Fantasy Booker: Survivor Series 2015

On November 4 WWE world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins tore ligaments and a meniscus in his knee during a house show match with Kane. You've probably heard this, because Rollins is a pretty important figure in the world's biggest wrestling company. You've also probably heard that WWE vacated the title on November 5 (remember that date) and announced that a new champion would be crowned at Survivor Series.

Naturally this made many people, me included, recall the Deadly Game tournament. That was a fourteen man tournament held at the 1998 Survivor Series (Undertaker and Kane got a bye to the second round), also held to crown a new champion, which famously ended with an homage to the Montreal Screwjob™, then only a year in the past.

I've got a soft spot for Survivor Series '98. It was the first major show to take place after I started watching wrestling and it had a catchy theme tune. It was also the pinnacle of the Russo booking approach, allowing him to utilise all of his strengths and disguise his many, many (many) weaknesses (you can read more on that here). All of which means that this fantasy booking piece (and let's not kid ourselves, I was always going to do a fantasy booking piece on this) has some similarities to the Deadly Game tournament.

Let's start with the November 9 RAW. I'd like to acknowledge the fact that the show would be taking place exactly eighteen years after the Montreal Screwjob took place. But I wouldn't because that would be too on the nose. Instead I'd simply have The Authority announce four qualifying-slash-first round matches for the show and another four for the November 12 SmackDown. The men chosen would be hyped up as amongst the best wrestlers in the company, nay the world (true for some, not others).

The reason I'd be booking qualifying matches is to fill TV time. Without the originally planned Rollins and Reigns programme there'd be little to build to at the pay-per-view beyond the Wyatts eight man tag against Undertaker and Kane. With no main event to promote the sensible thing would be to focus on the tournament, and the best way of doing that would be to include more matches and spread them out on TV. It also has the benefit of making it seem like the guys who make it to the final have achieved more, going through one more round.

This match feels overdue.

The four RAW matches would be Dolph Ziggler v Tyler Breeze, Dean Ambrose v Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt v Ryback, and Roman Reigns v Sheamus. Ziggler and Breeze's first match seems overdue and it couldn't hurt 'Prince Pretty' to debut in a world title tournament. They'd have the longest match of the four, allowing Breeze to look competitive in defeat. Owens and Ambrose feels like another suitably big first round match and one that people couldn't be absolutely certain of a winner for. It would also tie into their burgeoning rivalry and be a natural main event for RAW. KO would go over via some sort of shady tactics leading to a pop-up power bomb.

Wyatt and Ryback would be kept short because I don't think they'd work particularly well together and they'd have a storyline finish to protect 'The Eater of Worlds'. Some crazy lighting effects would distract him and allow Ryback to get a Shellshock for the victory. These lighting effects would obviously be attributed to 'Taker and 'The Big Red Machine' and their magical powers, keeping that rivalry relevant and adding another reason for their Survivors match.

Reigns versus Sheamus would be the shortest of the bunch. Sheamus would wrestle for a bit before grabbing his Money in the Bank briefcase and walloping Reigns with it. The commentary team would hypothesise that 'The Celtic Warrior' was deliberately disqualified to hurt Reigns, the favourite, and because he has his guaranteed title match thanks to the 'case, making his participation in the tourney redundant. Shaymo would gloat about exactly this in an interview later in the evening.

The four SmackDown bouts would be Big E v Mark Henry, Adrian Neville v Kalisto, Alberto Del Rio v The Miz, and Cesaro v Stardust. These guys all feel like SmackDown regulars, meaning it's not an unrealistic batch of guys to book in these matches. Big E v Henry would be a standard short match. E would win with interference from Woods and Kingston. Neville v Kalisto would be the second longest of the evening and be designed to showcase the skills of both lads. Kalisto would get the win. This would be intended as a surprise although I don't know if it would be that big a deal. It's not like Nev has been built up since his main roster debut.

Del Rio and Miz would be an awkward heel versus heel match but those are okay occasionally. And, for the record, there's no real reason ADR should be considered a heel right now. All he's done is come back, beat Cena, and show pride in being Mexican. What's bad any f that? So he could play face in this match before switching back to his aggressive heel ways for the pay-per-view matches. Cesaro v Stardust would be the SmackDown main event. Cesaro could pummel Konnor and Viktor on his way to a decisive win, playing off whatever the Cosmic Wasteland watching Cesaro from the crowd over the last few weeks was meant to lead to.

The November 16 RAW would feature the predictable Survivor Series elimination match featuring the eight quarter finalists: Ziggler, Cesaro, Reigns and Kalisto v Owens, Del Rio, Ryback and Big E. Ryback aside this would be heels versus faces, and I'd want to position 'The Big Guy' as a subtle heel for the PPV itself (more on that below). Reigns and Cesaro would be the sole survivors for their teams and the commentary lads would hype up that the brackets are laid out in such a way that Cesaro v Reigns could be the final match. Also on this episode of RAW Ambrose would have a backstage segment discussing Owens and Sheamus, the purpose of which would be to keep that issue alive and tease Ambrose interfering at in Owens' tourney matches and watching out for a Sheamus cash-in after he attacked Ambrose great buddy Roman.

I'd want the Survivor Series show to reuse the old Deadly Game theme. I doubt that's possible because WWE probably signs deals that prevent using anything except the generic theme songs that are the norm now, but I'd like it to happen.

Push this man.

The show would open with Ziggler falling to Owens in five or six minutes. It wouldn't be overly long because 'Mr Wrestling' would need to look dominant for the night ahead. Match two would see Del Rio defeat Kalisto. Their match would be all about Kalisto constantly trying to get flash wins and ADR trying to slow him down and create some distance. He'd win with the cross armbreaker. Losing to such an established move shouldn't hurt li'l Kally. That would be followed by Cesaro pinning Big E. He could again be booked to look like a beast by overcoming a pair of seconds at ringside, this time Kofi and Xavier.

Match four would be Reigns v Ryback. The idea with making this match would be to put Reigns against one of the few guys his detractors likely want to see as world champion even less than him. Having Ryback leave his face mannerisms in the dressing room for the evening would help with that. It's not a guarantee that the crowd would side with Reigns but I think there's a strong chance they would. Reigns would get worked over for a bit before making a comeback and winning with the spear and Superman punch (because this layout seems to have worked well for Reigns this year).

That would cue up the first non-tournament match. Not that it's important to the pupose of wat I'm writing about here but I'd have that be the Charlotte v Paige Divas championship match. I like the idea of having a tag team tables match between New Day and the Dudley Boyz too but that would probably go on the pre-show. The Duds would finally get their big win over New Day. That's overdue. The feud needs to end.

The first semi-final match would be Kevin Owens v Cesaro. The idea here would be to enhance the standing of both men by having them progress this far. They'd add to that with an even match. Owens would win, the idea being to encourage people to boo him because he'd have eliminated a genuine fave in 'The Swiss Superman'. Meanwhile the logic behind going with Reigns v Del Rio would be to have Reigns beat another guy that people wouldn't actually want to see win. The crowd and viewers would be encouraged to back Reigns because he'd be knocking off "boring" tournament entrants.

Those matches would be followed by the Wyatt Family v Kane and Undertaker match (no idea who'd be partnering with the Brothers of Destruction, it wouldn't really be a priority). 'Taker would really have to be the sole survivor for his team, wouldn't he? Because it's his twenty-fifth anniversary in the company and he's a face. But I'd overlook that and have the match come down to 'The Dead Man' and Wyatt then have Wyatt win. Because Wyatt is more important to the future of WWE than 'The Phenom'. Plus Wyatt winning and spoiling the anniversary should get him some solid heat.

Which just leaves the main event. There's a lot I'd want to include in this and I'm aware it will probably read as overbooking (it probably would be overbooking if it happened). But I think that's okay occasionally. It certainly sounds more appealing than yet another main event in which Seth Rollins wins by being flukey. So here's what I'd do...

Reigns v Owens feels like a good tournament final to me.

The match would be announced as a no DQ affair with the declaration that "there must be a winner." Triple H and Stephanie would walk to ringside before the start of the match, prompting Michael Cole to rattle off Survivor Series Screwjob info, reminding us that 'The Cerebral Assassin' was in on the original Montreal happenings. I'd want to have at least fifteen minutes for the match itself when the bell rang at the beginning of Owens v Reigns. They'd have a straight match for ten minutes, trading the advantage and trying to keep people guessing on who'd win.

Owens would go for the Sharpshooter at around the ten minute mark, which should be a reliable reaction-getter considering the circmstances. Reigns would counter that into a roll-up for a two count. At which point Sheamus would stride to the ring. We'd get a reaction shot of The Authority looking concerned and Sheamus would get into the ring and Brogue kick Reigns. 'Great White' would then hand in his briefcase, making the match a three-way in a call back to the WrestleMania main event. He'd turn around into a pummelling from a recently arrived Ambrose. Owens would recover and save Sheamus from 'The Lunatic Fringe'.

The heels would give Ambrose a kicking. By this point Triple H would be up on the apron shouting and trying to get some order over the situation. Reigns would return to his feet from the Brogue kick and drop Reigns with a spear. Owens would hit Reigns with a pop-up power bomb. Reigns would kick out. Owens would sell disbelief and stagger towards the ropes, where Helmsley would clamber into the ring and give him a Pedigree.

Reigns would then return to his feet and, after a stare off with 'The Game', apply the Sharpshooter. Trips would immediately signal for the bell to be rung and hand the title belt to Reigns. Steph would join them in the ring. Shaymo would walk up the aisle looking angry at having wasted his magical briefcase. Owens would lay on the mat selling. Ambrose would confront Roman and be dropped with a Superman punch. The show would go off the air with Reigns, Triple H and Stephanie recreating the famous shot of The Rock (Roman's cousin remember) celebrating with Vince and Shane at Survivor Series 1998.

Yes, it's convoluted and a bit messy. It would hopefully get tidied up a bit before the night. But this would be the gist of what I'd go for because it makes use of all the things people would expect the finals to play on: the corrupt bosses at ringside, a Money in the Bank cash-in, Ambrose interference (his mere presence would get people suspicious that he'd cost Reigns the match), a WrestleMania 31 reference, and, of course, the Sharpshooter finish. It would set up Sheamus, Owens and Ambrose as challengers for Reigns and position Owens for a babyface run, something I think he's well suited for right now. The tournament as a whole would also have helped raise the profile of Cesaro and Kalisto, two guys who WWE could and should be doing more with.

Most importantly in turning Reigns heel fans would be encouraged to vent any frustration they may have over him and his largely failed babyface run(s). When he turned babyface again the animosity should be gone and he should be more actively embraced. People need to see him in a new role and be given reason to back him. There's no light Reigns is better role right now that big, mean asskicker. Giving Reigns time as the top, corrupt heel, especially if he were booked to trounce everyone who challenged him, would actually get him over in the long term as a face. That's the character he should play and this is the way to introduce it.

***

First round RAW matches:

Dolph Ziggler defeats Tyler Breeze
Roman Reigns defeats Sheamus via disqualification
Ryback defeats Bray Wyatt
Kevin Owens defeats Dean Ambrose

First round SmackDown matches:

Big E defeats Mark Henry
Alberto Del Rio defeats The Miz
Kalisto defeats Adrian Neville
Cesaro defeats Stardust

Second round matches:

Kevin Owens defeats Dolph Ziggler
Alberto Del Rio defeats Kalisto
Roman Reigns defeats Ryback
Cesaro defeats Big E

Semi-final matches:

Roman Reigns defeats Alberto Del Rio
Kevin Owens defeats Cesaro

Final match:

Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens and Sheamus

WWE Payback 2015 review

I didn't have particularly high hopes for Payback. The card was heavy on rematches and had what felt like a squandered opportunity to do something special in the main event. It didn't help that the pre-show got underway with R-Truth beating Stardust. Things didn't get better with The Ascension v Mandow and Axel but when the show proper started I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a fantastic show or anything (I knew it wouldn't be that) but it was good more than it was bad and all the matches I'd expected to be good were.

Dolph Ziggler and Sheamus opened the show. Cole claimed that the match had "become" personal. Was it not personal last month when they fought in a Kiss My Arse match? Because that seems like a fairly personal stip to me. Backwards booking of this feud aside the match was good. 'The Show Off' took the early lead. Sheamus turned the tables when he caught a super kick and elbowed Dolph's knee. Ziggler came back with a series of forearms before pulling up his trunks and rubbing his backside into Sheamus's face, retribution (or, if you prefer, payback) for the finish of their Extreme Rules collision. The pair traded finishers and signature moves to ratchet up the tension, Ziggler getting two counts off a Fameasser and a super kick. Sheamus got one of his own wren he trapped Ziggler in a cloverleaf. The match closed with a bleeding Ziggler being Brogue kicked for the three count.

After that Seth Rollins and Kane had an overly rehearsed exchange designed to get everyone up to speed on their grudge. Kane had been told by Triple H that he'd lose his Director of Operations job if Rollins lost the title. Kane told Rollins here that he didn't need that job and explained he still hadn't decided what he'd do in the main event. The segment ended with J&J threatening Kane. As a reminder this was all fine.

Better than fine was New Day's entrance promo. They talked about positivity and trashed a local sports team. It was, as these things go, highly enjoyable.

The first fall of this two-out-of-three falls match saw Cesaro and Kidd dominate Kofi and Big E with double team moves. Particularly impressive was Cesaro. He caught Big E in mid-air (just like last month) and made short work of Kofi with uppercuts and jumping stomps. The challengers got a quick pin after the Big Swing into a drop kick on Kofi. That prompted Xavier Woods to leap onto the apron screaming about the Freebird rule. Natalya pulled him down to the floor where he was wiped out by Tyson. That left Kofi and Big E to compete in the second fall. They got off to a better start here when E grabbed Tyson as he went for a suicide dive and gave him a belly-to-belly suplex on the floor.

The second fall was built around Tyson trying to tag out as he was worked over by New Day. New Day pinned him after E speared Cesaro off the apron and he and Kingston gave hit the double team Big Ending. They stayed on Tyson as the third fall began, still with Big E and Kofi as the legal men. Tyson tagged out almost immediately and Cesaro came in to batter Kofi with uppercuts and hit E with a double underhook power bomb. The uppercuts were incredible. The bomb was botched.

Kofi survived a wild Cesaro uppercut, a backbreaker-elbow drop combo, and a Kidd Sharpshooter before being hit with a pop-up by Kidd and an uppercut from Cesaro for what we were primed to see as the definite finish. Big E broke that up and as the referee busied himself getting him out of the ring Woods slipped into the ring and got a small package on Cesaro. The referee, unable to see Woods' face when he turned around, counted the fall and New Day retained. It was a good finish, one that played into New Day being cheats and kept the feud alive.

Backstage Ryback cut a Warrior-esque promo to Byron Saxton. He told us he's not a lab rat and that he lives his life by the motto "Start full, end hungry." It was entertaining stuff. As it turned out it was more entertaining than the match that followed it. Both Wyatt and Ryback have their strengths as wrestlers but they didn't mesh well here. They included some impressive spots (Ryback taking a DDT on the apron and Wyatt leaping from the ring to the floor with a senton) but overall the match was pretty basic. It got a better reaction than it deserved because both lads are over as characters. Wyatt won after shoving Ryback into an exposed turnbuckle (which just fell off as they tussled with one another, a lazy bit of booking designed to protect 'back) and giving him Sister Abigail.

The Final Confrontation Ever (for now) between John Cena and Rusev followed that. Before Cena was even in the ring the growing divide between Lana and Rusev was being emphasised, the crowd playing their part by chanting for Lana. It was clear Lana was going to play a part in the finish of the match. Rusev offering Cena the chance to quit before the match began didn't fool anyone. It did get amusingly mixed "Yes!" and "No!" chants when referee Mike Chioda asked Cena if he'd accept the offer though.

After Rusev had repositioned Lana on a chair by the commentary table (prompting Lawler to openly admit he'd perv on her as she was so close) the match got underway with some solid big lad action. Cena surprised Rusev with an AA. Rusev responded with some drop kicks and a heel kick then went to have a word with Lana. Moments later he had her pass him the Russian flag so he could wave it about. Cena turn surprised him with a Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Rusev quickly regained control. He threw Cena into ring steps on the outside and whipped him into the on the inside. A piledriver attempt on the steps failed but a sidewalk slam didn't. Cena withstood it, refusing to give up. Because that's his slogan, innit. He then got a desperation AA on the steps and lobbed the steps at Rusev's head after he rolled to ringside. 'The Super Athlete' sidestepped it.

Cena threatened to put Rusev through a crowd barricade if he didn't quit. Rusev refused so Cena did indeed spear him through the barricade. An extended brawl through the crowd followed. They spent several minutes playing around near an incredibly flimsy table before Rusev discovered the pyro tech area. He attempted to their Cehs onto it but Cena countered, giving Rusev a AA on a crash mat several feet away from the pyro shooters. This inexplicably caused some pyro to go off. The commentary didn't even sell it, so what was the point.

Lana ran to the entrance area looking concerned. Rusev refused to give him so Cena hit him with a guard rail. 'The Bulgarian Brute' put the guardrail to use himself by suplexing Cena onto it. Back in the ring Rusev Hulked up, kicked Cena in the face and applied the Accolade. Cena sold it for all of ten seconds before clambering to his feet and smacking Rusev into a turnbuckle. The hold remained locked in and Cena sagged back down to his feet. Cena passed out in the hold and Rusev celebrated like he'd win. When he was told he hadn't he undid the top rope and poorer water on Cena to revive him. His plan was to swing the metal corner piece into Cena's head but Cena ducked and dragged him down into the STF. Rusev started cutting a promo in Bulgarian, prompting Lana to slide into the ring screaming that he quit.

Yes, the finish was predictable but the match as a whole was very enjoyable. They were given plenty of time and a bunch of shortcuts and made the most of both. It was the best entry in their series. This sort of match is Cena's strength. Rusev has looked good in the environment too. If he's kept around the top of the card he could probably develop a pretty mean reputation in these sorts of brawling matches.

The mood was lightened after that, with New Day toasting their title victory by drinking milk. Byron Saxton rocked up and told the trio that they'd be defending their titles in an Elimination Chamber at the EC Network special. New Day weren't impressed. Big E said they were too big to fit in a pod. Kofi was the standout of the segment. He's doing great work as an antagonist.

After a fast-paced tag match pitting Naomi and Tamina against the Bellas, won by the heels after Naomi simply threw Nikki off the top rope, we were shown Lana and Rusev in the back. Rusev wasn't happy, obvs. He ranted in Russian before switching to English to tell Lana to get out. It would be nice if the sword to English was done because Rusev didn't feel Lana warranted Bulgarian or Russian but the reality was that the line needed to be in English to make it clear to viewers that Lana wasn't simply walking out on Rusev.

King Wade Bad News Barrett I versus 'The New Sensation' 'Don't Call Me Adrian' Neville took the pre-main event slot. WWE apparently still feel audiences can't handle two hot matches between headline talents in a row and pack in a lengthy cool down period before a main event. I think they should trust audiences more, to be honest. Better running orders could really benefit a lot of their pay-per-views. They didn't get long but they had a good match for the time they had. The finish was disappointing though: Barrett rolled out of the ring to avoid a Red Arrow and took a count out loss. He roughed Nev up after the match. Neville got the last laugh when he lamped Barrett with the plastic sceptre and launched himself off the top rope with the Red Arrow.

The main event was predictably excellent. Noble and Mercury grabbed Reigns and Ambrose at the start. Within moments Reigns had broken away to hit an impressive Undertaker-like leap over the top rope onto a human crash mat at ringside. Some fluid action followed from all four. Sadly it wasn't long before Kane interfered: he pulled Reigns from the ring as he set up for a spear on Rollins. Team Rollins then attacked Reigns and Orton, leaving Ambrose and Rollins to battle in the ring. They did the great work they always do with each other before Kane interfered again, this time choke slamming 'The Lunatic Fringe' just before he spiked Rollins with Dirty Deeds.

Orton and Reigns finally took care of Kane at ringside before 'The Viper' headed into the ring for his singles stretch with Seth. The highlight here was a high-arcing superplex from Orty. It also lead to the spot of the match: Orton clearing the announce table only to be beaten down and power bombed through it by Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns. Ambrose and Reigns turned on Rollins immediately afterwards and got attacked by Kane. That didn't the well for him. He was power bombed onto Rollins through the Spanish table. Twice, because it didn't break the first time.

Ambrose and Reigns slipped into the ring for a singles stretch opposite one another. Ambrose was easily the more popular, winning out on a yay-boo exchange, but it was Reigns who dominated. Ambrose kicked out of a Superman punch and countered a spear with the knee. Reigns escaped a Dirty Deeds attempt and dropped Ambrose with a spear. Rollins returned to break it up then did a lap around ringside to escape Reigns' wrath. Back in the ring Reigns was dropped with Ambrose's rebound clothesline and Rollins with Dirty Deeds. Kane made the save by pulling Ambrose out then smashed both of them with steel stairs.

Orton knocked Kane into a ring post and then headed into the ring to RKO J&J and catch Rollins with a power slam as the champ leapt off the top rope. 'The Big Red Machine' interfered again, distracting Orton long enough to allow Rollins to sneak in a Pedigree for a successful title defence. His reward for this victory was having his hand raised in the aisle by 'The Game' himself, Triple H. High praise indeed for 'The Future'.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus defeated Dolph Ziggler
New Day defeated Cesaro and Tyson Kidd to retain the tag team championship
Bray Wyatt defeated Ryback
John Cena defeated Rusev to retain the United States championship
Naomi and Tamina defeated the Bellas
Adrian Neville defeated King Barrett
Seth Rollins defeated Randy Orton, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE championship

Dark Day

Despite their general lack of direction WWE has a pretty strong top end on their roster right now. John Cena is experiencing something of a resurgence thanks to the varied opposition his fourth reign as US champ has provided him. They have cowardly, conniving heel Seth Rollins walking around as WWE champion without having fully earned the right. Roman Reigns is ready to be tipped over into headlining champ territory at a moment's notice. And there's Brock Lesnar waiting in the wings to make a triumphant return as an unstoppable monster out for revenge and the world heavyweight championship.

But despite this the company's hottest feud is between two mid-card tag teams.

The rivalry between Cesaro and Tyson Kidd's Brass Ring Club, Masters of the Universe or Best Team Ever (they're going through names like nobody's business) and the New Day trio of Big E, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods is an example of a wrestling company listening to their audience and reacting accordingly. Two months ago Cesaro and Kidd were bad guys but their ring work has been so enjoyable that audiences have been supporting them (a theme throughout Cesaro's career). New Day are the opposite of this. Even though they've been positioned as good guys and their matches have always been solid the stereotypical characters they've been given to play have seen audiences booing them. That they're essentially playing 80's-style clean cut babyfaces has probably been a factor too.

The smart thing for WWE to do was to take the two tandems, flip their roles and put them in a series against one another. So that's what they did. Cesaro and Kidd are now free to officially encourage the positivity crowds send their way and ramp up the pop-inducing sequences in their matches.

New Day heat.

It's the New Day lads who have really benefited from this, and not just because their status as heat magnets has resulted in them getting a tag team title reign complete with the Freebird Rule. When they were lobbed together last year it took the writing team months to figure out what they wanted to do with them. They were eventually cast as bland babyfaces with unclear motivations. They spoke like gospel preachers and liked to clap, that was it. There was no depth to them and it wasn't clear what they were meant to be.

No reason was provided to cheer them. So people didn't. The resulting apathy gradually turned to active dislike, perhaps because the three New Dayers remained so positive despite being in such an obviously poor spot on the roster. That's the kind of blending of storyline and playing on audience's heightened knowledge of pro wrestling's workings that WWE (and others) should do more often.

The turn itself has been handled well and has allowed New Day to tinker with their performances. One of the key moments for the trio came when Kofi interfered in a match on Woods' behalf. The look Woods responded with was perfect, conveying that he'd only just realised in that moment that there was nothing to stop them breaking the rules. It created a reason for New Day to be booed and set up a simple booking formula for them: the cheat to win matches. And they had a reason for this change in attitude too. They were being booed while trying to fight fairly, so what did they have to lose by cheating?

Playing heel also suits the three men well. Kofi Kingston is essentially playing a slightly more arrogant version of the character he's always played, which makes sense as for him to make drastic changes nine years into his WWE run would be odd. I remember him saying in an interview years ago, so it's nice to see him getting the opportunity to do so. Big E is more at ease than he has been since his time with Dolph Ziggler, showing passion and presence both in the ring and on the mic. He's playing a man who knows that his obnoxious hollering will get under people's skin but who doesn't care.

It's Xavier Woods who has the most interesting character right now. He's coming across as a man with a lot of pent up rage inside him, glaring into the distance as Big E and Kofi prattle on during promos, clearly wanting to speak out about the ridiculousness of what they've been given to do but not quite bringing himself to verbalise his anger. If he ever gets to cut loose in a promo he could deliver gold.

I like what's being done with New Day. There's nothing revolutionary or amazing about any of it. It's just simple, effective booking that takes into account the crowd's views on an act. It's what WWE should do all the time but don't, so when they do it's eye-catching.

NXTweet 08.04.15

Wish you'd seen some of the NXT matches held over WrestleMania weekend? WWE's got you covered with the semi-finals and finals of the tournament held for a spot in the 'Mania battle royal.

Intro

Tweet 1: NXT! NXT! NXT!

Tweet 2: I am watching NXT. I am informed it's not a filler episode.

Shots of WrestleMania Weekend festivities

Tweet 3: Crowd chanting. Graphic for the eight man tournament. Then into some tasty filler.

Tweet 4: Randy Orton telling us WWE takes over towns. Bad. Tyler Breeze playing golf. Good.
Tweet 5: Owens, Enzo and Cass saved that. Those lads can talk.
Tweet 6: Round one "highlights". Can anything involving Barry Corbin be considered a highlight?
Tweet 7: Wouldn't have minded seeing Kalisto versus Neville.
Tweet 8: Corey Graves' use of the name Adrian was dubbed out just then. Vince, you're a rascal.

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Adrian Neville v Hideo Itami

Tweet 9: This crowd needs to shut up with its "This is awesome!" chant before anything's happened.

Genuinely been haunted by this Sheamus poster for years. I can't forget it exists.

Tweet 10: Rich Brennan referring to being the GHC champ as a measure of success in a belittling manner there.
Tweet 11: This crowd is getting on Neville. It's like when ECW guys were leaving for the WWF or WCW and the fans turned on them.
Tweet 12: Because how dare guys want better pay and bigger crowds, am I right?
Tweet 13: Sexy knee to Neville's face from Itami. It's stuff like that that got him signed.
Tweet 14: Bring back Punk's "Knees 2 Faces" shirt as Hideo merch, innit.
Tweet 15: Lots of strikes going on here. Started a sequence of thoughts that reminded me that Da Undertaker is WWE's Best Striker Ever™.
Tweet 16: "Hideo is the embodiment of the Japanese fighting spirit" - Corey Graves on the Japanese fighting spirit
Tweet 17: Sleeper! Sleeper! Bah Gawd, the sleeper!!
Tweet 18: Itami ran in for a corner drop kick. Nev kipped up into a super kick. Perfick.

Well done, Adrian. That was textbook.

Tweet 19: Great finish to that. When Itami finally gets the G2S on someone the building's going to explode.
Tweet 20: Maybe the world will even end. Who knows?

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Finn Bálor v Tyler Breeze

Tweet 21: Just noticed this is a bit like a TNA taping where there's one side of the ring completely empty of fans.

Tweet 22: Unlike TNA this will be to do with some sort of tech issue as opposed to lack of interest.
Tweet 23: Mate, Breeze is bringing his A game in this match.

Nippiness.

Tweet 24: Breeze's boots always remind me of CJ Parker's hair.
Tweet 25: Why is there never a Zoolander chant during Breeze matches?
Tweet 26: Liking Graves and Brennan as a two man announce team, for the record.
Tweet 27: "Bálor looked like he was going for that reverse lifting DDT!" - Corey Graves, demonstrating that Bloody Sunday was a far catchier name

Consider the similarities to Okada's Rainmaker pose noted.

Tweet 28: I liked that match. Why can't RAW be like this? Said everyone.
Tweet 29: Up next: more filler.

More WrestleMania Weekend festivities

Tweet 30: Good work on these Dana Brooke vignettes, guys.

Tweet 31: Triple H playing hype man. Probably his second greatest skill behind booking NXT, tbh.
Tweet 32: "It's the hottest wrestling show on TV" - Scott Hall on a show that isn't on TV... mang
Tweet 33: Corey Graves rocking an Indiana Jones look there.
Tweet 34: Next week: Sami Zayn versus Rhyno, ROH versus SCUM.

Andre Battle Royal qualifying tournament semi-final: Finn Bálor v Hideo Itami

Tweet 35: How long until Bálor stops getting announced from Bray, County Wicklow on the grounds that it features another rassler's name?

Tweet 36: Commentary team being instructed to talk up Erick Rowan, Jack Swagger, Kane and Big Show, my word.
Tweet 37: Hideo Itami chinlocks > Randy Orton chinlocks
Tweet 38: "C'mon, Finn! Get up!" - Some kid
Tweet 39: Big fan of Itami Hulking up.

Hideo Hogan.

Tweet 40: He should reverse the trend and nick someone else's move for once. Hogan's leg drop is wide open, brother.
Tweet 41: This match though. It's excellent.
Tweet 42: Hideo's such a tease. #G2S
Tweet 43: Itami is celebrating his win by pointing at the WrestleMania sign. He gets it. He'll go far.

Hideo Itami's journey to WrestleMania 31

Tweet 44: WrestleMania 31 weekend was the most important weekend in Itami's career, apparently.

Tweet 45: Not sure he realises that by saying the crowd got louder when KENTA entered Hogan's admitting KENTA got a bigger pop than him.
Tweet 46: Hillbilly Jim sighting.
Tweet 47: Reigns was good with Itami's kids but, if it came to it, he'd beat them to stay looking strong.
Tweet 48: OMG KENTA HIT A G2S!!
Tweet 49: Even Big E was impressed. And Big E is not a man easily impressed.
Tweet 50: Dean Ambrose outrageously flouting the company's dress code with a leather jacket and T-shirt combo. Who does he think he is? Orton?!
Tweet 51: *Compulsory shot of documentary subject sitting in the stands looking thoughtful*

Let's not overlook the fact that that's a former NXT champion Itami's eliminating.

Tweet 52: Still depressed by the bloody Big Show win. At least Itami went out to the winner though.
Tweet 53: Really good documentary that. NXT just found yet another way to upstage main roster WWE.

The Divisional Approach

At WrestleMania the one thing I didn't want to happen, happened. And it happened twice.

Daniel Bryan won the Intercontinental championship in the show-opening seven man ladder match. Later in the night John Cena won his first United States championship in over ten years when he defeated Foreign Menace™ Rusev. Both men are former multi-time world champions. For various reasons (see here for more) I think having these traditionally secondary titles is bad for Cena, Bryan and the titles themselves.

AMERICA!!

For Bryan a reign as the IC champ has made him look like a guy who knows he couldn't cut it competing against guys like Roman Reigns (whom he lost to clean at Fast Lane) and Brock Lesnar. Going after the white belt was a safer and easier option. Meanwhile the US title looks like a trinket Cena picked up because he happened to be feuding with the guy who held it, not because he wanted to win it. Cena was motivated more by national pride and showing a Russian how great America is than by winning a championship. It also looks like something he's doing to kill time before he decides he wants the world title back. That time will come and it will be a big story within WWE because it will see Cena trying to equal the much-hyped sixteen world titles record set and held by Ric Flair.

On the same night that Bryan and Cena won their belts Seth Rollins won the WWE world championship. The only title he'd held before that (on the main roster) was the tag team title alongside Roman Reigns. Instead of Seth spending years ploughing through the ranks and winning a secondary title or two to mark himself as a rising star his first singles title was the WWE championship. This makes the world championship look like it's on the same level as the mid-card titles. Which is possibly what WWE intended, but instead of the secondary titles being elevated by this the status of the world heavyweight title has been decreased. This isn't t say Rollins isn;t a worthy champions (he is), but his victory would have meant more if he'd spent time with mid-card singles belts that meant something first.

There's hope left though. WWE could, if they wanted, position the three championships as three separate divisions. Cena and the US title could head up an unofficial hoss-slash-big lad division consisting of guys like Rusev, Big E, Cesaro, Luke Harper and Ryback. D-Bry could be the standard bearer for an indy guys-slash-nippy fellas Intercontinental division of guys like Dolph Ziggler, Dean Ambrose, Stardust and Kalisto. The WWE championship could remain the alleged top prize, something the best on the roster won, with guys filtering in and out of competition for it and challenging for the other titles in the meantime.

I wouldn't go so far as to advocate them actually announcing these divisions (that would be a turn off to a lot of people) but if they just did it I think most people would follow along and understand what was happening. Personally I'd rather they took this approach and never had any former world champs regressing to other titles (except for obvious duds like The Miz, Big Show and Sheamus) but if they're going to present all of their singles titles as more or less equal they might as well do something interesting with it.

The E in WWE

A couple of years ago Big E (then Langston) looked like he was going somewhere. After a successful run in NXT, including a stint as champion which began when he dethroned Seth Rollins, he debuted on the main roster at the end of 2012. Working as Dolph Ziggler's enforcer he was at 'The Show Off's' side in a tag match at WrestleMania XXIX and got to share the spotlight with him the following night on RAW when he cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase and defeated Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight championship to a thunderous ovation.

An all too early split from Ziggler proved a setback but it didn't last too long. Big E would turn face in October and wrestle Shield member Dean Ambrose for the US championship. He didn't win that belt but he would take the Intercontinental championship from Curtis Axel (yeah, Axel was IC champ, sorry for reminding you of that traumatic experience) weeks later.

Big E and a giant yellow LEGO brick there.

While he didn't have an incredible reign even by modern standards Big E did have some good matches during his time as IC kingpin. His defence against Damien Sandow at the TLC pay-per-view at the end of 2013 was fun, his match with former boss Ziggler on the March 25 Main Event was better than expected, and his match with Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber was one of the best matches of the year. No real thought was put into Big E's reign but he showed that he was capable of producing a level of match that could make his title mean something.

After losing the championship to Bad News Barrett on May 4 at Extreme Rules Big E got nothing to do until July. After losing a tag match he and partner Kofi Kingston were confronted by an angry Xavier Woods, who heelishly told the pair they should start taking. This angle was the beginning of The New Day faction. It wasn't until November that the creative team decided what they wanted the unit to be, at which point they were officially reintroduced to TV.

Unfortunately for Big E, Kingston and Woods what the creative team wanted them to be was a generic mid-card group. They became evangelists, wearing outfits of matching colour and singing with a choir. At the time I thought it had potential. Truth be told I still do. But true to form the writing team have taken the most basic route possible with the group, giving the characters no layers, no feuds, and little material to work with beyond the initial concept. After three months that's not enough.

As the man with the most singles potential in the group Big E would probably benefit from being split off on his own at this point. Woods looks like a jobber while Kingston has been knocking around the middle of the card for so long that it should be clear to everyone he's never going to progress further. Keeping E linked to them can only take him down to their level.

It would be nice if WWE not only split Big E away from the group but did so with an actual story and used the opportunity to do something about Big E's character at the same time. The most obvious thing would be to play on the established difference in Woods' and Bigster's characters. Woods initially got The New Day together  by saying they should take, which is classic disgruntled mid-carder fare. Even when he was a heel Big E has always been a character who's pretty laid back and has a sense of humour about himself and what he does for a living. There's a natural conflict between this laid back approach and Woods' entitled outlook.

A divide could appear between the two, Woods becoming  increasingly aggressive and Big E not approving of the change. Kofi could be stuck in the middle and be gradually won over by Woods' rhetoric. Big E could eventual snap and leave them to work as a regular tag team while he resumes his singles career. This could either be an amicable split or something that takes in a pay-per-view or featured TV match. The match approach would probably be better as it would give three guys something to do and create a match that people have a reason to care about on RAW.

Honma. A good-lookin' lad.

Whether we got Big E versus Kingston or Woods or Kingston and Woods or not Big E would be freed up for a gimmick refresh. I like the idea of him being remodelled on New Japan's Tomoaki Honma. He wears colourful tights, uses a lot of headbutts and goes for his finisher as soon as matches begin. Big E could throw a convincing headbutt and I'm sure he could splash out on some new singlets. Honma tends to wear red and yellow (presumably as a nod to Hulk Hogan, for whatever reason) but adds peculiar illustrations. Big E could get some primary coloured stuff made up with pop culture imagery on it. It would be different to what most people in WWE wear. Standing out in that way would give people someone to latch onto, and if people watching RAW need anything it's something to latch onto.

Being visually different is rarely a bad thing in wrestling. The same goes for having a distinctive move set, and while headbutts are simple they're also not something anyone else in WWE is currently noted for using. Big E wouldn't necessarily need to win all the time, or even often, but putting him by himself with some things to set him apart could, in time, help him get over. The slow route is what seems to earn the respect of fans these days. Why not put some promising guys in positions to take it?

Dawn of The New Day

Over the last month we've been introduced to WWE's New Day stable. More accurately we’ve been reintroduced. Two of the three members had previously been established as main roster mid-carders before disappearing a couple of months ago to allow for this repackaging. The other was a low-card guy who’d been called up to do a whole lot of nothing at the end of last year. They'd been loosely affiliated before their disappearance but only now are we getting confirmation that WWE actually knows what they want to do with them as a unit.

Another faction name considered was Guys in Suits.

The first man we were reacquainted with was Xavier Woods. He used to do a 90s pop culture gimmick¹. Before disappearing a few weeks ago the only thing he’d done of note since getting called up to the main roster was get The Funkadactyls to go to the ring with him for a while. He didn't really have much of a character at all beyond generic babyface loosely affiliated with R-Truth. So his transformation into an amalgamation of Little Richard and Ernest 'The Cat' Miller in a vignette on the November 3 RAW can probably be classified as an improvement.

Up next was Kofi Kingston. His exquisitely trimmed and incredibly pointy beard remained intact. So did his lack of charisma. That's always been Kofi’s problem. Perhaps being teamed with two guys with more personality will help him bring out his own on camera. Ultimately personality isn't the reason he's in the stable. He’s there because practically everything else that could conceivably get him over has been tried during his seven years on the main roster.

Finally the November 17 RAW featured a vignette in which Big E channelled Martin Luther King. Super relaxed in his jeans and T-shirt combo it was possible to believe he could become a star again. That's not something we've been able to say about him since before his premature split from Dolph Ziggler. If E can be as comfortable in front of an audience as he was in his video he'll go somewhere.

It seems as though the three have touches of a televangelist gimmick to them. They appeared in front of a choir and gave spirited, sermon-flavoured promos about a new day dawning. It was eye-catching and memorable. Alone it’s not enough to help them get anywhere but it was a good start.

It looks like they’re intended as a babyface trio. That’s a positive sign. WWE has had some success with those over the last two years in the form of The Shield and The Wyatt Family. The writers should have a good idea of what to do and what to avoid when it comes to handling a three man faction. Not least because it’s easy to see their interest in this new team waning quickly, something the previous trios didn’t have to contend with. The Shield was comprised of three guys considered future headliners while the Wyatts were built around a future headliner so they were guaranteed attention. New Day features a long term mid-carder and a man who was promoted on a whim. Only Big E has main event potential and he’s been subjected to stop-start booking over the last year.

If The New Day can get half as over as The Shield they'll be doing well.

It’s tough to know what to expect from The New Day. Both the Wyatts and The Shield started out as heels before becoming faces (albeit never officially in the case of the Wyatts) mostly due to the strength of their booking and their dynamic performances. What we’ve seen so far makes it look like New Day are going to begin their time together as faces. Perhaps they’ll go heel over time. That could work in storyline terms but it wouldn’t do much for the three individuals. Kofi and Xavier seem far better suited to the protagonist role and while Big E has appeared proficient at playing both heel and face right now a face run is what’s best for him. It will allow him to show his personality, giving people a reason to warm to him and showing that he’s more than just a body guy.

It seems unlikely the new group will achieve the success the Wyatts and ‘The Hounds of Justice’ did before them. Mostly because archetypal job guy Xavier Woods is involved. But maybe WWE will surprise us and give the team things to do. Like giving the tag division one of its periodic rejuvenations or putting together another trio to oppose them. Unlikely I know. I think the most realistic thing we can hope for is that the group gets something to do on RAW every week for the next six months and Big E gets treated as the man who’ll go on to singles stardom. If it ends up being the thing that launches him up the card it will have been a success.

***

¹ Not as cool as it sounds. Instead of using phrases from 90s TV shows for move names or in promos or putting 90s emblems and motifs on his ring gear he basically said “It’s morphin’ time” sometimes. There’s a load of iconography and phrases to latch on to from the 90s and Woods did a poor job of tapping into it. Our best hope for making use of the 90s gimmick now seems to be Angelo Dawkins. Not because he’s hinted that he might, but because it’s not a million miles away from the backpack-wearing self-aware nerd he’s playing now.

E is for Excellence

I don’t tend to be drawn to overly muscled wrestlers. I gravitate towards high-flyers or talkers (oddly flyers that talk well are a rarity and I’ve only just this second realised that). Body guys generally don’t excite me because, well, they aren’t known for having great matches. The work of Lex Luger, Hulk Hogan, Scott Steiner and their ilk have created a stigma for that particular strain of wrestler.

But just recently I’ve become appreciative of a guy who is, by any criteria, a body guy. I’m referring to Big E.

His work in NXT had made me a fan of his, albeit not an especially fervent one. He demonstrated that he had a personality and that he could wrestle well. But crucially he never had a match I enjoyed in NXT that wasn’t against a smaller man. There was nothing about his stint there made me think he would be a muscle guy capable of great matches against anyone other than smaller guys. So I expected to enjoy his matches on occasion, but only when he was facing guys who wrestled a style I tended to enjoy anyway.

I was convinced of this throughout most of 2013. Look back at his split with Dolph Ziggler. There wasn’t a single memorable encounter during the whole story. I think it’s fair to assume we could have expected more from that series given ‘The Show Off’s’ ability. I took the fact that it remained utterly average as further evidence that I’d only ever see Big E shine on occasion and that wrestling a smaller, more athletic guy was not a guarantee of a great match form him.

What a man.

Things changed in October when E had a better than expected encounter with CM Punk. True Punk was one of WWE’s aces at that point but it was clear throughout the match that Big E was not a passenger. He carried his side of the match as opposed to simply feeding off of ‘The Second City Saint’.

I’ve seen more of those sorts of performances from Big E this year. Not in any greater number but enough to convince me that he could have an enjoyable match with a guy like Roman Reigns or Batista if it was laid out well enough.

The obvious example to give is his match against Jack Swagger at Elimination Chamber. That was a match between two big hosses that drew me in despite my usual indifference. It was an equal effort and ‘The Real American’ deserves just as much credit for it as Big E, but he didn’t have an enjoyable match with CM Punk in October and he hasn’t done anything especially noteworthy since. Big E had and has. He's also had enjoyable TV matches against guys like Alberto Del Rio, Sin Cara, Fandango and even 3MB.

I think WWE are taking the long approach with Big E, as they are with a number of their younger wrestlers these days. If guys can connect with crowds, either through a catchy phrase or a promo style or being great in the ring, they’re given more to do. It’s what’s been done with The Shield and Bray Wyatt and it’s worked. I hope it can work for Big E too. The idea of him facing John Cena is beginning to sound pretty appealing. As long as whoever laid out Big E’s Elimination Chamber match sticks around I think he’ll shine.

Extreme Rules 2014 review

With WrestleMania XXX and the April 7 RAW WWE did a commendable job of not only giving fans what they wanted but also shuffling guys into place for the spring-summer season. The Shield and Daniel Bryan were positioned as the new top faces while Cesaro was shunted into a prominent upper mid-card spot and Wade Barrett was reintroduced for a fresh run. Meanwhile Triple H, Randy Orton and Batista were reunited by their dislike of Bryan and The Shield and hints were dropped that Kane would be putting on his mask and acting like a maniac again.

Extreme Rules was the company’s first offering since setting up their new status quo. It wasn’t a show that needed to succeed at all costs, only a handful of WWE events a year fall into that category, but it was one that needed to be at least good to convince people that WWE weren’t going to change their new direction. Viewers needed reassurance that the newcomers were going to be allowed to succeed, basically.

It looked like a show capable of that. Bray Wyatt once again had a meeting with John Cena. Daniel Bryan and Kane’s feud had a lot of time dedicated to it and Kane was rebuilt so as to make Bryan’s inevitable victory a bigger accomplishment. The Shield were placed opposite the alleged greatest faction in WWE history. And Bad News Barrett, Big E, and Cesaro were all given spots that would allow them to continue getting over naturally.

The last is a particularly promising sign: WWE seem to have learnt that the modern audience reacts badly to being told whom they should support. If the creative team can learn to place the guys they want to get over into positions where audiences will gravitate towards them and support them of their own accord they’ll be on to a winner. The first step towards that is acknowledging it.

Cesaro Swing there.

The Cesaro v Rob Van Dam v Jack Swagger two fall triple threat match was on opening duty. Both Van Dam and Swagger got cheers when they entered, but it was Heyman who got the loudest ovation. He cut a pre-match promo that started out as crowd friendly as he talked about Extreme Rules stemming from the still popular ECW. That quickly changed when he mentioned Brock Lesnar ending The Streak. Cesaro did not get the massive cheers I’d expected because of that. Which was a shame because the match would prove the fans were really into him.

The match was sloppy in places to begin with. 'Mr Monday Night' gave Cesaro an awkward sunset bomb onto the ringside mats and then let himself down with some shoddy kicks and bumps back in the ring. First to be eliminated was J-Swag after a deadlift suplex from the second rope by Cesaro and a Five Star frog splash from RVD. 'The King of Swing' heard chants seconds into the singles portion.

The quality picked up without Swagger. Mostly because RVD's brand of offense works better in a singles setting. A trash can was brought in to allow Van Dam to hit a Van Daminator. He was probably disappointed when it didn't get much of a reaction. Cesaro won an opener I'd expected to be better after a Neutralizer onto the very same trash can.

Backstage Stephanie McMahon told Daniel Bryan she was worried for his safety facing "the Demon Kane". That was supposed to make Kane sound extra intimidating. It actually made him sound like a Dragonball Z villain. Steph offered D-Bry the chance to vacate the championship. He refused.

Alexander Rusev defeated R-Truth and Xavier Woods in the night's second match, which Lana had dedicated to Vladimir Putin. 'The Suntan Superman' tapped to the Steiner Recliner after Woods had been attacked before the match. Rusev also jobbed him out afterwards for good measure.

Backstage Evolution told Renee Young about their massive egos (which hopefully wasn't a euphemism). They said their egos, which The Shield had predicted would be their downfall, had earned them thirty-one world titles. They didn’t acknowledge that world titles are generally won and lost in singles matches and that The Shield had more experience working in six man tag bouts.

Back out at ringside Bad News Barrett got a loud cheer when he entered to challenge Big E for the Intercontinental championship. Interestingly Michael Cole claimed Barrett had defeated Ziggler, Sheamus and Van Dam in a tournament to earn the title shot. He'd actually beaten Rey Mysterio in the first round. 'The Show Off's' losing matches he’s not even had now.

I'm afraid I've got some... good news?

As the heel Bad News controlled much of the match, setting Big E up for a comeback. Unfortunately Barrett was the more over of the two so when it came it was met with boos. It would have been a far better match if it has been laid out with Barrett’s popularity (which has been a regular thing over the last month) in mind. Not that it was bad as it was. Both men, neither of them small, took some big falls and set a brisk pace. Bad News won after slipping out of the Big Ending and dropping Big E with the Bullhammer elbow.

Before the clash between Evolution and The Shield took place Michael Cole described it as a meeting between the present and the future. I'd have thought the present and the past was more accurate. But that would've reminded everyone how long Tripper and the boys have been around. They couldn't be having that.

The Shield cleared the ring of Evolution with ease before the opening bell rang. From there the match was technically proficient for a long stretch, benefiting greatly from a hot crowd. The finishing sequence helped it meet its hype: Reigns was put down with a Pedigree and an RKO while 'The Animal' was dropped with a Black Out as he attempted a Batista bomb. Ambrose, Rollins, Triple H and Orton then brawled out into the stands where Ambrose was flung down a flight of stairs and 'The Viper' and 'The Cerebral Assassin' absorbed a New Jack style balcony dive from Rollins. It was an impressive moment from Rollins. One for the career highlights video.

POW! Right in the kisser!

Back in the ring Batista and Reigns recovered after several minutes of selling. Another Batista bomb attempt was wriggled out of and then Batista was blasted with a Superman punch and a match-winning spear. 'The Hounds of Justice' reunited out in the crowd to do their fist pose. It wasn't quite on the level of The Shield's trios match with The Wyatt Family at Elimination Chamber but it wasn't bad. They were right not to put it on last though.

After that came the Cena v Wyatt cage match. 'The Eater of Worlds' controlled the match at the start, Cena occasionally making a comeback for long enough to attempt climbing out. Harper and Rowan were at ringside to stop him getting too far, allowing Bray to regain control. It was not the explosive exchange the feud (and the show) required at this point. It was a staid affair for much of its run time and needed to be far more. The match suffered from having too many escape attempts and not enough wrestling (or fighting).

During the course of the match Harper was pulled into the ring so that he could break up some Cena pin attempts and stack the odds further against Cena before getting eliminated from proceedings with a clothesline. A similar thing happened to Erick Rowan: he was left lying on top of the cage after Cena had smacked his head into the steel a few times. Cena had the match won but made the mistake of pausing at the cage doorway to take a look back at his handiwork. The Wyatt Family's music cue played and the lights went out for a few seconds. When they came back on a kid was stood on the ring steps singing into a microphone that gave his voice a peculiar timbre. This sight troubled Cena enough that he froze, which allowed Wyatt to sneak up on him and hit Sister Abigail. He then sauntered out of the cage to get the win.

The finishing sequence will prove memorable and played into the character of Wyatt nicely. It's probably a good enough cause for the two to have another pay-per-view match at Payback too. So it was a success on a few levels. It's just a shame the body of the match couldn't have been better.

Paige giving her belt a kiss there.

After a recap of the pre-show match between Hornswoggle and El Torito, which was an enjoyable comedy affair (Torito won), Paige defended her Divas championship against Tamina. It was a match bereft of heat, mainly because nothing had been done to encourage people care about its participants. There was a reaction when 'The Anti-Diva' applied the match winning Scorpion cross lock though, which is a promising sign for her future. The sooner WWE prepares some believable challengers for Paige the better.

Backstage Bray Wyatt was shown with Little Johnny (the kid who’d done the singing earlier). He said that his win over Cena means his message can no longer be contained and soon fans will flock to his cause. We really need a promo where Wyatt explains what he wants before he gets it. That would make his storylines flow far more naturally. Retconning is never desirable in wrestling.

The final match saw Daniel Bryan defend the WWE championship against Kane. As predicted the video package only concentrated on their history over the last month or so as opposed to the two years of on and off feuding they’ve had.

They started out with some hardcore action in the ring, making use of chairs, kendo sticks, monitors, announce desk covers, and steel steps. After that they headed backstage where they smacked one another into production trucks and cars and introduced fire extinguishers, shovels and tire irons as weapons.

After KOing the challenger with a tire iron to the head D-Bry loaded him on to a forklift (sparking memories of Rock and Mankind's 1999 empty arena match) and drove back to ringside so that he could pin him. Apparently pins were not legal anywhere else, even though previous extreme rules matches in WWE have featured a falls count anywhere stipulation. For good measure Bryan hit a flying headbutt off the top of the forklift once he'd dumped Kane into the ring.

Naturally 'The Big Red Machine' kicked out then did the no-sell sit up spot. Bryan's running knee was halted by a choke slam. The champion kicked out of that then pelted Kane with chair shots before locking him in a Yes Lock. Kane broke that by sliding to the outside of the ring and then turned a suicide dive into a choke slam through an announce table. That was a well-executed exchange.

Note the phones in hands.

Making use of the extreme stip Kane pulled a table out from under the ring and set it on fire. His plan was to choke slam Bryan through it but he didn't manage to: 'The Dazzler' cut him off with a kick to the head and a shake of the ropes. For some reason that caused Kane to lose his balance and tumble through the table. He stood up immediately and got hosed down by a member of the ring crew brandishing a fire extinguisher. That disoriented him as he rolled back into the ring, allowing Bryan to hit his running knee for the victory.

Taken on its own merits the WWE championship match was very enjoyable. Matches like that wouldn't work on every pay-per-view, especially in the main event, but they can be effective when used occasionally. The crowd were into it and reacted well to Bryan's victory. The champion is now well placed to either move on to a fresh challenger, such as Batista or Randy Orton, or work a rematch with ‘The Devil’s Favourite Demon’.

The rest of the show was a mixture of successes and mild failures. Bad News and Cesaro both left their matches looking good with the crowd supporting them more than they had beforehand. Big E wasn’t harmed by his loss of the IC gold (although I’m still disappointed he wasn’t able to hit the heights of his Elimination Chamber match with Jack Swagger). The Shield looked like stars in the closing moments of and immediately after their win over Evolution, but the bulk of the match could have been better. The same can be said for Cena v Wyatt. And the Paige v Tamina match would have been well served going on second, leaving Rusev’s tedious squash of Truth and Woods to cool the crowd off before the main event.

Who's next for D-Bry?

It was an enjoyable enough event and it leaves WWE with lots of options for Payback. Cena and Wyatt will probably clash again but beyond that it’s hard to tell what we’ll get. Evolution could book themselves in a rematch against The Shield, although it’s hard to see what that would achieve. More likely is that one member of Evolution will challenge Daniel Bryan, perhaps leaving the others to clash in singles matches against Shield members. Or perhaps we’ll get the eight man tag team match (Kane and Evolution versus The Shield and Bryan) that looked so promising at the end of the April 7 RAW. That the company’s booking isn’t obvious is a good sign.