THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA 35
PART 1
BAD, BAD WITH A PINCH OF GOOD
The raw and SMACKDOWN LIVE Paths to the Grand Stage.
Oh what a Rocky road it has been. I mean seriously, they were still announcing matches as of this past Smackdown Live? Sounds like they never had a plan in place, as this is way too late in the game.
Anyway, as I mentioned in my Wrestlementary Note (2nd Version), here starts my thoughts on the Road to WRESTLEMANIA! This was original post Monday on Facebook, it had been modified a little, with thoughts add on the Go-Home Suck
MONDAY NIGHT raw
The Path to WRESTLEMANIA
Thoughts and Comments on WWE’s Flagship show through the first quarter of 2019 and the Road to WRESTLEMANIA.
No, I have not misspelled raw above. When it deserved to be called RAW again, I will write it as RAW, but until then it is be known as raw here at Wrestlementary.
I am not going to bury the lead here, and I am going to get right down to it. Leading into the Royal Rumble I told friends, and posted online that I thought raw had turned the corner and was good. I thought it was finally out of its rut and back on track.
Then the Rumble hit, then came the crash. Usually this time of the year (WRESTLEMANIA Season), is when the WWE steps up its game and puts forth all the good stuff – an entire year’s worth of good stuff.
Someone seems to have forgotten to tell Vince and crew that WRESTLEMANIA is only days away, which was very evident with the Go Home raw.
Really Average Wrestling might be a step up at this point.
I mean, let’s get serious. Each week for months now we have been getting the some old routines, and they’ve even brought in older routines.
In writing formula and structure are king – but the WWE has forgone trying to structure RAW and has kept slogging forward with the same tired formula.
The proof is there for everyone to see. Attendance is down, that is plain to see. Just look at the empty seats on raw and SD LIVE on TV, or pay close attention to what camera angles they DON’T show. Then there are the ratings – soon to be so low they’ll bust through the bottom of the tank.
How many times can they keep screwing with the Revival and making them look like a joke?
How many times can we do the same segment with Elias?! Let him get in a performance, then maybe we can get him gone.
Why is Baron Corbin still dressing, acting and talking like he’s in Charge?
Angle?
Brock Lesnar being a No Show Champ and Heyman cutting the same damn promo every time desperately trying to keep Brock relevant?
In the middle of the so-called Women’s Evolution, why are we still getting meaningless matches? We had better, bigger and more impactful matches BEFORE the Evolution PPV then we have had since. Yes we have the Tag Titles, but what is really being done with them.
The same feud that was going on before the titles came to life at the Elimination Chamber is the same feud still happening now.
I now I am spewing a lot of Heel talk here, but it is all true. Think about it . . .
Think about the reactions Rhonda Rousey is getting. Not her reactions, the crowd’s reactions to her. Their Booing. In her own home town none-the-less. It’s obvious that the WWE Universe doesn’t want her there, and more obvious she’s partly being pushed because of that.
Batista. Batista is back, doing a piss poor segment where he supposedly beat up Flair and calls out Hunter. Since then simply demanding “Gimmie what I want!”
Hunter and Batista at WRESTLEMANIA? I like the match, not the build, but we should have something fresh for WRESTLEMANIA.
See older routine.
Let’s not forget the debacle of Becky Lynch versus Rhonda Rousey at WRESTLEMANIA . . . I mean Charlotte Flair versus Rhonda Rousey . . . or is it Flair Versus Lynch . . . or Lynch versus Flair versus Rousey . . . has Rousey won yet? Isn’t Lynch suspended? Or is it injured?
I forget, correct me if I am wrong . . . didn’t Lynch win the Rumble?
Over booked, overdone, badly written and buried into the ground. If not for Lynch, would anyone care? Do they now?
The McMahon promise. Wasn’t there a promise that things were going to change? Didn’t they scrap the General Manager idea for something better? (Them in control) Didn’t they promise new talent?
Has any of that happened? Isn’t the change just the McMahon’s back to pushing their weight around blatantly, rather than through a lackey? Isn’t what we have now, the same thing we’ve always had?
As for new talents: I like the idea of calling up talent from NXT – but let’s face it NXT is the WWE. How about some actual new talent: HAMMERSTONE anyone? Chris Evans? Funnybone? Tyler Bateman?
Except for Ricochet and Allister Black, why would anyone want to come up? Sanity anyone?
If it’s not bad enough that creative and booking has failed, so have talent. Match quality has been failing, and I don’t mean short TV Time matches. I mean a lot of matches have not been good. Some have looked very amateurish, like talent just going through the motions.
In some cases they come off like poorly done, bush league indie never-been-trained put on by friends for laughs, type bad.
I went there. I mean it. Move on.
Okay, so now it’s Face time.
Seth ‘Freakin’ Rollins is generally the good part of Monday Night, on the mic and in matches. He’s the one consistent there is right now, and rightfully so who raw should be built around.
Finn Balor is also part of the ‘pinch of good’ WWE has, but how he is used is terrible. Talent, mic skills, looks, popularity and merchandize sales are all there. The question I have is this: is his height really what is keeping him back?
Probably, which sucks. Height is one thing no one can do anything about, it also has no bearing on how good, tough, strong or athletic an athlete is. Look no further than Gymnasts, or featherweight boxes or MMF Fighters for proof of that.
Ok, let’s go straight into the NXT Call ups of Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet and Allister Black! Whether they are ‘New’ faces or not, they are a much needed positive injection into Monday Night raw.
Unfortunately, raw has stopped using Gargano since Ciampa is injured, which I don’t understand. Are you going to actually tell me that raw couldn’t benefit by Johnny Wrestling’s presence?
How odd is it that Allister Black is one of the shinning lights on raw? He and Ricochet have set raw and Smackdown Live on fire. Who would have thought that these two would become the Tag Team of the Hour? They are dynamic and have a chemistry rarely seen.
JEFF JARRETT! J E DOUBLE F
J A DOUBLE R E DOUBLE T
Jeff Jarrett, with Road Dog, has been the Highlight of raw so far this year. YES, this may come under the ‘Older Routine,’ but it was done right, keep short and didn’t really take up to much time or anyone’s spot. In fact it was used to help build up Elias and ‘pass-the-torch.’
JEFF JARRETT! J E DOUBLE F
J A DOUBLE R E DOUBLE T
BETH PHOENIX!
Does anything else in the Women’s Division matter? The Glamazon is back! Even if it is just one WRESTLEMANIA match, the Glamazon is back!
Older routine? Yeah. Am I being a hypocrite? Does it matter? BETH PHOENIX!!
GO HOME raw
Terrible show for a Go Home PPV. For any PPV. It should have lead straight into WRESTLEMANIA, but it really didn’t, it just slugged along like normal. I barely remember what the Main Event was. Corbin versus Mysterio I think? How does Mysterio’s involvement help build to the Angle/Corbin match? Shouldn’t the use Mysterio to build to HIS match at WRESTLEMANIA?
Can anything help build the Angle/Corbin match?
There were really only three good things on raw that lead into WRESTLEMANIA.
1. The Opening Segment with Heyman, Brock and Seth, which saw Seth finally get the upper hand – and probably foreshadows his loss at WRESTLEMANIA. Hopefully it won’t be typical WWE booking.
2. Batista’s Promo. BEST. BATISTA. PROMO. EVER. “Kiss my ass, Hunter.”
3. Flair, Lynch, Rousey brawl, cops hits, everyone cuffed and hailed off to Jail. YES, they finally did something interesting other than a screw job swerve.
Oh, and we also learned that the Revival is the greatest tag team in the world who can’t win a match.
Sad.
For the quarter:
Male Wrestler of the Quarter: Far and Away Seth Rollins.
Runner Up: Finn Balor
Female Wrestler of the Quarter: I almost want to say there isn’t one. No one has really stepped up in ring on raw. Becky and Charlotte haven’t wrestled enough on raw to really be considered. Just by default I have to go Rhonda Rousey, and not because she is (which she could be), but because the WWE is pushing her as that.
Match of the Quarter: Finn Balor’s Gauntlet run to win his Universal Title shot at the Royal Rumble.
Highlight of the Quarter: Jeff Jarrett.
Runner Up: Beth Phoenix’s return.
Final thoughts: We know the WWE can do better, and it has.
I could go on, and on, and on, but I am not going to. As I wrote in my Note, this is not an attempt to get caught up, but is a general overview of what we have been presented this year.
There is far more – good and bad – then I want to touch on here, and I’m sure most of it would be repetitive. The sad fact is, none of this is hate. I love pro-wrestling. I love the WWE. I want it to be better and good. I want REAL AWESOME WRESTLING . . . But . . . this is all true.
SAD.
WWE
PAST PRESENT HOPEFULLY FUTURE
AND NOW!!
THE SMACKDOWN LIVE
PATH TO WRESTLEMANIA
Unlike raw, SMACKDOWN LIVE still gets to be called SMACKDOWN LIVE.
It is still the better show, the A show, raw’s the C at best show.
As it has been for the last five years or so, SMACKDOWN LIVE is still the better show of the two, even if some of the criticism toward raw can be leveled at SD Live as well.
SD Live is the better show because it has a:
World Champion in Daniel Bryan that actually shows up and does his job, even if he does it in the most annoying way possible.
It has a far superior Tag Team Division. (Seriously, why does RAW have Tag Team Champions?)
I would give the Smackdown Woman’s Division the edge, because it is arguably better utilized.
I think SD male roster may be deeper and better utilized, look no further than the Elimination Chamber match for that. Notice there was no raw Chamber match. And when Ali unfortunately went down, Kofi was slid it with any loss of talent or ability.
Can raw do that so seamlessly?
Maybe, but not likely.
On SD Live, creative has been better, the angles have been better, and talent has been booked and used better. Well, for the most part – unless you’re Sanity, or The Good Brothers . . . or Primo . . . maybe Shelton . . .
Smackdown is often the mirror image of raw, where raw is structure-less, with a failed formula, Smackdown Live is vibrant with good structure and a solid formula. It seem like on Smackdown they know what they are doing.
Here’s a point that I believe backs me up: Vince is on Smackdown heading into WRESTLEMANIA, not raw.
The best thing about Smackdown though is: The Matches. Far and away better – usually.
However, it’s not all bright and cherry, Smackdown is failing on some front as well.
The Bar Anyone? How do these guys go from Champions to Jobbers? Oh, wait, Nicholas and Shane McMahon. Right. These guys are better than this, and now that can’t beat anyone.
The Good Brothers, Sanity, Primo and other top great talent are never used. Ever. Gallows and Anderson are awesome and have never been used right. Eric Young is to notch and should go on a heel rampage. His title run in TNA/Impact was the best in years – reproduce that on Smackdown Live and you’ll have a winner.
But no, what do we get? Shane McMahon teaming with the Miz. I love the Miz, but I hate this. I truly hate this. Shane has no business in the ring, yet we have Sheamus and Caesaro jobbing to him. And he’s performing at WRESTLEMANIA again! Wasn’t he the one who was all about opportunity, new talent and new matches?
Is this any of that? No.
Is it good for the Miz? No. Terrible. Yes, he’s on WRESTLEMANIA when others aren’t, but he shouldn’t be doing something more meaningful, like going for a title.
And let’s not forget the bull crap of throwing Asuka under the bus to push the Lynch, Charlotte, Rousey main event. Way to take Asuka down, again.
GO HOME SHOW
Once again, SD Live shines where raw – you suck, you suck. The show mostly revolved around setting up WRESTLEMANIA.
Shane/Miz, Orton/Styles, Kofi/Bryan were all set up with segments, while we saw a very weird 18 person intergender match that was a preview of both Battle Royals. There was even a new match announced: Usos defending the Tag Titles in a fatal four-way.
Hey, raw, this is how you do a Go Home Show.
Overall, Smackdown Live is still the stronger show, but it has dropped as well, and ratings are showing that.
For the quarter:
Male Wrestler of the Quarter: TIE – Mustafa Ali and Kofi Kingston
Female Wrestler of the Quarter: As with raw, I have to by default say Asuka – even if they jobbed her out to Charlotte, again.
Match of the Quarter: The Pre-Elimination Chamber Match gauntlet match.
Highlight of the Quarter: The rise of Kofi.
Final thoughts: My final thoughts on raw, I wrote they can do better. Here is where they do better, but they can still step it up.
WWE
PAST PRESENT HOPEFULLY FUTURE
NEXT
THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA 35
PART 2
THE PPV HIGHWAY
