I’ve not watched WWE programming for the past few weeks,
mainly because of a lack of ways to watch it, but even when I get the chance, I
don’t feel obliged to watch it the way I used to. Where I do plan on getting
back into the swing of things tonight for RAW, I can’t help but feel
as if the storylines at the moment just aren’t doing it for me. The main
problem for me personally is down to NXT. The developmental program is, in my
opinion, casting a shadow over anything that the main roster has been doing
recently, and I feel as if when it comes to WWE, you’re getting better quality
of viewing in one hour of NXT than you do in three hours of RAW.
The headlines over the past few weeks have been about a few
big things. The signings of KENTA and Fergal Devitt to NXT have dominated, with
the upcoming “dream match” at Summerslam between John Cena and Brock Lesnar for
the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and the first WWE appearance from the
legendary Sting seemingly taking a back seat. We’ve saw over the past two years
the pool of talent that NXT has to offer. Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Cesaro,
Tyler Breeze, The Ascension, Charlotte, Paige, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and
those who are out of favour at the main roster such as Tyson Kidd and Justin
Gabrial, plus many more top talents. They consistently put on match of the year
contenders, and turn more heads, than most of the main guys in WWE. These new
signings, plus the rumoured inclusion of Kevin Steen to come in good time, make
an already bulging show even more crammed with top level talent, and slowly but
surely taking the attention off of the mainstream WWE programs. There are a couple of things that have been done recently
that have been all-round bad decisions, as well as some unfortunate
circumstances, that have lead to fans losing interest:
Firstly, WWE have brought up talents that may
have had good natural momentum in NXT, but then done nothing with them worth
talking about. The main guys in question here are Xavier Woods, who is a decent
wrestler, but brought up too early to tag with R-Truth and get in pointless
feuds with Brodus Clay and Rusev. The other is Adam Rose, who, after some
initial momentum, seemed to level out, and now no one really cares. The two
recent success stories that come to mind are Bo Dallas, who has played his role
as an annoyingly motivational heel to perfection, while making good showings in
battle royals, and Paige, who won the Divas title on her debut, and is now
feuding over the belt with the recently returning AJ Lee. It seems as if these
promotions have been more to free up space on NXT and for filler stuff on the
main shows, and not as much for boosting these guy’s profiles. Giving
promotions to the guys in NXT who can go up and immediately challenge for belts
and be in watch-worthy angles needs to be done soon, with perhaps Sami Zayn,
The Ascension and Charlotte, now being almost the finished packages in terms of
their in-ring work and their character development, about ready to pursue the
big time, and at the same time allowing the free space on NXT for the upcoming
debutants. This would be a win/win for the talent, the business, and the fans.
Coming away from NXT, the recent use of talent such as Bray Wyatt has been somewhat questionable. Now, anyone who watches WWE knows that Wyatt’s strong point is, of course, his promo work, and his ability to build up for matches using those promos in a way that gets the audience captivated in whatever it is he’s involved in. Being red-hot in the lead up to Wrestlemania for his match with John Cena, and afterwards in the steel cage match and the last man standing match, where he had the fans in the palm of his hands, he now seems to be losing momentum. Bray Wyatt is a heel, yes, but in order to see him at best affect, he needs to keep the audience interested in what he’s saying, and after hearing that there have been overpowering boos and “boring” chants through his segments, it’s obvious that the time has come to let his in-ring storytelling do all the talking. Not enough credit is given to the big man for his wrestling, as he is scarily fast and athletic for his size, but he also knows how to tell the perfect story through the course of a match. It’s clear that the amount of time he is being given on the mic is a bit much, no matter how good he is when he gets the chance to talk, and he should be contesting more singles matches and reminding everyone that he isn’t just a bunch of captivating promos, but an all round fascinating wrestler.
Coming away from NXT, the recent use of talent such as Bray Wyatt has been somewhat questionable. Now, anyone who watches WWE knows that Wyatt’s strong point is, of course, his promo work, and his ability to build up for matches using those promos in a way that gets the audience captivated in whatever it is he’s involved in. Being red-hot in the lead up to Wrestlemania for his match with John Cena, and afterwards in the steel cage match and the last man standing match, where he had the fans in the palm of his hands, he now seems to be losing momentum. Bray Wyatt is a heel, yes, but in order to see him at best affect, he needs to keep the audience interested in what he’s saying, and after hearing that there have been overpowering boos and “boring” chants through his segments, it’s obvious that the time has come to let his in-ring storytelling do all the talking. Not enough credit is given to the big man for his wrestling, as he is scarily fast and athletic for his size, but he also knows how to tell the perfect story through the course of a match. It’s clear that the amount of time he is being given on the mic is a bit much, no matter how good he is when he gets the chance to talk, and he should be contesting more singles matches and reminding everyone that he isn’t just a bunch of captivating promos, but an all round fascinating wrestler.
A big problem for me in the current product is that it seems to be reverting back to the status quo. There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe when external circumstances take control, but the main issue I have with this at the moment is the situation with the Intercontinental Championship. I’ve never hated The Miz as a wrestler, and he does tend to put on some half decent matches every now and again, but the fact that he is currently the IC champ is baffling. Yes, we all knew that he would probably win the battle royal when he made his “dramatic” return on the same night as Chris Jericho, but I was hopeful that it wouldn’t be the case. The circumstance in question here is of course the injury to Bad News Barrett, and hopefully Miz is just keeping it warm for when the big man returns. For now, though, it seems to be the same old story, and even I get tired of saying it, but what good reason have WWE got for not giving Dolph Ziggler AT LEAST a midcard championship? Putting that strap on Ziggler would have brought a great amount of relevance back to it, as well as set up a potentially brilliant angle with Barrett upon his return, whereas with The Miz, Barrett will likely beat him in their first match and he won’t get another sniff for a while. The other issue here is about the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, the future of Daniel Bryan’s career looks to be filled with doubt, and as heartbreaking as it is for him, as well as everyone who’s followed his career so far, it’s also thrown the title into the most notorious “playing it safe” zone. That being John Cena. No one doubts Cena’s credentials, or how worthy he is of holding the titles, but is the scheduled championship match the one we were all excited for as the Summerslam main event? I’m inclined to say no. No one could be sure Bryan would still be champ going into Summerslam, but if he was, I’m sure we’d have all rather seen Bryan vs Lesnar for the titles, and not Cena vs Lesnar. The match between Cena and Lesnar has been rumoured for months though, so either it was always the plan for Cena to defend against him, or have the match without Cena as champ, and Bryan defending the titles elsewhere on the card. We’ll see come the big night whether the match will deliver or not, but the only interest I have in the match is the sub-plot that Seth Rollins has a money in the bank briefcase, and if Cena retains against Lesnar, it may be Rollins walking away from Summerslam as champ. So aye, the status quo is a bit of a problem, and I can’t help but feel that WWE should take a few more risks, rather than take the easy way out.
With all that being said, I do feel as though there needs to
be some roster shake ups to try and bring some much needed momentum back going
into the second half of the year, and ultimately the lead up to next year’s
Wrestlemania. More chances should be taken on guys who more than deserve a
shot, and the idea of something different should not be scaring the main men in
WWE. We all know that there are a load of angles currently in play, such as
Ambrose/Rollins, Wyatt/Jericho, Paige/AJ and the always improving tag team
division that are keeping the majority of fans interested in the product, as
well as the rise of Roman Reigns, which seems to be leading to him eventually
holding the world championship, but until then, why stick with the same old
stuff? I don’t know if I’m the only person who feels this way at the moment,
and don’t get me wrong, I still love watching WWE, but there needs to be some
changes made.