Previewing The Backlash 2017 Undercard

Let me continue previewing this lackluster PPV with Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin. Both of these guys should be doing better. Which one of them can afford to lose this feud? I can see this one lasting another few weeks. I will say Baron Corbin wins this encounter.

Luke Harper faces Erick Rowan. I remember some fans groaning when Rowan beat Harper a little while ago. Some fans defended it by saying Rowan needs momentum. Why? There are ways to build a feud without having the two sides involved actually pin each other. Harper is likely to win here.

The tag titles will be defended. The Usos defend against Breezango. I am all for new tag teams getting the spotlight. Breezango's current gimmick is just stupid. It is hard to take them seriously. The Usos have not done much since winning the tag titles a few months ago. I will say they retain against the comic relief and eventually defend them against New Day.

Kevin Owens defends the United States Championship against AJ Styles. This feud is still too young to feel as major as it should. You also had Owens having to finish his feud against Jericho. Those two juggled the title between themselves. I won't say it hurt Owens vs. Styles too much, but it was there as a distraction. AJ Styles should not win the title here. I would say he should not win it at all. He doesn't need it. Give the midcard titles back to the midcarders. AJ Styles does not need this to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, which is an excuse some of his fans might make for why he should get it. Sting got inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Sting never won a title in the WWE. Sting never even won a PPV match in the WWE. AJ Styles is already doing better in the WWE than him. I will say Owens retains here. It might be by DQ or by getting counted out.

The Year Of Fandango

Of all the guys to debut in 2013, Fandango is probably the most interesting. It isn't because he has accomplished so much this year and is so great. It is just interesting how his theme song has become so much more popular than he has.

He got some big wins early in the year. He beat Chris Jericho. He entered a feud against The Miz,which I still think was a waste of time. I promise you, that will be the last time I complain about that this year. Since then, he has gotten filler treatment. He is not really getting pushed. Just inconsistent treatment you would expect with midcarders these days. I don't think that is too bad for him. If he was actually more legitimately over, then I would say they should push him better.

Will 2014 hold anything better for him? Specifically, should  he get a midcard title reign? He seemed like he might have gotten one a few months ago, but an injury led to other plans. Should they give him a title next year? The main issue is that he has lost a ton of momentum. Back when his theme song was really helping him get some hype, it was the best time for a title reign. Now, I wouldn't have confidence in the WWE to push him well even with a title. He has just gotten lost in the shuffle. He might not get a good angle again until the WWE is ready to have Summer Rae break away from him.

Another aside on the theme of what it means to be great. Greatness isn't defined by what you have handed to you, but what you accomplish. What is the difference? A singer might win a Grammy. Fans of that singer might say that singer accomplished something. Bitter haters might say the singer was handed the award. In the end, how much do those kind of awards really mean?

Let me give another example. A long time ago, I remember watching a boxing match. The guy that won the fight won it rather easily. It looked like the guy that lost did so on purpose. Even the commentators said something that implied that the guy was paid off to lose the match. I don't remember exact details, since it was so long ago. The funny finish and the commentators acknowledging it are the only reasons I vaguely remember it. It was the best finish money could buy. The guy that won the fight came out with a fancy entrance and I believe they said he was undefeated. How many of those wins were bought? It made sense that someone might bribe his opponents to take a dive for him to keep him looking good. But those kind of wins don't make you great. What do you really accomplish by beating a guy like that? That guy was handed that win. He's not great. I don't care about how much hype they can surround the guy with by buying him wins and giving him fancy entrances, he didn't accomplish anything to make me say he is great. I don't know what became of him, but he probably got knocked out in 5 seconds when he had to face real competition.

In pro wrestling, you can argue that title reigns are not what make you great at all. Any wrestler can be booked to win a title for any reason. There have even been some non-wrestlers to win titles in major promotions. Are these guys really accomplishing anything when they win titles? Or are they just being handed something? A pro wrestlers job is to go out there and perform to entertain the fans, not simply collect titles. There have been some people that do not do a good job connecting with the fans and still get title success. To me, those title reigns do not make them great. Just like a boxer getting cheap wins is not something I view as an accomplishment, a wrestler being handed a title reign for no good reason is not something I view as an accomplishment. The title does not make you great.

Switch it back to Fandango. If they had given him a title reign earlier this year for his theme song's success, or still do next year, did he really accomplish anything? Or is he just being handed something? I don't consider this guy great. I don't like his theme song, but I cannot deny it has caught on. You can say he has a great theme song, but it is not like he produced it himself. If it was a theme he sang himself and it had success, I would be saying something different, but that is not the case. Assuming Fandango never truly gets over, if he ever gets a title reign just off of the hype his theme song had, that does not mean this guy is great. He didn't actually accomplish anything to be viewed as great in this situation. He is being handed a title. I am not saying I would be completely against him getting a title reign. You need fresh guys winning those midcard titles. What I am saying, I just won't buy into this guy just because of a title reign.

Zack Ryder Vs. Fandango

Mr. Woo Woo Woo vs. Mr. Summer Rae. I am not talking about an actual match or feud between these two right now. Nevertheless, would it be so bad for the midcard if they did feud?

What I want to talk about with these two guys is their overness. You can say that both of these wrestlers have unconventional stories to them in terms of overness. What do I mean by that? A wrestler will typically get over by how well they can connect with the audience when they go out to perform for them during the show. The stories with Zack Ryder and Fandango are a lot different.

First, you have Zack Ryder. This guy was a lower-midcarder. He was doing nothing or next to nothing on the main shows. But he got very over. In case you have forgotten, he did it through his web show. That got him so over, it put the WWE in the position where they had to push him. And they didn't want to. They danced around it for a while, created a storyline that made John Cena look like Ryder's best friend, gave Zack Ryder a moment where he won the U.S. title, continued to use him as a pawn in Cena's matters, then let him drop off again. You saw him this week on Raw in the main event, but he really hasn't been used well since the early part of last year.

Fandango's story is even more peculiar. He has this dancing gimmick. He has these hot women he has been dancing with since the gimmick started. He loves to tell you how to say his name. But none of that is what has connected him with the fans. In fact, you can even question if he really has connected with the fans. His theme song gets a great reaction from the fans. Are they dancing along because they find Fandango entertaining or because it is a fad started by that crazy audience a few months back? Regardless, the WWE has been pretty consistent with him. He has not won any titles, but an injury is probably the only reason he never won the Intercontinental Championship a few months ago. He is coming off a feud with Miz that really looks like meaningless filler now. Miz has now been getting more involved in the corporate storyline. Showing better consistency with that prior to Night of Champions would have been nice. The feud between the two seems to have done really nothing for either in the long run and I still say a feud between R-Truth and Fandango would have been more entertaining. Am I going to complain about this every two weeks? Yes. Nevertheless, when you look at how much the WWE has done for Fandango, including that feud with Jericho, this is obviously a guy they like. But do the fans really like him? Or is it just the theme song?

No matter the reasons for their overness and what the WWE has done with them, you cannot deny that both have gotten great reactions and caused a buzz. The WWE created negative buzz for not giving Zack Ryder a push right away. Fans would chant for him regularly, even when he wasn't out there. The WWE created positive buzz through Fandango. Media outside of wrestling picked up on "Fandangoing" for a while. Whose story do you prefer?

Moving away from analyzing these guys in terms of overness, let me give my personal opinion on which of the two I think deserves to be pushed. As I am sure I have pointed out here and there numerous times, I am not a fan of either of them. I have never watched Zack Ryder's show. I don't like Fandango's theme song. I wouldn't say I hate either of them. I want to see them used properly and in a manner they deserve. All that being said, I would pick Zack Ryder over Fandango. There are a few reasons why. First, you just know for sure that this guy really got over. The fans liked him. With Fandango, it seems to be more over the theme song than the performer. Second, Zack Ryder never got a legitimate opportunity, in my opinion. I don't think it is even a matter of opinion. His "push" was mostly him being used in a storyline that was more about Cena. When it was all over, they dropped him like he was a credible jobber in the diva division. Fandango has been getting better opportunities than that and has been featured more consistently. Lastly, it would be nice to see a face pushed in the midcard that isn't Kofi Kingston. I know Santino is back, but he is a comedy character. I think Zack Ryder has potential to be more than just a gimmick. That push he did get, even though it was overshadowed by Cena matters, wasn't just a comedy storyline. They should do a better job of rotating around their midcarders, and Ryder should be one of them. 

Midcard Mix In The Corporate Regime Angle

Two things stick out for me concerning the big storyline they are pushing with the corporate heels. Both have to do somewhat with the midcard. One is good and one is bad. One involves incorporating midcarders into the storyline, while the other involves the failure to incorporate wrestlers properly.

First, the good. Good to see Goldust back. The way they have incorporated Cody Rhodes into this storyline has been very good. After his feud with Damien Sandow, it would have been easy for them to do nothing with Cody Rhodes. He is just a midcarder, after all. Nevertheless, having him get fired like they did and having Goldust come back to stand up for him and face Randy Orton was great development in the story. It makes Cody Rhodes look more interesting and does not take Randy Orton out of the bigger picture. He still came out to confront Daniel Bryan at the end of the show and he is being made to look like a true heel. It also raises the question, will Cody Rhodes turn heel and side with the heel regime to get back his job? It would be similar to what happened with Big Show and John Laurinaitis a year ago, but the WWE could come up with a way to make it a little more unique. I think they have already done that by bringing in Goldust like they did. Moreover, you have a conflicted Big Show that some people might believe will crack to save his job and turn heel. Big Show refuses to sell out, but Cody Rhodes does sell out. That can then make for a good feud between Cody Rhodes and Big Show. I know they feuded before over the Intercontinental Championship, but the storyline here would be so much better.

Now, the bad. Miz and Fandango are still feuding? Really? Really? Really? That is to say, what is the point? A few weeks ago, they made it look like Miz might serve a bigger purpose in the main storyline going on, as he should. At the very least, he should be feuding over the tag titles with The Shield. At best, The Shield is going to end up defending the titles against some midcard team at Night of Champions. They have been right in the thick of this corporate heel storyline as the main henchmen since after Summerslam. They have been facing Daniel Bryan and attacking top faces, but they are in line for such a mediocre title defense? I know injuries have damaged the depth of top faces, but Miz is still there and they could have run an angle where he gets to choose his own partner to face The Shield for the tag titles. Or just pair him randomly with Kofi Kingston. And Fandango? First of all, while the angle with Cody Rhodes is a great way to elevate a midcarder into a bigger storyline, this feud between Fandango and Miz is not really elevating Fandango into anything bigger. It is taking Miz out of something that he should be a part of. This feud is looking similar to Fandango's feud with Jericho. That was his first real feud. Big feud. But that is not what is connecting him with the fans. The theme song is what makes him interesting. And the WWE failed to really follow through with him since then. I know he got injured, but he does not need a feud with Miz to prepare him for a midcard title run. Have him feud with R-Truth until a midcard title ends up on a face, then have him feud with that face. Last thing that I don't like about this feud between Miz and Fandango, it doesn't even have an interesting storyline to it. Miz beating Fandango should have ended it. Fandango costs Miz a match, and then? Fandango just says his name. That is just needlessly prolonging something that does not need to continue. Both Miz and Fandango can move on to other things.

Fandango's Summertime Sadness

What has Fandango been doing lately? Nothing much. Months ago, I remember talk about how much Vince McMahon loved this guy and the gimmick. Even Chris Jericho mentioned it in an interview. And yet, he is lost in the shuffle lately. That is why I don't like putting too much worth into what is being said, whether it is dirtsheet rumors or direct sources saying things in interviews. I am not implying Chris Jericho lied. The fact is, with the problems the WWE has had with pushing a great midcard in recent years, it seemed very likely that Fandango would suffer a bit of a depush.

What should Fandango be doing right now? Obviously, he doesn't need a main-event push. He doesn't need an upper-midcard push against guys like Mark Henry or RVD, even if they were available to feud with him right now. Right now, he is where he should be. He is a midcarder. They teased developing a feud between him and R-Truth. And why now? Their gimmicks are similar in the dancing aspect, but contrast from there. It would be great to have them get a legitimate feud. This is one of those situations where the storyline might even write itself. They can even give R-Truth a diva to be his dancing partner.

And let's look back at the age-old question. Is Fandango over, or his theme song? You can still see fans doing that little dance. But that's pretty much it. I still don't see this guy being legitimately over. Some comedy characters, even heel ones, eventually do get over. Will Fandango ever be as over as his theme song?

2013 World's Heavyweight Championship Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Antonio Cesaro, Fandango, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, and Dean Ambrose will compete for the briefcase for that World's Heavyweight Championship title shot. No Jinder Mahal? How do they expect to sell PPVs?

Should this match be considered underkill? That isn't even a word. Everyone in this match is a heel at the moment. But that isn't the real issue. Aside from Jack Swagger, none of these guys have ever held a World title in the WWE. And even Swagger is arguably an upper-midcarder at best these days. Everyone else are midcarders. That briefcase is going to lead to a huge push for someone, but the match is still lacking great stars. Then again, this match will probably not be the biggest draw of the PPV, anyway.

Would it have been better if they mixed up things a bit? Have Christian and Sheamus get involved in this match, and put Wade Barrett and Jack Swagger in the other ladder match? Or any other combination like that? Unless they are planning something unique with this huge imbalance in star power and face/heel alignment between the two matches, I think they should have mixed things up better.

Who wins? How likely is it that Jack Swagger wins a briefcase again? I don't think so. It would be a huge push for Dean Ambrose to get the briefcase. He doesn't need it. Getting to it, I am thinking they will have Wade Barrett win it. He had a ton of momentum over a year ago. An injury killed that. Many thought he was closing in on Money in the Bank back then. Will they follow through now? I think there is a chance.

Let me change gears completely. I rarely ever reread and edit my blog after I post anything. If I see a dumb spelling or grammatical mistake, I might fix that. But this is something more than that. A few weeks ago, I talked about the search engine data for my blog off of Google Analytics ( link here). I realized that I did not explain something that might confuse some people and does have an impact on the data. Just for the sake of trying to do a better job analyzing, let me mention that now. If you look at the keyword data I provided, the term "(not provided)" appears a lot. Google started doing that in 2011. People logged onto a Google account while searching get their searches blocked for their own privacy from people using Analytics. I can't tell you with any real certainty what those people were searching. Does this mean that the analysis I gave back then is completely null and void? No. The "(not provided)" term has only accounted for about 8% of my search traffic since Google started doing this. All it really means is that more people are visiting for various wrestlers and topics than the numbers are showing, which is another reason why it was the right thing to do to give an estimate of that information. Moreover, I really don't think that there is going to be that disproportionate a number of visits within that 8% than from the results I can see for any particular wrestler. For example, I have about 1,460 visits off of people searching for something having to do with Mickie James and about 30 for Jinder Mahal through all my years on this blog. I sincerely doubt that 8% I am unsure about is all searches for Jinder Mahal and none at all for Mickie James. It is going to be a mix. Lastly, the keyword data is what it is. That is an exact number of the top 10 search terms, including the number of ones that I could not see. I knew I was going to botch something when I wrote that analysis up. I don't think it really makes a big difference, but I'll just let you decide for yourself whether or not the data is still relevant to you. Just wanted to go back and explain myself on that.

Payback 2013 Title Matches

The Intercontinental Championship match for Payback was originally supposed to be Fandango vs. Miz vs. Wade Barrett. An injury took Fandango out. Had it not been for that injury, Fandango was the favorite to walk out with the title. Given the attention he has gotten thanks to that fad, a title run would be a good way to continue pushing him. Miz didn't seem likely to take the title. Miz has been away here and there in the last 12 months, but he has still managed to win the Intercontinental Championship twice. Another reign from the guy he already traded the title with was not likely. Enter Curtis Axel. He is taking Fandango's place. If they are developing this guy as something special, there is no doubt that they are not going to have him lose so soon. All his wins against stars above him have been flukes, but they do not seem to want to bury him. A title reign is likely for him. Even though this was one of the last people I would want to see get this big of a push, this is the kind of guy I would like to see hold the Intercontinental title. I don't like seeing former World Champions holding midcard singles titles too much. And I also don't like seeing the same people winning those titles. Moreover, Curtis Axel isn't the kind of guy I picture them handing the title to and then losing him in the shuffle easily. I actually think the WWE would do a good job with a title run for him.

Dolph Ziggler has returned to defend his title against Alberto Del Rio. Based on how boringly this feud has been handled while Ziggler was out, it would be easy for me to say that Del Rio won't win it. If he was going to win it, they would develop him better. On the other hand, how good to go is Ziggler? If he is not, they may put the title back on Del Rio more out of necessity than actually wanting to. Having a World Champion that can go in the ring is worth more than having one that cannot.

John Cena vs. Ryback. Three Stages of Hell. This match will most likely end the feud. Who wins? The answer to that one is obvious. But should Ryback win it? Does he deserve to be the first new World Champion in the WWE in over a year? If this was back when he was feuding with CM Punk, my answer would be different. He had so much momentum back then. That would have been the best time to give him the WWE Championship, even though it would mean giving CM Punk's big title reign a sooner demise. Now, however, Ryback does not have that same momentum anymore. He is there to put Cena over. Not that it matters, but if I were to predict who takes each fall, Cena wins the first, Ryback wins the second, and Cena wins the third to retain the title. What about the potential swerve of CM Punk hiding in the ambulance? He doesn't show up for his match with Jericho, but does show up later in the main event. That is an idea many fans have mentioned. It can be a way to restart the feud between CM Punk and Cena. That epic feud between the two started around this time of year. What better time to restart it? I'm not expecting any swerves in the main event. Let's just see what happens.

Fandango Dances To Defeat

I would much rather be watching that than Fandangoing.

Fandango has suffered defeat. He lost to Chris Jericho at Extreme Rules. Nothing wrong with that. Chris Jericho should get back the win he gave Fandango. Jericho shouldn't just be enhancement talent. Fandango also lost a tag match on Raw. It seemed, however, that he was more interested in dancing during that tag match than actually trying to win.

Does this have to mean the end of Fandango? Not at all. He obviously still has his gimmick and is being allowed to run with it. Summer Rae seems to be the dancer he will be using for now on. She will most likely one day be the centerpiece of the diva division. Much too early to say that, but the division lacks a centerpiece and they just debuted a woman who is the kind of diva they would develop to be centerpiece. As for what Summer Rae means for Fandango, the pairing allows him to do more interesting things with his feuds and segments. Summer Rae helped Fandango trick Jericho recently. Fandango left Summer Rae and ran this week. She can help make him look more interesting. And the fact that he still has the gimmick will also keep him interesting.

Where should Fandango go now? It would be nice if they did not prolong the singles feud between Jericho and Fandango. No need for that. But having these guys involved in a 4-way feud with Barrett and Miz over the Intercontinental Championship would not be horrible. It looks like Barrett would have reason to not like Fandango, so run with that.

Let me talk a little more about the diva division. I already mentioned what is likely to happen to Summer Rae in time. Until then, she is being developed in the periphery during this dark age, much like Trish Stratus was when she debuted. What about what else is going on in the diva division? They are developing storylines and feuds for their other periphery divas and credible jobbers, although these storylines are mostly weakly featured. A few weeks ago, there was a feud between Brie & Nikki and Naomi & Cameron. Naomi and Cameron have been phased down. The Bellas have become supporting players in the storyline involving Kaitlyn. Natalya is also involved in that. This really is very similar to the first dark age. This secret admirer of Kaitlyn will eventually be revealed. After that, the WWE will most likely rotate in a new storyline involving different periphery divas and credible jobbers. There is also an actual title feud going on. Problem is, it's AJ Lee getting the title shot. I'm not going to pretend liking that decision. She already has a good position and gimmick. She is featured better than all the divas and it is guaranteed that she will be featured better in the future. The WWE didn't invest so much in her to be over just to walk away now. Just like Lita won her first Women's Championship during the first dark age while also being aligned with Team Xtreme, it looks like AJ will further follow in her path. Difference between that dark age and this one, they did a better job with utilizing more divas back then. The weak treatment many are getting now will not help them or the quality of the division. If the WWE was actually doing a better job of developing more stars right now, I wouldn't mind AJ's title push. Other women could use some better focus.

Dancing With Fandango

I still don't get this Fandango fad. Jack Swagger's new theme is so much better.

The feud between Fandango and Chris Jericho has really picked up on the dancing storyline as of late. That actually makes the feud so much more interesting. Before, when things first started, the two were basically feuding because Fandango was mad Jericho made fun of him. Now, the WWE is able to feature more interesting segments with the two. Those are the kind of feuds that you should be getting in the midcard. It shouldn't simply be about building the credibility of a future main-eventer. Utilize the gimmicks of your midcarders to create entertaining feuds. It is also interesting that the feud is good even with Jericho not being there every week. The only thing left, will Jericho get to avenge that loss to Fandango he took at Wrestlemania?

The King Of The Midcard Retakes His Throne

Kofi Kingston has regained the United States Championship. It was definitely a good match. Kofi Kingston is definitely a good worker. But this is just stupid. Kofi Kingston really should be beyond this cycle of either holding a midcard title or putting over other people. This guy should be getting actual storylines with bigger names. I am not saying he needs to win the WWE Championship. And how the WWE handled the situation also shows the main problem I have with the midcard. Couldn't they have developed some kind of legitimate feud? The midcard needs some actual storylines.

Did Kofi even deserve the title? Doing promotional work for the WWE gets you a midcard title run? What other options were there? If the WWE really wanted to sell the idea that no American could beat Cesaro for the title, that would leave out Zack Ryder. What about Santino? Too much of a joke character? The WWE needs to start developing their midcard faces more. The likes of Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes, Fandango, and Wade Barrett seem fresher than the faces. A lot of the faces seem to be lower-midcarders, like Santino and Ryder, who sometimes get featured on Raw.

Changing topic slightly, and it might be too early to say it, Fandango doesn't seem to be the one who is over. It looks like it really was just his theme song people liked. During his promo on Raw, people seemed more interested in his theme than him. It looks like the WWE would like to run with it. Will it eventually get Fandango over? Now that a face is holding the U.S. Championship, will Fandango be in the title hunt soon?

The Most Over Theme Song In Pro Wrestling Today?

The fans last night must have been drunk. Very crazy crowd. Was the show really that amazing to warrant all the excitement? It did feature some title changes, but the fans were just having their own fun for most of the night. It reminds me of a lot of Internet fans out there. Even if the product isn't very entertaining, they will entertain themselves and make it entertaining.

The fans actually sang along with Fandango's theme. That was certainly unexpected. Does that mean Fandango is actually getting over? Or did those fans just like his theme song? Will it catch on? The fact is, this same guy was getting "You Can't Wrestle!" chants just before Raw this week. I personally don't really like his gimmick and how he portrays it, but that is another issue. It is fun to play with the name thing sometimes. That doesn't mean I have to like the guy.

Whether it was because they were liking Fandango or just his theme song, the fans were giving that positive response because they were entertained by something out of the two. It goes back to what I said about just letting this guy get over by entertaining. There is no need to build up his credibility as hard as they might be thinking. He did beat Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania. If you think about it, was that even really necessary? Was it Jericho putting him over that led to the reaction on Monday? I really don't think so. But this new fad may help him get over.

Chris Jericho Vs. Fandango

Chris Jericho has had some pretty big matches at Wrestlemania. Aside from being in the main event as Undisputed Champion at one time, he faced CM Punk for the WWE Championship last year and has faced Shawn Michaels at the big event. This year? Fandango. Fandango is going to make his in-ring debut at Wrestlemania against Chris Jericho.

Is this a waste of Jericho? Putting over talent is one thing, but is Fandango even going to get anywhere? I can see him eventually getting a run with a midcard title, but I don't see why you need such a big debut just to eventually get that. I could understand using Jericho to build up the credibility of a guy like Dolph Ziggler. I could understand a feud with Fandango any other time of the year. And if they would actually make this some kind of "Dancing With The Stars" storyline, I could understand that. But I don't see any of that happening. Why bother building up Fandango's credibility? Just let him entertain with his gimmick. And this storyline isn't really even that interesting. Fandango is mad because Jericho made fun of his name? That leads to a Wrestlemania feud?

Should Jericho win the match at Wrestlemania? I would say so. Even if Fandango wins, what then? He wins a World title before the year is up? I don't think so. Where would a guy like that go after beating Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania? Up or down? I don't see him getting pushed too much harder after that. No matter what, this is quite possibly the weakest Wrestlemania opponent Chris Jericho has ever had. I'm not taking a shot at Fandango's wrestling ability, but when you compare his credibility and star power to those other names Jericho has faced at Wrestlemania, Fandango is the weakest.