Previewing Smackdown's Wild Card Finals

Some fans have said that tonight's Smackdown is like a PPV. I am all for Smackdown having special episodes, but here is another weird name to go with. In any case, I will be looking at the announced title matches. I will not talk about John Cena returning.

The tag titles are on the line. With Zack Ryder injured, the WWE has decided to go with three teams challenging The Wyatts. The Usos, American Alpha, and Rhyno & Heath Slater are getting the shot. What will decide who wins is whether or not the WWE is ready to go anywhere with the storyline between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. They might just carry this story all the way to Wrestlemania. I doubt Orton turns on Bray Wyatt tonight. I also doubt they do anything to split Luke Harper from Bray Wyatt, which is another point you can expect this storyline to reach. Until they get to all that, the tag titles are likely not going anywhere. The Wyatts retain.

Alexa Bliss defends the Smackdown Women's Championship against Becky Lynch. Common sense might say that Alexa Bliss retains. She just won the title not too long ago. Becky Lynch seems to have the momentum heading into this match. But you can never tell these days with how the WWE treats title reigns. Everything is about history, whether that means long title reigns or juggling titles around to inflate the number of reigns. If they want this special episode of Smackdown to have a title change, I feel like this is the one that changes hands. But I will say Alexa Bliss retains.

AJ Styles is back in the ring after his injury and making up for lost time. He knocked off James Ellsworth last week. Tonight, he faces Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. Baron Corbin? Where did he come from? I am all for other people on the card getting title pushes, and it looked like they were building Corbin up for a push, but the build up for this match just feels awkward. A lot of people praise Smackdown's writing and booking, but this show is still far from perfect. On the other hand, I don't mind little things like this now and then to shake things up. I just hope that is what they are doing. Don't make this kind of booking the norm. This is not how you build proper feuds. In just the few weeks since moving on from Dean Ambrose, AJ Styles has had to deal with James Ellsworth, Dolph Ziggler, and now Baron Corbin. Is it all filler? Or are they building something here? Oh, and as for who wins, AJ Styles.

What Happens To Bray Wyatt After The Brand Split?

The draft last week broke up The Wyatts. That didn't stop Bray Wyatt from still picking up some momentum when his group beat New Day at Battleground last night. But where does he go from there?

He goes to Smackdown. That's where he goes from there. What will he be doing there? Well, he will be without Braun Strowman. The WWE can still keep the group going with his original henchmen. Rowan is there. Harper can return from his injury and rejoin Bray. On the one hand, it would feel like the group is in the same place it was when these guys debuted. On the other hand, it would probably be for the best if they stayed together. The WWE has proven that they can still push Bray well enough on his own. He just looks better with a group. Moreover, the other two seemed somewhat lost without him when they got solo pushes over a year ago. With their gimmicks, they just stick out and look like they need their cult leader.

Keeping the group together aside, what should they do with Bray Wyatt in terms of pushes. This is an upper-midcarder that looks like he deserves a title feud. Unless the WWE plans to keep the WWE Championship held by Dean Ambrose involved in some kind of war between Shane and Stephanie to see which show gets it, someone on Smackdown should be getting the title shot. AJ Styles and Cena are feuding. Randy Orton has Brock Lesnar coming up. Bray Wyatt is free. If Ambrose is looking for a challenger, how about a guy that has beaten him a few times in the past? That is the feud I would go with.

Previewing The Battleground 2016 Undercard

Recently, the WWE has shown that they will go with certain things that wrestling fans might appreciate, but the general audience may not be able to. For the most part, I don't think they should do that. The feud between Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is a rare exception I am willing to make. They just have a heated rivalry and a chemistry. You pretty much have to add another chapter to their story on the main roster. The brawls and interactions can get that general audience interested.

Problem is, this match for Battleground seems like a disappointment. I said that Natalya vs. Becky Lynch might have deserved some kind of stipulation, and I will say the same thing for Owens vs. Zayn. How can it not have a stipulation? They are treating this like it is the final battle between the two. It won't be, but how can you not add to the match to make it feel like a bigger deal? Last Man Standing? I Quit? You don't need the Extreme Rules PPV to have these matches. As for the winner, I feel this can go either way, but I will say Sami Zayn.

The brand split may have messed up The Wyatts. Nevertheless, they still have New Day at Battleground. Tag titles are not on the line. People complained last year when the WWE did not have Nikki Bella defend the title at some PPVs, saying they just wanted to have her walk her way to the record for longest run with the Diva's Championship. I don't see anyone complaining about New Day not having to defend the titles here. I'm sure they are out there, I just don't see them. As for this feud, I think it has been rather disappointing so far. There is a storyline with some potential. But the fact that the tag titles are wasted here and the WWE arguably failed to beat TNA at their own game with that segment recently just hurts my interest in it. It annoys me more than it entertains me. Bray Wyatt needs wins more at this point than New Day, especially when their tag titles are not on the line. Wyatts win.

Darren Young gets a title shot against The Miz. These two were drafted to different shows. It seems this feud will end at Battleground. You might say that Miz obviously retains to keep the Intercontinental Championship on Smackdown, but the WWE could have Darren Young and Zack Ryder win their respective matches, switching what shows the United States and Intercontinental Championships are on. Not likely. Miz retains, but what happens to Darren's push after? I am not going to say he started at the top, but this push pretty much started as high as anyone would have expected him to go. Will he be pushed properly in the midcard? Or become a jobber? That would be a waste of Bob Backlund. Will Backlund even last the year in the WWE?

Rusev defends the United States Championship against Zack Ryder. I already said it is unlikely the two midcard titles switch shows by having two lower-midcarders win them on the same night. And Ryder won't beat Rusev just to bring the title over to Smackdown. I can picture Ryder losing this and going back after The Miz and the Intercontinental Championship.

John Cena and Enzo & Cass vs. The Club. AJ Styles will not have his buddies much longer due to the draft. But this match will still happen. Either Anderson and Gallows will likely eat the pin in this match. Face team wins.

What happens to the feud between Cena and Styles after that? Now the playing field is cleared up. Enzo & Cass are not on Smackdown with Cena and Styles. Anderson and Gallows aren't there, either. It will just be Cena vs. Styles. That might make Summerslam their final encounter.

Shades Of TNA's Matt Vs. Jeff Feud In WWE's New Day Vs. Wyatts Feud?

The outrageous feud between Matt and Jeff Hardy in TNA went to another level last week. There have been some fans that have compared that feud to what the WWE is doing with New Day and The Wyatts. The two major promotions often do take ideas from each other. But there is one minor difference that I want to bring up here.

There was no title involved in that crazy match Matt and Jeff had last week. This is a non-title feud. Matt did hold the TNA Championship a few months ago, but he lost it to Drew Galloway as the feud between Matt and his brother continued. I actually would have kept the title involved in the feud between Matt and Jeff. This was obviously the biggest feud they had going. I just felt that the title would make it feel even bigger. Instead, Drew got one of those title reigns that falls in the category of title reigns that make you wonder why TNA even bothered. They could have built him up more to eventually win the title down the line and get a better run than he did. But that's another issue. Point is, no title was involved in that match last week.

And look what TNA accomplished last week. They had 410,000 viewers, easily the highest number on their new network. I doubt fans were tuning in to see Lashley. They wanted to see what was going to happen with Matt and Jeff. TNA created hype with a match where no title was on the line. Control of the company was not on the line. No one's career was on the line. It is just a heated grudge feud. It is a blood feud.

Onto the WWE. People want to compare what TNA is doing to New Day vs. The Wyatts. There is an interesting storyline developing there. It is not as heated as Matt vs. Jeff, but there is a good storyline. Thing is, the tag titles are also there. Do they need to be there? You can have this storyline without the tag titles. It would be a great non-title storyline.

I have been saying for months that keeping the titles on New Day for so long was not a good move. There were a number of other teams and feuds that could have benefited from the tag titles. I think right now is pretty much the limit. The tag titles are completely unnecessary for this storyline. New Day will break the record for longest run with the tag titles, but what does it matter in the long run? The WWE could have given the titles to The Club. While AJ Styles feuded with Cena, Anderson and Gallows could be defending the tag titles against Cass & Enzo, another hot face team. It's not really about praising or rewarding Anderson and Gallows. It is about creating interesting feuds. And New Day vs. The Wyatts can be interesting without the tag titles. There are other feuds that could be more interesting with those titles involved right now.

Fans sometimes debate whether there should be more titles. Especially for the women recently, they have thought about a second title for them and even tag titles. No, they don't need it. Not only would the WWE not handle it efficiently, it is just missing the point. The point is to entertain the fans and create hype to get more people interested and interested enough to spend money to come see the stars, watch PPVs, buy merchandise, and so on. Title reigns are only a small part of it. TNA was able to generate enough hype to get over 400,000 viewers last week for a match where no title was on the line. Fans may be interested in New Day vs. The Wyatts, but don't expect it to create a ratings boost for the WWE like what TNA got last week with The Hardys. The WWE has not hyped it and built it up that big. Meanwhile, the tag titles are just being held hostage in that feud. Nothing is added. 

The Wyatts Vs. The League Of Nations: Really?

The League of Nations won their Wrestlemania match against New Day. They got a title shot the very next night on Raw. I would have had them win the titles. The WWE had other plans. New Day retained and Barrett was kicked out of the group.

The Wyatts had an eventful Wrestlemania. Despite not having an official match heading into Sunday, they were used to put over The Rock and John Cena. The next night on Raw, they attacked the remains of The League of Nations.

Is the WWE really going with this feud? I talked about how Roman Reigns vs. AJ Styles seemed like a suspicious feud to create right now. Should I have the same feeling for this heel stable vs. heel stable feud? This just feels like lazy booking. With the WWE running with Reigns vs. Styles, for whatever reason they might have, that takes away two top faces. Ambrose looks like he is going in another direction. And even if the WWE had pushed one of these other top faces against one of the heel stables, they would likely need a few partners to even things out. Even if one stable is able to get a proper feud, what about the other? Having the two groups feud is just an easy answer.

There were still other options. How about continuing New Day vs. The League of Nations for one more PPV? Or how about having The Wyatts feud with New Day? Have Roman Reigns feud against The League of Nations. Have him feud against one member, two members, or possibly all three guys left in the group in a four-way match for the title.

Some people might wonder if the WWE is thinking face turn for one of these groups. I don't think that is necessary. The Shield vs. The Wyatts happened when both teams were heels. The Shield would eventually turn face, but it did not happen immediately with that feud. Besides that, the WWE just officially turned New Day face not too long ago. Do they really need to turn another team face? If a team does turn, the WWE will probably turn The Wyatts. The League of Nations just seem less likeable right now.

I honestly do not remember any fans being excited for a feud between these two groups prior to last week. Even since then, I don't feel the hype. Go back to The Shield vs. The Wyatts. Even before that feud got started, I remember fans wanting it. The Shield is the best 3-man group in recent WWE history. The Wyatts were hot back then. Many fans consider the 2014 Elimination Chamber match between these two groups the match of the year back then. Those expectations are not here. Sheamus and his crew are not The Shield. The Wyatts have been broken down and built back up a few times since that feud against The Shield. They have lost their edge. Moreover, Braun Strowman is not Luke Harper. Wrestling fans love Luke Harper. They are not so crazy about Braun Strowman. I do not expect this heel stable vs. heel stable feud you have right now to be as good as The Shield vs. The Wyatts. And I would be shocked if a 3 vs. 3 match between The League of Nations and The Wyatts gets match of the year for 2016.  

The Wyatts Lose At Fastlane 2016

No title changes at Fastlane last night. The main event didn't feature any swerves. Nothing too exciting happened at all. What I want to talk about is a match I did not preview last week, The Wyatts vs. Big Show, Kane, and Ryback. If the heels had won, there would be nothing to talk about. They lost.

I have said before that the WWE should push The Wyatts better now that many top stars are out and they do not have many great top feuds going. Having them lose to three jobbers to the stars isn't going to do it. The feud wasn't that amazing to start with, but the heels should have won and gone on to something better. They did not get involved with Lesnar later in the night. Bray Wyatt didn't job, but this booking still slows down the group's momentum. Are they building these guys up for something big at Wrestlemania? Recent booking might not suggest that.

Think back a few months to when The Wyatts feuded against four guys from ECW. The Wyatts won that feud and The Dudleys soon became jobbers. The faces winning there might have been a nice gesture. The Dudleys have not won a feud since coming back. Would that loss have ruined the group's momentum? I do not think it would have been worse than the needless loss they took last night. The Dudleys were fresher. Let's just see how the WWE follows up.

What Do You Do With The Wyatts?

The WWE is a game of priorities. Some wrestlers are treated as more of a priority than other wrestlers. To make things worse, the WWE does not give all their workers fair opportunities to earn being pushed as more of a priority. It is not unusual to see someone getting a great push that does not seem to be connecting well with the fans, while someone that seems to be connecting better with the fans is not pushed as a top priority.

There is not enough space to push a dozen full-time top priorities. It takes resources. They need quality segment time every week. Writers have to spend time thinking about what to do with them. Other workers will be developed to put them over. Some people will have to always eventually be depushed, but top priorities will consistently be featured at a high level. That is why there are so few of them. There is just not an unlimited amount of space and resources to push everyone at a high level.

The current situation in the WWE has been talked about a lot. There are a ton of injuries. It isn't just midcarders that are injured. Some of the WWE's top priorities are out. John Cena is out. Randy Orton is out. Daniel Bryan has not been cleared. Seth Rollins, a guy being groomed to be a top priority, is out.

Roman Reigns has been given the biggest push of his career. His run as the centerpiece has started. Outside of him, how many top priorities do you have being featured on a full-time basis? How many proper feuds do you even have going on? Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens have their title feud. There is the diva feud between Becky Lynch and Charlotte. Outside of that, there are not a lot of strong feuds going on. Everything seems to be messy. Part of the problem is obviously injuries popping up. Outside of Roman Reigns, there feels like there is no top priority being pushed. You can usually accept this kind of thing leading up to the Royal Rumble, where everyone has their sights set on winning that, but this year feels worse than previous years.

What are they doing with The Wyatts? These guys are not A-tier players, even though Bray Wyatt has had some big feuds. Most of those feuds have been about using him to put over someone else. Outside of that, it is not unusual to see Bray Wyatt win a feud and get lost in the shuffle right after. That is what has happened once again. It seemed The Wyatts won their feud against Team ECW. But have they had any clear direction since? Could they have gotten a feud against Big Show? Are they back with The Dudleyz? Are they henchmen for Vince McMahon against Roman Reigns?

These are guys that should be made to be top priorities right now. Even if it is just until bigger stars return, this is a group that should be pushed better. It is wrong to just put so much of the main focus on Roman Reigns and weaker midcard title feuds. All it would take is one serious injury to Roman Reigns and the WWE is in serious trouble. That is an understatement. Bray Wyatt, despite never holding a title, has credibility. There is a gimmick there with great potential. This is a guy and this is a group that should be given top focus outside of the saga involving Roman Reigns and Vince McMahon.

How do you do it? There are plenty of guys without clear focus. The Wyatts do not need to go back to their feud against ECW. A feud against Big Show would not have been too horrible. Have Bray act like he actually accomplished something with his feuds against The Undertaker and Kane and is looking to take out another monster. Give Big Show a few partners, or even have him do this feud against the group by himself. Dolph Ziggler is also around. He would definitely need a team to feud with The Wyatts. Point is, the WWE can start something now, have it go through the Royal Rumble, and finish it at Fast Lane. If they are really able to create a big feud, they might take it all the way to Wrestlemania.

At a time when there are so many injuries and the WWE is very sloppy with the roster they do have, it might be a good idea to start pushing others at a high level. This is not a situation where they need an interim centerpiece. This is a situation where they need filler for the top spots around the centerpiece. There are not enough A players. They need better creative depth. And The Wyatts might be the answer until roster depth improves.

Team ECW Just Cannot Beat The Wyatts

The Wyatts beat Team ECW at TLC. That was not too shocking. That was followed by another brutal match the next night on Raw. This was an Extreme Rules match. The Wyatts once again won.

Should the WWE have let the ECW guys win that match in Philadelphia on Monday? That is ECW country. The Dudleys, Tommy Dreamer, and Rhyno are all over 40. It's not like they need the rub. But it might have been a nice gesture. It might have been a nice moment. As I have said before, these ECW guys are not as legendary in the WWE as someone like The Undertaker, who has gone over Bray Wyatt twice this year already, but Raw might have had another nice moment if the ECW guys had won.

Then again, maybe it is for the best that The Wyatts look strong again. The story of Bray's career on the main roster has been looking strong against people at his level and below him, then being used to put someone over. Sprinkle in some periods where it seems creative has nothing for him and those times he has lost feuds and moved on to another like nothing happened. These old ECW guys were definitely below him. Perfect group to put him and the rest of his guys over.

Where will The Wyatts move on to? Whenever Bray Wyatt is looking good, you have to wonder whom the WWE will feed him to. Roman Reigns in an eventual title feud? There really aren't many top stars around. To make matters worse, Bray Wyatt has already feuded with a lot of the top stars on the roster. Randy Orton is injured. Are there another four guys for The Wyatts to feud with as a group? I doubt the WWE goes with The Wyatts vs. Roman Reigns and his pals. If the WWE has no long-term plan, those ECW guys might end up putting over a stable with nowhere to go after.

The Wyatts Vs. The Dudleys & Friends

Outside of title feuds, the most interesting thing going on in the WWE right now is the feud between The Wyatts and The Dudleys. Bray Wyatt once again shows that wins and losses do not matter, having lost a feud to The Brothers of Destruction and just transitioning to another feud easily. As for The Dudleys, how can you have a TLC PPV and not include one of the teams that helped to make Tables, Ladders & Chairs famous?

What makes this feud even more intriguing is the fact that The Dudleys were outnumbered. There are four men in The Wyatts stable. The Dudleys recently recruited Tommy Dreamer to help them. Tommy Dreamer retired from the WWE years ago, but he has not been out of wrestling at all. He is likely to pop up in any wrestling promotion for a brief stint.

These former ECW guys are still outnumbered. Who will that fourth guy be to side with the faces against The Wyatts for TLC? Rhyno is down there in NXT. The WWE can bump him up for a week. There is RVD. Those seem like the two likely guys, since it is likely to be an ECW guy. If not, there is Kane. He was just feuding with The Wyatts recently. Anybody but Jericho.

One of the main criticisms I have had for the WWE for a while now is always bringing back all these people and signing more people, while not using the roster properly. Tommy Dreamer is certainly not a big draw. I doubt the fourth guy will be a big draw. Since this seems to be just for a short feud and the roster is so ravaged by injuries, I will not condemn the WWE for what they are doing here.

Who should win this feud? Bray Wyatt is obviously someone that has been treated as a jobber to the stars. He will beat people below him or at his level, but it usually is to build him up to feed to whom the WWE wants to put over. He just put over the legendary Undertaker for the second time this year. Will the WWE use The Wyatts to put over some ECW legends? I do not think the WWE is as high on ECW as they are on The Undertaker. The Wyatts should win this feud. The faces can get the momentum leading up to TLC, then The Wyatts win at the PPV.

The Undertaker & Kane Vs. The Wyatts

The Wyatts attacked The Undertaker after his loss to Brock Lesnar a few weeks ago. Kane was next after that. Bray Wyatt then appeared to "absorb" their powers. That didn't last long. The Brothers of Destruction returned last week to take out the entire Wyatt stable. A match is now set up between Undertaker & Kane and two of The Wyatts.

There are a lot of things here that I have seen fans complaining about. Let me start with some fans rolling their eyes at Bray Wyatt supposedly taking the supernatural powers of Taker and Kane. Is this the Reality Era? Nevertheless, extraordinary gimmicks are what made wrestling fun back in the day. I have also said Bray Wyatt has a gimmick with a lot of storyline potential. The WWE is taking advantage of it here.

Fans also dislike Taker and Kane popping back up so soon. Ideally, you might have at least one feud before their return where Bray Wyatt actually uses his new "powers" to accomplish something. Build him up like a threat before Taker and Kane come back for revenge. What the WWE has done is similar to John Cena getting fired during the Nexus angle and never actually being gone. It is similar to The Authority being taken out of power last year and coming back in a few weeks. I have seen fans unhappy with those situations. Seeing as how The Undertaker was advertised for Survivor Series, it was obvious he would be involved. I would let this go.

Undertaker and Kane come back and took out everyone in the stable. No signs of weakness. I have seen fans say The Wyatts have been buried. Well, they didn't exactly look too good. Survivor Series is in less than a week. Can the WWE build The Wyatts to actually look like a threat after what happened last week?

Another thing to keep in mind, it is only 2 members of The Wyatts that are facing The Undertaker and Kane. These two legends took out the entire stable, but now fans are supposed to be intrigued by a match with just two Wyatts going against them? This is where discussions of credibility might matter. The Wyatts have lost some of their credibility after last week. A simple tag match does not seem like an appealing match, even if it does involve someone like The Undertaker. I was expecting something more compelling.

There was a time when you might have expected a 4 vs. 4 Survivor Series match. With all the injuries and the tournament going on, you can understand not going that route. However, how about a 2 vs. 4 Survivor Series match? That would be something. Against a dominant stable, you might think this kind of match is stupid. However, The Undertaker & Kane did take out the group last week. They can credibly win a match like this. There is something for them to overcome. The Wyatts would also have more credibility in a situation like this. The commentators can play up the possibility of The Wyatts eliminating one of their opponents early and having a 4-on-1 advantage. It might not come down to that, but the possibility makes The Wyatts a threat. In this regular tag match, all the credibility is on the side of the faces.

I would expect Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman to be the two Wyatts in the match. They are the most credible. Even then, it would make sense for the faces to win because this is The Undertaker's anniversary match. He debuted at Survivor Series. If they win, however, it would feel like a burial. The WWE needs to do something for The Wyatts before Survivor Series. I doubt the heels win here and the feud is extended until the faces win. If this was not a special match for The Undertaker, that is the way this feud should go. Bray Wyatt is no stranger to being built up for some face to knock down, but this feud should balance out better.

The Wyatts Keep Making Enemies

Bray Wyatt is a guy that can lose a feud and transition to something else like nothing happened. He is also a guy that has won feuds and transitioned to nothing immediately right after. His feud against Roman Reigns ended last Sunday. Reigns won. But Bray Wyatt's night wasn't over yet.

The Wyatts got involved with The Undertaker after his loss to Brock Lesnar. Bray Wyatt and The Undertaker did have a feud earlier this year. The Undertaker won. I think most people expected that to be the end of that. I did. Bray was used to put over The Undertaker at Wrestlemania and he got a little rub out of it. Whether the WWE intended to do this the whole time or not, the feud has been resurrected. I did not immediately like the idea of these two going at it again, but given Survivor Series is where The Undertaker debuted and the loss of certain stars right now, it is probably good to revisit this feud. This time around, Bray Wyatt has henchmen to help him.

The Undertaker is not completely alone. Demon Kane tried to get some of The Wyatts. That did not work out for him. Dean Ambrose still has issues with the group. Randy Orton will have unfinished business with The Wyatts when he returns. There are a lot of other random faces floating around that can be put into a match against The Wyatts. The WWE should have no problem creating a 4 vs. 4 match for Survivor Series. Considering some of the names involved, this should be a good feud.

Does Orton Deserve Better? (2015)

 

Last year around this same time of year, I talked about how Randy Orton was being pushed and whether he deserved better. A few weeks ago, I thought about writing the 2015 version of that. After seeing the WWE was still pushing Orton against The Wyatts, I decided not to. After seeing that he will be in the kickoff match, I decided to go through with it.

Randy Orton and Dean Ambrose will face Braun Strowman and Luke Harper in the Hell in a Cell kickoff match. In recent years, the kickoff match has involved people that were not being push well. A Wrestlemania pre-show match might sometimes feature something more important, but the pre-show for the smaller PPVs might feature something like El Torito vs. Hornswoggle.

Dean Ambrose is also in this match. Despite never holding a World Championship in the WWE, he has been in the main event of some WWE PPVs. He was in the main event of Hell in a Cell last year. This year, he's in the kickoff match. At least he is getting a match and has some sort of direction. There have been times when he was lost in the shuffle.

But for Randy Orton to be in this situation is something else. For the last decade, he has arguably been the #2 guy. It might have been CM Punk at one time, but he left. It could have been Daniel Bryan, but he has injury issues. Roman Reigns is being groomed to be a top guy. Orton has won multiple World titles. He has main-evented Wrestlemania. And he's now in the kickoff match of a minor PPV.

Is it really that insulting to be in the kickoff match? If the WWE had done a better job of mixing the guys used there and the feuds featured there, it wouldn't be. As I have said, a lot of the matches there have been unimportant. You would expect Neville, Barrett, Stardust, or Cesaro to be featured in the Hell in a Cell kickoff match. Even Sheamus, given that he has been pushed in a mediocre manner recently. But this Wyatts vs. Orton/Ambrose match seems too important for that.

I would say Orton does deserve to be featured better. Hopefully, this is not an indicator that the WWE will continue to give him mediocre treatment for any long period of time. He has gone through stretches of that. I don't think any of those instances have resulted in a kickoff match.

Who wins this match? They can go two ways. Either give the faces the win or continue to make Braun Strowman look strong. If the faces win, Luke Harper will likely be the one taking the pin. The WWE could use this match to make Orton look good and have him feud with Bray Wyatt next. If they want to keep Strowman strong, he can go over either face in this match to look impressive. But what are they building him up for? Given that this has been made a kickoff match, I am saying the faces win. One of those faces is Randy Orton, so that might make it easier to bet on the faces. Or will they have a top star lose in a kickoff match?

Roman Reigns Vs. Bray Wyatt At Hell In A Cell 2015

The feud between Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt continues. It is not going the way I expected it to go. It is going the way I hoped it would have gone months ago. I felt the WWE should have kept the feud personal. They added in a bunch of other players and you had a 6-man tag situation coming up. Given The Wyatts had taken out Randy Orton and he just returned, the expected development was to have Randy Orton, Roman Reigns & Dean Ambrose vs. The Wyatts. Instead, the WWE is going back to the personal feud between Reigns and Bray. They will meet inside Hell in a Cell in a few weeks.

Even though I felt they should have kept it personal or even gone back to it being personal after Summerslam, I do not completely like them finally making it personal again now. They had done so much in developing a multi-performer feud. They debuted Braun Strowman. They had The Wyatts attack Randy Orton, who would obviously want revenge. The singles feud between Reigns and Bray has lost some of that personal heat it had. Does the WWE think they can just fall back to it and it will be as great as it could have been before adding in all these other wrestlers? They started building towards a new direction and I think they should have stuck with it. Will this hurt the focus on Strowman? Will this hurt Orton right now? Or is he next in line to feud with Bray Wyatt?

Why not have 3 vs. 3 inside Hell in a Cell? I like them deciding to use Hell in a Cell for this feud. It is not unheard of to have 6 men in this match. Not only do I think it would be a good match, it would continue along the line of where things seemed to be heading before the WWE booked this singles match for Hell in a Cell. The WWE could have used this match to end Bray Wyatt's feud with Roman Reigns and transition towards that feud with Orton.

The WWE needs to make up their mind on what they want to do with The Wyatts. When they first debuted, it was obvious Bray Wyatt was being pushed and the other two were his henchmen. This wasn't like The Shield. They felt like three guys that could be used to feud with other teams. They felt like a unit. It wasn't about one guy being pushed with two sidekicks. The only time The Wyatts felt like a unit was when they were feuding against The Shield. The Wyatts were starting to feel that way again. Next thing you know, focus is back on Bray Wyatt's singles feud. The WWE can go in either direction, but it would be nice if they stuck in an overall direction. Either get the most out of Bray Wyatt or spread the attention and get the most out of the stable. Inconsistency will not help you.

Reigns And Ambrose Still Need Help

If you ever want to lose really, really badly, get Chris Jericho on your team. Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose recruited him for Night of Champions. They ended up losing. The feud against The Wyatts continues.

Seeing Chris Jericho make returns these days is lackluster. There was a time when I would get excited. I am not even a fan of the guy that much, but there was usually that hope that something big would happen. It is hard to get excited for a part-time jobber. He might win some matches here and there, but it is usually to build him up to feed to someone else. And the WWE always seems to fumble with whomever he puts over, which makes his appearances even more pointless.

Randy Orton is back from vacation for revenge against the guys that took him out. Why do I get the feeling that The Wyatts will still win? Even if the faces win, Luke Harper will probably take the pin. They will keep Braun Strowman strong.

And will Reigns and Ambrose need to find another partner after that? Or will another trio need to face The Wyatts? That is a real possibility as to how the WWE can handle The Wyatts. And I don't like it. This is the kind of booking they did with The Shield. They would put together teams of three guys and have them feud against The Shield. When Randy Orton came back to be the new partner for Reigns and Ambrose against The Wyatts, I realized the WWE could go back to that booking they did a few years ago. It might lead to great matches, but the booking isn't great.

Why don't I like this kind of booking? First, it is lazy. If you have nothing to do for a few guys you want to feature, just toss them together and put them against The Wyatts. It is one thing when you have two guys with nothing to do and make a tag team out of them for a while, but the WWE might get comfortable doing this with trios now. Second, it can ruin the personal feel of some feuds. Bray Wyatt had a personal feud going with Roman Reigns. That has gotten watered down. There was a time I was expecting Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton to have a personal feud. It looks like the feud they have now will involve a few other players. Last reason I do not like this booking, it can hinder the individual development of some wrestlers. Can they push Roman Reigns right as a singles competitor? Dean Ambrose sometimes felt like he had no real direction since breaking away from The Shield. He sometimes looked like he was just a jobber to the stars. Bray Wyatt could have had a great solo career, but they put him back in a stable just a year after ending his first stable run.

It's not just The Wyatts. New Day is a trio. Stardust has teamed up with The Ascension to form a group. The Wyatts are obviously above these other group, but you see all these three-man stables, which might often lead to six-man tag matches. I won't even bring the diva division up here. You can imagine that some of these groups might fade in the coming months, but will others rise up to take their place?

I have said before that it is not efficient for the WWE to hire all these people, including bringing back legends, and not release people on a consistent basis like they used to. You just get more people than you can properly handle. And here you see one of the things the WWE is doing. They aren't doing a brand split. They aren't creating another main show. They aren't creating more feuds and storylines. They are adding people to the feuds and storylines already there. Things are still getting crowded. Less is sometimes better.

Bray Wyatt Vs. Dean Ambrose At Survivor Series: Final Preview

After looking like this might be something major at Hell in a Cell, this feud has really lost that heat. The feud between Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose is still the second biggest feud going on right now. These guys have unique characters. Promos could have been better, but that is more because of direction of the storyline than the promo skills of these two. The match should be entertaining.

Who wins? The WWE has not developed this feud well enough to make me give a damn about who wins. I don't feel like the outcome of this match really matters. All that being said, I'll go with Ambrose.

Does this feud continue after Survivor Series? I think it does. This feud can lead to something more than this. There is not much time between Survivor Series and TLC, so that further suggests that the WWE will just continue this feud to a more violent encounter next month. That is something to look forward to. In terms of storyline, however, what is there to look forward to? It would be nice if this was more than just a grudge feud. Dean Ambrose beats the hell out of Bray Wyatt out of revenge, then moves on. Make it more interesting than that. Let me just bring up one possibility. It seems Bray Wyatt will not be getting back his two henchmen. One of them even turned face. Unless some swerve happens or the WWE revisits the stable in the future, it is done. Why not finally have Bray Wyatt succeed in brainwashing someone to his side? Let Ambrose be the first member of a new "Wyatt Family" stable. Will the fans ruin it? If the WWE does it in a way that makes it seem they are screwing Dean Ambrose, this might turn out like Daniel Bryan. This isn't really screwing anyone. It would help Bray Wyatt look good and give Ambrose something to do.

When The Shield broke up, I felt Dean Ambrose would be the one least likely to get an A+ career. With all the depth issues and the fact that he was connecting well with the fans, I was hoping they would still push him very well. In relation to everything else going on, they are still pushing him well, but it is still pretty poor in general. That is an indicator of how bad a lot of other things must be right now. Ambrose can lose his momentum with this feud. I don't even see this as the WWE trying to bury him. They just cannot do better.

Is Bray Wyatt the Wyatt least likely to succeed? I have seen some fans bring that up. I wouldn't go that far. But he has lost his stable. And those two are involved in a PPV main event, while Wyatt is involved in a feud that is essentially easing Ambrose out of his previous main-event feud. If they want to make this feud really mean something for Bray Wyatt and keep him relevant, they have to improve the storyline. I cannot picture his former henchmen becoming legitimate A-tier players, but I can picture all of them eventually remaining B+ players.

What Are They Doing With The Wyatts?

What are they doing with The Wyatts? They are all doing their own thing, which is not shocking, but how they are utilizing them is interesting. And I don't mean that in a good way.

Rowan just seems completely lost. He is just there. He randomly pops up. You can make the argument that this fits his crazy character. He is lost and directionless. In kayfabe, that may be the case. Problem is, that also seems to be the case in terms of his booking. He is not a priority. I don't feel too bad for him. A lot of fans have said that he was the weakest link of the stable.

Harper was said to be the best member of The Wyatts by many fans. Where is he? It seems he is in the main event of Survivor Series. He has joined Team Authority. I just have a feeling this would not be happening if depth was not as bad as it was. I think Harper should get pushed well in the midcard. That will likely still come after Survivor Series. But putting him in this match? He is a big man and dangerous, but you already have guys like that on the heel team. You have Kane, Mark Henry, and Rusev. Seth Rollins is in there, as well. He is being groomed to be a top star. If not Harper, who should be that last member of Team Authority? What kind of person should it be? I don't think it needs to be muscle. How about some credibility? Miz is a heel with no legitimate direction. Or is he too much of a joke these days? Why not Triple H himself? Many fans have pointed out that it is ridiculous that Triple H would not be in this match. His position of power is on the line. This is supposed to be the main event of one of the biggest WWE PPVs of the year. You would think they would put some real main-eventers in it. They already have guys to represent the "future" of the company involved in this match.

How about the leader of the group? Bray Wyatt has his feud with Dean Ambrose. It is disappointing. It is even more disappointing than Bray's feud against Jericho. Team Cena vs. Team Authority is the top feud going on right now. The #2 feud would be Wyatt vs. Ambrose. And the development for it is just so poor. For months, they have sold Dean Ambrose as this lunatic determined to get revenge on Seth Rollins. Bray Wyatt screwed him. You would think Ambrose would show that same determination against Bray Wyatt. It isn't there. Focus on this feud just isn't there. I don't think you can use the excuse that all that time needs to be spent on The Authority and the faces out to put an end to them. You still have a lot of time and can make better use of the time being used on Wyatt/Ambrose. How many people had high hopes when Ambrose and Rollins main-evented the last PPV? Bray Wyatt getting involved disappointed some, but did it give anyone hope that the feud between him and Ambrose might be good? That is why you never make too much out of one moment. Nevertheless, I was expecting better than what they have done since Hell in a Cell.

Not to give the WWE credit for thinking ahead, but can they be planning something big for The Wyatts? Could what they are doing with Harper lead to The Wyatts getting more involved with The Authority? You can have some kind of demented power struggle between Bray Wyatt and The Authority. I don't think they will go in that direction. Even if they did, they would find some way to ruin it with John Cena. If they did, however, it could make for a great storyline. It would really make Bray Wyatt look like a legitimate top player, if only for a few months.

Reintroducing The Wyatts

The WWE has been airing these creepy segments over the last few weeks that seem to be reintroducing The Wyatts. They had creepy vignettes when they debuted that got fans very interested in them, so it is not shocking the WWE would go back to that. These vignettes seem to be putting the focus on Harper and Rowan, leading to the possibility of solo pushes for Bray's henchmen.

The WWE obviously has no direction for The Wyatts. Bray Wyatt's feud with Chris Jericho was disappointing. I was expecting better. Jericho put over Bray, which was not shocking. After that, not surprisingly, Bray Wyatt is left with no direction. This was the kind of thing that made me dread this feud between those two. It just seems like a waste and a disappointment. They are keeping The Wyatts hyped and keeping their characters relevant by these segments they are airing, but what do you actually do with them?

The WWE isn't actually breaking the group up, obviously, but I do not think they really need to be doing what they are doing right now. These guys should be treated as priorities. They should be pushed as upper-midcarders (A- players). It seems like they are being demoted back down to midcard status. You should have kept the ball rolling on these guys. Have Bray chase after a title. Have his guys get the tag titles. Debut a new member. Brainwash someone and run another storyline off of that. Have Bray actually "ruin" the career of someone he sets out to destroy. It seems like they may only be refreshing them to go through the same cycle they went through for a year now. That is a waste of their creative potential.

I mentioned that The Wyatts got demoted recently. Who got promoted to take their spot? I would say that would be Rusev. That kind of A- focus is on him now. He is still undefeated. Once he does suffer that first defeat, you can imagine him losing momentum, much like Bray Wyatt has. Who will get rotated into that spot then? I would not be surprised if the WWE debuted someone in the coming months and pushed that person at the same level they did Bray Wyatt last year and Rusev this year. Will it likely be one of those three big signings that a lot of wrestling fans are excited over? Probably. They will debut with a good measure of creative interest and hype, just like The Wyatts and Rusev did. They will have to have some kind of unique character to stand out. That will be something to watch out for.

What Do You Do With Swagger Now?

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

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

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

What Do You Do With Bray Wyatt Now?

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

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

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

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

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

Night Of Champions 2014: Previewing The Tag Titles Match

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

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

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

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