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.

Roman Reigns Back In The Title Picture

Roman Reigns won his feud against Bray Wyatt and is moving on. Seth Rollins won his feud against Kane and is moving on. The two are now on a collision course. And the WWE Championship will be on the line.

Everyone remembers what happened earlier in the year when the WWE tried to give Roman Reigns a big push. Smarks hated it. Instead of Roman Reigns winning the title at Wrestlemania, Seth Rollins cashed in and walked out with the title. His title reign has not been the greatest, but he has retained the title against a lot of top guys.

But the attention is back on Roman Reigns again. I have seen some fans upset about him once again in the title picture. You have certain top faces not around. Even if Cena and Orton were around, Seth Rollins already feuded against them. He feuded against Dean Ambrose. Dolph Ziggler, another guy some of these fans would rather see pushed than Reigns, has another storyline going on. Do people seriously expect Kevin Owens, a heel holding a title of his own, to get a feud against Seth Rollins? I can run through the whole roster, but Roman Reigns seems like a good choice to push right now. It is better than dragging out his feud with Bray Wyatt.

Has Roman Reigns improved? He has put on some good matches. Many might argue that he was carried. He is still not the greatest on the mic, but at least he is not doing awkward promos like last year. I think he has improved a bit. He is still not someone you would expect to earn a "Superstar of the Year" Slammy, but he has had a good year.

Has his connection with the fans improved? Go back to what I said a little while ago. I said smarks hated his big push. Smarks are a type of wrestling fans that tend to be very critical of the product and usually prefer workers like Daniel Bryan and Cesaro. All fans were not as negative to Roman Reigns. I would sometimes hear Reigns get an okay reaction or read a live event report that said he got a great pop. And this was during his controversial push. He isn't as hated as certain vocal fans might make it seem. He is in the same camp as John Cena. But has Reigns won over those haters? Some of them sound like they have given up. Some might think they can force the WWE's hand by being vocal against Roman Reigns again. In general, I do not think the same negativity is here right now as you had earlier in the year.

Besides the talent of Roman Reigns and how well he was connecting with the fans, another issue that influenced the situation earlier this year was that there was someone hotter that fans would rather see not getting the push. That would be Daniel Bryan. A lot of fans have said that it wasn't just Daniel Bryan and that the fans were upset about all their favorites getting mistreated in that Royal Rumble. I am sure that had a little to do with it, but I still say most of it was fans upset about Daniel Bryan, again. After he got tossed out, fans would have settled for anyone other than the WWE's new chosen one, Roman Reigns. They even would have settled for Rusev. Funny thing is, a year before that, fans would have settled for Roman Reigns over Batista.

There is no face (or heel) that has A+ overness on the active roster right now. None of the regulars are as hot as Daniel Bryan has been. That is another reason I do not see a problem with pushing Roman Reigns now and do not think he will get the same nuclear reaction he had before. If Cesaro was that hot, or anyone else, then it would obviously be a different story. Let the WWE build a star. Not everyone they push has to be a favorite of these vocal fans. Roman Reigns will never be a true A+ player until he wins them over, and will not earn the right to be pushed at that level. But what's wrong with just having him in the main-event rotation?

Speaking of rotation, some people might have thought the WWE would have some sort of rotation with Cena and Orton temporarily out. Have a "centerpiece by committee" approach. In football, some teams like to have one running back that will always be in the game, unless he gets tired, injured, does not need to be in the game any longer, or some other special reason. Some teams rotate running backs and have a "running back by committee" approach. They rotate guys to keep them fresh, depending on what down it is, depending on their skill set, and so on. The WWE could have pushed a group of faces in the spotlight. Have Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Kane chase after Seth Rollins. Have Cesaro be one of those guys. Have some kind of multi-challenger feud for the title. Then again, Survivor Series is coming up. They can easily not have a title feud at all. Just create some kind of big tag match. Seth Rollins would be captain of his team and go against a group of faces being pushed well for the next few weeks. Instead of spreading the spotlight around like that, it looks like the WWE is using this situation to put the spotlight on Reigns. Oh well!

Summer Rae Finds A New Guy

From the time she debuted, Summer Rae has been involved in a lot of periphery angles. Some featured her mostly dancing. Some did not last long. There has also been the issue of her just being lost in the shuffle in between some of these angles. Her recent angle with Rusev was the best she had ever gotten. That got spoiled. But how would the WWE handle her now?

She has transitioned rather well to another periphery angle. She is now with Tyler Breeze, a new debut from NXT. He is getting a feud against Dolph Ziggler, who was also involved in the storyline with Rusev and Summer Rae recently, as well as Lana. This is a pretty good way to handle things.

The problem you have to consider is how far Tyler Breeze will go. When you are a periphery diva paired with a guy, you will only go as far as that guy goes. Lita benefited from being paired with guys that were being pushed well for most of her career. Summer Rae was once stuck with Fandango, a guy that wasn't really going anywhere at that time and is in an even worse place now. Feuding with Dolph Ziggler is pretty good, but how will they follow up with Breeze? I can see him becoming another Fandango. You have a crowded roster that is only getting bigger. Neville debuted a while ago and already appears to be losing steam in terms of how he is pushed. How long will it be before that happens to Tyler Breeze? Will Summer Rae be along for the ride if he gets demoted? Will she get lost in the shuffle on her own? Will she transition to another angle as Breeze sinks? I just cannot imagine Tyler Breeze becoming a main-eventer and Summer Rae being able to benefit from that kind of rub.

I would say Summer Rae does deserve to be featured well. As far as eye-candy periphery divas in this era go, she is no Lana, but she has shown some potential. The WWE needs more diva angles going on outside of the "diva revolution" mess. A better periphery can help keep some of these women relevant, and possibly get them over, while cleaning up the messy situation in the main angle. As I have said before, periphery divas are like the toppings you add to your ice cream. They make it look more appealing and add some flavor. I think Summer Rae can help with that.

Alberto Del Rio Returns At Hell In A Cell 2015

John Cena had his open challenge at Hell in a Cell. It was answered by the returning Alberto Del Rio, who is now aligned with Zeb. Not only did Del Rio win the United States title, he did it cleanly.

On the one hand, justice is served. Alberto Del Rio was fired last year while standing up for himself against a racist WWE employee. If he had to be punished for that, fining him or suspending him would have been one thing. They fired him. He has continued to wrestle since then. The racism issue in the WWE was brought up with this whole situation. They bring him back, immediately give him a title, and even have him go over John Cena, the top star of the company. Pretty good return.

On the other hand, I would not have brought him back, yet. I like Alberto Del Rio. I think he's entertaining. But the WWE has an issue right now. They are not releasing workers on a consistent basis and they keep on hiring and bringing back all this talent, both for the main product and NXT. They are not efficient with the roster they have and they keep bringing in more guys. That is not a smart thing to do. The priority right now should be developing the stars they already have and becoming efficient again. Alberto Del Rio definitely deserved a return to the WWE. I would have just waited another year or so. He would have been about 40 by then, but he wouldn't exactly be a rookie. He has already held multiple World titles, as well as other accolades.

I have said that the only people the WWE should bring back are those sure to create a spark and draw for them. Seeing as how so many big part-timers cannot get the job done for them, I am starting to believe they shouldn't bring anyone else back for a while. As I said before, get efficient with the roster you have now first.

As far as bringing back people that can create a spark, I would say Alberto Del Rio does not fit in that category. I like the guy, but I cannot deny he didn't get as over as he should have with the way the WWE was pushing him in his previous run. A lot of fans are buzzing about what happened last night, but that will wear off. And what will you be left with? Another former World Champion in the midcard? He is there to draw in the Latino audience? There were guys already on the roster that could have done that. Instead of treating some of them better, the WWE brings in someone else. It will only be a matter of time before the WWE starts messing up with how they push Del Rio. That will not help them improve their numbers and energize those fans on a consistent basis.

Brock Lesnar Vs. The Undertaker At Hell In A Cell 2015: Final Preview

Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at Wrestlemania last year. Time went on without any further altercation between the two. Lesnar went on to win the WWE Championship. The Undertaker came back at Wrestlemania this year to defeat Bray Wyatt. Next thing you know, The Undertaker comes back again to screw Brock Lesnar out of regaining the WWE Championship. This leads to a Summerslam match, which had a horrible finish. You just knew it wasn't over yet.

It will end at Hell in a Cell. These two will go at it inside Hell in a Cell. These two went at it in this type of match before. That was over a decade ago. Match quality will probably be poor, but there are other Hell in a Cell matches on the card that are sure to be much better. The best you can hope for in this match is that Taker does not suffer any major injury. 

Speaking of Taker, he looked bad at Summerslam. He won the match, but it looked so cheap. It is probably a good thing that the horrible finish has not been brought up more. Has the WWE really done enough to make The Undertaker look better since August? He hasn't really been around much. Lesnar has been around more. Both were there on Raw this week. Taker gave pretty much the typical promo you would expect from him. No low blows? Probably saving it for this Sunday.

And Lesnar? One thing fans have said is that he looked like the face in this feud and Taker looked like the heel. Lesnar definitely has played a face role more often in recent months, but how about Raw? He backed away from having a physical confrontation with The Undertaker. You can say Heyman talked him out of it, but Lesnar had no problem going back to take out Big Show on Raw a few weeks ago. Lesnar backing down like that is something he has only really done as a heel. A shift back to making Taker look strong? Once again, I would still say this is a feud where you should toss face/heel discussions out the window. It is just two big names going at it.

Who wins? This match won't give Undertaker back his streak. He doesn't have much time left. Does he really need the win? After the cheap finish at Summerslam, the likely outcome would be Lesnar getting the win. They have protected him very well. I cannot imagine them having him lose again to The Undertaker. If he does, it will have to be another screwy finish or a big spot during the match. But seeing as how Lesnar is like a part-time centerpiece now, I will say he wins.

Seth Rollins Vs. Kane At Hell In A Cell 2015: Final Preview

Seth Rollins will defend the WWE Championship against Kane at Hell in a Cell. That is not the only thing that is on the line. If Kane loses, he loses his authority position.

The outcome of this match seems obvious. Seth Rollins finds some way to retain and Kane leaves the group. The WWE just cannot have Kane and Seth Rollins coexist in The Authority after all the issues they have had. They might be stupid enough to try it, given how they love to tease endless friction within the stable, but I will still say Seth retains. Face Kane will also be needed now that certain top faces are likely to not be around for a while. I will also say it is too soon to discuss Seth Rollins possibly breaking CM Punk's record with the WWE title.

Does Sheamus cash in here? He still has a ton of time to do so. I wouldn't have him do it. I do not expect him to do it, although it might once again be teased. Sheamus still needs better treatment.  I would not have had him win the briefcase in the first place, but they made the decision and should be following through better than they have, especially recently.

Back to the storyline you have between Seth Rollins and Kane. You have Kane with the mask on and Kane in the suit. You have Demon Kane and Corporate Kane. I would expect a lot of  fans to say this is cheesy. I see a little of that, but I see mostly positive comments about it. They like it. One criticism is that it is just a copy of TNA's angle with Abyss and Joseph Parks. TNA never did it the way the WWE is doing now. Moreover, before TNA did that angle, the WWE ran the creepy angle with Kane and Fake Kane. That was a flop, but this angle the WWE is running now is working out better than that angle did. It is one of the better Kane storylines he has had in his career.

Should someone take Kane's spot in The Authority? I think so. It would be a great position to have. Besides, The Authority is struggling to look like a legitimate stable. I have frequently brought up Lana as someone that should join The Authority or be given authority powers. Given recent developments with her and Rusev, I do not know what the WWE will do with her. Back to being a heel? If so, put her and Rusev in The Authority. I do not think it should be Brad Maddox. Big Show has been treated as an unofficial member of the group the last few months. Kevin Owens? I am thinking someone that could play an authority figure, as well. The great thing about Kane for the last few years is that he could be an authority figure and wrestler. Replacing him as a wrestler and authority figure in the group would be nice. It does not have to be one person serving both roles. Get a non-wrestler to be the authority figure and find some brute to be the muscle of the group.

Hell In A Cell 2015 Preview

I will talk about Kane/Rollins and Undertaker/Lesnar later. I'll just say a little about the undercard for Hell in a Cell now.

Kevin Owens defends the Intercontinental Championship against Ryback. This is where this feud should end. Owens retains.

The New Day defend the tag titles against The Dudleys. I still say the WWE should have had the title change happen in New York weeks ago. It will probably happen here.

Charlotte defends the Diva's Championship against Nikki Bella. As long as Nikki Bella stays in the WWE and nothing happens to ruin her position, she should be regaining the title one day. I just doubt it will happen so soon. Then again, Paige can screw Charlotte out of the title somehow. I will say Charlotte retains and goes on to feud with Paige.

John Cena has an open challenge for the United States Championship. That is not surprising. Given the rumors of Cena taking time off, a lot of fans might expect that Cena will lose the title here. I will not even speculate on the outcome. I will also not speculate on whom the WWE sends out to face Cena. It really can be anyone. As long as it isn't Chris Jericho, it should be good.

The kickoff match has changed. The WWE has dumped a bunch of guys into one match. It will be Dolph Ziggler, Cesaro & Neville vs. Sheamus, Rusev & Barrett. Yeah, this feels like a kickoff match. Might as well let the faces win.

Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns will meet inside Hell in a Cell. This feud has had its ups and downs. Has the WWE done a good job of bringing up that personal heat that was there. That Raw segment last night was a good try. This is another feud that should end here. It would be nice if this match had no shenanigans. Just let the two go at it. None of the other Wyatts need to get involved. No spooky tricks from Bray Wyatt, even though Halloween is so close. Momentum seems to be on the side of Roman Reigns, but I still feel he will win at Hell in a Cell. If he does lose, will this feud continue even longer? The WWE can build some kind of Survivor Series match with this feud. They can then have some kind of gimmick match at TLC to end the feud. I would not be too surprised if the feud does continue, regardless of Sunday's outcome.

The New Velvet Sky

Another dive into the topic of charisma. I'll be talking about someone in TNA this time. That would be Velvet Sky.

Velvet Sky has been in TNA for years, leaving and coming back a few times. She has pretty much been TNA's version of a WWE diva for the longest time. She is there for her looks, not wrestling ability. And for much of her time in TNA, her charisma was tied to her sex appeal. Not only did she have the look and frequently dressed in a sexy manner, but she had a playful character that frequently centered around being sexy. She let the pigeons loose on a frequent basis.

This year has been different. She left TNA for a while. When she came back, she reinvented herself. She is a face, but she has a more toned-down character. She is playing a more serious character. She changed her outfit. She is using the stunner. Yes, she has reinvented herself.

I do see some fans that do not like the new character. Specifically, I saw one guy complaining about how she dresses. It isn't sexy enough for him. I think a woman can be sexy without dressing in outfits that show a lot of skin and without acting too slutty. Velvet Sky has done that before. She is doing something different now.

I like the change. I was never a big fan of Velvet Sky. I am still not a big fan, but I like this new character. I think she plays it well. Besides that, you have other women to play the role Velvet Sky used to have. The Dollhouse play playful characters that dress sexy. Brooke is also pretty much in the role Velvet Sky has held in the past. Brooke is sexy and she has a fun character that draws on that sex appeal. Nothing wrong with having Velvet Sky be something different.

Can you consider this version of Velvet Sky charismatic? The old version of Velvet Sky definitely had charisma. You might watch a movie or TV show that has this strong, silent hero that is just portrayed as a badass. A lot of action movies have characters like that. It is not unusual to see a woman with this type of character. There are a lot of female heroines with this kind of character. They don't act slutty. They don't have comedy characters. They aren't jovial. They don't come off as crazy. They just have these cool characters. These women can definitely be charismatic. Both men and women can be drawn to these type of characters. The new version of Velvet Sky is somewhat like that. It might sometimes be a tough role to play, but I think she is fine at it.

It is not unusual for TNA to have a face KO play a serious character like this. I remember when Mickie James played this kind of role when she went to TNA in 2010. She would still show signs of her usual energetic charisma now and then, but for the most part, she was playing a more serious character in TNA. I saw some fans wondering what was wrong with Mickie James. Nothing. If you looked at her appearances on the independent scene around this time, she was still her charismatic self. And when she later turned heel, she was once again showing that fun charisma. I felt it was a mistake for TNA not to take advantage of that charisma more. It is one of her best qualities. Few people will get very over by wrestling ability alone. Charisma is something that helps connect with the wider audience. Having Mickie James play that serious face character was just a waste.

I would say Velvet Sky actually plays this role better. Given the situation TNA is currently in, it is probably a waste to talk about it. Nevertheless, it is an example of a different flavor of charisma that has the potential to interest an audience. You have energetic, fun psychos. You have creepy psychos. You have women relying on their looks. And even a serious character has potential to be charismatic. And I have to give Velvet Sky credit for the change.

Does Cena Deserve Better?

I talked about whether the #2 guy in the WWE is in a position that is beneath him right now. How about the #1 guy? John Cena is back to holding the United States Championship. Does Cena deserve better than his current position?

One thing to keep in mind is that Cena's title reign and open challenge is all he has going for him. During his previous title reign, you would see him running that angle, while the WWE still developed a real feud for him. While feuding with Rusev and Kevin Owens, he still did his open challenge. I felt that doing both took away from the potential that was there. There were some nights his feud seemed like an afterthought. There were some open challenges where the guy he was feuding against ruined the finish of the match. That is not going on now. Cena has had issues with New Day, but they have their own feud. I do not see a problem with Cena not having one real opponent. That usually means you are lost in the shuffle, but Cena is still be featured prominently thanks to holding that midcard title.

If the WWE really wanted to, they could come up with a feud for Cena, in addition to his open challenges. They could have forced a feud between Cena and Sheamus, which would have been better than what Sheamus is doing now. But does anyone really want to see that feud? It would be good from the standpoint of developing Sheamus while he has the briefcase, but many fans might not be interested in the actual rivalry. No, I think Cena is fine without a feud.

There is also talk about Cena taking time off. Every time he defends that title, it feels like some fans are holding their breath, sure that this is the night he will lose it. Cena has taken time off before. He was out with an injury a few months ago, while still holding the United States title. If the amount of time he is gone, if he does go, is short, they might keep the title on him. I think the WWE will survive without him. He is banged up, stale, and whatever other issues he has, any kind of break will do a lot of people good.

In the end, I do not think Cena deserves better than he is being pushed now. It is rare to see him without a proper feud, but he is still holding a title and the WWE has shown that they will still book him in the main event above Seth Rollins. The WWE is attempting to make more stars. But John Cena is still centerpiece until they get rolling with someone else in that spot.

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?