Previewing The Summerslam 2017 Undercard Matches

A complaint I see from many fans recently is that the WWE was giving away too much of Summerslam this past week. They have had some matches that are supposed to also happen at the PPV. With the poor way a lot of the Summerslam matches have been developed, I am not too surprised that the WWE would try to shake things up in the final week before the PPV. That includes what happened to Baron Corbin on Smackdown.

New Day defend the Smackdown Tag Team Championships against The Usos. Nothing much to say here. New Day retain.

The Raw Tag Team Championships will be decided between Sheamus & Cesaro and the reunion of The Shield. Not only are the tag titles on the line, but there is a story here. I like that. I was just saying yesterday that some title feuds don't need a special story, while others can really use it. New Day vs. The Usos didn't need a special story. Just make it about the tag titles, let their gimmicks work, and then let them wrestle. With this Raw feud, there was potential for a story. Some might even say the story was necessary. Rollins betrayed The Shield years ago and Rollins and Ambrose had a heated feud. Could these two really come back together so easily? Should they win the tag titles? Some fans are already talking about the possibility of Ambrose turning on Seth. Too soon for that. Neither Rollins nor Ambrose have won a PPV match in a while, so I say they get the tag titles at Summerslam.

Akira Tozawa defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Neville. This was supposed to be Neville defending the title, but things got switched around when the WWE had the title match on Raw this week and allowed the title change. This was one of those matches that fans were scratching their heads about. This was a pretty dull feud. A lot of things about the cruiserweight division has been boring. If nothing else, having the unexpected title change shook things up. I would not be surprised at all if Neville wins it back at Summerslam. The WWE has shown they love this guy this year. They put a hold on tossing the title to random cruiserweights for his benefit. He has had a long reign. But he could very well become the first man to hold the title twice. Even though short reigns like this are rare, I will say Tozawa's reign does end.

Staying on Raw, Big Show vs. Cass. Enzo will be in a shark cage above the ring. They just did this with Jericho earlier in the year. I would say it is too soon to pull this trick out again. Prior to this year, it wasn't exactly used often in the WWE. Looking at parts of Cass's promo on Raw this week, he looks like he could be the next Edge. But he is missing something. I am not talking about his wrestling ability, even though that has not been that exciting. His promos just lack a certain intensity Edge had. And Big Show is tied into this situation. The WWE is already running a bit of an injury angle to make it look like Big Show is beatable. He should be losing this match. What will Enzo do? I think it would be for the best if he just turns heel and goes back with Cass. What else is there for Enzo to do?

Staying on the theme of Summerslam matches coming early, Bray Wyatt defeated Finn Balor on Raw this week. What happens at Summerslam? Demon Balor. This feud has been pretty dull, until this week. It started, then it got killed off. If they had done it smoothly, the match on Raw this week probably would have happened at the last Raw PPV. The WWE could then do a slower build to Balor going to his dark side to face Bray Wyatt. Things have definitely been rushed. But the WWE probably needed to do it. Balor wins here. Have to keep this gimmick looking strong.

Randy Orton vs. Rusev. This is one of those dry feuds. Not too interesting. I feel it could have been built up so much better. Even though signs point to Rusev possibly winning, I will say Orton wins. I will say why in a moment.

AJ Styles defends the United States Championship against Kevin Owens. Shane McMahon will ref. Is that really necessary? Well, it is what they are going with. These two have been feuding for a long time now. It should end here. AJ Styles retains.

Lastly, John Cena faces Baron Corbin. But the big news is that Baron Corbin cashed in the briefcase on Smackdown this week and lost. That's the end of that. This was one of those things that fans felt was wasted this week before Summerslam. Is Corbin in the doghouse? Is he suspended? No news of a suspension. And even if the WWE is not high on him, they could have still jobbed him out at Summerslam or a later date.

I was against Baron Corbin getting the briefcase in the first place. Needless to say, the WWE did not do that great of a job building him up since getting the briefcase. His feud development in the last month has been terrible. His feud against Shinsuke Nakamura should still be going on. This feud with Cena just lacked a great story. It just felt like both guys could have been doing something better. John Cena did have a small hand in Corbin failing to cash in, but the feud is still not that special. Pretty lackluster.

Who wins? I will say Baron Corbin. Unless he did do something wrong, he should get the win. John Cena has not done that well at Summerslam in recent years. Baron Corbin might even destroy Cena after the match to send him on his next hiatus. The reason I said Orton beats Rusev is because I do not see both Orton and Cena losing to midcard heels in the same night. If one of them has to bite the bullet, I will say it is Cena. Orton has not won a PPV match since Wrestlemania. Cena beat Rusev just last month.

Seth & Dean Back Together

Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose have been giving fans a mini-Shield reunion in the last few weeks. They have been working together against The Miz and have an angle going that will lead to something.

What will it lead to? Tag Team Championships? The division is rather poor. People are speculating on a heel turn, as well. Not Seth. People are thinking Dean Ambrose might be the one that turns heel. Considering Seth Rollins stabbed him in the back years ago, Dean Ambrose being the one to turn might be a good story.

For whatever reason, the current angle of having Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins work with each other just doesn't seem natural. It seems like both guys should be doing something else right now. It just feels like Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt didn't end right. If both Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe weren't tied up in the Universal Championship feud, either one could go against Ambrose. It just feels like the writers didn't have anything else to do, both with these two individuals and the tag division, and are fixing multiple issues with one angle. It might still lead to an interesting angle, but the development of things just doesn't feel smooth.

Previewing The Great Balls Of Fire 2017 Midcard Matches

Neville defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa. If Austin Aries couldn't win the title in a million tries, Neville might as well retain here.

Cass takes on Enzo. This was an elaborate storyline. That is a good thing. But they broke up one of the best face teams they had on Raw. That is a bad thing. Cass should be winning this feud, but how long will the feud last? Will the WWE take this to Summerslam? I will say Cass wins this Sunday.

The Hardys get a rematch for the tag titles against Sheamus & Cesaro. This time, it will be a 30-minute Ironman Match. The WWE has really forced this rivalry by extending it like they have and including so many gimmick matches. Have to kill time. Not too many tag teams, especially if the WWE keeps killing them off. Are we really supposed to eventually buy into Titus & Apollo as contenders for the tag titles? Rhyno & Heath Slater are not that interesting anymore. If the heels retain here, what do they move on to? If the faces regain the titles, after retaining against Sheamus & Cesaro to end the feud, they can move on to The Revival. Those guys look terrible right now. That is why I believe The Hardys should be getting the titles back, even though the idea of these two getting so many title runs in just a few months back leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Dean Ambrose gets his rematch for the Intercontinental Championship against Miz. Why does Miz get so many title reigns? Contrary to what fans might chant, no, he does not deserve it. This is his third run with the Intercontinental Championship in the last year. Dean Ambrose doesn't exactly need the title back. And since the WWE has invested a lot in The Miz recently, he is probably keeping the title.

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt in an overrated feud. They probably would have gotten a better story out of Balor/Wyatt. Seth Rollins will win this feud against Bray Wyatt. Bray is just a jobber to the stars. The question is whether this will be an extended feud or just a 1-PPV thing. If it is extended, they might give Bray Wyatt the win here to give him momentum. If it is a short feud, Rollins wins and Bray can move on to Finn Balor. I will say Rollins wins.

Previewing The Payback 2017 Main Event Matches

I would consider Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe one of the main matches of Payback. It is an extension of that big feud you had between Rollins and Triple H. That feud had its ups and downs. Samoa Joe being inserted looked like it would revitalize the feud. Of course, the injury to Seth Rollins happened. All that is in the past, but this feud still remains.

It just feels like this feud isn't as great as it could have been. It might have been better if Triple H was still around to help it. It just feels too routine right now. Samoa Joe lacks a major feel that he should be having.

Who wins this match? I can see Seth Rollins win this in a cheap fashion, like a roll up. Samoa Joe then destroys him after. They can always run with the injury angle. That keeps the feud going for a few more weeks.

Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns continue their feud. And these last few weeks have been pretty intense. Braun Strowman has been made to look like a monster. On the one hand, I can understand if the WWE wants to be a little more edgy. On the other hand, they have to be careful of not looking crass. Moreover, they have to be careful not to look stupid.

Braun Strowman flipping the ambulance a few weeks ago was a spectacle. Many fans ate that up. It helps that they hate Roman Reigns. It just reminded me of a certain angle TNA did with Mickie James during her last run there. That was Wrestlecrap to many fans. Isn't this the same kind of thing?

If that wasn't Wrestlecrap, maybe this week is. That whole Dumpster Match between Strowman and Kalisto was garbage. The way Strowman lost was trash. Wasting so much time just for the anti-climactic short fall off the stage was junk. How many more words can I come up with to fit this Dumpster Match? It just was poorly done. It wasn't botched. What they planned was just not good. The WWE's PG attempt to do something that would have gone over better in the Attitude Era just flopped.

And after all that, how can Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman have a regular match at Payback? This feud is obviously not ending here. But are they making Strowman look strong just for Reigns? Or for Lesnar down the line? Either way, I can see this match ending without a winner. Both of them might get counted out. They might take each other out outside the ring. They might brawl to the back. In the end, this feud will continue to a gimmick match.

House of Horrors. Randy Orton faces Bray Wyatt in a match that will finally end this elaborate feud that has gone on for months. I was a fan of this feud when it first started. But then it felt like they just tried to do too much. Involving the WWE Championship was one of those things they did not need to do. Since they did, I felt Bray Wyatt should have retained it against Orton. That didn't happen. Okay, I would have said that Bray Wyatt should win it back.

Problem is, the title isn't even on the line in this match. Bray Wyatt has gone to Raw and they have decided not to work any angle to make this a title rematch. I think that is just terrible. Randy Orton did not need a title reign right now. But let's move on from the title.

On the one hand, given everything that has happened in this feud, I am glad it is a unique gimmick match. And the WWE has not been 100% clear on what fans will see in this match. That should interest some fans to see what it is all about. That should make it a draw.

On the other hand, given everything that has happened in this feud, the way they have been treating it in the last few weeks is terrible. Randy Orton has moved on to Jinder Mahal. Bray Wyatt got into the groove of things on Raw this week. That is what happens when you separate the two. This feud had so much put into it. For it to just lose momentum like this heading into the big final encounter is terrible. While the unique match type might interest some fans, the poor feud development might also disinterest some other fans.

Who wins? Bray Wyatt. If the title is not on the line, Bray Wyatt might as well win to give him a ton of momentum. This can be a step towards properly building him to be the next Undertaker. Undertaker had a couple specialty matches to his name. House of Horrors can be Bray Wyatt's match. But it would suck if he lost the first one.

Wrestlemania 33 Preview: Part 2

I will be talking about the Raw matches today. Goldberg vs. Lesnar will be saved for Friday.

Neville defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Austin Aries. Austin Aries can be seen as TNA's answer to CM Punk. He was definitely a poor man's CM Punk. He knows how to wrestle. In the WWE, he currently finds himself in the cruiserweight division. Even though I dislike too many multi-man matches, I wouldn't have minded a few more cruiserweights in this match. It just seems too soon to push Austin Aries. And yet, the WWE has shown that they will push men in this division too quickly, then pull the rug out from under them. Let's say the tradition continues. I'll say Austin Aries wins.

There will be a multi-man match for the tag titles. Anderson & Gallows defend against Sheamus & Cesaro and Enzo & Cass. Enzo & Cass should have won the titles since last year. This is the stage for them to do it. I will say they win.

The United States Championship match will not be a multi-man match. This is a personal feud. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens has arguably been developed better than any other feud. It does not feel rushed. The development has not been inconsistent. Injuries have not screwed it over. This is what I had hoped for with the Jericho vs. Styles feud from last year. Owens and Jericho were friends for a good while. They both held titles at the same time, although not the tag titles. There were a few great elaborate segments. They just developed things well, building up to the obvious split and match coming up.

Who wins? It just seems obvious that Kevin Owens will win. Jericho doesn't need the title anymore. Moreover, he already got a Wrestlemania win he did not need last year against AJ Styles. No need for two in a row. I have seen some fans say Jericho will retain here and lose it to Samoa Joe after Wrestlemania, likely due to Owens interference. There is also the point of Owens eventually going back after the Universal Championship. But that will probably happen down the line. Right now, let Owens get his Wrestlemania moment. This feud is fit for a title change.

Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker was another feud that just felt thrown together in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. That might be because it was just thrown together in the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania. And it has been a pretty lame feud. The WWE is once again selling it like this can be Taker's last Wrestlemania. They did the same thing last year to try to draw in more fans. There are also dirtsheet rumors about it. As I have seen other fans point out, if this is Undertaker's last Wrestlemania, the WWE has done a terrible job making this feud feel more special. I do not think The Undertaker's career ends here. The WWE has been pretty mediocre with a ton of things these days, but I doubt they treat the end of The Undertaker's career with such mediocrity. A feud over whose yard it is? Passing the torch to Roman Reigns? No, I would expect something bigger. Then again, that feud leading to Lesnar ending Taker's Wrestlemania streak was also pretty mediocre.

Who wins? Reigns winning this could very well make him hated. Would they then turn him heel? I don't know if he can even carry beating The Undertaker, and possibly retiring him, like Lesnar could carry ending The Streak. I don't know how much that rub would do for him. But I will still say he wins. This can build up to Undertaker's last match next year.

Triple H faces Seth Rollins in an unsanctioned match. On paper, this should have been the best feud this Wrestlemania season. You can say it was years in the making. Triple H chooses Seth Rollins to be the next big star. Seth Rollins fails to deliver. Triple H betrays him. Wrestlemania match. But the WWE just did such a terrible job after Triple H screwed Seth Rollins last year. Triple H never showed up. Seth Rollins lost his edge. There was even a span where it seemed Seth Rollins had forgotten Triple H. What was the story? Triple H didn't want to fight Seth Rollins? If you don't want to fight him, why screw him out of the title? Because you don't want him as Champion? Okay, so why didn't you try to screw him those other times he got title shots? And you are still going to fight him now? They just took what could have been an amazing feud and ruined it, and for lame reasons. Seth Rollins getting injured also hurt things, but you can argue that it added some value back into the feud.

What can you expect in this match? Samoa Joe will likely get involved. He doesn't have anything else to do. Stephanie McMahon will also likely be around. She might take a bump, like she has at Wrestlemania recently. Mick Foley might even show up to stick a sock in her mouth. As for the winner, part of me believes Triple H should win here and this feud should continue to Summerslam, where Seth defeats his former mentor. But I'll go against that and say the WWE has Seth Rollins overcome the odds to win it.

Should Triple H Vs. Seth Rollins Still Happen At Wrestlemania This Year?

When Triple H screwed Seth Rollins last year, it looked like the start of a very good feud. Triple H eventually turns on and feuds with pretty much all his stablemates. He feuded with Randy Orton. He feuded with Batista. He feuded with Ric Flair. And don't forget Shawn Michaels. Even though this feud with Seth Rollins was no shocker, it still had potential.

And then all that potential seemed to go to waste. Seth Rollins did start off with a good face character. Without Triple H around to do anything, however, that character really went nowhere and Rollins lost his edge. I would say it was also questionable that Triple H screwed Rollins out of the title that one time and never really directly screwed him again out of his other title shots that came after. It is kind of like Mickie James supposedly being this thorn in the side of Becky Lynch that Becky is seeking revenge against, despite the fact the writers did a terrible job making Mickie look like that. She never screwed Becky Lynch out of her match with Alexa Bliss for the title a few weeks ago. Bad booking like that ruins the feel of a feud.

It looked like things were going to pick up again back in January. Triple H finally showed up on Raw. He finally addressed Seth Rollins. Even having Samoa Joe debut to attack Seth Rollins was a nice touch. Problem is, Seth Rollins suffered a legit injury during that attack. Is this feud just cursed? Seth Rollins would have to miss time and his status for Wrestlemania was then thrown into question. Even if he was cleared by the time Wrestlemania came, should they still have the match?

The big development from Raw last week was Seth Rollins coming out at the end of the show to confront Triple H. He tossed aside his crutch and showed the world he was good to go. And then Triple H got his hands on the crutch and destroyed Rollins. Nevertheless, the feud is back on.

Should they still have the match? I would say there are two things to consider. One is the health of Seth Rollins, while the other is the feud development.

First, health. You don't want to rush Seth Rollins back too soon. He has had multiple injuries in recent years that have slowed him down. But he came back with weeks to spare before Wrestlemania. Moreover, if he was still seriously injured, they would not have had that attack they let Triple H do and risk further injury. I know wrestling is scripted and all that, but they still would have been careful, especially these days. And Rollins looked smooth in the little offense he got in last week.

The other thing is feud development. This feud has been butchered over the last few months. If Seth Rollins couldn't come back until the last week before Wrestlemania, I don't think it would be worth it to rush this feud. It would just look terrible. Just have Rollins and Triple H do a segment at Wrestlemania or have Triple H wrestle someone else, like Finn Balor, and have Rollins just interfere. Save the match for Summerslam. But Rollins came back in time to give the WWE adequate time to properly push this feud in the final weeks before Wrestlemania.

All things considered, I think it is the right decision to still have this match. Rollins looks good to go and the feud still has time to be built well in what time they have left. Would it have been nice for Rollins to have a mini-feud against Samoa Joe before Triple H? Yes, but that obviously cannot happen now. These two can feud after Wrestlemania. Until then, Seth Rollins getting to wrestle at Wrestlemania this year is good after he was forced to miss last year's event due to injury.

Let me do an aside. This is about all the Paige drama. When I talked about Paige on Friday, I had planned to do it even before that day, before the leaked photos and everything else. On Friday, I saw the talk about the photos. I just shrugged it off. Just a part of a lot of other celebrities having their privacy violated. Nothing to talk about. I just talked about what I intended to talk about. It wasn't until later that I saw that there was more than just photos. That is an understatement.

Should Paige get fired for the sex tape? Keep in mind that Hulk Hogan didn't get fired for his sex tape. It was racist comments that got him fired from the WWE. Also keep in mind that Paige wasn't the only wrestler involved in this. The WWE should show some consistency in their policy. I don't think she will get fired for this.

I would say, however, that maybe the WWE should release Paige. It really isn't about recent developments. It just seems like a bad relationship is there or might be there. I already talked about the Cm Punk & AJ Lee comparison to Paige and Alberto Del Rio. The WWE obviously does not need her that badly. They have plenty of women to push. Paige can be more useful in other promotions. Separating from the WWE might even help her clear her head.

Might recent developments hurt her overness? Well, I see a lot of perverts and morons enjoying all this. I haven't seen any of the nude pics or the video. I'm not into that kind of thing, and I also think this is a violation of privacy. I don't feel the need to pry into the personal lives of celebrities. I am as interested in seeing all these scandalous celebrity pics as I am interested in seeing NXT. Not at all. Overall, it doesn't hurt how I view Paige. Younger fans might be turned off, or their parents will make them get turned off. Most of Paige's fans will remain supportive of her. Her critics and trolls will be enjoying all the drama. I don't think this will destroy her, unless she lets it destroy her. I do not think the WWE will handle this situation in a crass way to make it worse for Paige or anyone else involved.

Last thing to bring up, this is the double-edged sword of Triple H wanting to hire all these people. Yes, you get their talent, but you also get their baggage. In recent years, there has been a lot of drama. Hogan got fired two years ago for his racist comments. Last year, Brock Lesnar got suspended by the UFC for a drug issue. The WWE did not hold him accountable, despite their own drug policy and a few wrestlers being suspended around that time. They didn't have to, but some people definitely did view them as hypocrites. You now have the Paige drama, and the year isn't even halfway done yet.

You just have a lot of humiliating situations for the WWE and situations that put them on the spot. How are you going to discipline your workers? In what situations should you? Are you going to be consistent with the discipline? The WWE very much does care about their image. And their image always takes a hit with situations like this. And the more people they have associated with their company, the more they have to worry about these kind of situations popping up.

Owens And Jericho Break Up

Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens have been partners for a few months. Their partnership included both winning some titles. They have had their ups and downs. Friction has been teased. Overall, there were a lot of good segments and most fans will call this a successful partnership. I wish the storyline between Chris Jericho and AJ Styles lasted this well. Anyway, it looks like it is over now. Owens turned on Jericho on Raw this week.

Did it need to happen now? I am not raising the question because I worshiped this partnership like some fans did. Just in terms of storylines, did it need to happen now? Kevin Owens has Goldberg as the next challenger for the Universal Championship. Shouldn't the WWE be trying to really put over that feud? After Owens loses to Goldberg, he can turn on Jericho the next night on Raw. Jericho was the one that put him in the position to face Goldberg. The two could then feud for the United States Championship for Wrestlemania. The way the WWE handled it, this could be viewed as a bit of a distraction.

Let me bring up another "distraction" so you can see what I mean. Go back a few months to when Seth Rollins was feuding with Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship. This was coming off of Rollins looking so heated off of Triple H screwing him. Pretty soon, that emotion just died. I will never forget Rollins goofing around with Jericho's list. It just ruined his character. Not all faces need to be pandering for laughs. And I have seen many fans say that The List of Jericho was burying Owens. It was more over than Owens. It just became a distraction. Yes, fans loved it, but it was one of the reasons the development of certain things back then got hurt. There were other factors, like the WWE just not pushing guys right, but it was part of the problem.

Of course, you probably need a distraction right now. You have a feud involving a part-timer, and those people tend to not be used every week to help further whatever they are involved in. What is Kevin Owens supposed to do? Just beat up Gillberg? They could have continued to tease the issues between Owens and Jericho, but just not pull the trigger on the break up yet. You now have more people interested in that this week than the actual feud between Owens and Goldberg. It is just not smooth feud development. It wasn't that necessary to have the betrayal happen now.

You also have Triple H involved in this. He is in the ear of Kevin Owens. There you see another part of the problem. With Seth Rollins injured for at least a few weeks, Triple H has nothing to really do. They have to come up with something for him. And this is what they decided to do. I still think they could have waited. But I will admit the WWE is in a tough spot with what happened to Seth Rollins.

Proper feud development matters. That is why I spent yesterday talking about Smackdown's women's feuds. You have a feud between Nikki Bella and Natalya that just needs to end already. You have a feud between Becky Lynch and Mickie James that could have been booked to be a lot better than it is. You have Alexa Bliss losing the title when it looked like they could have built her to be a great heel character. You have them rushing the title onto Naomi when they could have built up to it better. The wider audience are not going to tune in for a match just because it is stealing the show. As far as matches go, people will tune in based on how well it has been hyped and the development of the feud/storyline leading up to the match. The feud between Goldberg and Owens has not had great development. It is getting buried by the distraction of Owens turning on Jericho. The WWE is just going to run on the hype of Goldberg + Title Match = $$$. Okay, but it seems like Goldberg has already lost some of his luster in terms of drawing in viewers. Let's see what he does in terms of selling tickets and getting WWE Network subscriptions.

Triple H Vs. Seth Rollins Gets Revitalized

When Triple H first screwed Seth Rollins last year, everyone knew the two of them would start a feud. And that wasn't necessarily bad. A face turn might be fresh for Seth Rollins. His character definitely looked like it had an edge for a while. He was going to burn Raw to the ground. He wanted answers. He didn't trust Stephanie McMahon, even though she initially denied knowing why her husband did what he did. He just felt like he was on his own and stronger than he had ever been since going solo.

Things soon went south. Triple H never showed up. Seth Rollins seemed more focused on getting the Universal Championship. He then wanted revenge on Chris Jericho for screwing him out of the title multiple times. He wanted Braun Strowman for a while. I still remember watching that night Seth Rollins was goofing around with Chris Jericho's list. What happened to his edge? What happened to that serious character that this feud actually called for? I also think they ended the grey area involving whether Stephanie McMahon was aware her husband wanted to screw Seth and was on Triple H's side too soon.

And then the edge came back to the feud. Seth Rollins showed up at the NXT special a few days ago. NXT is, of course, Triple H's brainchild. And on Raw, Seth gave an edgy promo about showing up at WWE headquarters next. Or maybe at Triple H and Stephanie's house, implying he might do not nice things of their kids answered the door. None of that will be necessary, as Triple H came out later than night on Raw to answer Seth Rollins.

This feud has not been handled well. You can say that they are back on track now, but you can't just mess around like the WWE has and think you can keep your audience captivated the whole time. They should have handled things more decisively and smarter.

Oh, and Samoa Joe debuted by attacking Seth Rollins on Raw when he tried to get at Triple H. He had been stuck in NXT for ages. This is the kind of thing that revitalizes this feud more. Seth Rollins has to deal with Triple H's henchmen before he can get to him. I wish they had done this kind of thing more these last few months. The Authority isn't really a stable anymore. They really don't have anyone on their side to put against Seth. They could have tried using Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho as more "Triple H Guys" than they did, but they didn't. That whole feud was more Seth going after the title, then wanting revenge against Chris Jericho for screwing him. Triple H wasn't really a factor after that night on Raw he screwed Seth himself. It was more about the bromance between Owens and Jericho, the list, and all these other things that just killed the feel of the storyline. But Seth having to go through Samoa Joe will help this feud.


***EDIT***

I almost never edit anything. As soon as I finished writing my thoughts to the developments of the feud between Seth Rollins and Triple H, I read he was injured this weeks on Raw. Now that I have some time, I will talk about it.

This is likely a legitimate injury. Not only are sites reporting that it is, but it would just be an awkward angle. They never teased a knee injury angle on Raw. And you would think they would have announced a kayfabe injury sooner. There was a moment on Raw during Samoa Joe's attack on Rollins where it looked like Seth's knees buckled. I did not think it injured him, but that might have been it.

Assuming the worst for the sake of discussion, this kills a feud that had so much potential. It was one thing for the WWE to handle it sloppily for a while, but it looked like it could really pick up again.

What about the loss of Seth Rollins for potentially a long amount of time? That will hurt. I would not say Seth Rollins was a draw, but he was pushed as a top star and that depth will be tested. How long until Finn Balor returns? But even he never got around to truly being established before his own injury last year. You might have to prepare yourself to see a lot more Roman Reigns. There are those part-timers, but they rarely wrestle on Raw. I can say the brand split hurts things, but the WWE can get away with doing some interesting things during Wrestlemania season. And they probably should. How about Randy Orton appearing on Raw? He won the Royal Rumble. Treat him as a face on Raw. What about the WWE considering moving away from Seth Rollins given his history of injuries, both to himself and others? I will save that for another day, if this injury is severe.

What about Triple H? This was his feud for Wrestlemania. He has consistently wrestled at Wrestlemania these last few years. What will they have for him? A returning Finn Balor? Problem is, there might not be a storyline to really push with him right now. He can mock Seth Rollins, but if Seth is out for months, that won't help Triple H for this year's Wrestlemania. It also leaves Triple H's henchman, Samoa Joe, without anything to do right now. Will these two feud with each other? Probably way too early for that. Needless to say, this injury sucks. 

Previewing The 2017 Royal Rumble Match

This is one of the most unpredictable Royal Rumble matches in a while. Last year, Roman Reigns had to defend the WWE Championship in the Royal Rumble match. He had destroyed Triple H a while before that. It was obvious what feud was coming. And the WWE went the predictable route of Triple H winning the 2016 Royal Rumble. The year before that, the WWE was showing signs of giving Roman Reigns the big push. People could see it coming, and the WWE did what they expected. Reigns won the 2015 Royal Rumble. And in 2014, Batista made his triumphant return. We all know how that turned out.

One of the reasons the 2017 Royal Rumble match is more unpredictable than the last three years is that the WWE is back to having two top titles. Even if you want to argue that the WWE is telegraphing what the Wrestlemania title match will be for one brand, what about the other brand? There are now two Wrestlemania title matches to build, and which one will involve the Royal Rumble winner this Sunday?

Even before Raw ended this week with Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker in the ring, I was going to say that these three look like the "Big 3" right now. I am not just talking about their size. These are the top part-timers being featured right now that will be in the Royal Rumble match. These were three names I just had to look at.

I'll start with Lesnar. He is probably the least likely to win the Royal Rumble match of the three. Do they really want to do Reigns vs. Lesnar again? That sounds like something they might want to do, but I don't see them doing it here.

Goldberg is pretty likely to get a title match. He just returned to the WWE a few months ago. Promotions typically like to give titles to people that have some hype around them. TNA (Impact Wrestling) usually gives former WWE guys title reigns when they come over. Even independent promotions have been known to put titles on former WWE guys. They have that notoriety. While Goldberg is still hot and the WWE doesn't look interested in booking him as poorly as they did Sting, I wouldn't be surprised if he wins the Royal Rumble and headlines Wrestlemania.

And then there is The Undertaker. He doesn't have many years left and one more title reign before he does retire would be fitting. I could see him facing John Cena at Wrestlemania for the WWE Championship. But does he need the Royal Rumble victory to get this match?

The problem with these three guys is that they are all part-timers. What about the guys on the full-time roster? I should at least mention a few names. I'll go with Seth Rollins for Raw and Miz for Smackdown.

I have seen some fans say that the WWE will pull some kind of swerve and Seth Rollins will find himself in the Royal Rumble match and win it. He has shown an obsession with title matches. Even more than being worried about Triple H. More than likely, Seth Rollins will find some way to get into the Royal Rumble match, but then Triple H will screw him out of it. Or maybe Stephanie will screw Rollins, cause him to go crazy, and Triple H will have to come back to protect his wife. Either way, I don't see Seth Rollins winning this Royal Rumble.

Why bring up The Miz? After that promo he gave against Daniel Bryan a few months ago, his value rose. People were expecting big things with him. Nothing really happened. The time just wasn't right. Is the time right now? A Royal Rumble victory would be huge for him. If AJ Styles ends up turning face in the near future, the WWE will need a top heel. Miz could be groomed to take that place.

Of the names I brought up, I am going to go with The Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble. He should get one more title win before he retires and a Royal Rumble win would just be a classic way to set up his final title win at Wrestlemania. As for Goldberg, he could find some other way into the title picture on Raw. The Undertaker will go after Smackdown's title.

Let me go back to that segment on Raw I mentioned. I noticed the fans were pretty flat for most of it. Maybe they were wondering why Goldberg's head was bleeding. The Undertaker appearing got a nice pop.

Point is, the ring contained the WWE's top 3 part-timers that will be in the Royal Rumble. They are not paid what they are paid and pushed and hyped the way they are pushed and hyped just to get a great reaction from the crowd. These guys are counted on to be draws. Short of putting The Rock in the Royal Rumble, the WWE has put together a big Royal Rumble match this year. Looking at certain indicators, I would say they are underachieving.

Start with ratings. It is bad enough that Raw has not seen a great ratings boost. This week's Raw, the last Raw heading into a big PPV, only say about 20,000 more viewers from the previous week, averaging 3,292,000. With so many big guns being pulled out, you should expect better.

Look at the Royal Rumble itself. It is still not sold out. I remember a time when WWE PPVs would sell out so quickly it would leave me shocked. These days, WWE PPVs, even the big ones, can't get sold out two days before the event, and that is leaving me shocked. The Royal Rumble is one of the WWE's biggest PPVs. It features 3 big part-timers. It also features guys like John Cena and AJ Styles. And it still has a lot of floor seats available. It isn't like they have 100,000 seats to fill.

I am not saying they should fire Goldberg, Lesnar, and Taker. But relying on them obviously is not getting the job done. Ratings are not great. The WWE is struggling to sell tickets. You can't say no one goes to any events anymore. I mentioned in the past that ratings for the NFL were down this past season. Looking at a chart, I noticed attendance actually improved this same past season, so it isn't that people stopped caring. What does the WWE do when they're draws stop being draws?

Reigns Or Rollins: Who Should Be The Centerpiece?

The WWE is a company that likes to have a centerpiece. They like to have that one guy that will dominate the main spotlight. That does not mean that there won't be a #2 guy that works with the centerpiece and might sometimes get featured ahead of the centerpiece for a while. While John Cena has been the centerpiece of the previous era, Randy Orton was often that #2 guy.

This era obviously belongs to The Shield. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose have dominated the spotlight for the last few years. Ambrose is obviously on Smackdown, along with AJ Styles and John Cena. Looking at Raw, who is the centerpiece there? Reigns or Rollins? Roman Reigns was obviously getting a big push for a while that fans were hating. Seth Rollins then stepped in with endless title matches when he returned last year. When he finally took a break from that, Roman Reigns was once again chasing Raw's top title. Meanwhile, you know Seth Rollins has Triple H looming. That is also a pretty big feud, even if a title is not involved. Is the WWE grooming one of these guys to be the #1 guy and the other to be the #2 guy? Or will they split the top spot between them?

Who should be the centerpiece out of these two? Neither of them is perfect. Roman Reigns has shown signs of overcoming that hatred smarks have for him. But he is still hated. Seth Rollins is better in the ring, but it sometimes is hard to buy into him as a face. It doesn't help that the WWE messed up the storyline involving him and Triple H. Neither of these guys really look like he deserves to be the future top star of the company.

The WWE made a huge investment with The Shield years ago. And this group looked like something amazing. Ever since they split them, however, these guys just do not look nearly as great. They might still have some impressive spots in the ring, including Reigns, but they just do not look like they can work as A+ players as it stands now. The WWE has to be willing to move on to someone else if these guys cannot break out better with their solo careers. That doesn't mean you fire these guys. It doesn't mean you turn them into midcarders. Just give other men a chance to be the centerpiece. After all the work the WWE has put into these guys, I doubt they will be willing to demote any of these guys, even if they should.

Previewing The Roadblock: End Of The Line Top Matches

Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins are the four top guys on Raw right now. That is not just a statement regarding their credibility. Their paths have been intertwined in recent weeks.

Seth Rollins had been getting title shot after title shot for a while now. Chris Jericho finally screwed him out of the title to a point that Rollins is moving on to feuding with Chris Jericho. Roman Reigns, having finished his United States Championship feud with Rusev, is now in the title hunt for the Universal Championship against Kevin Owens.

Even though I am all for Seth Rollins getting out of the title picture, I don't like how it was done. Go back to that title match on Raw Rollins and Owens had. There was a stipulation that Chris Jericho could not come out to ringside and interfere. What happened? Jericho put on a mask, attacked Rollins from the crowd, and did end up at ringside to interfere enough to help Owens retain. How can you make a rule that Chris Jericho can't interfere, have the rule be broken, and not say Rollins has a legitimate claim to a rematch? If the WWE never made that stipulation, there would be no issue. Jericho interferes and that transitions to Jericho vs. Rollins. But the stipulation was there. What's the point of having that rule if it is broken that easily? No, it is not still real to me, dammit, but it is bad writing. How you start a feud matters as much as how you end a feud. And all the stuff in between matters, as well. The WWE could have handled the storyline development smoother.

Who wins between Jericho and Rollins? Rollins. The part-time jobber to the stars has picked up some wins this year that he obviously did not need, but that is just to build him up to put over the stars. After losing so much, the WWE probably will give Rollins this win just for the sake of some momentum.

Onto the Universal Championship match. If Roman Reigns wins, he is a dual Champion. Some people are groaning like it is going to happen. I don't see it happening. Roman Reigns is obviously not in the doghouse for his suspension earlier this year. But I just don't see him winning the title.

Will Chris Jericho get involved? The WWE has been teasing tension between Owens and Jericho for a while now. It is likely that Jericho will show up during this match. But whose side will he be on? I will say he once again helps Owens retain the title.

Two Endless Rivalries

Seth Rollins has been feuding with Kevin Owens over the Universal Championship and Sasha Banks has had that feud with Charlotte over Raw's Women's Championship. Both feuds have been going on longer than they need to.

Let me start with the women's feud. It has been going on for longer than Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens. On the main roster, you can say Sasha and Charlotte have been feuding since that night they both debuted last year. In terms of feuding over a title since then, you can say they got started at Wrestlemania season this year. Becky Lynch was also involved back then. That feud took a hiatus as Charlotte went against Natalya. Sasha Banks then took back the feud. And they have been feuding since. They have already juggled the title between them a few times. Charlotte recently won back the title at Hell in a Cell last month. Sasha Banks never got her rematch. That is what she will get on Raw next week.

I was all for Sasha Banks retaining the title at Hell in a Cell. I don't think she deserves to be pushed as the centerpiece, but she certainly deserved the opportunity to legitimately show what she could do when the spotlight is truly on her and she's not just being used as a jobber to the centerpiece for Charlotte. Problem is, that didn't happen. She didn't retain the title. And since that is the booking decision that has to be lived with, they should not just shoot the title back to Sasha again. Not so soon. Charlotte is likely to retain against Sasha Banks, then move on to Bayley.

What about Sasha Banks? She can move on to Nia Jax. She is lucky she even has that to do. In the previous era, credible jobbers would be treated a lot more poorly. They would have complete mediocrity to do, if they were even lucky enough to have that.

Onto Seth Rollins and his never-ending quest to burn Raw to the ground and get back at Triple H. Or not. He just seems to get title shot after title shot. He had one on Raw this week. Pretty good match. But it ended in a controversial way that pretty much makes it obvious that he will still be feuding with Kevin Owens.

Now, Rollins and Owens have not been feuding as long as Sasha Banks and Charlotte have. But the problem is that Seth Rollins has been involved in every PPV World title match he could legitimately be involved in since first winning the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania last year. The only exceptions have been the period in which he was injured, Smackdown-exclusive PPVs recently, and Survivor Series recently, where neither World title was defended.

While on a message board recently, I came across another piece of trivia about Seth Rollins that shows just how overbearing his booking has been. Someone pointed out that he has been involved in every Universal Championship match. The title is only a few months old, but it is kind of ridiculous that this one guy has been in all the matches, despite never winning the title. This is worse than Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns never had a stretch like this.

Seth Rollins is supposed to be feuding with Triple H. That whole storyline has just lost almost all its edge. The WWE has failed to properly follow up with this at all. Some fans point out that it was created at the last minute when Finn Balor got hurt. So what? Injuries happen all the time in sports. The "Next Man Up" philosophy doesn't just mean you throw someone out there when an injury happens and let whatever happens just happen. You try to help the replacement to succeed. Okay, an injury happened to ruin what the WWE had planned. But they did a good job in laying the seeds of a big angle when Triple H showed up to screw Seth Rollins. But they have not nurtured this storyline well at all. I don't care if this is going to culminate at Wrestlemania, they should have handled these few weeks better. And if they had no intention to, they should have come up with a different angle when Finn Balor got injured to cause some buzz.When they eventually do go back to Triple H vs. Seth Rollins, I doubt that feud will have that same feel to it that it could have.

What could Seth Rollins have been doing now? Why is he not feuding with Jericho? Jericho has been a torn in his side. Those two could have feuded for one or two PPVs. By the time it was all over, it's Wrestlemania season and Triple H can take over against Rollins.

Where does that leave Kevin Owens and his title? Pick any legitimate contender in the men's division and have him go against Owens. The men's division has a lot more bodies than the women's division. In the women's division, moreover, there are just some women you would not expect to be treated as legitimate contenders for the title, like Lana. But there are so many options for the men. Why is it Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins, Seth Rollins, and Seth Rollins in the title picture so much? Especially in the brand split era, this kind of thing is just not going to work. There are so many guys being underutilized, while one guy just gets pushed in the title scene too much. I wouldn't even mind Roman Reigns getting a brief push against Kevin Owens again. He has taken a few months off from the World title scene.

Just like great booking can help a wrestler get over, terrible booking can hurt a wrestler's overness. I don't think either Sasha Banks or Seth Rollins have A+ overness, but the booking they are getting is not helping. Especially in the case of Seth Rollins, they are obviously not screwing the guy. He is a guy they want to be a top star. But they are botching. No one needs to be in the title scene this much. As a Mickie James fan, I have said in the past that I wish she had gotten some great periphery angles like Lita got. It would have helped to extend her career and take her to another level. But they only pushed her as a credible jobber. Being in the title scene so much for her was not a good thing. They were just using her to put over whom they wanted over or using her as filler. Sasha Banks looks like she is following in that path, although the new era will be kinder to her. But back to Seth Rollins, it is just so much easier to keep men relevant outside the title scene than it is for the women. There are so many men on the roster for him to feud with until Triple H continues the storyline. But this booking is just going to turn some fans against Rollins. I doubt he gets as bad as Roman Reigns, but he is not reaching his full potential.

Previewing Seth Rollins Vs. Kevin Owens For Hell In A Cell 2016

This is the match that should be the main event. The Universal Championship is on the line. This feud is part of the bigger storyline between Rollins and Triple H. It has just gotten the main attention for a while now. Even then, there have been some issues that have ruined the feel for this feud. That is what I am going to start out talking about.

There are just some guys that do not have the ability to play serious characters and more comedic characters. Anderson & Gallows flopped as the WWE tried to figure out what kind of characters these guys should be. What about Roman Reigns? His issues over the last few years have been talked about very much. The WWE tried to take a guy that got over in a badass stable and turn him into this more witty character that he really couldn't handle. He doesn't have the mic skills. He's not The Rock, a guy that does have the ability to play various characters in an entertaining way, which is why he is so successful in Hollywood. I am not saying these other guys can never expand themselves to have that depth, but they just don't have it.

Even if someone does have that acting depth, there are just certain storylines where you should not want that person to drop a serious character and start acting like a bit of a clown. Pro wrestling is supposed to be about entertaining, but you don't need to be funny all the time to entertain people. Look at the heated feud Randy Orton and Triple H had a few years ago. Orton had attacked Triple H's wife, Stephanie. There was a storyline reason for Triple H to be intense and vengeful. If he started acting goofy, like he has proven he can over the years, especially with DX, that would have ruined the feel of the storyline.

What is the issue here in Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens? Specifically, look at Rollins. Some people don't like him as a face, but that happens a lot. A lot of smarks prefer heels over faces. This new face character for Seth may have some flaws, but I think the real issue is that the character he is showing recently is just inappropriate for this storyline. He's been goofing around a little, stealing The List of Jericho. Chris Jericho's list is probably the most popular thing in this storyline, but it really doesn't need to take over like it has.

Seth Rollins was screwed by Triple H a few weeks ago. He was intense about it. He was getting in Stephanie's face, even though there was no clear reason why Stephanie McMahon should be blamed for what Triple H did. He was attacking Kevin Owens. There was entertainment value in this intense character. And now, he just seems to have lost some of his edge. Without even considering whether his attempt to be more entertaining in a comedic way leans more towards The Rock's side or that of Roman Reigns, it just doesn't fit with what has been going on for all those weeks before that. That intensity over Triple H screwing him is gone. One of the issues is obviously that the WWE is dragging this on and Triple H has not given his motive yet, but I think the WWE could have done better.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with testing Seth Rollins by seeing if he can play this kind of face character. He has never been a solo face on the main roster. Challenge him a little. But doing it now hurts the feel of the storyline and the feud with Owens takes a bit of a hit because of it.

Onto the match. Who wins? Seth Rollins has failed to regain the title for months now. He needs to take a vacation from the title scene. I am expecting shenanigans in this match. It might not just be Chris Jericho, again. Triple H, himself, might once again pop up to give Seth Rollins a reason to intensely hate him again. The only way I can picture Seth winning is if he gets screwed again soon after. Think back to Daniel Bryan winning the WWE Championship a few times three years ago. All those reigns were short, The Authority screwing him out of the title multiple times. It would be better to just get Rollins out of the picture. Kevin Owens wins by shenanigans and something happens to add more fuel to Rollins vs. Triple H. That is what I am expecting. 

Let me do an aside about the WWE Network. The WWE recently revealed that they had close to 1.46 million subscribers for the last quarter. That is more than I was expecting, but still less than the WWE's own projections of 1.49 million subscribers. I had said a few months ago that the WWE should not be too confident to retain that much of the 1.52 million they had for Wrestlemania. This quarter, the return of Goldberg is something they will be leaning on to sell Survivor Series. Let's see if that investment leads to a gain in subscribers this time.

Previewing The Clash Of Champions 2016 Main Event

This match seems pretty straightforward. The winner seems obvious. But I will also take this time to look ahead to what the WWE should do with the Raw main-eventers after Clash of Champions.

First, you have Seth Rollins. He obviously has his drama with Triple H. Rollins is slowly turning into a full face. What some people might not be thinking about is the fact that Seth Rollins has been in every World title PPV match for about a year and a half now that he could possibly be in, not counting the time off he took for being injured and the recent Smackdown-only PPV. It made sense when he was WWE Champion last year, but he has just gotten title shot after title shot this year. He has even gotten some non-PPV title matches in recent months. It is just too much Seth Rollins. Even if they have decided to groom him as the centerpiece over Roman Reigns, it is too much.

In the other corner, you have the Universal Champion, Kevin Owens. He just won the title a few weeks ago. He won it in a cheap way, Triple H pretty much handing him the title. Kayfabe aside, he has not been built up for this big push like certain other guys are prior to a World title win, like Rollins and Reigns. But there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with a surprise big title win like this. The WWE shouldn't telegraph everything they are going to do. Fans will complain about them being predictable.

When these two come together this Sunday, who wins? It makes sense for it to be Kevin Owens. If Triple H screwed Rollins on Raw a few weeks ago, he's not going to let him get the title at Clash of Champions. The WWE should keep the angle going of Rollins being screwed. But will Triple H show up and do the same thing he did on Raw a few weeks ago? Will he Pedigree Rollins and hand Owens the title? Some variation of that? Will Stephanie McMahon be the one to screw Rollins? He has been taking out his anger verbally on her. Whether the story is about Stephanie legitimately not knowing her husband would screw Rollins or not, Rollins is giving her a reason to screw him herself. No matter how exactly it goes down, Kevin Owens will end up retaining the title thanks to shenanigans.

What happens after that? Seth Rollins really should move on from the title for now. He would want to get revenge on Triple H, or Triple H and Stephanie, depending on how the WWE handles the story. The WWE might try to drag this all the way to Wrestlemania, so don't expect Triple H vs. Seth Rollins for Survivor Series. What does Seth do in the meantime? What about Roman Reigns? He was also screwed by Triple H a few weeks ago out of the title. Moreover, he just beat Kevin Owens in a cage match on Raw this week. Does that create an argument for him getting a shot at the Universal Championship?

Let me start with Roman Reigns. Let him win the United States Championship from Rusev and continue that feud for a little while longer. No need to put him in a feud for the Universal Championship. Wrestling fans would dislike that even more than the endless title shots Rollins has been getting.

Speaking of Rollins, he should not be getting another shot at Kevin Owens so soon after Clash of Champions. Enough of Seth Rollins in the title scene. But if you cross that out and are not giving him Triple H immediately, what's left? How about a feud with Chris Jericho? He is friends with Owens. He might even be the one to screw Rollins this Sunday, which would make that feud even more obvious. Even if he doesn't screw Rollins, he can come out and rub it in that Rollins lost to Owens. He can mock Rollins for getting screwed. There is no real stable around Triple H and Stephanie McMahon anymore. If there was, Seth Rollins could just feud with their henchmen. He's not going to wrestle Mick Foley. The next best thing is feuding with another top heel outside the title picture. That's Chris Jericho.

Where does that leave Kevin Owens? Roman Reigns is busy with Rusev. Seth Rollins is busy with Chris Jericho. Have Owens face Cesaro. Remember him? He should be winning that series against Sheamus, and the winner gets a title shot. I have seen fans come up with some interesting scenarios with that Sheamus/Cesaro match. The WWE has been a little vague with what "title shot" actually means. Which title? I have seen one fan bring up that Cesaro will take his title shot and use it for Smackdown's World title. I have seen some fans talk about one of the two men winning the series, then being informed by Mick Foley that the title opportunity that he won was for the tag titles and his partner will be the guy he just beat at Clash of Champions. There is some room to get fancy with this angle, but I don't think there is any need for that. Give Cesaro a shot at Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship.

Wrestling fans have been wanting Cesaro to get that big push for years. I am not against him winning the series and getting this big push. I just hate the booking of the series. I can understand a face overcoming the odds, but the odds were just annoyingly against Cesaro in the series. And I would say this is the perfect time to give someone like Cesaro the push. It obviously wouldn't be the biggest story going on Raw. That would still involve Seth Rollins, but he does not need to be involved in the title chase for that story. Even Roman Reigns might still be featured better than Cesaro, but people would be happy that Reigns is out of the Universal Championship hunt. There is enough going on to still keep things going. And with the WWE Network, it's not like the WWE really needs to work hard to sell each individual PPV. For $9.99, just in terms of PPVs, you get one for Raw and one for Smackdown in a given month. The WWE's success in October does not have to hang entirely on Cesaro. But this will be a push wrestling fans can enjoy. And the WWE does seem to be interested in feeding those fans these days. 

New WWE Universal Champion: Kevin Owens

Around this time last year, many people seemed to be writing the career eulogy of Kevin Owens. He lost a feud to John Cena and some people acted like he was buried. He went on to win a feud against Cesaro and get a few midcard title runs. He has been featured consistently. He lost his feud against Sami Zayn, but has ended up being featured better than Zayn since then. And to top it all off, he won the Universal Championship on Raw last night.

He did have a lot of help. Not from Chris Jericho, his partner. Nor from Rusev, who had issues with Roman Reigns recently. Enzo Amore didn't do anything. Triple H made his return and screwed Roman Reigns. It then came down to Seth Rollins and Owens. Triple H teased helping Rollins, then screwed him, handing the title to Kevin Owens.

It is probably for the best that Finn Balor got injured, as for as creating excitement goes. The WWE created an exciting moment last night and now have people wondering why Triple H did what he did and what will happen to the various people involved in this drama, including Reigns, Rollins, and even Jericho. The "Demon King" gimmick had potential, but the WWE didn't handle it well. They didn't treat it dominantly enough. If Finn was around now, they probably would have had a very mediocre angle going for him.

Some might say that the reason they cannot book Demon Balor as something dominant is because they will book themselves into a corner. Why wouldn't Finn just use it all the time? Just have him explain in an interview that it takes a lot out of him or that he's afraid of what he might do when he goes into that zone. By doing something like that, the WWE provides a reason for Balor not going into his dominant side more often and makes that side look more intriguing. It's not like the WWE is afraid of dominant characters. Look at Brock Lesnar.

Back to Kevin Owens. I would say giving him the title is a good choice, beyond just creating drama. He can wrestle. He is charismatic. He has credibility. His only real negative is his look. They say Vince McMahon likes big men. They don't mean guys like Kevin Owens. It's not like Vince McMahon has never allowed a top title to go to a fat guy. Mick Foley held it a few times. But one hasn't held it in a while. Of course, this is a new era. Vince McMahon is more open to giving big pushes to men that would usually only get it if the fans complained heavily on their behalf or there was a whole bunch of backstage complaining.

Is he the centerpiece? Holding the top title does not always automatically make you the top star of a company, brand, or division. Let's face it, Finn Balor was supposed to be holding the title right now. If that was the case, I would be asking if he was the centerpiece. Is Kevin Owens the centerpiece? Is he interim centerpiece? Is it Seth Rollins, who will likely be turning face? Is it still meant to be Roman Reigns, who was dominating last night when Triple H came out and screwed him? Despite his title win, I would say there are too many other top guys ahead of Owens to say right away that he is the centerpiece. Nevertheless, he is going to be the longest-reigning Universal Champion so far. He is going to get some credibility. His son is going to have a new title belt to play with.

What about Seth Rollins? This will be his first face run since going solo. More importantly, he now officially gets separated from The Authority. That will be good for his development. Making him look like a weasel for so long just hurt his character. More importantly, he can finally drop the Pedigree as his finisher. A guy that talented should be able to come up with his own finisher, and hopefully one that isn't too dangerous.

And Roman Reigns? As I said, he was starting to look dominant in that match before Triple H cut him off. And it wasn't Rusev that screwed Reigns? A lot of fans were expecting that. What happens to that feud? Both Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have a reason to want some of Triple H. Both have an argument that they were screwed out of the title. There are a couple possibilities for Roman Reigns. You can say the WWE has overbooked things, but that's what they chose to do off Finn Balor's injury. A lot of angles they had planned will have to get changed.

I am not going to leave out Big Cass. I noticed he was getting a pretty good reaction. Should the WWE accelerate his push? Should he be a WWE/Universal Champion by this time next year? No. Slow down. I remember when John Cena was getting a pretty good reaction as a midcarder and the WWE eventually gave him a big push. The fans turned on him. The WWE turned him into something that the fans hated. I can picture that happening to Cass. He is not really that great on the mic. His wrestling ability is not that amazing. Take away his gimmick, he is pretty much exposed. Start by giving Enzo & Cass the tag titles. If it wasn't for Owens winning the Universal Championship, I would say New Day should retain the tag titles against The Club, drop them to Jericho and Owens, and have them eventually drop them to Enzo & Cass. I am sure they will be holding titles one day. The wait will make the moment mean more. But as far as Cass getting a big solo push, not yet.

Finn Balor Wins Title, Gets Injured, Vacates Title

Finn Balor was successful in winning the Universal Championship at Summerslam. However, he suffered an injury during the match and was forced to vacate the title less than 24 hours after winning it. The WWE already has the match set to crown a new Champion. Next week on Raw, it will be Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens vs. Big Cass.

That Universal Championship is just starting out as a joke for a number of reasons. First, you had the stupid name. A lot of people have mocked it. Then, they debuted the ugly-looking title belt at Summerslam, which got buried by the live audience. To top it all off, the inaugural Universal Champion gets injured and has to surrender it less than a day after winning it. It is all pretty pathetic and sad. I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE changes things sooner or later. If nothing else, someone will probably toss the current title in the trash and debut a title belt that looks better.

Balor got injured when Seth Rollins powerbombed him into the barricade. Less than a year ago, Sting suffered a serious injury in a match with Rollins with a similar spot. Fans are debating whether Rollins should be blamed for the injuries and be labeled as unsafe to work with. Just looking at this spot, you can't put the blame on him too much. The other person just bumped the move wrong. Nevertheless, if this is a move that becomes too dangerous for guys to take, maybe Rollins should take it out of his arsenal. He has two strikes so far. If this kind of spot, whether into the turnbuckle, barricade, announce table, or whatever, leads to another serious injury, the WWE should take it away from him.

I don't think it should have even came to that spot at Summerslam. The WWE told the wrong story. Finn used the "Demon King" gimmick. Why is he having a competitive match with Seth Rollins with that gimmick? Some fans have said that Vince McMahon would want to push Finn well because he can sell all that merchandise. Okay, so why would you not want to sell his most marketable gimmick as something amazing? Treat it as something unstoppable. Don't just treat this gimmick as Finn Balor with a different look and different entrance. Save the competitive matches for when he is his regular self. He already beat Roman Reigns clean without having to go all "Demon" on him. What's the point of going into this other zone if he is the same performer?

I have felt that the WWE could build this guy to be a true attraction, like The Undertaker. Of course, he wouldn't last decades like The Undertaker did. And he gets injured just a few weeks after coming to the main roster. This will take at least a few months off his career. I don't think the injury will completely screw over his spot in the WWE, but it will take a little off his potential. The WWE hasn't handled his alter ego in the best way. He suffers a serious injury just when he's getting the biggest moment of his career. It's not a great start to his career on the main roster.

Onto the match to crown a new Universal Champion. Let's cross out Cass and Owens. I don't think the feud between Jericho & Owens and Enzo & Cass is really over yet. Both Cass and Owens being in this match can help prolong the feud between the two teams. That leaves Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. Roman Reigns never had his match against Rusev at Summerslam. Will the WWE just waive off that feud? Or will Rusev cost Reigns the match to prolong that feud? That leaves just Seth Rollins as the clear option. If the WWE wanted to put the title on him, they would have done it at Summerslam. But because of circumstances, they might have to put the title on him now. Problem is, who does he feud with? Sami Zayn? There are a lot of guys that just do not have the credibility to deserve the push. It might be more likely that they put the title on either Rollins or Reigns and have them feud against each other, again. Leave Rusev to feud against Sami Zayn. That is more of a midcard feud. I will say Seth Rollins wins.

This is one of the reasons I did not think the WWE should do a long-term brand split. Having one that only lasted a few months to a year to sell a feud between Shane and Stephanie McMahon would have been fine. Beyond that, however, injury issues, suspensions, and other problems can ruin the depth on either show. I'll talk about the issues in the women's division soon. The WWE just lost someone they wanted to push as a top star. There aren't too many credible guys around. Even if they really did want to keep Roman Reigns down a little, whether to punish him or do more work on him to help him win over his haters, he's back chasing after the top title. Is flooding Raw with cruiserweights going to help fill out three hours? Hope so.

Previewing The Summerslam 2016 Main Event Matches

Dean Ambrose defends the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler. This is face vs. face, but with some heelish tension involved. Who wins the title? Will anyone turn heel?

It is a little sad to see Dolph Ziggler like this. This guy used to be pretty popular at one time. I wouldn't say A+ overness. It wouldn't go away that easily if he was that over. But it does feel like some fans have just gotten tired of him. Moreover, this feud doesn't feel as great as it could have. The WWE might have overestimated Ziggler's appeal right now. Yes, the guy used to be hot, but treating him with such mediocrity over the last year or two has hurt his appeal. The WWE might have expected this feud to be something more. I have seen some fans compare it to Orton/Christian. Fans were really into Christian and people were upset when he was treated so poorly on Smackdown in that title feud. In this title feud, Ziggler is somewhat in the role of Christian. Solid worker that has never gotten a proper main-event push. Feuding against a popular face that has the title. But I don't see as many fans being as into it in the same way they were Orton/Christian. Nevertheless, that is the comparison I saw brought up elsewhere that I wanted to bring up.

Will anyone turn heel? If anyone turns, it will likely be Ziggler. If he does turn heel, like Christian did in that example I brought up, the WWE might also make this an extended feud, much like they did Christian/Orton. I don't think most wrestling fans would be excited for that. You have heel AJ Styles right there on Smackdown. I am sure fans would love to see him move on to a feud with Dean Ambrose for the WWE Championship. But the WWE might not end Cena vs. Styles at Summerslam. Bray Wyatt might feud with Orton. Alberto Del Rio won't be seen for a while. I doubt Kane gets a title shot. When you run through the likely possibilities, it just seems like the WWE will continue the feud between Ziggler and Ambrose. And if that happens, someone will pretty much eventually be turning heel. And that would be Ziggler.

Who wins at Summerslam? Dean Ambrose's title reign is still young. The fact that he is still holding it surprises me. I doubt he loses it to Ziggler here, unless they have Ziggler cheat to win to sell the heel turn and Ambrose eventually gets it back. More than likely, Ambrose wins and Ziggler snaps and turns heel. I will say Ambrose retains.

Raw created their own title, the Universal Championship, and Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will be fighting for it. To make things more interesting here, the WWE introduced the "Demon King" gimmick for Balor this week.

This gimmick for Balor is supposed to be nearly unstoppable. It has a creepy vibe to it. Can this be an attempt by the WWE to create another Undertaker? That was supposedly going to be Bray Wyatt, but he is just a jobber to the stars. He is looking like Mick Foley, not like The Undertaker. The only problem with Balor is that he is not a young guy. He might not last decades in the WWE like The Undertaker did. To me, that only means you have to get going with pushing him well now. Build him up to be an attraction.

The worst thing they could do for Balor is go through the motions with him like I have seen them do other workers recently. They shouldn't feature Demon Balor for just a few months, then move on to a "Bullet Club" angle for another few months. The WWE should think about what has the most worth and get the most out of that. And I would say the "Demon King" gimmick has the most worth.

The outcome of this match will come down to which Balor shows up. If mild-mannered Clark Kent shows up, Seth Rollins will likely win. If he changes to his alter ego, which has been treated as tough as Superman, Balor will win the Universal Championship. Why would they debut this new gimmick and just have it job right away? Moreover, why would they debut it on the Raw before Summerslam and not use it for Summerslam? I will say Demon Balor wins the title at Summerslam. That might go against the momentum rule, but it just seems like the best decision and the most logical decision. Take advantage of the potential of this gimmick.

The success of the WWE Network for this period is going to rest on Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton. All the other feuds don't have mass appeal. Ziggler/Ambrose definitely isn't going to draw. Cena/Styles will appeal more to smarks, who are likely already subscribing for other things, like NXT. Finn Balor has potential to be something big, but he just debuted on the main roster a few weeks ago and his "Demon King" gimmick just debuted on the main roster this week. The WWE has built the most hype around Lesnar vs. Orton. Aside from that, the only thing that can help the WWE meet their high subscriber estimates is Mick Foley's hot daughter.

Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar was a feud I would have loved to see a few years ago. Right now? Not so much. They just push Brock to be too dominant. And the story of this match has just been so obvious for weeks now. It has been all about the RKO. They are talking like all Orton has to do is hit the RKO. Many people have kicked out of the RKO over years. Lesnar is definitely one of those guys capable of doing it. And then there will be a whole bunch of shock when he does kick out, Orton won't believe it, eventually get F5ed, and the match will be over. People are also anticipating Lesnar going for the F5 and it getting countered into the RKO. Outside of these big spots and a bunch of suplexes, this match is not interesting.

Throw in a wild card? The WWE teased that Orton and Bray Wyatt might be feuding next. Does that mean Bray interferes here? He also has a history with Lesnar that never got put to rest, so he could attack either guy in this match. I would rather he attacked nobody. This match already looks like it will be pretty predictable, but throwing in Bray Wyatt will just kill the feel of this match just being between Orton and Lesnar. Save starting the feud between Orton and Wyatt for Smackdown next week.

As for the winner of this match, Lesnar.

The WWE 2016 Preseason

One thing I have said about TNA in the past is that they were stuck in the preseason. The preseason is that time you evaluate your roster, deciding whom you are going to cut and which players get put where in your depth chart, as well as shake off some rust for those players that are already cemented into their spots for the start of the season. TNA just never did a good job sticking with people. They just shuffled talent around too much and it hurt their potential. It is one of the reasons TNA was never able to grow. You don't just ruin the momentum of someone that was working out for you so you can go through the same motions with someone else. Some workers may not like being treated like that and look for an opportunity to leave. And as far as the pay issue, another reason workers leave TNA, if TNA did a better job creating stars and grew as a company, that issue would no longer be a problem.

This is a new era for the WWE. They may not want to admit it, but this is a rebuilding period for them. They have made a number of decisions in previous years that angered their vocal fanbase. They are now being a little more softer in their stance towards what these fans want. I would say it borders pandering in some instances. But you can consider this their preseason. It is not exactly the same as what TNA has been doing, but this is an opportunity for the WWE to evaluate talent and give fair consideration to whom they want their true focal points to be. Let me talk about a few different areas.

First, Raw's main-event scene. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor are feuding for the new Universal Championship. I can understand Brock Lesnar taking the main-event slot last week. Brock Lesnar is Brock Lesnar, even if he does take drugs. But this week? Ending with Rusev vs. Cesaro for the United States Championship? Being a little more realistic, that was really a segment for Roman Reigns, who came out at the end to spear Rusev. Remember when Roman Reigns was in the doghouse? And now he gets multiple segments on Raw and was there at the end of the show. The WWE needs to not overexpose the guy. There have been times when it looked like they were developing the right game plan for the guy. But they messed up by trying to push him too hard. They better not turn this into another one of those instances. For now, just forget about this guy as the centerpiece.

What about Finn Balor? It would be outrageous to think that a guy that just debuted a few weeks ago could be legitimately pushed as the centerpiece of Raw. He probably won't, but he has a better chance of at least winning the Universal Championship. Whether the WWE is serious about pushing him that far or not, they should be doing a better job building him up to Summerslam. He had a nice promo, but then he doesn't get any involvement in the main-event scene. Showcase him as a big deal better. Hype is about more than just the commentators putting you over and being given mic time to put yourself over. Placement on the card is also part of it. And if the WWE is not going to feature him better to help build this feud, they might as well have went with Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns for Summerslam. Leave Balor to face Rusev.

Smackdown's main-event scene is occupied by Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler. Their feud has actually gotten top focus, so far. They have also teased some heel tension. Some fans have said Ambrose sounded like a heel last week. You also had Ziggler beating Bray Wyatt in a shady way. This is the kind of thing they needed to do to make this feud more interesting. A simple face vs. face feud would have been boring.

Moving on to the tag division, let me go back to Anderson & Gallows. I talked about them yesterday and pointed out how these guys just didn't look that interesting now. The WWE had them do a comedy segment to mock Big E's injury. It was the kind of crass humor many people might say Vince McMahon loves. At least the WWE realizes they need to do more to help these guys look interesting. I just don't know if it will really work for them. And the WWE really needs to decide if they want to use that kind of humor. Maybe I would have chuckled at it 15 years ago, but it seems pretty dumb now. Or maybe it was just bad execution by Anderson and Gallows.

Moving on to the women's division, there are issues. Depth is one of the themes when you talk about the preseason in other sports, and depth is a serious theme when you talk about the women's roster. Sasha Banks vs. Dana Brooke again last night. How many times have these two gone at it in the last few months? They made things a little more interesting by adding a stipulation, but the WWE is lacking fresh matches. Depth is terrible. Paige supposedly has injury issues. Sasha Banks seems to have a desire to break her neck diving out of the ring. Kidding aside, what happens if Sasha does get injured, gets in serious trouble for something, suddenly decides to leave the WWE, or something else terrible happens? Who gets pushed as the top face? The WWE really has nobody. They have some other low-tier women on Raw, but they will likely not get pushed seriously. I have said before that the WWE can generate hype just off of their NXT women. If they can't bring them up fast enough, however, they might as well bring back credible jobbers from the diva era. It is not about using them to create hype. It is about creating some fresh matches and providing some cushion should something terrible happen to someone the WWE would rather push.

Smackdown's women's division is not much better. I have said before that there should not be a second women's title for Smackdown. Look at what is happening over at Raw and imagine the same kind of thing happening on Smackdown. Fans would not be happy with Eva Marie being treated as a serious contender. They would also roll their eyes at Nikki Bella being the queen bee of that division. Natalya vs. Becky Lynch is already a match people are sick of. If they just ran Smackdown differently and let it rely more on periphery angles, there would not be as much of a problem. A periphery diva getting injured is usually not going to be the end of the world and as crippling as a Champion or her top challenger getting injured. To put it simply, the WWE needs to add depth to their women's divisions and rethink the systems they are running on either show.

Overall, the WWE is doing a good job in investing more in a lot of people. Even jobbers being fed to Braun Strowman get interview time. But the WWE cannot make the same mistake TNA has made and juggle people around. Use this time to assess who is really doing the best job and who has that long-term potential. The only people who should have their spots relatively safe are guys that have been pushed at the top for over a decade. John Cena won't be ditched easily. Randy Orton won't be ditched easily. Darren Young might. Jinder Mahal might. I would say even guys like Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose should not have their spots locked up. It's way too soon to say that Dean Ambrose should be the long-term centerpiece of Smackdown, and other guys like AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, and Bray Wyatt may deserve a shot at the top spot. Same thing with Rollins. He has been pushed harder for a longer time, but if someone like Finn Balor steps up and does better, give him the top spot. As for the women, if the WWE brings back credible jobbers and one of them does a better job than Sasha Banks and Charlotte, push that woman as the centerpiece. It wouldn't be unfair to those other women. That is what competition is about. Those other women will just have to step up their game and earn the spot back for themselves.

One problem, however, is that a lot of what the WWE is doing costs money. Bringing back all this talent costs money. A lot of people are hyped over the WWE reaching record revenue recently, but they are overlooking costs and expenses. When you take that into account, the WWE isn't really reaching record numbers with the money they are making. This past quarter that featured Wrestlemania, the WWE only netted less than a million dollars after you take into account costs and expenses. The last time the WWE got called out for wasting money, they had a mass release of main roster talent for the first time in a few years. That was in 2014, which ended up still being a down year for the WWE. I would not be surprised if this happens to the WWE, again. And just like in 2014, Jinder Mahal will probably be one of the first to go, again.

In the end, I do not think what the WWE is doing now will last. Most fans like the changes and the freshness of the current product, but things will likely change. What will cause it? The WWE losing money? Ratings plummeting? Serious injuries to key players? Someone the WWE did not intend to get over putting the WWE on the spot, much like Daniel Bryan did? Or will things just naturally fizzle out after a while? The WWE should take this opportunity to build around what works. Yearly releases will probably have to become the norm again, unless they are just signing certain guys likely to go nowhere to short contracts. Because the WWE will need to keep bringing in fresh bodies to help keep things fresh, and they won't be able to afford everyone. If that is the case, this should be a period of assessment.

The WWE Universal Championship

That is a stupid name. Couldn't they call one title the WWE Championship and the other the World Championship? How about the WWE Raw World Championship and the WWE Smackdown World Championship? Can't wait for them to debut the WWE Intergalactic Championship in 20 years. I'm sure they'll be defending it on the moon by then.

In any case, that is the name of the new Raw title. Seth Rollins and Finn Balor will be facing each other at Summerslam to crown the first ever Universal Champion. That name just sounds like something a minor-league promotion would come up with to make its title seem more important. Back to the point, Balor defeated Roman Reigns in the main event of Raw to get the shot at Summerslam.

Seth Rollins was handed the spot in the match. Okay, I can live with that. He is a heel and affiliated with Stephanie McMahon. I almost expected the WWE to put Seth Rollins in one of the fatal fourways, Roman Reigns in the other, and have the main event of Raw last night be for the new title between those two. They chose to hold it off for Summerslam. That's fine.

How about Roman Reigns getting a depush? I think it is for the best. The guy is not a great centerpiece and fans just seemed to ease off him a little last year when he took a break from the title scene to feud with Bray Wyatt. I just hope this isn't Vince McMahon being bitter about the drug suspension. It is just a dumb reason, especially since Brock Lesnar got even more media attention for his recent drug issues and the WWE hasn't shown any signs of punishing him. Some people want to say he shouldn't be punished because he didn't fail a WWE drug test? Well, Hulk Hogan didn't exactly make those racist comments at any WWE event or while even employed by the WWE during his run last year. They still fired him. They have not yet brought him back. If Brock Lesnar broke a rule while employed by the WWE that got Roman Reigns in trouble, why shouldn't he get in trouble? But back to Reigns, I would have made the same decision to depush, but more because he isn't working out than being bitter about the failed drug test.

And then there is Finn Balor. I saw some fans talking about the main event. Some fans just didn't want Roman Reigns to win. A few said Finn was being pushed too fast. Fans responded, "Relax! He won't win!" And he won.

They are pushing him too fast. He hasn't done anything to deserve the push. I am not saying he is untalented or anything like that. I am saying he hasn't done anything since coming to the main roster to deserve this push. How could he? He was drafted to Raw last week on Smackdown. Less than a week later, he's on Raw and wins two big matches in one night to headline Summerslam to possibly become a new World Champion.

I said the same kind of thing for AJ Styles earlier this year. The guy debuts and they are already hyping him up way too much and putting over how popular he is. Let the guy's wrestling ability speak for itself. It does. Work on building his character and using him in interesting storylines. That will get him over with the wider audience. If I felt they were not pushing AJ Styles right earlier this year, I definitely have to say the same thing for Finn Balor now. AJ Styles at least worked for a number of years in the WWE's closest competition, TNA. Finn has less of an argument for being well-known beyond wrestling fans than that. If being in TNA isn't enough to become an A-tier star (in terms of popularity), Finn has no argument why he should be pushed this hard. You can argue this is a harder push than even AJ Styles got this year. AJ at least worked with Jericho for a few months before moving on to a title feud.

I think how the WWE had the commentators hype this guy was terrible. Don't tell me his life story. I don't want to hear it. Yeah, he wrestled all over the world and won all these titles. He scrubbed toilets. Save it for his DVD or some WWE Network special on him. Who are they talking to with this? Wrestling fans know who this guy is. The WWE is just preaching to the choir. The wider audience is not going to care as much. You have to put creative work into him. Kayfabe is dead for certain wrestlers. They have no character. They are simply what they are as a performer. They are simply however many titles they won, what countries they wrestled in, whom they feuded against, and whatever else you can read off their Wikipedia page. Does the WWE even have any writers employed anymore?

Raw last night was just a dream for smarks. I will get to Sasha Banks tomorrow. But the WWE is further looking like they have lost it. NXT and social media are turning them stupid. For years, this was a company that insulted wrestling. You can't say they are still doing that. But what they are doing can either be seen as pure pandering or ignorantly believing that giving wrestling fans what they want will draw for them. These are the fans you have to win over to make the WWE Network successful. If you want to win over the wider audience to get your ratings back up, you can't just work to please wrestling fans.