen rumors of a supposed triple threat in the works between Rollins, Orton, and Reigns. If the WWE is serious about that, they can do it later. If you are going to do a feud between Kane and Rollins, do it while it is fresh. If this drags on, it might get painful.

If Kane does leave the group, he should be replaced. The person to replace him that immediately came to mind was Rusev. He can fit into Kane's role as a henchman perfectly. How about Kane's role as Director of Operations? Does that even need to be there? I think it makes things more interesting. How about Lana? She would be perfect for it. If the two do not get this spot or Rusev does not regain the United States title, I cannot picture great things for them as time goes on.

Even with this little change in the match, I still expect Seth Rollins to retain. Will they pull some kind of swerve and reveal Kane and Rollins were on the same page the whole time? I do not think they will. I think they will continue to push the issues between the two. Rollins will still retain somehow, but Kane will eventually turn face and leave the heel stable.

John Cena Vs. Rusev: Russian Chain Match

Extreme Rules coming up means the WWE has the opportunity to come up with some interesting matches. I am just glad not everything is a variation of a basic No DQ match. John Cena will face Rusev in a Russian Chain Match. The United States title will be on the line.

How has John Cena been as the U.S. Champion? They have been booking him as a fighting champion. I have mostly seen two different feelings from the fans. Some say that John Cena is burying these midcarders. He's just running through all of them. Others are saying that someone like Cena, as well as Daniel Bryan, holding a midcard title boosts the midcard and raises the prestige of these titles. The WWE is obviously putting focus into the U.S. title that you have not always seen in recent years.

Speaking for myself, I disagree with both of those reactions. I do not think Cena is burying these guys and I do not think he is adding that much of a boost. Look at the guys he has beaten in title matches since winning the title. None of those guys were being groomed to be top stars right now. After losing to Cena, none of them got demoted to a lower level. They are all in the same position they were in prior to facing Cena. One match does not define what type of career you are getting. If the WWE is serious in making you into a star and featuring you as one, it will show in how they treat you over time. At the same time, I do not feel Cena is helping the midcard that much. The midcard should belong to the midcarders. John Cena is an A+ player, in terms of how he has been booked for the last decade. And if they really wanted to raise the prestige of the title, they would have Cena defend it against more credible opponents on Raw. I remember when Triple H and Steve Austin were teaming together and held a lot of titles. Triple H was the Intercontinental Champion, as well as holding the tag titles with Austin. The Intercontinental Championship actually felt like a big deal because Triple H was carrying it around in main-event segments. Right now, it does not feel like the midcard and United States Championship have been elevated thanks to Cena. If anything, I feel Cena has been demoted to the midcard. That is obviously not what the WWE wants to do to Cena, but this booking might all end up in the "botch" category one day.

How much longer can Cena continue defending the title so much? He will run out of credible opponents sooner or later. They can bring in guys from NXT just to get title shots, but even that can only last so long. They might even bring in former WWE superstars and legends, but I doubt they go that far. You also have to wonder if this booking takes away from Cena's main feud. Right now, his main feud is supposed to be with Rusev. I do feel they could have put better focus there.

Will Rusev regain the title? Would they have Cena's reign be so short? I already pointed out that they cannot continue with this booking for Cena for a long time and that the whole situation doesn't feel too great. Give it back to Rusev and let him go back to feuding with other midcarders. Once Cena is done with that feud, he might move on to a feud against Seth Rollins over the WWE Championship. That is what I would do. As far as what the WWE might do, Cena will probably retain against Rusev. But I would expect the WWE to change how they are booking things with Cena as U.S. Champ.

Randy Orton Vs. Seth Rollins: Steel Cage Match With A Twist

Randy Orton and Seth Rollins got to decide the stipulations for their title match at Extreme Rules. It will be a steel cage match. That is fine. Nothing there to say too much about. But the other stipulation is interesting. Randy Orton cannot use the RKO.

A steel cage match is technically supposed to be No DQ. What happens if Orton uses the RKO? He gets DQed? Okay. If the WWE wants to bend the rules a little, you might let it go. But there are other issues some fans have pointed out. Can Orton use a variation of the RKO? Can he use the Diamond Cutter? Can he bring back the punt? This is a cage match, so can't he win by just escaping? The WWE obviously wants to make it seem like the odds are against Orton, but this looks like a sloppy way of doing it.

What are some of the other things they could have done? Keep the steel cage, but what else can they do to put the odds against Orton? Have Seth Rollins name someone as special guest referee? How about Kane? Or they could have named him as the special guest enforcer outside the cage. They could have made it legal for Seth's goons to be inside the cage with him. You can also bring up things like making Orton wrestle with one arm tied behind his back or blindfolded, but those are just stupid. Regardless, there are other things the WWE could have done.

Randy Orton Gets Seth Rollins At Extreme Rules

Randy Orton, Ryback, and Roman Reigns faced each other on Raw to decide the #1 contender for the WWE Championship. The three guys had a busy night even before that main event. There was also interference from The Authority during the match. When the smoke cleared, Randy Orton had won the match.

Randy Orton had defeated Seth Rollins at Wrestlemania. Rollins went on to win the WWE Championship later that same night. It is not surprising that this feud would not end with just one match. The outcome of this match seems obvious. The WWE will use Randy Orton to put over Seth Rollins. Rollins did just win the title. A lot of guys have had short reigns with their first World title win. But the WWE might be saving Rollins for something else.

That something else might be Roman Reigns. He did not win on Raw to get another title shot, but that just gives the WWE more time to work on him. And he really does not seem to be as totally hated as some might believe. No need to turn him heel or completely give up on his push. Exactly what to do with him is a subject for another day.

The Kids Turn On Cena

I had been saying to expect a story in the match between John Cena and Bray Wyatt at Extreme Rules. There was a storyline they were going to push in that match. It wasn't just going to be a wrestling match. I was interested in seeing what the WWE would pull. And they did pull something. When you look back at what they pulled on the Raw prior to Extreme Rules, it makes perfect sense that the WWE would do what they did at the PPV. Of course, I am am talking about a child costing Cena the match. Bray Wyatt won the match and the psychological battle that night.

A lot of fans complained about it. That's not surprising. I didn't find it that entertaining. So far, moreover, it doesn't look like Cena is going to start sticking to one emotion for this storyline. He was horrified at Extreme Rules. It would be better if he stuck with that one direction until the WWE developed the storyline in a direction to give him momentum to feel some other way. Cena just flip-flops without a good storyline reason. That has been one of the major complaints fans have had with this storyline. I think it is justified.

Where you see a bunch of children, I see little Zack Ryders. I brought up just this week that Zack Ryder was a pawn, or supporting character, in the feud between John Cena and Kane. This storyline right now is comparable to that. Bray Wyatt is in Kane's position. John Cena is playing the role of John Cena. Where's Ryder? Where's that character caught in the middle of all this that the evil heel is taking advantage of to get to Cena? That would be children. I really don't like it. And it's this kind of thing that makes me not become a fan of John Cena simply because of his work ethic and all he does for the children. Does he do it because he is such a great guy? Or so the WWE can push that image and occasionally take advantage of these children in storylines. The WWE has used children before in storylines, I know that. But I just don't like it when they do this kind of thing with Cena. Makes me doubt him. And I don't like the overall storyline that much.

I was interested to see how they would further the storyline at Extreme Rules. I am slightly interested to see what happens next. It seems obvious. You have the reunion of Cena and his young fanbase. Cena breaks the hold Wyatt has on them. How exactly will the WWE do it? That is the question. I am hoping this feud comes to an end at the next PPV. There is no further need to drag it on. Wyatt got his win against Cena and a huge psychological win to make this feud more heated. Develop things for the finish. If they drag it on much longer, it may become painful.

Extreme Rules 2014: General Post-PPV Reaction

Nothing specific today. I just want to give my general reaction to what happened at the PPV last night. It seems the WWE produced a PPV that would make a lot of fans out there happy and create some buzz. Considering that this was Extreme Rules and not all the matches really had an extreme gimmick to them, the WWE did well.

And it didn't start at Extreme Rules. The build to the PPV was pretty good. Most of the matches had some good development to them. The midget match did. There was a tournament to lead into the IC title match. The diva match could have been developed a lot better. Even the match to put over Rusev further had some build to it in the week leading up to it. I usually point out that the WWE does a poor job developing PPVs in recent years, but they did a better job here and did some good stuff at the actual event.

Could this all be to help with the WWE Network issue? Relying on a cheap price and all that content has not produced the results the WWE would have liked. And a major issue in there is PPV providers dropping them. I noticed a few more have done it recently, not just the satellite providers. This must be a wake-up call for the WWE. They cannot afford to be lazy. If they start pushing a great product again, that will get fans interested in buying the PPVs. That will either lead to PPV providers being pressured into offering WWE PPVs again or these fans being more willing to get the WWE Network. Either way, the WWE wins. That is, if they can keep the ball rolling.

Extreme Rules 2014: Assorted Thoughts

I am just going to keep it short for the other matches on the card. After that, I want to talk about an article I came across about the WWE Network and PPVs.

El Torito vs. Hornswoggle. Yep.

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth and Xavier Woods. The winner in this is obvious. At least the WWE did a little to make Truth and Woods look credible against Rusev recently.

Paige vs. Tamina. Once again, the winner seems obvious. No need to end Paige's reign here. I have been talking about feuds that should last beyond Extreme Rules in the last few days.This is not one of those feuds. The WWE has not developed a great feud here and I don't even want to see them try. It will be painful. Just move Paige onto something better.

Big E vs. Bad News Barrett. If any title is likely to change hands at this event, it has to be the Intercontinental Championship. Big E has held it for months. He has been pushed pretty mediocrely for the majority of that time. Not surprising at all. On the other side of that, you have Wade Barrett, who has been rejuvenated with this gimmick. Bad News Barrett is great. He has a ton of momentum on his side. He can be a great thing for the midcard.

Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger. The likely match you could have had for Extreme Rules would have been between just Cesaro and his former partner, Jack Swagger. You had Heyman and Zeb to add a little spice to things. The WWE took it one big step further. They inserted Rob Van Dam. And I think they did a pretty good job of inserting him into the mix. The story is there. I usually do not like triple-threat matches where nothing is on the line, but I'll let this one go. Cesaro should win. He is the one they seem most interested in pushing in this match.

I came across an article in the last week about a topic I have brought up a lot in the last few months. It can be found here. A lot of points to bring up.

First of all, reading the article, I realized I did not properly account for international buys when I was determining what kind of benchmark you should want to have for Wrestlemania XXX. I admit it, I botched. All it really means is I should have kept the benchmark higher. Like 800,000 total PPV buys. For the millionth time, the reason is that you would want to have high standards for a Wrestlemania that should have been treated as something special.

The article mentions that expectations were at 295,000 domestic buys. That is low. I understand you have the WWE Network, it does not include international buys, and all that, but I would have expected at least 400,000, which is around the number they ended up getting. Of course, the WWE really did not create a stellar PPV card featuring legends and celebrities that generated a ton of hype. Hulk Hogan returned, but they did not do anything exciting with him. When The Rock came back, they started developing a feud between him and John Cena. This Wrestlemania season did not measure up to what you had in the last three years. That is probably the reason expectations were so low. Poor build leads to low expectations. That is underachieving.

The writer of that article said one thing I found very interesting:

Buying a PPV the old-fashioned way instead of subscribing to the network makes no sense for even casual WWE fans. One PPV costs roughly $60 -- the same price as six months of the network, which gives you access to six PPVs, around 1,300 hours of archived WWE content, and tons of exclusive programming.

It makes no sense? Really? I don't think a lot of people understand casual fans. Fans do not come in just one flavor. Let me break it down into 3 groups. You have your casual fans, regular fans, and hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are really into whatever it is they love that much. You ever see people get tattoos of their favorite sports team or get it shaved into their head? That's hardcore. Regular fans support whatever it is on a regular basis, including spending money on it now and then. Casual fans are the ones that care about it, but really are not that into it.

Why would fans that are not that into it subscribe to the WWE Network? The archived content? Tons of exclusive programming? They can live without it. And that would be why they are CASUAL fans. They just want to pay for what they want. As I have said before, drawing in the casual fans is why Wrestlemania is the most successful WWE PPV pretty much every year. These fans don't care that much about seeing the five other PPVs included in the 6-month commitment. That is why all those other PPVs would get lesser buys. It really isn't shocking at all that the number of subscribers for the WWE Network fell short of initial expectations, while the number of PPV buys for Wrestlemania exceeded expectations. The number of subscribers exceeded my expectations, but I was expecting a lot of PPV buyers. And just for the sake of repeating myself, I still feel the WWE could have done better and should have tried to do better.

Let me get to the main point of that article. PPV providers are dropping the WWE. You might have noticed how the commentators handled things on Raw. Satellite providers are not offering Extreme Rules. I have Dish Network. I had DirecTV before that. I have not subscribed to the WWE Network. I am not going to. Well, looks like I'm screwed. That is, if I am ever interested in watching another WWE PPV. Right now, I can live without it. They have gotten pretty pricey.

This is not how the WWE would have liked things to work out. They are losing money. Fans are essentially paying just $9.99 to watch these PPVs that would normally cost more than triple that. The WWE only gets about half that, while the other half goes to the PPV providers, but that's still more than $9.99. The WWE has not even gotten enough subscribers to break even yet. And what happens when 6 months are up and people start dropping it? Will the flow of new subscribers offset the drop? They will most likely have to raise the price of their network. If the WWE makes roughly half of what a PPV costs for themselves, it would make sense to charge a little bit more than roughly half of what the average PPV would cost. Make your money for the PPVs and for the other content. You cannot count on PPV revenue when those providers start dropping you.  

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.

The Return Of The Mask: Was It Good For You?

Kane returned with the mask and destroyed Daniel Bryan last week. It has also been announced that Kane is getting that title shot against Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules. After the tough week Daniel Bryan has had outside of wrestling matters, it really is commendable that he would even go out there last week.

Kane is back as a monster. You know it won't last long, but it is good to see him like that for a while. I think they could have done more with his return to the mask, but given everything that has gone on in the last few weeks, I am not going to complain. As far as the future, however, I still think there is good potential to make Kane's character interesting now that he is still aligned with The Authority and has brought back the mask.

Extreme Rules is pretty much already here. Monster Kane just came back. It would be a shame for this feud to end just like that. This can be a very heated feud. Let the feud continue to one more PPV after Extreme Rules. I know Evolution will also be gunning for the title soon, but keep their feud against The Shield going, as well. I've heard that Batista is not scheduled for events after Extreme Rules, which is usually a sign someone is taking time off, but I'm sure the WWE can find a way to still extend that stable feud. Meanwhile, Stephanie McMahon can lead Kane against Daniel Bryan. Triple H and his group will take back that spotlight in time. If the feud does end at Extreme Rules, it would have been badly rushed.

Let me switch gears. I read a report over the weekend that the WWE is booking Paige against all these heels to give the fans an opportunity to connect with her and develop her for future PPV matches, like her match against Tamina. I don't know whether that is dirtsheet speculation or they actually have a legitimate source feeding them that. Either way, it is stupid. Paige is being booked very dryly and her feud against Tamina has not been developed properly. This is not how the WWE books someone they want to be over. This is not how they got AJ Lee over. Dry coasting like this is how I have seen the WWE book women like Gail Kim and Mickie James at times. If the WWE is serious about Paige getting over, I would expect better creative investment in her. If she somehow does get over off this type of treatment and the WWE continues to push her as a credible jobber, you might have another Mickie James on your hands.

John Cena Vs. Bray Wyatt Inside A Steel Cage

It seems obvious the issues between Daniel Bryan and The Authority will last beyond Extreme Rules. Daniel Bryan has a rejuvenated Kane to deal with. Evolution is tied up with The Shield. Once Orton and Batista are done with that, they will most likely be getting their rematches for the title. Even Triple H might book himself to face Daniel Bryan for the title again. You have material there to last a while.

But this isn't about Daniel Bryan and The Authority. Today's topic is John Cena and Bray Wyatt. What does that feud have to do with title matters? It is only a matter of time before John Cena does reenter the title scene. However, as I just talked about, the title scene seems set for a while even without him. There is no need to force Cena into the storyline involving Daniel Bryan, The Shield, Evolution, and whomever else is already in there. What does that mean for John Cena? He will most likely be continuing his feud with Bray Wyatt beyond Extreme Rules.

Those two will be going at it inside a steel cage. Okay, that should make for a good match. Let's talk beyond the quality of the match. Let's talk the story of the match. There is a story to this feud. There was a story to the match these two had at Wrestlemania. Bray Wyatt wants to ruin Cena's legacy. It seems the plan is to do it by having Cena do evil things he would not usually do. In other words, be heelish. How can they tell that story inside a steel cage? How can they make it seem like Cena's legacy is on the line here. John Cena uses a weapon on Bray? One of Bray's henchmen can toss a weapon inside the cage, Cena manages to get it, and then the whole deal with Cena conflicted about whether or not to use it. Of course, that would be legal inside a cage. How about Cena has the match won and can leave the cage, but instead chooses to stay in and destroy Bray? Bray might still end up losing the match, but he would be gloating the next night that he brought the monster out of John Cena. Seeing as this feud is likely to last after Extreme Rules, and has the potential to, they will need to do something more than just hand Bray Wyatt a win to make him look strong.

Speaking of wins, John Cena won the match at Wrestlemania and even overcame Bray Wyatt psychologically. Was that a mistake? I am not implying a botched finish. Was it a mistake to handle things like that? I have seen fans say that Cena pretty much destroyed The Wyatts on Raw with his promo. Would he still have been in a position to do that if Bray had won, the match ended in some kind of DQ, or Bray won the psychological war? You could have Bray Wyatt slowly break down John Cena. A piece at Wrestlemania, a piece at Extreme Rules, and Cena eventually bounces back to overcome. Face it, Bray Wyatt will not end John Cena. Cena will overcome. But would it have been better for the story and possibly Bray's character if they hadn't put Cena in a position to treat The Wyatts as jokes? Bray will most likely still get a victory over Cena, but this formula of doing things might not have been best.

What Do You Do With The United States Championship?

There is a tournament going on to find the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. That makes things a little more interesting in the midcard. How about the other midcard title? Dean Ambrose is still holding that. And why? He is part of a stable that is currently feuding against a stable that has authority power. How can the heels stare at their enemies holding a title and not try to screw them out of that title? I know it is only the U.S. Championship, but this is the kind of thing that could help the title seem more important. Dean Ambrose could end up holding that title for a full year and it wouldn't be because he was doing such a great job during the reign. It would be because they tossed the title on him and never featured him properly as U.S. Champion.

What can the WWE do? What could they have done differently? First of all, I don't think it is necessary to rush Evolution vs. The Shield. Save it for after Extreme Rules. Have some singles matches first. Dean Ambrose vs. Kane for the title would not have been bad. Have Roman Reigns face Batista. Where would that leave Daniel Bryan? He has Kane in front of him. Would it really be bad if you let Randy Orton get his rematch he is entitled to at Extreme Rules? Give Triple H and Seth Rollins the night off. If that isn't what the WWE wants, have Seth face one of the other henchmen of The Authority. As you saw on Raw, a lot of heels are on the side of the corporate heels.

Of course, that will not be how things play out. What is left for the WWE to do? I am not saying any member of Evolution should take the U.S. title off Dean Ambrose. Those guys are all above that title. As I said before, there are other heels supporting The Authority. Let one of them take the title off Ambrose. Even better, make him defend the title in a gauntlet match. He might be able to overcome two or three guys, but then he eventually loses the title to someone like Rusev or Swagger. Then they can sell it as The Authority screwing Ambrose out of the title.

In a related note, I have seen talk that the reason they brought back the mask for Kane is because the WWE does not feel he has enough momentum in his current corporate state to be a challenge for Daniel Bryan. That might be the case, but there were definitely other ways to work around that without giving Kane a makeover. Have Kane attack Daniel Bryan with a weapon. Not only would Kane destroy Daniel Bryan, and look intimidating doing it, but you can develop a match at Extreme Rules around whatever weapon Kane used. Or a stretcher. Or an ambulance. Besides, Kane has destroyed Daniel Bryan already just a few weeks ago. I am still going to give WWE credit for deciding to not settle for that stuff and bringing back the mask. It causes better buzz than just an injury angle or developing a gimmick match. 

Let me switch gears. The WWE released initial numbers for Wrestlemania XXX. A million households. Sounds impressive. But you have to actually break those numbers down a little. 667,000 were WWE Network subscribers. Almost 400,000 were PPV buyers. I have seen some fans shocked that it was that high. I saw one guy on a message board a while ago say that Wrestlemania would be a "huge" success if it got just 150,000 buys. Yeah, well, I would love to see what adjective he uses after Wrestlemania got more than twice that. This number is actually not that shocking. I have been saying for a while that the WWE Network would not snag in as many casual fans as some might think. There are fans that just want to see Wrestlemania and don't care about the other stuff the WWE offers on their network. They wouldn't mind paying the huge price for it.

For me, the minimum Wrestlemania XXX had to get in PPV buys was 700,000. As I have said before, you would think the WWE would put their best foot forward for a Wrestlemania as special as this. And if the WWE did put their best foot forward, forgetting the WWE Network ever came out, you would expect a million buys. With the WWE Network, that kind of made it more difficult to set a benchmark. I don't agree with people that believe 150,000 would be amazing. I still say 700,000 is a good benchmark. 600,000 might have been even more reasonable, but I'm not dropping below that. Fact is, ratings were mediocre during this year's Wrestlemania season. The WWE failed to really create a feud that I think could draw in the casual fans. The story involving Daniel Bryan was epic, but it is more appealing to the regulars than the casuals. They didn't hype any huge celebrity or legend to be there. With all due respect to Hulk Hogan, if he could bring the results The Rock could, you would have seen it in the ratings even before Wrestlemania. You didn't. Financial reports have said that the initial numbers for the WWE Network were lower than many hoped for. The WWE will have to work to get 1,000,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Point is, you could just anticipate that this Wrestlemania would not draw as many buyers as it could have had. If the WWE pulled out their Network when The Rock came back or any of the other Wrestlemanias involving him in a major way recently, I am confident you would have had more subscribers and still more PPV buys than you have gotten. The WWE will tout the success of Wrestlemania XXX, but they could have done better.

Some fans are looking at that 1,000,000 and are ready to praise Daniel Bryan as the greatest draw of all time. I feel like posting a picture of Bad News Barrett. I won't. But I do have some news for those fans that might be most unpleasant. The WWE offered Wrestlemania at a very cheap price for those who subscribed to their network. For $9.99 a month, you get the PPVs (special events), past content, and original content. Fans would have been eager to get that regardless of whom was in the main event. They are not necessarily subscribing just to see Daniel Bryan. They want to scoop up that good deal. Moreover, I already pointed out that the actual PPV buys for the event were lower than you would hope for a Wrestlemania following in the line of 1,000,000 buys you have had with The Rock. If this Wrestlemania had done a great job in creating hype, whether you want to praise Daniel Bryan for it or not, you would expect more than a 1,000,000 domestic households in between WWE Network subscribers and PPV buyers. The WWE would have met that 800,000-subscriber benchmark some analysts came up with and the WWE would have roped in a lot of casual fans to want to order. It seems the WWE did a better job promoting the WWE Network than developing a great Wrestlemania season. And the cheap price was the real draw.    

Last thing, I spoke to my cousin recently. I was actually surprised when he told me he subscribed to the WWE Network. He isn't as into wrestling anymore as I am. He was when he was younger. And he does still read dirtsheets. I don't consider him a true casual fan. Over the last few years, he has watched Wrestlemania either through illegal streams or at a friend's house. That is an example of the WWE getting someone to pay to watch Wrestlemania that would normally not pay for it.