James Ellsworth Gets Title Shot Against AJ Styles

James Ellsworth, the chinless local jobber that Braun Strowman squashed weeks ago, has made a few more appearances for the WWE since then. That includes this week on Smackdown. Cocky AJ Styles brought him out for a match. Dean Ambrose ended up being the special guest ref for this match. That led to Ellsworth winning. He will now get a title shot against AJ Styles on Smackdown next week.

Obviously, Dean Ambrose is still in the picture against AJ Styles, while Cena takes his break. James Ellsworth is not going to win the WWE Championship. No need to spend too much time previewing this match.

What about how they have been using James Ellsworth? I think it is a sign of how desperate the WWE has become. Ellsworth is not a quality performer. He's not a guy that got over from spending years in the indies. He's just a guy that caused a little buzz from how he looks.

Despite how the WWE has treated him, Jim Ross frequently defends the company. If I remember correctly, back when the mistreatment of Zack Ryder was still an issue, I believe Jim Ross said Ryder only had a "cult following". He was downplaying his overness. I can agree that Ryder wasn't really A+ over. No one said he needed to be pushed as a main-eventer. But going by that logic and using Ryder as some kind of standard, what can you say about James Ellsworth? He's not even over like Ryder was. I wouldn't even say he has a cult following. He's just someone that got attention for looking and acting awkward. And he's getting a title shot at the most important title on Smackdown? If Zack Ryder had gotten over on his own in this era like he did years ago, the WWE probably would have had no problem handing him an amazing push.

What really annoys me about the situation is that you have a roster full of guys that need to be featured better. It is one thing for full-time talent to take a back seat to part-timers like The Rock and Brock Lesnar. But to sit in the back and watch a guy that was only supposed to be a local jobber get used in multiple segments for a few weeks like this? The WWE needs to do better with what they have. A guy like Apollo Crews flopped. Instead of the WWE spending some time trying to give him a proper opportunity, since this is still only his rookie year, a jobber that just got over for his lack of a chin and awkwardness is getting a push. The WWE didn't even help this guy to get over. But they are just treating him like he's a hit.

Will he draw? Of course not. He's not a star. The WWE shouldn't even bother signing him to a contract. They have proven that they can get workers like him to connect with smarks very easily. Sandow did it. Slater did it. It is not that hard to get Internet fans hooked on something. And it will get chants at live events. Those fans just don't exist in front of their computers. When your full-time workers go through a process to earn that overness, then they deserve at least a fair push. James Ellsworth, as I have said before, only caused some buzz for being awkward. The WWE should spend time developing quality stars. Get to a point where they don't have to rely on high-priced part-timers. Will promoting a title match for next week at least draw? Maybe. It at least stands a better chance than just promoting James Ellsworth.

Since I am on the subject of Smackdown and the WWE Championship, go back to No Mercy. A controversial decision from that PPV was having the WWE Championship match go on first. Many fans speculated why they did that. Would there be some kind of rematch later in the show? Would Ziggler vs. Miz, a heated feud with Ziggler's career on the line, close the show? They went with Orton vs. Wyatt closing the show. I like that feud, but it didn't deserve to main event No Mercy. It seems the WWE really did do that awkward booking because of the presidential debate that same night.

To me, that is just the ultimate act of cowardice. It is obvious the WWE sometimes doesn't put the segment that deserves to close the show in the main-event slot of  Raw, especially during football season. That third hour almost always loses viewers. If the WWE wants people to watch a certain segment, it is better off not at the end of the show.

But this is a PPV we are talking about. Ratings do not matter. What matters is if you got people interested enough to pay to see it. Thanks to the WWE Network, fans can go back whenever they want to watch it. As long as fans are interested in the WWE Championship match, Ziggler/Miz, Orton/Wyatt, or whatever else on the card, they will watch. And if they are already paying the $9.99 for a Raw PPV this month or just a few weeks ago, they are already giving the WWE their money.

It reminds me of December to Dismember a decade ago. It was a flop. Funny thing is, fans were chanting "Change the channel!" at points. For those fans that paid for the PPV, it doesn't really matter. They already paid for the PPV, whether they decide to watch every minute or not.

The WWE just did not need to do it at all. They could have booked the WWE Championship match where it belonged, in the main event. Or they could have went with Ziggler vs. Miz to close the show. It would have at least looked more respectable. The WWE just had to worry about creating hype prior to the PPV. They had all those weeks to do it. And if the little stunt did get a few more people to hand over $9.99, they are also getting Hell in a Cell. The WWE doesn't need to go overboard to try to sell that PPV with any cheap tricks. It being a specialty PPV should be enough. Nevertheless, it was stupid of the WWE to allow the presidential debate to shake them like this. I doubt they really gained much, if anything at all.

No Women's Championship Match At No Mercy 2016

Becky Lynch was supposed to defend the Smackdown Women's Championship at No Mercy against Alexa Bliss. Because of a medical issue, Becky could not compete. The WWE instead went with the filler match of Alexa Bliss vs. Naomi. Naomi won.

Let me start with this booking decision. Okay, Becky Lynch cannot compete. Okay, you will still go with a second women's match. Okay, it is going to be Naomi taking Becky's place against Alexa Bliss. Here is where the "okays" stop. Alexa Bliss lost? That is not okay. The WWE did this same thing at the previous Smackdown PPV. It was supposed to be Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt. Randy Orton had a medical issue and did not have the match. They went with Kane vs. Bray Wyatt. Wyatt lost. That guy loses needlessly at times. Alexa Bliss, the #1 contender, losing to Naomi is not good for maintaining her momentum. You can talk about not wanting to be predictable, but there are some booking decisions you just have to do to help someone look good for a feud. I have already pointed out that this feud between Becky and Alexa seems a bit off. Alexa is not credible enough to really deserve this push. And this booking decision is not helping her. Does it even do anything for Naomi? Is she going to be treated as a serious contender now or soon? More than likely, Alexa Bliss will get her win back against Naomi on Smackdown.

Onto the issue of another medical issue popping up in the women's division. A few weeks ago, it was Sasha Banks needing to take time off and dropping the Raw Women's Championship back to Charlotte. She has since taken the title back, but it has been sloppy booking. Becky Lynch will defend the title in a few weeks against Alexa Bliss during the European tour, but the WWE definitely could have considered stripping her of the title. That would be the second inaugural titleholder to have that happen in the last few weeks. It happened to Finn Balor after he won the Universal Championship. You can say that her medical issue is obviously not as serious as Balor's injury, but the division is still being held up when the person holding the title cannot compete in scheduled title matches, especially PPV title matches. If you are a Becky Lynch fan, you are glad they aren't taking the title away from her so soon. As an analyst, however, this is a problematic situation and the WWE did not handle it in a way that was best for the division. Short-term, it looks ugly. Long-term, things will hopefully work out.

If there were two issues that could legitimately make the WWE reconsider some of the things they are doing with this women's revolution, those two issues would be how well it is connecting with the fans and injury issues. It has gotten mixed reviews from the fans. In terms of injuries or other medical issues, this is just another thing to add to the list. Count how many medical issues there have been with the women in the last year. Nikki Bella had a serious injury that could have ended her career. She's back now. Sasha Banks has had multiple injury issues, including the title mess I just brought up. Paige has been out with an injury for a while. Natalya had some teeth knocked out, although that wasn't too serious. And now this Becky Lynch issue. And there are more things I am not even mentioning.

One of the reasons the diva era started to fail was because of injuries. Centerpieces got injured. Credible jobbers got injured. The depth in the division was hurt. The WWE started to make stupid decisions. And injuries are starting to become an issue again. I would not say these are isolated incidents. You also have injuries piling up again in the men's division. Seth Rollins, the man that was involved in that injury to Finn Balor, has his own injury issues. And with the WWE shooting themselves in the foot by allowing certain workers to take time off now and then for outside projects and movies, their depth will be challenged again, both in the women's and men's divisions.

This is one of the reasons I felt the WWE should not make a second Women's Championship for Smackdown. All it takes is an injury here and there to key players and things become a mess. The WWE ends up pushing people they might not want to push. Women that are getting pushed have their pushes ruined or botched. And the WWE could just lose interest as things continue to look sloppy. And there is an added pressure now that wasn't there during the diva era. It is that pressure to feature women's wrestling. The WWE has a poor periphery right now. You can extend the careers of some of these women if you gave them angles alongside the men or just storylines with themselves that did not lean so much on being physical. Moreover, these periphery angles might help these women show more character and help them get over beyond wrestling fans and smarks. It might also save the WWE from stale feuds and matches. Face it, the women's rosters are too limited to just continue to push all these women as in-ring performers. They cannot debut women fast enough to keep things fresh. The answer isn't to bring in local jobbers. These are obvious filler matches that the majority of viewers will not appreciate. The WWE needs to slow down, both for the health of these women and for the quality of the division.

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 No Mercy 2016 Women's Matches

I had forgotten No Mercy was this Sunday. That is a little embarrassing. It just seems too soon for another PPV. The WWE definitely should not have so many PPVs. Prior to the brand split, the WWE could devote two shows a week to build and hype a feud, both Raw and Smackdown. Now, that is pretty much cut in half. Rare inter-brand feuds will get promoted on both shows, like Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar did, but that is not the norm. And it just makes matters worse when they insist on having brand PPVs every month. They should have them every other month, with the exception of major PPVs that will feature both brands, like Wrestlemania. Things would just balance out better that way.

The WWE will once again feature two women's matches on PPV. And I just feel something is off with both of them. I will talk about that today and go through the notable men's matches on Friday.

First, Nikki Bella faces Carmella. This feud has been pretty one-sided. Carmella has mostly dominated it. And I also feel like the WWE has tried too hard with this feud. Carmella has just been way too aggressive and there is no good reason why this feud should be that heated. I have seen grudge feuds in the men's division that don't feature some of the things this feud has had. They had Carmella attacking Nikki Bella when a tag match was supposed to happen, resulting in the match being called off. Obviously, a lot of the things the WWE does with the women on Smackdown are to just tease that matches are going to happen when they really don't intend to go through with the match, whether because they don't have time for it, know that they don't have the depth to feature fresh matches, or whatever. Eva Marie made a gimmick out of backing out of matches. Some fans were starting to think that Natalya attacking other women before matches was her new gimmick. She's not the only heel that has been doing that in the last few weeks. It is really just a cheap trick. I wish the writers could come up with something else. Is every heel's gimmick simply that they are aggressive? Except for Eva Marie, of course.

What really feels off to me about this feud is that it doesn't really seem good enough for Nikki Bella. She was the last eye-candy centerpiece of the diva era. She did not win the Smackdown Women's Championship, but she has still gotten her own feud for herself. But she's feuding with a woman that just debuted from NXT a few months ago and has not really gotten that over at all. Whether haters of Nikki want to admit it or not, there are fans out there that like her. I see it on Twitter. I see it in how fans have reacted to her on Smackdown. But it just feels like the WWE is underachieving with this feud for Nikki Bella. It is probably the best they could do, if all they could do is think in terms of wrestling feuds. They should make better use of the periphery. Just looking at how they are pushing Nikki Bella seems off because it is so mediocre. I would have expected better from the WWE.

Who wins? This is a feud for Nikki Bella to win. What will determine whether she wins this match or not is if the WWE wants to extend the feud. Survivor Series is next month. I do not think this mediocre feud deserves to go all the way there. Just let Nikki win here and move on to something else. This feud has already gone on long enough. It started soon after Nikki returned at Summerslam. It went through Backlash. This can already be considered a feud that will go through multiple PPVs after this Sunday. So just end it.

Onto the title match. Becky Lynch defends against Alexa Bliss. Guess what this feud has already featured? Yes, Alexa Bliss attacking Becky as she is coming out to the ring. If you are a heel diva on Smackdown, it seems that automatically becomes one of your tactics. That is not the only thing Alexa has in common with Carmella. Alexa also just debuted a few months ago on Smackdown. She has done a better job connecting with the audience, but she still has a way to go before really being that over.

What feels off to me about this feud is that it just doesn't really make sense for the WWE to run with it. Becky Lynch is the woman that just became the first Smackdown Women's Champion. She had wrestling credibility before even coming to the WWE. She made some noise in NXT. Her first title defense is against a woman that is pretty much an eye-candy diva. Going by the status quo you had in the diva era, it would be Becky Lynch being built up to put over Alexa Bliss. Going by the status quo you would expect in this new era, you would think the WWE would feature a respectable women's wrestler for Becky to feud with, or at least a diva with more credibility than Alexa Bliss. The WWE has done a lot to make her seem credible in recent weeks, but you would think it would be wiser to go with someone else. I have said before that Smackdown's women's division seems like the diva era's last stand, and this feud definitely supports that. But how will the WWE balance the diva era with the feminist era?

Who wins? Becky just won the title a few weeks ago. This is her first title defense. If the WWE is serious about building her to be a star, which they should be seeing as how they just handed her history, the least they can do is let her retain here. But they really should do even better than that with Becky Lynch. Just like I feel the WWE should come up with something better for Nikki Bella, I would say the same thing for Becky Lynch. I would say she does retain against Alexa Bliss, but it will be interesting to see how the WWE treats Alexa after that.