Wrestlemania 31 Preview: Part 1

I'm going to spend the rest of the week previewing Wrestlemania. I will start with the least important matches first.

The diva match is the least important match on the card. That is not a shot at the women in the match. The WWE has just not made a great match here. Nothing is on the line. No legends are involved. It just hasn't been treated as anything too important. They have tried to tie in #GiveDivasAChance into it, but that protest has lost momentum, not gained it. I would say the faces should win. Let me take it one step further. While surveying #GiveDivasAChance last week, I saw a fan say she hoped AJ Lee got her Wrestlemania moment this year. I told her AJ already got her moment last year. She said AJ should have another one. Okay. That's nice. Not that it matters at all, but I would let Paige get the pinfall/submission for her team, if they are winning. Just a nice gesture.

The tag titles are on the line in the pre-show. Tyson Kidd & Cesaro defend against Los Matadores, New Day, and The Usos. The Champions just won it last month. No need to shoot it back to The Usos, who are the only team I think has the credibility to win it. The Prime Time Players and The Ascension should have been in this match. Not that it matters. A lot of sloppy development in the last few weeks.

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal is in its second year. Winning this isn't anything too major, but things like this can still be fun. Who wins? A lot of possibilities. Axel? Sandow? Mark Henry? Miz? These are the guys I think have a good shot to win it. I would like to see Mark Henry win it. Of course, I can also see him being the last guy eliminated. Axel or Sandow would get a big pop for winning. Let's see if this year's winner ends up with a better push after Wrestlemania than last year's winner.

Who Replaces Orton In The Authority?

 

Randy Orton gave Seth Rollins an RKO on Raw. Orton is definitely going face. That means The Authority is losing a member. I am going to talk about 3 possible new members to the stable.

First thing to consider, why bother putting someone else in the group? Right now, the group only consists of Seth Rollins and Kane, in addition to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, who rarely wrestle these days. The Authority can always send out some heel mercenaries to do their bidding now and then, but adding in a new member might just make things easier heading into the future. This is not a stable that is likely to collapse too soon, and the loss of Orton should not lead to it collapsing now.

How about Miz? I have brought up this possibility before. Let me do a bit of self-analysis. I may sound like I sometimes flip-flop on Miz. Sometimes, I sound like the WWE should be doing better with him. Other times, I may seem to be saying he should not be getting pushed at all. Miz does not deserve to be stuck in these endless title hunts. There are so many other guys in the midcard that deserve those kind of pushes. He also does not deserve another run as WWE Champion. But he does have main-event credibility. That credibility can make him useful. He would fit right in with The Authority.

Mark Henry has turned heel. He has a feud going on with Big Show. How about taking things a step further with him and having him join The Authority. He can bring some muscle to the group. You can say they have Kane for that, but a little more muscle won't hurt. Mark Henry also has the credibility of being a former World Champion. He can be a more intimidating option than Miz.

Ryback has returned. It is true that he has returned as a face, but there is no reason he cannot do a surprise heel turn by siding with The Authority. I can easily picture Ryback losing momentum quickly. I can picture him getting lost in the shuffle easily. Why would The Authority want him? He can be some muscle. Unlike Mark Henry and Miz, Ryback does not have the credibility from holding a World title. But he is still someone they can take and groom as a star, much like they are doing with Seth Rollins. It would be an actual direction for him.

Let me bring up a bonus new member. How about Nikki Bella? Obviously, she won't be filling the void Randy Orton has left in the group. Not counting Stephanie McMahon, this group lacks a diva. When Triple H and Stephanie were running a main-event stable over a decade ago, Tori was a part of that. Stephanie McMahon already made Nikki look like her chosen one in a promo a while back. Nikki will soon be feuding for the Diva's title, but how about actually making her an official member of The Authority? It might make for some interesting mixed-tag matches. The Bellas were pushed in the main-event spotlight a few months ago. They are still being pushed well, but the WWE did not have to let them slip like they have. Nikki should stay at Stephanie McMahon's side. While Triple H grooms his guy to be a star, Stephanie grooms her diva to be a star. It would be great for the stable and the diva division.

Big Show Vs. Rusev At Hell In A Cell 2014: Final Preview

The feud between Big Show and Rusev is definitely one of the top feuds heading into Hell in a Cell. They have faced each other a few times in recent weeks. All those matches ended indecisively. It is not shocking that they would have a PPV encounter.

Rusev should be winning this one. But does Big Show deserve to beat Rusev? With the job Jack Swagger was doing with his feud against Rusev, I felt it should at least be considered that he should be allowed to hand Rusev his first real loss. Even Mark Henry's feud against Rusev was pretty good. How does Big Show stack up? Big Show is definitely over. He was over before even entering this feud. He is a good performer. He is good on the mic. All that being said, this feud just doesn't grab me like Rusev's last two feuds. Is it that this kind of storyline is getting old? Is it that they were a little bit inconsistent with this feud, including bringing in The Rock for that one appearance? If they didn't let Swagger or Mark Henry beat Rusev, I don't think there is a good reason to give this to Big Show. He doesn't even need it.

There will be some kind of storyline coming out of this match with Rusev at Hell in a Cell. I felt the WWE had to have had something more planned when they scheduled that match between Rusev and Big Show on Raw. Mark Henry came out to support Big Show. No heel turn happened, but I feel the seeds have pretty much been planted for someone to turn. Does Mark Henry cost Big Show the match? Does Big Show lose cleanly and snap and take out Mark Henry? Another possibility I was thinking of was both Big Show and Mark Henry remain a team and someone debuts to join Rusev or someone on the main roster teams with him. That would help extend focus on Rusev. He has to be running out of credible opponents. But I don't think the WWE will go that route. A heel turn is more likely. After having Mark Henry look so bad against Bo Dallas, I would expect Mark Henry to turn. I am more interested to see what happens between Big Show and Mark Henry than the actual feud between Rusev and Big Show.

Brock Lesnar Vs. Nobody At Hell In A Cell 2014

It is disappointing that Brock Lesnar will not be defending the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell. When he first got in the title hunt, I was looking forward to a variety of title feuds being developed for Lesnar against guys that were not John Cena. Since winning the title at Summerslam, John Cena is the only guy to feud with him. And their match at Night of Champions ended in a manner that might make you believe that Cena will be back in the picture against Lesnar soon. I understand he is a part-time guy. I was hoping they would work something out that Brock would actually defend his title more often than it will end up being. No one says he has to work house shows. No one says he has to appear every Raw. But is defending the title every PPV too much to ask for?

Let's do some armchair booking. What could Lesnar be doing now? Obviously, his match against Cena last month ended in a manner that could lead to Cena vs. Lesnar at Hell in a Cell. Put them inside the Cell. They had Seth attack both guys at Night of Champions. Put him in the match, if they want to make things a little more interesting. Speaking for myself, I am tired of Cena vs. Brock. I would have moved on to different challengers. Lesnar was destroying Mark Henry earlier in the year. That went nowhere. How about giving Mark Henry a title shot against Lesnar? You can even add in Big Show. Big Show has history with Brock Lesnar. Where would that leave Rusev? I am sure they can come up with something to keep him busy. Developing title feuds for Brock would be a bigger priority.

The absence of Brock Lesnar does not only mean that there is no title feud going on and no title match at Hell in a Cell. It means even less things going on and one less possible match at Hell in a Cell. You can say the WWE is covering for that by having Cena/Ambrose pull double-duty at the PPV. Okay, but what about the rest of the card? Aside from Big Show vs. Rusev and the diva feuds, I don't feel any real development for any of the other feuds. They are not building up to matches at Hell in a Cell that I am looking forward to.

How is the time being spent on the weekly shows? As I said, none of that time is being used to develop a title feud involving Brock Lesnar. You have to combine that with a lack of other stars, like Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. I think it is obvious that the WWE is featuring a lot of filler. Instead of just regular filler, however, they do seem to be trying to make it look like there is some kind of story or rivalry to what they are doing. It is flavored filler, but it is still filler. It is obvious some of these guys are not being pushed because the WWE is developing them to be stars or featuring them as stars. They will be depushed very easily. And I see this as a sign that the WWE is really not in a great place right now. You know they are in trouble when they have to push Tyson Kidd on the main roster.

Brock Lesnar getting a feud right now would not fix everything. Nevertheless, I think it can make things more interesting. Give fans more to be interested in than just whatever Cena is involved with and whatever Rusev is doing these days. Brock Lesnar winning the title was supposed to inject some hype and momentum into the product. It does not feel like it. I do not blame Lesnar. How can the guy deliver for you when he isn't doing anything for so so many weeks? They should have worked out a better deal with him.

Big Show Vs. Rusev

Rusev won his feud against Mark Henry. The story continued past Night of Champions with this angle of Mark Henry being devastated about the loss. Enter Big Show to feud with Rusev.

Let me start with what I like. I like how they transitioned from one feud to the other. Big Show and Mark Henry were teaming together. It was likely that Rusev would move up the ladder and feud with a guy like Big Show after Mark Henry. How they did it was pretty good. I also like how this is not just another patriotism story. That was getting old and they were going to run out of options very soon. Having Big Show trying to avenge his friend is a nice element to add to the story of this feud.

I would have held off on putting Big Show in there. There is still time until the next PPV. Big Show and Rusev could have had their next encounter there after the initial encounter they ended up having on Smackdown recently. Have the feud between Mark Henry and Rusev go on a little more. Sell that story a little longer. With how much time you have left, they might not develop this feud with Rusev and Big Show well.

Or is there more to it than just a feud between Big Show and Rusev? Can you imagine Mark Henry snapping over his recent failure and turning on Big Show? Is that the match they will go for at Hell in a Cell? I don't think they should. These two have feuded before. I don't think they need to feud again, especially so soon. And with a lack of top faces with Roman Reigns now out, I don't think you should turn a top face heel. Could you imagine Big Show and Mark Henry having a friendly feud over who gets to face Rusev? That sounds familiar. Cena and Ambrose both want Seth Rollins. I don't think what you have going on with Big Show, Rusev, and Mark Henry needs that. Nevertheless, I am expecting something more from the story you have with Big Show and Rusev. They faced each other last week and a rematch is already set for next week. After that, what happens with the story?

What Do You Do With Bray Wyatt Now?

Ever since he debuted, Bray Wyatt has been featured pretty consistently at PPVs. He didn't have a match at last year's Survivor Series, but his lackeys did. At this year's Night of Champions, neither he nor his guys had a match. And he still seems lost without anything meaningful to do.

Ever since his feud with Cena ended, you can make the argument that they really haven't had anything meaningful for Bray to do. He was in a ladder match at Money in the Bank, but that was really just as an extra body. How about that epic feud against Chris Jericho? If they had not brought back Jericho for that feud, Bray Wyatt probably would have been lost in the shuffle earlier than he ended up. Not surprisingly, Jericho put Wyatt over. And the WWE has no way to follow up. It kind of makes that feud with Jericho seem even more like filler. Bray Wyatt has beaten all these top stars. He has all this credibility. He has all this momentum. And he has nothing to do with it.

Should Bray Wyatt be treated as a priority? I am not saying he should be pushed as a main-eventer right now, but you have room in the midcard to push some interesting characters and develop good feuds. Moreover, the WWE has lost some guys they might have been interested in pushing recently. Aside from Daniel Bryan, you have Roman Reigns getting injured and both Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho leaving again. Problem is, all these guys are faces. If you wanted to talk about whom they could push to full the void from losing those guys, you would probably have to list faces. They could turn The Wyatts face, but is now the time for that? I think you can do more with them as heels. And I do think they are good enough to deserve to be featured in some kind of storyline.

What do you do with them? You had Rupert and Murdoch feuding against Big Show and Mark Henry in a pointless rivalry. While that was going on, Mark Henry also had issues with Rusev. Mark Henry losing to Rusev has left him a broken man. You also had some signs that Big Show might feud with Bray Wyatt. Let's combine this all. Mark Henry is broken. Bray Wyatt comes in an gets him to join his side. Enter Big Show to save his tag partner. What does that leave Rusev to do? Forget about that for a moment. This is just about what to do with Wyatt. All of a sudden, things tie together a little better. Mark Henry and Big Show's feud against The Wyatts does not look as pointless. You transition what happened with Mark Henry in his feud with Rusev into another angle with another heel. Big Show now has a more creative reason to feud against these guys. I am not implying at all that this was the plan all along, but I think it is a plan that can make the WWE look more clever than they may really be. And this can culminate in Big Show and Mark Henry facing all three members of The Wyatts. The WWE featured some 3-on-1 handicap matches last year, so 3-on-2 should not be so unbelievable, especially when the guys that seem to have the numbers disadvantage are Big Show and Mark Henry.

They really should do more with Bray Wyatt from a creative standpoint. Some fans complain that The Wyatts are booked badly. What exactly do they mean by that? They don't win matches or just win against jobbers? Bray Wyatt has won some big matches. His two guys looked like legitimate contenders for the tag titles a while ago. The issue isn't wins and losses. It is more about the storylines than how they are actually booked. Bray Wyatt winning matches means nothing if you are not pushing him in an interesting manner. He'll get a cheap pop from mentioning what town he's in and his entrance has become a fad. But when it comes to how he is actually being pushed, they can be better creatively with him.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Non-title Matches

Did they really end Raw with Mark Henry and Rusev? Wow! It must be football season! I know very well this was not done because this feud is so important to the WWE. The WWE wanted the Cena/Brock segment, the segment that was the most important on that show, to occur during the halftime of the NFL game on Monday. Cena pretty much spelled it out in his opening promo. I'll talk more about that on Friday. Let me just focus on Mark Henry and Rusev right now. I didn't feel this feud would be as good as the one between Rusev and Jack Swagger, but it is better than I expected. I still wouldn't say it has the same feel as seeing Swagger turn face and it working, but it is a good feud with some good segments. I am not a United States patriot, but I do like these recent feuds. How many more can they possibly come up with? And can they keep them fresh? Mark Henry has all the momentum and I don't think they are developing Rusev to put him over. Rusev wins this match. And I would expect this feud to continue.

Chris Jericho faces Randy Orton. Why? I don't know. I figured they would go with this match. You can spend hours trying to explain the storyline reason for this feud to me. I don't care. This is obvious filler. Both men had feuds that were ending in the weeks before Night of Champions, leaving them with nothing to do. It is a rushed feud, if you can even really consider this a feud. How will the WWE write Jericho off? Punt to the head? Have Christian do something to Jericho? I am actually more interested in how they write Jericho off than in which guy wins the match. The outcome will really be meaningless. Jericho doesn't need to be put over, especially if he is leaving. Orton doesn't seem to be doing anything important right now. I can see Jericho winning and Orton taking him out out of frustration. I'll go with that. Jericho wins.

Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins go at it. I feel like I have seen this match before. Very recently. Might have even been on Raw. Why would you do that? Again, I am not talking about a storyline reason. It is just this booking is stupid. Reigns won that round. He did it cleanly. You would expect Seth to win at Night of Champions. Why hand Reigns two straight wins against another guy you want to build to be a star? And because you had that clean finish, I would expect something different at the PPV. Ambrose returns? Kane does something? That match on Raw has to lead to something more at Night of Champions.

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Tag Titles Match

Aside from the Diva's Championship match, none of the title matches at Night of Champions features multiple challengers going for the title. I think that is disappointing. You could make some of these title feuds and matches seem more interesting by making it look like a number of challengers stand a chance to win a title. The tag title feud heading into Night of Champions easily could have led up to a match with multiple challengers. I thought it would. Wrong about that. Instead, it is just between The Usos and The Rhodes.

Let me start by talking about some of these other teams. Specifically, how about Big Show & Mark Henry and The Wyatts? That is still going on. Why? This is the most annoying thing for me since Miz vs. Fandango last year. It seems pointless. Mark Henry has something else going for him. Big Show could easily have something else going for him. Porcupine Pete and Aardvark Dan don't need a feud. They can just be an extension of whatever Bray Wyatt is doing. Have Wyatt feud with Big Show. And if you are going to feature these two teams so regularly, why not put them into the tag title feud? Because Mark Henry would not be able to feud with Rusev? I already brought up the depth issue right now, but I am sure they could have thought of another angle for Rusev.

The Rhodes get the title shot. I am not surprised they would get a title shot. I just figured it would be The Wyatts winning the titles and feuding against The Rhodes. You would have had two eccentric tag teams feuding with each other. Could have been pretty good. Instead, The Rhodes turned heel to feud with The Usos. I don't think this feud is as entertaining as you could have had with a multi-team feud or a feud between just The Wyatts and The Rhodes. When Cody got this new gimmick, he was fresh back then. Now, some of the freshness has faded. The WWE waited too long to push him and Goldust.

Who wins? For a while now, the WWE has been pretty good in handing the tag titles off to teams that had good momentum. That is not The Rhodes. Not now. And yet, The Usos have held the titles for a long time now. Tough one. I don't feel either team should be holding it. It just feels like a filler period right now. Give it to The Rhodes.

Everything Tossed Into One Smackdown Ring

When I was reading the Smackdown spoilers last week, I took a few minutes to just stare at the main event they had made. I was trying to make sense of it. Okay, this guy is feuding with this guy. Those guys are feuding with those guys. Wait, isn't this guy also feuding with that other guy? Does that guy over there even have a feud? Where's Jinder Mahal? It was a little messy.

Let me fill in some names to make this picture clearer. The match was John Cena, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Big Show, and Mark Henry vs. Seth Rollins, Kane, Bray Wyatt, and Wyatt's henchmen. John Cena is feuding against Brock Lesnar, which is an extension of his feud with The Authority, which makes the involvement of Seth and Kane make sense. Cena also obviously has his history with Bray Wyatt. Chris Jericho has been feuding with Bray Wyatt recently. Roman Reigns is involved with The Authority, specifically Randy Orton. Recent developments have him setting his sights on Seth Rollins, who was feuding with Dean Ambrose. Big Show and Mark Henry have been feuding with The Wyatts, specifically Harper and Rowan. Mark Henry also has a feud going on with Rusev. Does Kane really have anything specific for him? Not really.

Speaking for myself, all these feuds are bad. People say that the WWE usually stops trying when football season starts. That may be true, but not only was that Smackdown main event lazy booking, but these feuds all seem lacking. John Cena is feuding against a guy that is not even there every week. That's fine, but I am sure they could have developed things better with Cena in recent weeks. Those other guys in that match? That is almost all the top stars you have right now. Some of these feuds seem like they should have just ended already, like Jericho vs. Wyatt. There is no point in dragging that feud on much further. Big Show and Mark Henry vs. The Wyatts does not even feel like a feud. They call it a rivalry. I see it as a bunch of filler matches every week. The storyline for the feud between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns just feels weak. Roman Reigns has not exactly been written to care too much about Seth betraying him and Dean Ambrose. He was supposed to be pissed at Randy Orton a few months ago. That soon turned into him caring more about becoming World Champion. It took some of the edge out of his feud with Orton when focus did turn to that. And where was he all those times Dean Ambrose was getting killed by Seth Rollins? Now he cares? Again, some of the edge has been lost there.

None of these feuds and storylines seem very good. I want to say that Brie vs. Nikki is better than any of the main feuds going on for the men. This is a feud that still has that edge to it. It is fresh. The storyline has been getting big development. I am not saying the performers in that storyline are amazing or that the type of storyline it is is my favorite. I am saying that the way it has been developed is better than anything going on with the top stars in the men's division. Those feuds for the men just seem stale or poorly developed.

What's more, it seems you might have some guys left with nothing to do for Night of Champions. Cena obviously has Brock. Seth and Reigns can feud against each other. Where does that leave Randy Orton? I wouldn't be surprised with leaving Kane off the card, but Orton? Have him feud with Jericho? I don't feel that feud. Don't care. Mark Henry has Rusev. Big Show? Wyatt also has nothing to do. Pair those two together? Once again, I don't feel that feud. These options are just not developed properly. What about Wyatt's henchmen? I feel they should have been involved in the title hunt for the tag titles. They might end up without a match. If this was Survivor Series coming up, you could just lump all these guys together for some kind of match that would make sense.

A few months ago, I gave the WWE credit for looking good. And this was after Wrestlemania. They had some great feuds going on and things felt fresh. This was without CM Punk. Even after Daniel Bryan needed surgery, things did not collapse right away. The WWE just could not remain consistent with that. They need to rotate around their main-eventers better. Don't just treat certain guys as jobbers to the stars or guys being developed to be stars. That can help them maintain some freshness.

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.

Brock Wins & The Current Situation In The Tag Division

Brock Lesnar did indeed win the WWE Championship at Summerslam. He dominated Cena in a way I was not even expecting. That surprised a lot of fans. Brock is being built to look unstoppable. The man that eventually does beat him will get a huge rub and might just be the next centerpiece of the company, assuming the WWE does not do something stupid, like have Lesnar drop the title back to Cena. Now you can start speculating on when Brock should drop the title and which guy will be taking it off him.

Let me say what should not be happening and probably won't be happening. Brock should not be dropping the title tonight on Raw tonight. I know he is a part-time guy, which might make it an issue to keep the title on him for an extended time. Over the last year, however, you have had situations where no one was holding the WWE Championship or the Champ was not around due to injury, in the case of Daniel Bryan. The WWE survived. They can survive with someone like Brock Lesnar holding it for a while. And Brock should not be beaten by John Cena. You might picture a story where John Cena acts like this is the worst thing in his career, somehow bounces back, and regains the title. It wouldn't be that different from his story with The Rock. Since Brock dominated Cena even worse than The Rock did, I don't want to see Cena overcome him. Give this to another guy, preferably one being developed to be a star.

When should Brock drop it? Who should win it? I am not going to bring up any names. As the WWE brings up the feuds, then I will discuss whether or not that wrestler is worthy and the likelihood of him winning. As for when he should drop it, it definitely should be a big PPV. Wrestlemania would be obvious. Of course, there is the issue of the part-time status of Brock Lesnar. Compromise? How about Survivor Series? Brock could still have some PPV title defenses in between now and then. How much can you really have Brock mow down guys like he did Cena? He did that to the WWE's top star and a guy whose whole character has been enduring and overcoming. How many credible challengers can they develop for Brock after that? You can do the whole discussion about the WWE backing themselves in a corner, but they could make it worse for themselves depending on how long they prolong this.

Changing topic, the tag division is currently stale. I am not just saying that because you had all 1-on-1 matches at Summerslam. The Usos have been pretty irrelevant for the last month. They should have given the tag titles to Uncle Grandpa and Pizza Steve. There were just no credible, fresh heel challengers left. The Wyatts still may not have defended the titles at Summerslam, but at least you would have seen them around more on the main shows and they would have been more relevant than The Usos have been.

What does it mean that Big Show and Mark Henry are a tag team now? I don't see that as a good thing. Those are just two former World Champions with nothing to do that have been tossed together. I can definitely picture them winning the titles. I don't think that will necessarily be good for the titles. I like real teams holding the titles. In some situations, it makes sense for two former World Champions to get the titles. I would have been fine with Orton and Batista winning the titles a few months ago. It would have brought Evolution some credibility and they could have dropped the titles to The Shield. The WWE had different plans. Big Show and Mark Henry winning the titles, I cannot think of why they really need it or how that will help the current tag division. You just have a lot of teams with no real momentum. To put it simply, I can picture Tag Team Turmoil for Night of Champions and Big Show and Mark Henry winning.

For a few years, the tag division has been very good. Not great, but good. It was a great choice to put the titles on Kane and Daniel Bryan. They were hot. They dropped it to The Shield, who were hot. They dropped it to The Rhodes, who were hot. They dropped it to The New Age Outlaws, which was worth it for how popular they were back in the Attitude Era. They dropped it to The Usos, who were hot at that time. Things have gotten stale now. And Big Show and Mark Henry are not hot. None of the current tag teams are currently hot or too deserving. The Wyatts were hot. They should have gotten it last month. Now, nothing to get excited about in the tag division. 

Mark Henry's Return Benefits The Shield

Mark Henry returned to Raw last night after missing a few weeks due to Brock Lesnar's attack. He came out to challenge for the United States Championship. I almost thought he would have won it. Dean Ambrose had held the title for so long without doing anything much with it. The fact that they are teasing tension in the group would have made a title change likely. They even put this match in one of the hot spots of the show. Mark Henry did not win the title. He then got taken out by Roman Reigns after the match. And so ends Mark Henry's return.

Should Mark Henry have won the title? Part of me doesn't want former World Champions holding midcard titles. Let midcarders hold them and do something with them. But I like Mark Henry. Moreover, they haven't exactly used him well in a while. Would a midcard title run have been so bad? It's not like Dean Ambrose really needs it. Mark Henry doesn't need it either, but I think the fans wouldn't have hated him getting a run and it is more likely he would do something with the title right now than Dean Ambrose, who is currently in a feud against The Wyatts and might be involved in a storyline about The Shield's breakup after that.

What do you do with Mark Henry now? They promoted his return. His return wasn't as epic as that time he faked retiring and entered a feud against John Cena. If you really wanted to sell that Randy Orton would have his hands full inside the Elimination Chamber, putting Mark Henry in there would have been a great option. No one says he has to win, but he might add some credibility to the match more than someone like Antonio Cesaro could. And you might notice Daniel Bryan currently has two things going for him. Not only is he going after the title, he has issues with Kane. Couldn't they just leave him with a feud against Kane and put Mark Henry inside the Chamber? If they tried that now, Mark Henry would become one of the most hated men in the WWE in an instant. Nevertheless, if it wasn't for recent events causing the WWE to rethink their plans, I think Mark Henry getting a spot would have been good. I don't suppose Brock Lesnar would come back just to feud with Mark Henry? The Shield have something to do. I cannot imagine them turning Mark Henry heel and having him go after Big E Langston's Intercontinental Championship. I have a feeling Mark Henry will get lost in the shuffle. Probably no real storylines or feuds for him.

Mark Henry Returns At Survivor Series

You have had some former World Champions return recently. John Cena came back at the previous PPV. Rey Mysterio came back last week. Mark Henry has returned at Survivor Series last night. He got a win over Ryback.

Question is, what should they do with him? He was somewhat lost in the shuffle prior to his last injury. It would be a shame to bring him back just to lose him in the shuffle. It would really help right now if they had more main-event heels. I cannot picture Mark Henry entering the corporate storyline to feud against them. And I don't want to see them have him feud with Ryback again. It just doesn't feel fresh. How about turn Mark Henry heel? Have him join the corporate heels? Too similar to what happened with Kane? If it wasn't for that, I would like the idea more. It might be only a matter of time before Mark Henry is lost in the shuffle again.

Mark Henry Injured, Again

Mark Henry got injured over the weekend. Not good. Obviously, because he was not deep into any storyline right now, the WWE won't have to worry about trying to replace him in anything too important. Nevertheless, this is another top face that has been injured in recent weeks.

Mark Henry had signed on for a few more years recently. How good of an investment will that end up being for the WWE? I like Mark Henry. I find him entertaining. But should he have retired this year? It isn't like injury issues are a rarity for him. And as age becomes more of a factor, things are not going to get easier if he keeps going at this pace. If he is going to stick around a few more years, should they consider giving him a lighter schedule? I would say so. And if you are going to have him travel around, how about giving him something more meaningful to do? He hasn't had a real angle for a while now. It's stupid for this guy to get injured for the simplest of things when he is not even being utilized better. This is a guy that doesn't have to be pushed all the time in the ring. He is good at cutting a promo. Just don't make his final years a waste and filled with needless injuries.

All Quiet On The Main-Event Face Front

In addition to this big angle of Triple H turning heel leading to a big push for Daniel Bryan, it has created this storyline where is supposed to be scared to speak out or act against the heel bosses. For the second week in a row, the whole roster stood by and watched The Shield and Randy Orton destroy Daniel Bryan. Special focus was placed on Big Show, Dolph Ziggler, and The Miz. These are all former World Champions who are now faces. Focus should be on them for this storyline.

Let's start with Miz. It would be nice if they just focused on this big storyline for him. Why bother having him feud with Fandango? Fandango may be a heel, but I have a tough time picturing him as a henchman for Triple H. I was hoping and expecting that they wouldn't even follow through with a feud between Miz and Fandango. I said just a few days ago that Fandango should be feuding with someone like R-Truth. He doesn't need a bigger feud now. A feud between Miz and Fandango would likely end up not doing anything much for either guy. Right now, Miz's involvement as a top face to stand against Triple H and his group is more important. Go back to earlier this year when it looked like Damien Sandow would have both a singles feud against R-Truth and tag feud that also involved the divas. The WWE dropped his feud with R-Truth. I am still expecting them to drop the feud with Fandango or write it off very easily. What then for Fandango? Summertime sadness? As I said before, just have him feud with R-Truth. It would be a better midcard feud.

Why isn't Mark Henry more involved in this storyline? He is currently a face, has been World Champion before, and has had issues with The Shield very recently. It almost looked like he would team with Big Show to go after the tag titles. And now, he is just in the background?

While I am on the subject of why certain people are not involved in this storyline more, what about Ryback? I said before that Fandango doesn't really fit as a henchman for Triple H, but Ryback does. I won't spoil Smackdown too much this week, but Ryback does get involved in this situation a little. Still, not enough for my liking. His bully gimmick isn't exactly leading to him getting any real feuds right now. Fit him better alongside The Shield as Triple H's personal henchmen.

Daniel Bryan's main target right now as far as feuds go is obviously Randy Orton. Where does that leave these other top faces and Triple H's henchmen? Assuming The Shield is feuding with these faces heading into Night of Champions and not some random match against a lower-midcard tag team, who should go for the tag titles? Remember when Big Show and Miz were actually a team? They won the tag titles before. It would be fitting for them to team again to go after the tag titles. If Mark Henry was involved in this thing more, I would also say that he is a possibility to team with Big Show. If the WWE was really thinking about still going in that direction, they are not doing a good job of developing Mark Henry for it. That would leave Dolph Ziggler to go after Dean Ambrose for the U.S. title. Big Show and Miz go for the tag titles and Dolph Ziggler goes for the U.S. title. And if the WWE does get Mark Henry and Ryback involved in this thing more, those two can face each other.

Let me do an aside. It is a follow up on the same aside I had yesterday. This is about the buzz that AJ Lee's promo has created. She criticized the way things currently are. Have people forgotten that The Bellas criticized the state of the diva division at one time? I believe they did it on Twitter a few months after CM Punk did his big promo. That didn't lead to them getting to do a big "shoot" on any of the major shows. A few fans gave them some respect points for that. How many respect points have they lost since then? Did they only say what they did so fans would respect them more? I won't sway you one way or another. Thing is, did AJ Lee say what she did because she really cares so much or the WWE wants her to create some buzz? She has gotten some of that Punk-like vibe now. AJ Lee is turning into a patchwork diva. A patchwork quilt is a quilt made of various pieces of cloth. When I use the term for AJ Lee, I am pretty much saying that she is starting to look like a bunch of other people stitched together. People have compared her to Lita, Mickie James, Stephanie McMahon, and even some men. She did the whole "Yes!" thing for a while. She is looking like CM Punk now. So far, she has not had one angle or gimmick that has lasted for more than a few months before the WWE cut it and moved on to something else or modified it in some other way. Her periphery career kicked in when she was with Daniel Bryan. They broke up and that transitioned into her getting involved with CM Punk and Kane, as well as Daniel Bryan. That briefly dropped back down to just Daniel Bryan for the wedding angle. She became GM for a few months. Enter John Cena. Her few months with Ziggler. She is now Diva's Champion. If that wasn't enough, you let her go out there and cut a promo like that? They are just going to keep adding patches to this woman. It would be better if they found one good position for her and just kept her there for a while to let these other women knit their own stories and positions in the company. It's only a matter of time before they make her look like a female version of The Undertaker for a couple months.

Oh, There's Big Show

Big Show finally returned. He returned on Raw during a segment involving The Shield, Rob Van Dam, and Mark Henry. The segment was very similar to something TNA had recently with Tito Ortiz. I'm not going to say more about that. However, it does look like Summerslam is taking shape even more.

First, you have the fact that Big Show is face again. He started the year as a heel, went face briefly to feud with The Shield, turned heel again, disappeared, and then comes back as a face again to feud with The Shield. I have been saying for weeks now that the WWE does not have a lot of top heels. Was turning Big Show face a good idea? Someone better be turning heel at Summerslam in that Cena/Bryan/Orton situation.

Rob Van Dam won a battle royal to get a shot at Dean Ambrose's United States title. Better than a random filler match for RVD. It would have been nice if they actually developed this feud, but this is still good. It was after that battle royal that The Shield came out to get Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam. Big Show came out. Big Show and Mark Henry going for those tag titles.

Question is, is it time for The Shield to drop the gold? All the gold? Some of the gold? You have some other tag teams in the division now. There are some other heel teams that could deserve more of the spotlight right now. Swagger and Cesaro? Bray Wyatt and his group can also be in that picture. The WWE has not done a great job in keeping The Shield looking interesting. Taking the tag titles off them would not be so bad. Considering a possible alternative would be having Big Show turn on Mark Henry and go heel again, a safer bet would just be to give the faces the titles. What's the point of giving The Shield a big win against two monsters, who have both been World Champions before, if you can't keep doing anything great with them after that? The Shield is just no longer fresh to keep the tag titles on them and the WWE is failing to try better. Where does that leave Ambrose and RVD? I can't picture the group losing the tag titles and Ambrose still out there with his title. It could be the start of an angle to split the group. Moreover, it really isn't unimaginable that RVD can lose here. It's not like he is still undefeated since his return. Would a short title run for RVD be good? The WWE has not really pushed him well since his return. I would have The Shield lose all their titles.

Validating A Career

John Cena retained his WWE Championship against Mark Henry. One of the ideas in that feud was that Mark Henry wanted that title to kind of validate his career. He had been there so long and won titles here and there, but he was willing to do anything to win the WWE Championship.

I sometimes hear wrestlers say that they would love to be a World Champion or main-eventer in interviews. I can't tell how many of them really mean it or are just saying that to make it seem like they are shooting for more in their careers. Whatever the case may be, it is the same idea that getting a big title reign validates your career. Without that, you aren't at the same level as certain others. I sometimes think it means more to the fans than most of these wrestlers.

How does that translate to the diva division? A guy who is stuck winning midcard titles for years and years is at another level once he wins a World title. In the diva division, all there really has been is the Diva's/Women's Championship. Even when the two titles existed at the same time, they really weren't pushing it as one being a midcard-level title and the other being a main-event-level title. Both were meant for centerpieces of their respective shows. Does winning a title in the diva division really validate a career? I guess it depends on how the woman views it, but should it really be given as much worth as a World title win for a man? The title in the diva division goes to both centerpieces and credible jobbers, as well as some periphery divas. And those credible jobbers almost always end up being rotated out and treated badly. Being the WWE Champion really is something more elite than that. Some former WWE Champions still get treated badly and moved down the card, like Miz, but he is still pushed regularly. That is more than you can say for credible jobbers in the diva division. Some of them get treated poorly even while they are holding the title.

Since winning a title in the diva division doesn't necessarily put a woman in a special group in the same way winning a World title might do for a man, what should really validate a career for a diva? You spend your career being loyal to the company and you get the job done by connecting with the fans well. What should your reward be? A title reign? The same thing you give to credible jobbers who may not connect with the fans as well as you just did? How about giving that person a career of success? Push them as either the centerpiece or periphery diva. Being pushed as someone who can get the job done and be a star should validate your career. Once you get that, you really have arrived. You are being acknowledged as something more. Of course, it's easier to see a title belt than a type of career someone is getting.

2013 WWE Championship Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Sheamus, Christian, and CM Punk. I would consider that overkill. Those are the guys who will be in the ladder match at Money in the Bank for the briefcase for the WWE Championship title shot. All of these guys are top stars who have held a World title before in the WWE. And all these guys happen to be faces. The WWE has really piled it on with this match.

Should Chris Jericho be in this match? He is a face who has been World Champion before, so he fits in with the rest. I understand he is now feuding with Ryback, but could they have shuffled things a little differently so Jericho was in this match and someone else faced Ryback? Jericho fits Money in the Bank matches well. If I had to reshuffle the booking, I would let Jericho and Sheamus trade spots. Jericho does not have to win the briefcase, but he would fit in this match. And Ryback definitely does not deserve to have all the air let out of him after feuding with John Cena. A feud with Sheamus may not have been a demotion. Jericho is more of a jobber these days than Sheamus, but I don't think it is a lock that Ryback would be winning whatever feud he gets now. Just having Ryback work with top stars is a good thing for him.

Who wins this briefcase? Many think Daniel Bryan is the favorite to win. He has had this "weak link" storyline and having him win it might have made sense based on that. Problem is, the WWE hasn't booked that storyline very well. He picked up big wins the week before Payback. That storyline could have ended right there. They continued it. He beat Randy Orton is decisive fashion this week. That has to be it for that storyline. If they were going to have this storyline lead up to him winning the briefcase, they should have continued booking him to lose and get fluke wins. The frustration leads to him eventually winning the briefcase. That's his big moment. Whether or not he wins the title, that would be a different story. As of now, that should not be the story of this ladder match. But who wins? Let's see how they develop things further.

This match really shows that the WWE lacks depth when it comes to main-event heels. Without bringing up the possibility of turning one of these faces heel, you have very few top heels doing anything right now. Mark Henry is feuding with Cena, but he will have to retire sooner or later. He has been in the WWE for over a decade. Alberto Del Rio is currently World Champion. Brock Lesnar isn't here full-time. Guys like Ryback and the members of The Shield aren't at the level of these other guys. The Shield has been losing momentum. Should they keep Dolph Ziggler heel? I would say he has not fully turned face yet. He did attack Jericho this week. Retaliation for Jericho attacking him? Okay, but he still attacked him. It depends on how well the fans are connecting with him, but it would be worth thinking about to keep him heel just so you have more top heels. Turning to the faces in this match, who should turn heel, if anyone? I would say Randy Orton. He has been having issues with faces recently, mainly Daniel Bryan. Shouldn't be too hard to turn him.

Christian Returns, Mark Henry "Retires"

That was a very good Raw last night. Many good segments. A lot to talk about, but I will only cover two things today.

Christian finally returned. Injuries have been a real issue for him in recent years. And when that isn't the issue, how to use him properly is the issue. He had a good return by beating Wade Barrett, but what will they do with him as the weeks go on? Intercontinental title feud? It looks like Curtis Axel has others in line to feud with him. The U.S. title? Dean Ambrose has been feuding with Kane. There has not been a proper finish to any of the title matches they have had. There should be proper closure to that feud, regardless of who wins. If Ambrose does win, have him feud with Christian. What does Christian do until then? Let's see if the WWE can have a good midcard feud without a title involved.

My favorite segment was Mark Henry's "retirement" promo. He teased it on Twitter. It got people talking. Most fans bought it. It's not out of the question that a guy who has been in the WWE as long as Mark Henry and has his history with injuries would finally hang it up. Swerve! He laid out Cena. He wants the one World title he has not held in the WWE. Mark Henry definitely pulled off that promo well. I hope this feud is good.

As good as the last two days have been, the real issue will be how they can keep it going. The last two days featured a lot of turns and returns. Are they going to keep that going every single week? They can't. They have to find other ways to keep the momentum going in realistic ways. How many face or heel turns can you possibly have? How many people are waiting to return? They can't rely on those things regularly. Let's see what happens.