Jack Swagger Officially Released

Jack Swagger had asked for his release from the WWE a little while ago. It became official now. He is no longer with the company.

I liked Jack Swagger. I liked his goofy heel character when he first started out in ECW. Even when he turned into a serious heel when he won the World's Heavyweight Championship, he still had potential. He saw his best days when he teamed up with Zeb Colter. Although I would not say he had A+ overness, he became a character most fans could get behind, especially with the "We The People" thing. Fans love having something to play along with.

But let's focus on the last few months of his career in the WWE. He was obviously not doing anything on Raw. They sent him to Smackdown. A lot of fans expected that to help his career. Proving that Smackdown isn't exactly paradise, Jack Swagger was mistreated even there. It didn't take long for him to become irrelevant.

I would say that mistreatment was totally uncalled for. Not only for the sake of Swagger, but it did no favors for Smackdown. Smackdown has a thin roster. There have been multiple nights where they only manage three matches. Three matches in two hours is kind of ridiculous. And it is not always quality matches. To make matters worse, there are a lot of nights where certain talent that should be getting matches don't get matches. I have seen fans say that the tag division on Smackdown is looking terrible. I don't need to say anything new about the women's division.

Even if they did not want to actually push Jack Swagger for the sake of Jack Swagger, they could have utilized him for the sake of creating fresh matches. He could have been a supporting player. He could have been a jobber to the stars. He didn't even get that. There are some humble wrestlers that are just content with being used and being on TV. They don't need title pushes and all that. I am not saying whether Swagger is one of those guys. He might end up in Impact Wrestling in a few months and continue his feud with Alberto Del Rio, this time for the title over there. But if the WWE had utilized him more, he might have been willing to stay. And he could have been useful.

What is Smackdown forced to do because of this thin roster? A lot of talking and brawling. I have pointed out over the last few months that you have seen it a lot in the women's division. It also happens in the men's division.

Just because someone is a good talker doesn't mean they should always be getting promo time. There just comes a point where they have nothing fresh to say, which will hurt their promos. I have seen fans criticize the great Paul Heyman. He can definitely talk, but if he has nothing new to say, his promos get annoying, even to some smarks that love him. Isn't that the point, though? Isn't Heyman supposed to be trying to annoy the fans or the opponent Brock Lesnar is currently feuding with? Well, this isn't a good kind of annoying. His character just becomes annoying when there is no freshness to him. It is the same kind of thing with Mickie James. She definitely puts emotion into her promos and is showing she is capable of doing different types of characters. As a heel, shouldn't she be trying to annoy people? But part of what hurts her character is that the character is bad. And because of the thin roster, they will have her talk even when she doesn't have anything new to say.

As for the brawling, I have seen a couple feuds on Smackdown involve these heated fight scenes. It's not really an issue about worrying that someone might get injured. For me, it is an issue of whether these feuds really deserve it. Last year, Carmella kept on attacking Nikki Bella like these two had some kind of serious blood feud going on. They didn't. In my almost 20 years of watching wrestling regularly, I have seen a lot of personal feuds, and a lot of them didn't have the two sides trying to rip each other apart every chance they got as badly as I have seen some feuds on Smackdown since the brand split. Now, is the issue that those feuds of the past were overrated or not handled right? No. The issue is that the WWE is just trying too hard with the feuds right now. When you spend this creative energy on these feuds, what's left for the feuds that actually deserve the bigger treatment? Have one guy burn down the other guy's house?

How can having more matches help? You can further a feud through matches. Matches aren't just there so wrestling fans can critique them. Take Jack Swagger. He could have had a match against Baron Corbin. Dean Ambrose, who is currently feuding with Corbin, could be out there for commentary. The two could then have a confrontation after the match. Or Dean Ambrose could cost Baron Corbin the match. Or Dean Ambrose could save Swagger from getting beaten down by Corbin. A lot of ways to further the feud without trying too hard. They can still do something like that, but how many free supporting players does the Smackdown roster currently have? How many have the credibility Swagger had? And how many of them are actually being properly utilized to help keep these feuds fresh? The WWE needs to do a better job finding balance between matches, promos, brawls, and other unique segments on Smackdown.

I would say Smackdown is definitely overrated by many smarks. I do not favor any brand. I am just critiquing it objectively. Yes, Raw has issues, but Smackdown also has some bad issues that lead to a lot of talent being mismanaged. To say Smackdown is better than Raw is like saying the New York Jets were a better team than the Cleveland Browns last season. Well, yeah, a lot of teams are going to be better than a team that only wins one game all season, but both teams were bad. Smackdown, for all its good qualities, is underachieving. And it can improve itself by managing talent better.

Back to Swagger. What will become of him? I mentioned Impact Wrestling earlier. I expect that he will end up there. Will the WWE want him back further down the line? I cannot imagine that. Regardless, Swagger now has a chance to reinvent himself or go even further with the gimmick he had that the WWE did not do more with.

Final No Mercy 2016 Preview

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

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

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

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

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

Previewing The TLC 2015 Undercard Title Matches

All the titles will be on the line at TLC this Sunday. I will talk about the WWE Championship match next time. Right now, I will look at the matches for the Intercontinental, United States, Tag Team, and Diva's Championships.

A common theme in the matches I am about to talk about will be multiple angles going on for some of these wrestlers possibly holding back the potential of the title feuds. I talked about that recently. The League of Nations was just formed, with some of those guys already having something going on prior to the stable becoming official. Then The Usos and Dean Ambrose came out to help Roman Reigns, bringing up the possibility of a stable there. The diva division is a mess, as usual.

Let me start with the Intercontinental Championship match. Dean Ambrose goes against Kevin Owens. I said that this was a feud that did not really need a fancy storyline to it. I did not imagine when I said that that things would work out like they have. Owens was not able to get involved as best as he could for a while. Dean Ambrose got involved with Roman Reigns against The League of Nations. The feud just became an afterthought. They will have a contract signing on Smackdown this week. My initial reaction was that this feud does not really need that, but it is probably a good way to give this match some hype prior to TLC. I still feel Owens retains. Given how things have worked out, extending the feud a few more weeks after TLC would not be too horrible.

Jack Swagger goes after the United States Championship held by Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio retains, but it is really a shame what has happened to this feud. This was the midcard title feud that had potential for a good story. But putting Del Rio into The League of Nations has ruined the storyline they could have had here. It will be a chairs match, but the feud could have been better.

The tag titles will be decided in a triple-threat ladder match. Considering the men involved, it should be a great match and give the main event some competition for match of the night. The New Day defend against The Usos and Lucha Dragons. The Lucha Dragons are probably just there to make the match more exciting. It is unlikely they win. But it is a shame that they have not been featured better in the feud. Winning a match here and there isn't enough. It is all about how you are actually featured. The New Day have been associating with Sheamus and his group. The Usos have obviously sided with Roman Reigns. If Sin Cara & Kalisto were not involved in this title match, there would be no problem. As it stands, it feels like they are getting the short end of the stick. It seems like a lot of these title feuds have gotten the short end of the stick for a while for the benefit of furthering Reigns vs. Sheamus. Do The Usos win the titles here? It is only a matter of time before they do. I will say they do win them.

The diva division is a mess. The feud between Charlotte and Paige has been horrible. I have said that they probably should have ended it already. Move on to something else. They have continued it and only seem to make it worse. Already teasing friction between Charlotte and Becky Lynch before the feud between Paige and Charlotte is done just takes away from the feud. If Paige was the one forcing the wedge, that would be one thing. She's not. Even Team Bella has stirred the pot.

And the WWE brings back Ric Flair to get involved even more regularly. I do not think that is fair. How many wrestlers have a legendary father at the level of Ric Flair to give them a rub? It wouldn't be right for The Rock to carry a certain family member of his that has issues connecting with the fans, so I do not think the WWE should do too much with Ric Flair for Charlotte's benefit. She needs to do it on her own. If they wanted to bring Ric Flair in to work with Charlotte in a certain storyline that really deserved it, that would be great. That is not what they are doing here. This is just trying to give Charlotte a rub. I am still not convinced they really want to make her a star or are just pushing filler right now and creating the impression they really want her over. Either way, Charlotte has still not proven that she should be pushed as a top star.

As for Paige, I have brought up before that this push she has been getting may not necessarily be to make her into the new AJ Lee. It could be more similar to what happened to Melina when she turned heel for the last time to feud with Natalya over the title. The feud got treated poorly. Melina was not built up well, she lost to Natalya, and the WWE just moved on. I read Paige loses to Becky Lynch on Smackdown this week. The last show before the PPV and she loses. It has happened before that credible jobbers lose like that and go on to lose when they get their title shot soon after.

I would expect Paige to lose at TLC. The WWE has already started to tease Becky vs. Charlotte. Unless Becky is the one that costs Charlotte the title, the title will still be involved for the storyline between Becky and Charlotte. Why put the title on Paige? She is a heel. Sasha Banks is a heel. Nikki Bella, whenever she returns, will likely be a heel. Are there any faces that Paige can genuinely feud with? I doubt the WWE would dig Natalya back up to go against Paige. No, I say the title stays on Charlotte as she goes against Becky Lynch.

Alberto Del Rio Goes Back To Jack Swagger

Alberto Del Rio had a feud brewing with Jack Swagger. They have feuded before, but with Del Rio as the face and Swagger as the heel. Also with Zeb Colter on Jack Swagger's side. Del Rio is now the heel and has Zeb on his side. The United States Championship is also in the mix this time. The feud was put on hold due to the WWE Championship tournament, but they are going back to it.

The outcome of this feud seems obvious. Alberto Del Rio wins. Jack Swagger was doing nothing prior to this push. All of a sudden, the WWE starts investing in him again. But obviously to put over Del Rio. The WWE did this same thing last year to use Swagger to put over Rusev. Jack Swagger did such a great job, I wondered if he should be the one to hand Rusev his first real loss. It was also disappointing when the WWE just deflated him after that. I expect a repeat of last year.

Could the WWE do more? There is this Mexican-American angle going on. The WWE could build a stable out of this. If nothing else, a tag team with a manager. Jack Swagger and Zeb are no strangers to that, having a group with Cesaro in the past. Jack Swagger would be a great choice to partner with Zeb and Del Rio. Del Rio represents Mexico and Swagger represents the United States. It would keep Jack Swagger relevant. It would add to this angle they have going on. And even after Del Rio does lose the United States Championship, he can go after the tag titles down the line. If the WWE does not find a good way to keep this angle fresh, it could fizzle out fast.

What Do You Do With Sheamus Now?

The WWE once felt like it had too much filler. Sheamus was one of those guys during this time that was getting filler matches, getting no real direction. He eventually won the Royal Rumble and the World title. The WWE once again feels like it is heading down the realm of filler. It feels like there are some guys that are just there. The WWE has to find something for them to do. You often either see them feuding for someone way too long or just left with no real direction at all. They might get tossed into someone else's feud.

What about Sheamus? He may have the briefcase, but does he have a true direction? He had a feud brewing with Randy Orton around the time he won Money in the Bank. That feud just got boring. Thankfully, it is over. I am definitely not suggesting the WWE continue that feud. Randy Orton has moved on. Sheamus is just there. What would I suggest for him?

How about going to your reserves and having Sheamus feud with a former World Champion that also won Money in the Bank once? He's a face, so that should make it even easier to set this feud up. I am talking about Jack Swagger. And I am not talking about just one random match on Main Event. Develop a true feud here. It is obvious Swagger would lose the feud in the end, but he can at least do for Sheamus what he did for Rusev last year. Not only would it be giving Swagger something to do, it might help Sheamus look a little more interesting.

A wrestler with the briefcase does not need to look interesting to successfully cash it in. There are a lot of instances where Mr. Money in the Bank looked pretty mediocre and still won the title. Then there is Sandow. He did not look good and he is the only man to win the briefcase and never have held a World title in the WWE. Sheamus has already held World titles. The mediocre treatment does not suggest he will fail to cash in, but I think it does suggest that they are not grooming him to be an A+ player. If they were doing a worse job with him than they are, I would be more confident that they wouldn't actually give him the title. And that would be such a waste of the briefcase. Until he does cash in, however, they are wasting the situation by not doing more with him.

Cesaro With Nothing To Do For Night Of Champions?

One thing that seems common these days in the WWE is guys you would expect to be featured well not have anything to do for PPVs. Does Cesaro fit in that category? Is he a guy you would expect to be featured well? He was just being pushed against Kevin Owens. I have seen some people say he was the hottest guy in the company not too long ago. And yet, it seems he has nothing to do for Night of Champions.

This just feels like what you had between Jack Swagger and Rusev. Jack Swagger turned face to feud with Rusev. Fans actually connected well with him. The feud was pretty good. Just one little problem. Swagger lost a lot and the WWE just deflated him after that. It was obvious the WWE was using him to put over Rusev, but it would have been nice if the WWE still followed up with him better after, since he was connecting well with the fans.

That is the same vibe I am getting with Cesaro now. They just used him to put over Kevin Owens and he has been without a proper direction since. And people were actually ready to say Kevin Owens was ruined after feuding with Cena? He wins his first feud after Cena and has another feud immediately after that. Cesaro is the one that looks to be in a worse place. Just like Swagger, Cesaro was connecting well with fans. And yet, he is lost in the shuffle.

There is still a chance for him to be relevant on Night of Champions. One option is putting him in a filler match. The card does seem like it has space on it. Long matches? Sheamus cashing in? A lot of backstage segments? How about a filler match? You might get something like Cesaro vs. Bo Dallas, with Cesaro winning. Probably not.

How about having Cesaro be the mystery partner for Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose against The Wyatts? Not likely. It will likely be someone that will cause some buzz. It will probably be a debut or a return. If the WWE uses someone that is a regular on the roster already, it might be disappointing, even if it is Cesaro.

Not too many options. In the end, I do not think Cesaro will have anything meaningful to do for the PPV. It is a shame, but nothing too personal. The WWE seems to not know what to do with Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose at times. I also do not think there would be loud fan support for Cesaro right now to get him pushed better. You had that for Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan. The WWE will probably have as easy a time shuffling Cesaro around as they did Jack Swagger. Maybe those two should team up again?

Rusev And Swagger Meet Again

Rusev is now feuding with a familiar foe. That would be Jack Swagger. These two had a great feud a few months ago. I have seen some fans complain about Rusev going back to Swagger so soon. Rusev has not been on the main roster for even a year and he has already gone back to feuding with someone he already feuded with. There are depth issues, which seems to be something I bring up 921,456 times a week. Nevertheless, there were other options for Rusev. If they had shuffled things around differently, Rusev could have been defending that United States title against Dean Ambrose, Ryback, or possibly Erick Rowan. These are guys he has not feuded with. You would have had a fresh feud.

I am not going to complain about going back to Jack Swagger. Swagger deserves something to do. These two had a great feud. I would say this could be the greatest midcard rivalry of the decade, if the WWE handles it right. A midcard rivalry for the WWE usually means two midcarders are going to wrestle each other too many more times than they need to. No real storyline. A lot of the matches feel like filler or are obviously meant to give one guy momentum. The gimmicks Swagger and Rusev have just beg for a great rivalry to happen. And there is so much more they can do with this rivalry. Can they get away with turning Swagger heel and Rusev face and having them feud against each other? How about forcing them to be on the same side? How about having them naturally want to be on the same side? Is there a common enemy Americans and Russians have? One of the reasons the rivalry between Trish and Lita was so great is because they were on the same side here and there. That adds to the story when they would feud against each other. That is the kind of thing they could pull with Swagger and Rusev. Not necessarily now, but in the future. Right now, their feud gets elevated because the US title is involved.

Once again, should Jack Swagger be the guy to hand Rusev his first official loss since debuting? This time around, that would likely involve Swagger winning the US title, a title he held before. Unless they are just building Rusev up for Cena or a pert-timer to beat him, Swagger is the best option. It may not happen this month, but I think it should happen with this feud. Swagger has gotten over and he is worthy. It would be another chapter in their rivalry.

What Do You Do With Swagger Now?

Jack Swagger had a great feud with Rusev a few months ago. He turned face and the fans were liking him. I was hoping the WWE would continue to push him even after that feud with Rusev, which was obviously meant to put Rusev over. That feud transitioned into a minor feud with Bo Dallas. Better than nothing. But what do you do with Swagger now? He seems to have no clear direction.

I understand the issues the WWE have now. They lack stars. Guys have gotten injured. Depth is bad. On the one hand, it feels like they have no one. On the other hand, they do have people. Problem is, they are not using them right. And Jack Swagger is a guy I think they should use better. He has connected well with the fans, he is very good in the ring, and there is a lot of potential with his gimmick. I am not saying he needs to be pushed alongside John Cena and Randy Orton. I am not even saying he needs to be in line to face Brock Lesnar for the title. Might be a good match, but there are guys above Swagger for that kind of push.

Against whom should he feud? Aside from the tag titles, all the midcard titles are held by faces. Does that mean you should turn Sheamus heel so he can feud with Swagger? No. How about pairing someone with Swagger and having them go after the tag titles? That could be an interesting idea. I just cannot think of anyone to pair with Swagger. There are also other heels that can go against Swagger. The patriot gimmick does not even need to be a part of it. How about Miz vs. Swagger? Miz should be moving away from Dolph Ziggler. Have a new heel step up against Ziggler. How about one of The Wyatts? While that feud happens, Miz and Swagger can feud in a non-title feud. I could suggest Swagger feuding with a Wyatt, but I am not feeling that. Let The Wyatts go after titles right now. Let Swagger feud with another former World Champion. That will be moving him up from that midcard feud with Bo Dallas.

Rusev Vs. Mark Henry

Now that the WWE is revisiting the feud between Rusev and Mark Henry, I'll talk about it more. Mark Henry still seems to be teaming with Big Show against The Wyatts, as well, but that's another issue. I doubt the WWE will completely drop Mark Henry vs. Rusev.

How will this feud compare to Rusev's previous feud with Jack Swagger? In my opinion, that was the best feud Rusev has had since debuting. That might not be saying much. Regardless, it was a good feud. Jack Swagger's gimmick made this feud natural. Swagger successfully turned face, which is something I think a lot of fans doubted could ever happen. There were some great segments. They put on some good matches. I would say it was one of those feuds that really benefited both sides, and neither guy has been tossed aside after it has ended. Could they have done a few things to make the feud better, like have an actual flag match at Summerslam? Yeah, but it was a great midcard feud.

I don't think this feud you have going on right now for Rusev will be as good. On paper, it looks good. You have two big brutes going at it. Mark Henry was an Olympian for the United States, so this feud can make sense. Mark Henry might also have more credibility than Jack Swagger. But a lot of people complain about matches that involve big men. They usually don't find them exciting. And I doubt the story they develop here will have the same feel that Rusev/Swagger had. As I said, Jack Swagger's gimmick was just perfect for a feud with Rusev. With the exception of bringing back Kurt Angle to feud with him, I cannot think of a more natural feud for Rusev. Will the fact that Mark Henry still seems to be working against The Wyatts also take away from his feud with Rusev? Depends on how long that lasts. There is potential to make this feud interesting, but I doubt it will work out.

Should Mark Henry be the man that beats Rusev? As of right now, I don't think he needs the win. I don't think he is likely to win. This seems to be just another feud designed to make Rusev look good. How many more feuds like that can they possibly develop before they put an end to him?

Let me talk about the situation with Michael Sam. If you don't know who he is, he is a football player. He is looking to be the first openly-gay player in the NFL. The team that drafted him cut him before the season started. It looked like no other team would want him, even as a member of the practice squad. As you saw on Raw, the WWE extended an invitation to have him come and talk. Since then, it looks like the Dallas Cowboys will add him to their practice squad. It does not look like Sam will come to the WWE. The WWE seems to have dropped the plan completely.

What can you say about this? Pretty stupid by the WWE. If they had already gotten the guy to appear on Raw, I can understand advertising it. They didn't get him to commit. All they did was advertise they were inviting him. And it looks like it will go nowhere. They just made themselves look foolish. It was all for the sake of publicity. What would Michael Sam really have said if he showed up? Most people are very professional in these situations. And I don't see why Sam would have any reason to be bitter and not professional. Players get cut before the season starts all the time. I doubt it was anything personal or anything against his lifestyle. I doubt the Rams tried to screw him. The WWE knows about screwing people. They were going to give him a live mic? And? What were they hoping would happen? An AW moment? It was just a bad idea. I hope they have fun with Jerry Springer.

What Do You Do With Rusev?

The WWE has shown a little bit of inconsistency since Summerslam. I only mentioned Rusev in the title, but this impacts a string of guys. After Summerslam, it looked like Rusev's feud with Jack Swagger was over. Swagger was moving on to a feud with Bo Dallas. Rusev had that segment with Mark Henry on Raw last week. Mark Henry, however, is also teaming with Big Show. Those two are feuding against The Wyatts. This week, it looks like Swagger still wants Rusev, Mark Henry has forgotten about Rusev, and Bo Dallas and Swagger are still feuding. This is messy.

Where do I start? Let me start with Mark Henry, Big Show, and the tag division. Should these two even be a tag team? Splitting them up could open up some singles feuds. Mark Henry feuds with Rusev and Big Show feuds with Bray Wyatt. What kind of match does the WWE want for the tag titles at Night of Champions? That is what it comes down to. If they want a simple match between The Rhodes and The Usos, no need to waste  time with Big Show and Mark Henry killing Bray Wyatt's henchmen. There are other ways to transition Big Show to a singles feud with Bray, if that is the eventual idea. If they are going for some multi-team match, which would be better and utilize all these teams you have floating around, then I can agree with continuing to run Big Show and Mark Henry together.

How about this triangle with Jack Swagger, Bo Dallas, and Rusev? Jack Swagger's feud with Rusev is not over. Or has it become his mini-feud, while his feud with Bo Dallas now is his main feud? Is Bo Dallas his mini-feud? It is messy. Without Swagger, Rusev would have nothing to do right now. I'll get to that in a moment. Just focusing on Swagger, I think it is good that he is being utilized well. I just think they are going overboard with having him be so valiant. They are trying too hard to force him as a hero. The WWE sometimes takes something that works well in connecting with the fans, then murders it. They don't follow up properly. I have seen someone bring up the idea that this feud between Swagger and Bo Dallas is part of Swagger's road to redemption and will eventually lead to him beating Rusev. I don't think that was the original plan at all. Is that where it will go since Swagger has started to connect well with the fans? I don't think Swagger needs to beat Rusev. He can be pushed well without that.

As for Rusev, it really looked like he was moving away from Swagger. It would be obvious to say that it came down to choosing where to go with Mark Henry and they decided with his tag feud, leaving Rusev with nothing. That is, except for going back to Swagger. In this whole situation, it really seems like Rusev is the odd man out. I spent some time thinking about what credible guys are free to enter a feud with Rusev. I couldn't think of anyone. RVD? He always comes and goes. They could have had a mini-feud with him and Rusev. Besides, Rusev has already beaten RVD, although not in an actual feud. RVD just has no momentum. I honestly cannot think of anyone good for Rusev to feud with at the moment.

It makes me wonder what will eventually happen with Rusev. They might revisit his feud with Mark Henry soon. After that? Big Show? After a while, you will run out of top guys. Raises the question, what is the point of this guy? Just to be built up and be fed to Cena? I can picture him losing relevance one day. Will he last? Look at Jack Swagger. He has been around for years. He has won a World title. He has been a jobber. You can say he knows what it is like to be at both extremes. But he still remains relevant. If the WWE is having a tough time developing something for Rusev now, it will only get worse down the line. They will eventually weaken him to being a jobber to the stars. I doubt they are grooming him to be an A player. He is just a gimmick and a monster to be overcome. You can only hope they do better with him until his eventual decline.

Assorted Topics

Dolph Ziggler beat Miz for the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam. That's great. When Ziggler and Barrett had that great match for the title on Raw, I had a feeling Ziggler would eventually win it. Barrett suffered an injury. Miz ended up getting it. And his title reign did not last that long. I would have had Miz retain at Summerslam in some cheap fashion and have Dolph win it at Night of Champions. I can't think of any title changes that might happen at that PPV that will give you that "feel good" moment. Fans like Dolph Ziggler and wanted him to get some gold. Extending the journey to that title win for another month would not have been that bad. Ziggler still would have gotten the title and it might have been a great moment for Night of Champions. It isn't like Summerslam lacked moments and title changes.

Speaking of title changes, Paige regained the Diva's Championship. That was quick. Birthday gift? Or was there more to it than that? The title was on AJ Lee. She dropped it to Paige. Paige dropped it back to AJ Lee. AJ Lee dropped it back to Paige. That is peculiar booking. It is not unusual for a centerpiece to win consecutive title reigns like that, but she's usually trading it with different women and not the same woman over a matter of months. I know I compared this feud to Orton/Christian, which featured Christian regaining the title before dropping it back to Orton, but I didn't really feel they needed to drop it back to Paige, especially so soon.

Is there more to it? There are rumors that AJ Lee will be leaving the WWE, possibly for good this time. Jim Ross predicted that Paige would regain the title at Summerslam and AJ would distance herself from the WWE. That is a bold prediction to make. He didn't make it sound like it would definitely happen, but half his prediction came through. If it looks like AJ really is leaving, I'll talk about it more then.

How about Jack Swagger? That wasn't a true flag match he had with Rusev at Summerslam. That was disappointing. The way they had the match, I can agree with Rusev winning. And the feud is now over. How is the WWE handling Swagger after this feud? He was obviously connecting well with the fans during that feud. It was going to be interesting to see what they did with him after. They took Zeb away from him. He seems to be getting a losing streak. He does seem to be entering a feud with Bo Dallas.

Burial? Are they slowly deflating him? Are they taking the training wheels off to see how Swagger can do on his own? Is it a lack of good opponents to develop for him? I don't see this as a true burial or anything bad for him. Some guys go on losing streaks for months that eventually turn into some kind of storyline. After his loss on Raw this week, it was obvious Swagger was already in a storyline and feud. And that is good for him. You have some former World Champions that just seem to float around aimlessly. Sheamus, despite having a title, seems lost in the shuffle. Swagger has an actual story going for him. I see Bo Dallas as a future lower-midcarder, unless they do something different with him, but he is still relevant right now. And this is a feud I can picture Swagger winning. That is, if they are serious about giving him a fair opportunity. If Swagger continues to connect well with the fans, they might start pushing him up again. I am not going to complain about what they are doing with Swagger now.

TNA is switching Impact Wrestling to Wednesdays. That kind of ruins my predictions for how their ratings will do this year. It is actually a smart move. No NFL on Wednesdays. If the WWE should move Smackdown to Thursdays, which would have killed TNA, TNA won't end up having to deal with that. I don't think their ratings will jump all the way to a 2.0, but they will avoid competition that would have hurt their ratings a lot.

Jack Swagger Vs. Rusev: Fun With Flags

Jack Swagger's feud with Rusev continues to be very good. They will have a flag match at Summerslam. And the development has been solid. All four individuals are doing their thing well. Swagger and Rusev may not be bringing it on the mic, but that is why Zeb and Lana are there. Jack Swagger is obviously very good in the ring. Rusev is a Russian monster. Nothing to complain about here.

Who wins at Summerslam? The obvious answer would be Jack Swagger. Swagger can win this match and Rusev will remain undefeated in terms of pinfall and submission. I cannot think of one good reason why Rusev should win this match.

Will the feud continue to a third PPV? I think there is a good chance of that. Problem is, I don't know if they will be able to keep it fresh. If you just rehash the same promos too much, this will get stale. Inserting the flag theme has helped to keep this feud going in an interesting manner. What can they do next? If they do go to a third PPV match, that will most likely be where the feud ends. There is definitely no need to continue it after that. I am sure they would have freed up some other face for Rusev to feud with by then. And there are heels for Swagger to feud with, if the WWE decides to continue his push beyond just using him to put over Rusev.

Battleground 2014 Preview: Part 2

Nothing has really happened since I last talked about the WWE title match. Ric Flair came back and gave Cena the thumbs up. It's not like there has been a ton of time in between PPVs to develop an interesting title feud. It is still likely Cena wins. That feud against Brock Lesnar seems imminent. Some fans say Brock Lesnar can interfere at Battleground and cost Cena the title, which will branch off into the feud between the two for Summerslam. I don't agree with that idea. This would be the third PPV encounter between the two. The first was over a decade ago and was for the WWE Championship, but Cena was not yet a big star back then. The match they had after Lesnar came back was at Extreme Rules. How do you raise the bar for the third encounter? With nothing on the line and no special gimmick to the match? I don't think so. Put the title on the line. That means Cena wins at Battleground.

The feud between Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho has been disappointing. I am not just saying that because I didn't like this feud from the start. It has just remained in that cryptic stage. Why is Bray Wyatt doing what he is doing? It looked like he could almost give a great promo to develop this feud on Raw, but then he just started going off in vagueness. You can get a sense of what might be the kayfabe reason for the feud. Bray Wyatt thinks Jericho is a hypocrite. He claims he will save the fans, but never does anything. Bray can sell himself as the true savior. This feud will obviously go on beyond Battleground, but they better do a better job telling the story. Bray Wyatt will probably win at Battleground.

The feud between Jack Swagger and Rusev has not disappointed. Not only do I like it, the fans seem into it, as well. I can say that I would love for this feud to spill over to Summerslam, but I don't even know if the WWE can keep it going in an interesting manner. Having supporting players sometimes helps to prolong a feud in an interesting manner. You have Zeb and Lana. They have been the mouthpieces for their respective wrestler. It will really be up to what they do with them to help prolong this feud in a great way. Having back-and-forth debates that lead to brawls between Rusev and Swagger can only be done so often before it becomes stale. If they are going to prolong this feud, Rusev doesn't need to win this match. He shouldn't. I am not saying Swagger pins him or gets him to tap. Let the match end in a DQ or count-out. Keep Swagger looking strong here.

I want to spend some time on the diva match, which is why I left it for last. Paige gets her rematch against AJ Lee. Some people might say that there is no real feud here. They seem to be on the same side. Are you getting the kind of vibe that was there for Orton vs. Christian on Smackdown a few years ago? Christian finally won the big one, in terms of his WWE career, and loses the title right away to Randy Orton. That developed into a heel turn for Christian. Paige won the title, they can run this storyline where she is frustrated with people not believing in her and her inability to regain the title, and she snaps and turns heel. Just like they prolonged Christian's heel turn during that storyline, they will likely do the same thing now. Regardless, it just makes sense for AJ Lee to retain at Battleground.

Should Paige turn heel? I pointed out even before AJ Lee returned that there was horrible heel depth, especially with credible jobbers. Cameron turned heel, but that is no big help. You have Layla turning on Fandango and going face. AJ Lee might be turning face with the way things are going. You have had a lot of tweener action going on recently in the diva division. Very messy. No, I am not going to say that the diva division is the worst it has ever been because of that. There is still better creative depth now than a few months ago. You can say that all these storylines going on is the reason the line between faces and heels is so blurred. Okay, but I would also say bad depth also has something to do with it. They need a heel turn from someone with good wrestling credibility. Paige is a face credible jobber that is likely to turn heel. She should turn heel.

Is a heel turn necessarily a good thing for Paige? If a performer can't get over as a face, turn them heel. That is the philosophy of many fans. They sometimes overlook whether the WWE actually wants the performer over. I agree that heels sometimes have a better chance at connecting with the fans, but that is not the issue here. The issue is how the WWE will actually push Paige. I don't want to compare it completely to Orton/Christian. If the WWE ends up doing the same kind of storyline for Paige, I may end up doing an entry just comparing Christian back then to Paige now. Nevertheless, Christian's heel turn didn't exactly mean they were ready to treat him better. This possible heel turn for Paige isn't really an opportunity to get her over with the fans so she can get better treatment. This seems really meant just to cover depth issues.

How about AJ Lee? This is the best creative interest put into a diva title feud in a long time. The WWE just had Paige cycling through feuds. Some of those feuds were more about something else other than the title. Paige vs. Naomi wasn't as interesting as Cameron turning heel. Paige vs. Alicia Fox wasn't as interesting as Alicia's crazy gimmick. Paige vs. Tamina wasn't interesting at all. And AJ Lee had a lot of dry feuds prior to Paige winning it from her. Is the fact that they are investing in an AJ Lee title feud now a sign she is the centerpiece of the diva division? Paige is a credible jobber. They are developing what will likely be an elaborate feud. The WWE also gave AJ Lee a very good feud last year against Kaitlyn. That feud was also an extension of AJ's periphery matters with Dolph Ziggler and Big E. They need to show better consistency with AJ Lee in developing credible jobbers to put her over before I am ready to say they want her to be the centerpiece.

Taking that a step further, is the diva division over? The diva division is a women's division that revolves around a centerpiece and this idea that eye-candy divas should be featured prominently. Since 1998, they have wanted an eye-candy diva as the centerpiece. Developing AJ Lee as the centerpiece could be the end of the diva division. And yet, that does not mean the dark age is over. The dark age ends when things get efficient and respectable again. Things are still too messy, even with AJ Lee around. And with so many eye-candy divas around, including Summer Rae and The Bellas, I don't think the WWE has given up on the desire to create another centerpiece that will follow in the line of Sable and Trish Stratus. They need to do a lot more with AJ Lee and all the other divas, including hiring more female wrestlers, before I am ready to say the status quo has truly changed.

Swagger Vs. Rusev: An Actual Midcard Feud To Be Proud Of

I wasn't going to say anything after Emma's arrest. When she got released, I figured I would have to spend today talking about that. Same day, she gets rehired. Let's leave that there.

When Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger came out to confront Lana and Rusev, that got me excited. And the fans were really into it. Jack Swagger looked great in that segment. This midcard feud has great potential. I like Jack Swagger. And I have said before that I think they can do some great things with the character Rusev has. And what happened on Raw is an example of what I was thinking of. Some fans have been questioning when the WWE would get around to this feud. It pretty much writes itself. Here it is. And I think it will be great.

Not to speak too soon, but it seems like this is a feud Rusev would normally win. Jack Swagger has been jobbing a lot for most of his career in recent years. It would be obvious to say Swagger is just being developed here to put over Rusev. If Swagger can continue connecting well with the fans through this push, I would hope the WWE changes plans and lets Swagger beat Rusev. Why let Cena get all the wins against well-developed opponents? And it might also be too soon to say this, but if Swagger can continue that momentum, it would be nice to see him be World Champ one more time.

What if the WWE does not like how the fans are reacting? I just said that it seems obvious Swagger is just being developed to be a challenge for Rusev to go through. He is the one they are really interested in pushing. It all comes down to how badly they want to stay the course. Would the WWE purposely "botch" this push for Swagger? Am I saying the WWE would purposely try to mess up the career of one of their own workers if they get more over than the WWE would like? Sure, why not? Fans are interested in this feud. The WWE should be happy with that. Let it grow. Go in the direction of what the fans want. What the WWE does with Swagger after this feud will be interesting to see. They should try to find something for him.

Money In The Bank 2014: Previewing The Briefcase Ladder Match

When they first announced that there would still be a ladder match for the briefcase, I didn't like the idea that much. They had already put in so much top talent in the other ladder match. They were going to end up tossing in guys in this ladder match that should be facing each other in singles matches. They were not going to have enough guys left over for other matches to fill up the card. Now that all the participants have been named, I am not going to complain about it. Aside from Rollins and Ambrose, none of these other guys really had anything going for them. And there are still other matches to fill up the card. I am going to talk about the participants in the order I think they stand a chance of winning.

Remember that time I said I was going to talk about the participants in the order I thought they stood a chance of winning? I lied. I have to start with Bad News Barrett. Yes, there is bad news for Bad News Barrett. He got injured on Smackdown. There is a very good chance he will not compete in the ladder match this Sunday. Where would he have landed on my list had he not gotten injured? He would have come in second. Yes, I think he stood a good chance of winning. He has talent and has seemed to be on the fringes of a major push at times in his career. He shouldn't be stuck rotating around the midcard forever. Who takes his place? I'm not going to speculate on that. The WWE may not even need to replace him. There are still a lot of guys in the match.

Seth Rollins seems like the likely choice to win. He is in the midst of a great turn in his career. He is aligned with Triple H and being groomed to be the future golden boy. I almost want to say that he does not need the briefcase. His feud with Ambrose will obviously last beyond Money in the Bank. The type of treatment he is getting now pretty much guarantees he will be featured well. Nevertheless, he seems like the most credible option to get the briefcase.

Dean Ambrose is also hot. But he seems to just be there for the benefit of Rollins. Rollins is the one being developed to be a future star. Ambrose is likely just the one there to feud with him for the moment. Rollins will continue to be groomed well in the future, assuming he does not flop, but Ambrose is likely the one that will get lost in the shuffle. The only reason I could picture him winning the briefcase is to further the feud between him and Rollins even more.

Dolph Ziggler is very popular. But does he need another briefcase win? He has won it before and successfully cashed it in. It is not unheard of for someone to win the briefcase twice, but I don't see the need for Ziggler to win this. There are so many other names to push to be future main-eventers. Assuming Barrett is not injured for long, Ziggler could eventually regain the Intercontinental Championship by beating him. They had a great match on Raw. If the WWE ever does get serious about pushing Ziggler in the main-event again, it shouldn't be difficult since he held the World title before. He does not need the briefcase.

Rob Van Dam returned at Money in the Bank last year. What has he really done? He seems to be just enhancement talent. Why in the world would they book him to get the briefcase? He is likely just there to pull off some cool spots.

Jack Swagger. The only reason I am not putting him at the bottom of the list is because he has won the briefcase before and won the World title once.

Kofi Kingston, much like RVD, is likely just there to pull off some fancy spots. He has done nothing important for months.

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.  

A Good Night For The Real Americans

No one said the man they call Cesaro had to beat Randy Orton. Nevertheless, that is what happened on Smackdown last week. The challenger in the Chamber match with the least credibility has beaten the World Champion.

I am glad that the title is finally regularly getting main-event attention. I have said before that it would be nice if they started doing that since they unified the titles. The guy holding the title losing so much? That is another issue. Obviously, Randy Orton losing so much might mean he will retain the title, but I will talk about that more another day. You also have the fact that Orton losing so much can be used to develop the storyline of The Authority losing confidence in him as the kayfabe face. I have seen people bring that up. My problem with that is that I have already lost interest in that story after all these months of teasing it endlessly. It is obvious it is going to happen, so just do it. Have the corporate heels pick a new guy and kick Orton to the side.

Not only did Cesaro win, but Jack Swagger also won a match on Smackdown to earn a shot at the Intercontinental Championship. Things are looking good for Zeb's guys. Should Jack Swagger win the Intercontinental Championship? It isn't like Big E has done a lot with the title in a while. Of course, you should blame booking for that, not him. If Swagger did win the title, that could set up an interesting title feud between him and Cesaro for Wrestlemania, assuming the WWE pulls the trigger on the team splitting up. They can still feud if there is no title involved, but I think the feud will mean more if one of the two wins at Elimination Chamber. Swagger stands a better chance of winning his title match than Cesaro does.

Since I mentioned Wrestlemania, I came across a graph that illustrates the buyrates for the big event over the years. I am not going to analyze it all. Let me just say that the last three Wrestlemanias all had over a million buys. All three featured The Rock in some way. He obviously helped. If you want to do some speculating, let's ask the obvious question. Over or under? Will this year's Wrestlemania score over or under a million buys? You would hope that Wrestlemania XXX would draw well. The Rock is not here this year, but it can still be possible to do it without him. But who do you have to really help you? I do not believe Batista can deliver well right now. The Undertaker is always a big deal around now. That doesn't mean he will draw big for over a million buys. Brock Lesnar is still around. He might face The Undertaker. Even though this was a match many people would have loved to see at Wrestlemania, and still do, I do not feel it will have the hype to it that it could have earlier. Is Hulk Hogan going to do anything there? Regardless of who is performing at the big event, it really comes down to how well they are hyped and how much hype in general the WWE can create for the PPV. As of now, things feel dry and I do not feel they will get a million buys this year. I might talk about this again in a month, if I remember. By then, hopefully, they would have created major hype for their top feuds.

Tag Teams Splitting Up

You have had some teams either splitting up or on the verge of splitting up recently. Why not talk about those teams a little?

The Prime Time Players are no more. Titus O'Neil turned on Darren Young. There is a little bit of a push there for Titus, as well as Darren Young. But I would not expect too much to come of this. These guys are still just lower-midcarders. Remember when Brodus Clay turned heel and broke up Tons of Funk? Where's Tensai now? I would expect pretty much the same thing to happen with Titus O'Neil and Darren Young.

The Real Americans may not have much time left as a team. They teased friction a while ago between Swagger and Zeb. Cesaro may end up sticking with Zeb Colter and Swagger will be left on his own. It would have been better if they had developed these two better as a team. They could have been a good choice to win the tag titles at one time.

Friction is being teased even more in The Shield. The WWE is developing Roman Reigns to be the breakout star. Dean Ambrose seems to be starting some issues. Seth Rollins is trying to keep the peace. The end seems pretty much near. You don't see internal tension being a story for The Wyatts, who will face The Shield at Extreme Rules. Will The Shield become a 2-man group? That is another issue.

The Rhodes have not split up and are not on the verge of doing that, but if you think about it, it is only a matter of time. They are not feuding against The Authority anymore, they are no longer in the hunt for the tag titles, and what else is there for them? People sometimes bring up Cody Rhodes facing Goldust for Wrestlemania. I don't know if the WWE is thinking that as a big enough match for the PPV, but Wrestlemania is coming up. Splitting them up around now can lead up to that match.

You have a bit of a downgrade in the tag division. People can list all the teams that are still in the division, but how relevant are all these teams? How likely is it that Los Matadores get a serious push? And with more legitimate teams breaking up, that will hurt things even more. Another issue for these teams on the verge of splitting is doing it at a good pace. Do not take too long to do it. It might get as annoying as the friction between Randy Orton and The Authority. Either decide to do it and follow through or decide not to and keep the team together. Don't get fans excited about something happening and then not do it. And to replace some of these teams, a few more teams might need to be created or debut.

Who Should Get A Feud For The Tag Titles Against The Rhodes?

Cody Rhodes and Goldust entered a feud against The Shield a few months ago. They got some big wins over them, including winning the tag titles off them. Months later, these two teams are still feuding against each other. You have other heel teams and it would be nice if they eventually got legitimate feuds against The Rhodes for the tag titles. The Shield can serve other purposes as The Authority's henchmen. They do not also need to always be stuck against the Tag Team Champions.

How about The Rhodes feud against Swagger and Cesaro? I know they started a feud a few weeks ago, but it was never properly developed. Keep them chasing after the titles. This can be a strong heel team and they are the ones I would want to see get the titles.

Bray Wyatt's group is also in the mix. As it seems CM Punk is moving on to feud with The Shield, that leaves The Wyatts with only whatever they end up doing with Daniel Bryan. If they are going to have him join the family, what better way to do it than have him return when they are getting a shot at the tag titles to screw The Rhodes out of the titles? Aside from The Shield, The Wyatts are your top heel tag team. They have been getting some development in the main-event scene. I don't think you need to have that kind of credibility to get these titles, but the WWE has been building them well, so a title reign is not out of the question.

Whichever team gets chosen for a legitimate feud for the tag titles, just don't let it be The Shield. I know they have put on great matches with The Rhodes, but this is getting really stale and there is no reason for it. You have other options to push. The Shield feuding with CM Punk is not a burial. Have CM Punk team with The Usos or Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry. Leave The Rhodes to something else.

On Swagger/Cesaro and Cryback

I'm going to lay off on the talk about percentages and statistics and go back to the usual critiquing and personal opinions on what the WWE is currently doing. Will I also lay off on mentioning Jinder Mahal for no good reason? No guarantees.

First, Jack Swagger returned and the duo of Swagger and Antonio is now official. Zeb is the manager of both heels. For Jack Swagger, some might say this is a step back for him. Wasn't he a part of a team with Dolph Ziggler for a while? You can argue that Swagger was in Ziggler's shadow back then. With this current team, Swagger is the one with a better list of title reigns than Cesaro. Hopefully, this team will help Swagger shine more. Cesaro won't exactly be lost in the shuffle. He actually seems more interesting with this current gimmick he now has. He has potential to connect better with the fans now than he did during that long title run he had. You can book someone very well, but that does not mean he is entertaining. Cesaro was being booked well before his mistreatment started. That didn't get him over. Now, he has a good chance of getting over. It would be nice to see these two eventually get the tag titles.

Ryback seems to be going in the opposite direction of the two heels I just mentioned. A depush was obvious for him after being used to put over Cena, but the storyline they are running with him is a little much. They actually had him give up during a match with The Miz. After that, Jericho once again had the last word. Ryback had beaten The Great Khali on Raw just last week. I know Khali is a jobber, but they were still having Ryback look good up to last week. They have really made his character look bad. Crying? If Ryback was having trouble connecting with the fans, I can understand trying something different to get fans interested. If this storyline was actually intriguing character development, then it would be worth it. So far, it's just breaking him down. They need to do something good to have Ryback turn things around against Jericho. Jericho was getting kicked around by Fandango just a few months ago, and now he's owning Ryback like this?