That Wrestling Podcast Episode 22

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 22 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

I’ll start with an apology. Due to circumstances beyond our control there’s some pretty irritating background noise on this episode (more so than usual). The conversation can still be heard, it just requires attention.

JIMMY RAVE!!

The topic? It’s another Mount Rushmore discussion. Last time we discussed a hypothetical Rushmore for World Championship Wrestling, which was fairly straightforward because there aren’t a huge number of names that can realistically be suggested. This time we tackle Ring of Honor. It’s harder because ROH has had a larger number of names pass through that can be strongly associated with them.

This leads us on to a tangent about Jimmy Rave and Prince Nana. I reminisce about the period of time when they were the promotion’s top heel act. ROH has arguably never had a more effective bad guy than ‘The Crown Jewel’.

Also featured is a chat about how wrestlers carry championship belts. It’s niche but we manage to get some damn fine chat out of it. And yes, that was supposed to sound Alan Partridge.

Indy Raiders

WWE have been recruiting from the independent wrestling scene for a few years now. Well, technically speaking, they’ve been recruiting from the indies since the territories went away and the independent scene sprang up to replace them. It’s more accurate to say that WWE have refined their taste in indy stars over the last several years.

In a sense the company’s stance on indy standouts and veterans changed when they signed CM Punk. Anyone who’s watched the Best in the World DVD will know this. It’s spoken about openly there. Punk was going to be let go at one point because nobody in a position of authority knew what to do with him. He stayed employed because of Paul Heyman being desperate to use him in WWECW.

Why was he signed to begin with? There’s no obvious answer to those of us not in the know but I imagine his look, clear understanding of how to wrestle, and passion stood him in good sted. Once he’d made it to then developmental league OVW his glowing reputation hindered his progress, resulting in the near firing. Anyone who’s achieved a level of notoriety before heading to WWE is essentially a target, the perception of the road agents seeming to be that the guy will believe in their own hype and only know how to work the indy style, as opposed to the much vaunted WWE style.

Basically, nobody in WWE expected Punk to become as big as he has and he was originally signed because certain influential people in the company (most likely Heyman and Jim Ross) appreciated the potential he had. I certainly can’t imagine John Laurinaitis had the wherewithal to approach him.

Punk’s success despite WWE’s booking is probably what made them change their opinion on guys like him. If he could succeed in spite of efforts to hold him down as a mid-carder then logically there would be a chance that the guys he came up with on the indies could possess that same talent. That, I imagine, was the thought process employed by Vince McMahon, Triple H, and their cadre of advisors.

I could be reading too much into things of course. It’s true that sooner or later WWE were going to have to sign some of the top stars from the indies instead of the likes of Gunner Scott, Eric Escobar, Sylvester Terkay, and Orlando Jordan. Perhaps that point was simply reached and they decided to sign good guys, rather than average ones, as opposed to their being some big revelatory moment revolving around CM Punk.

 

This brings back happy memories for precisely no one

 

The signing of Bryan ‘Daniel Bryan’ Danielson was the first indication WWE were going to pursue peers of ‘The Second City Saint’. He’d be regarded for years as the best wrestler on the North American indy scene and so he was a natural guy to approach once the “let’s de-push indy stars” mentality was dropped.

Bryan became a star for WWE too. Okay, he’s not reached the heights of Punk and it’s possibly that he never will, but he’s done far more than anyone thought he would. That’s important. He was given a chance to do well and proved that he could. He showed that Punk wasn’t an anomaly, that guys from “the indy generation” (or should that be “the ROH generation”?) could adapt their approach and get over in The Big Leagues.

The last few years have seen WWE snatching up indy talent like they’re going out of style. Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, PAC, El Generico, and Sara Del Rey have all signed up to get a new ring name and take on various roles within WWE. There’s recently been talk that Mike Bennett and Sami Callihan are on the cusp of inking developmental deals, and it was announced on May 26^th that Samuray Del Sol has signed a contract.

 

Please pair this man with Sin Cara. Thanks

 

It’s pleasing to see that WWE are routinely scouring the independents. It means they’re finally willing to admit that there are very talented wrestlers out there who don’t work for a sports entertainment organisation and that their product will be better with said wrestlers involved. It’s not the best situation for the indies to be in, but it’s been proven time and again over the last couple of decades that a new batch of talent can always be found when there’s a mass exodus for WWE.

This approach is best for everyone involved. WWE gets the best talent to display on the most watched wrestling shows in the world and the younger stars just starting out get to prove their capable of following in the footsteps of their predecessors. It’s almost like the circle of life.

Almost.

The Past is Another Company

I'm a fan of Ring of Honor. I like the company's realistic presentation of pro wrestling. I like their believable and logical approach to storylines. I like the company's young, athletic roster.
 
Well, I used to like these things.
 
While I remain a fan of ROH I am not happy with its current predicament. Reading comments on the ROH World (the premier ROH fan site) chat room shows I'm not alone in my opinion.
 
Ring of Honor made a name for itself as a company that portrayed wrestling as an athletic, competitive sport. Its priority of pushing talent was clear from the start: the best workers would rise to the top based on their performances and fan support. Politics, we were told, would not be a factor in Ring of Honor.
 
Over the years this was proven to be true as the likes of Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness, Austin Aries, AJ Styles, Davey Richards, Kevin Steen, El Generico and others rose to the top based on their ability to wrestle a compelling match rather than play politics. Some of these men have more on to more political promotions (WWE and TNA, mainly) and met with success there.

But others haven't and never will. This isn’t to say that those who have moved on have had to learn how to play politics, more that some people are blessed with a marketable look than others. It's hard to imagine El Generico headlining RAW, for example.
 
The current state of Ring of Honor is something I've discussed before. I still want it to succeed and provide a genuine alternative to both WWE and TNA but it isn't going to do that in its current slump. Under the direction of Jim Cornette (and, allegedly, Hunter 'Delirious' Johnston) ROH has had a critically disastrous two years. Things have been bad commercially as well but it's not fair to blame that on Corny.
 
Cornette has stated that the rise up the card of Michael Elgin, Kyle O'Reilly and Adam Cole is proof that ROH is dedicated to finding, pushing, and rewarding the finest young talent. While I won't argue that all three men are excellent choices to carry the promotion forward and becomes its next crop of headliners I wouldn't go as far as to say that they have been used flawlessly. Nor would I say that having only three examples of well-pushed youngsters is a good position to be in. Especially for a promotion that was originally supposed to cater to the needs of unknown, talented grapplers.

O'Reilly and Cole should have had a far longer run together as Future Shock and O'Reilly's heel switch should have been held off until next year at the earliest. Meanwhile Michael Elgin's glacially paced rise through the ranks has seen him enter some cracking, white hot performances but now runs the risk of seeing him go off the boil because management have held off that final shove for too long.

Pacing things properly and sticking to a plan is all well and good but if waiting too long often does more harm than good. There are only so many times he can challenge for the ROH world title and fail before fans will stop seeing him as the next big thing.
 
Cornette has also said that ROH fans who dislike his approach to booking the company are simply pining for the past. It seems he thinks this because fans talk fondly of the era of Danielson, Punk and Joe. The trouble here is that ROH was better when those men were around.

 

This guy's had his day

 

ROH wasn’t better solely because those men were present but they certainly helped. The company's philosophy of showcasing talent based on ability rather than name value has evaporated over time. The hiring of Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team was a good move: Haas and Benjamin have star power but are also capable of wrestling the style that made ROH famous. Rhino, though? Mike Mondo? Matt Hardy? These are men hired more because they're former WWE employees (and-or Cornette favourites) than because they can continue the legacy of Jamie Noble, Chris Daniels, and Low Ki.
 
Cornette himself is the biggest difference between Ring of Honor then and now. Understandably he cannot see this. He sees his booking ideals as necessary changes for the continued expansion of the promotion rather than a dated style that Ring of Honor had evolved beyond from its very first show. Corny is very good at booking the style he enjoyed when he was young but he seems incapable of helping the sport to evolve. Perhaps that's why he had such a problem with ECW back in the 90s: it was wrestling changing before his eyes and he couldn’t understand why fans responded so enthusiastically to it.
 
As I said, Cornette himself is the chief difference between what is considered ROH's golden age and its current output. He made appearances for the group during its early years but he had no backstage influence (or none of note anyway). What made ROH a success initially was the vision of Gabe Sapolsky.

Gabe’s approach to finding and showcasing young and-or unknown talent gave a new generation of wrestlers a place to expose themselves. It’s noticeable that his current booking interests (Dragon Gate USA and EVOLVE) have made very little use of former WWE, TNA, WCW and ECW talent. Even men he previously worked with in Ring of Honor have been somewhat of a rarity.

My point (yes, I do have one) is that it was Gabe Sapolsky as much as the guys in the ring who helped to make ROH a success when it launched. It was his booking, his talent selection and his vision for the future of professional wrestling that helped the company stand out.

Ring of Honor can’t have it all. It can either be company that mixes veterans and youngsters with a traditional approach to feuds and pushes or it can be the home of young wrestlers. The latter is what it used to be but it involves those in charge taking a risk and giving up any and all name talent they have not created themselves. Personally I think it’s a risk worth taking, but in order for it to truly work they need a booker who hasn’t been around for decades who wants to bring change to wrestling. That ain’t Corny.

One final thought on Jim Cornette: there’s a reason nobody has ever referred to themselves as “a Jim Cornette guy.”

A Kind of Magic

A couple of weeks ago I was driven down to Bournemouth for a day trip (yeah, driven: I travel in style). During the journey Steff (the girl doing the driving) insisted on listening to a Best of Queen collection. I’m not really one for music (although I did go through a phase of buying WWE’s entrance theme compilations) but the dulcet tones of Freddie Mercury (no relation to Joey) gave me an idea for a wrestling gimmick.

Well, it sort of gave me an idea. Truth be told most things have already been done in wrestling, especially gimmick-wise. The idea I had is more of a conglomeration of previously established gimmicks and ideas.

The first step for the idea is to find an unknown indy wrestler (or a debuting wrestler in a big organisation that’s willing to pay for use of music rights). Said wrestler should have a good grasp of showmanship and be willing to dance and interact with the crowd. The actual amount of wrestling skill required is minimal, at least at first.

Once selected the grappler should be kitted out in a distinctive outfit, preferably with a cape. It would need to make the grappler stand out but not become the focal point of their act. From there a list of low- and mid-card grapplers who could be used to beat a newcomer decisively should be drawn up (which shouldn’t be too taxing).

 

How has this never inspired a wrestling gimmick?

 

The gimmick would see The Newcomer enter to a different Queen track every week, singing and dancing their way to the ring and attempting to get the crowd excited. Sounds like a heel gimmick, yes? I think if the right man were found, with enough infectious charisma to perform the gimmick in a genuinely fun and playful manner, it could actually create a huge babyface star. Why Queen? Because they have a wide selection of well-known, uplifting songs that would put audiences in a good mood and encourage them to cheer the wrestler in question.

The music wouldn’t stop when they got to the ring, it would continue in its entirety. Think of the Sandman’s entrances in ECW but more camp. Perhaps more in line with Bryan Danielson’s use of The Final Countdown when he wrestled in Ring of Honor. This hypothetical act’s popularity (if it got any) would stem from the entrance.

Once the music stopped playing both competitors would receive their ring introductions.  The Newcomer would milk this too, leaping up onto the turnbuckle and giving the tried and tested Babyface Raises Their Arms into the Air™ pose.

The match would start and the newcomer would lose to the very first move their opponent gave them. It wouldn’t matter what it was: it could be a chop, a suplex, a punch, or a small package. They would lose every single one of their matches on the first move.

I think this would encourage audiences to root for The Newcomer as an underdog. After six months or so it could lead to the grappler surviving or dodging a move and maybe lasting a minute long squash match (though obviously still losing). A month or so after that they could maybe get a fluke victory.

As I said above this idea borrows from various sources. There are elements of Mikey Whipwreck, the Sandman, Brodus Clay and the Fabulous Freebirds mixed in, but it’s not a direct copy of any one of them. With the right wrestler I think this idea could prove successful. Any company that wants to use it is welcome to. Just license the rights to the Queen songs first, eh?

Year of the Wolf

I’m not Davey Richards’ biggest fan but I was fully expecting him to hold onto the ROH world championship for at least a few more months. That he lost the belt to Kevin Steen came as a huge shock to me. It may have seemed obvious to some that ‘Wrestling’s Worst Nightmare’ was going to walk out of Border Wars victorious but I was convinced that Richards would retain the gold and drop it Steen in a few months’ time. He seemed the first candidate in a long time to enjoy a title reign that would equal those enjoyed by celebrated champions Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness or Bryan Danielson.

I thought this for a couple of reasons. First of all it seemed too early in the Steen-Richards feud for a title change. I assumed Steen would lose and then somehow obtain a rematch (this is wrestling, stipulations such as “this will be your only title match” are overturned all the time) and leave as champion then. It’s uncharacteristic of Ring of Honor to put the title on a wrestler at the peak of their popularity, they usually procrastinate and end up putting the title on popular stars months too late.

That was originally the case with Richards himself. Following his unsuccessful challenge against Tyler Black (who himself was kept waiting too long to win the ROH title) on June 24^th 2010 everyone knew it was just a matter of time until he became champion. That “matter of time” ended up lasting a full year, by which point Richards, while still undeniably popular, was not as over as he had been a year before. The fans were not as desperate to see him as the company figurehead because ROH had waited too long.

My point is that it is far more like ROH to keep a wrestler as the popular challenger for just a little too long and it was surprising that they deviated from this annoying habit with Steen. It’s the right move and one I’m personally happy with (I much prefer Kevin Steen to Davey Richards) but it’s still surprising.

We're not going to be seeing this sight for a while. Some may say that's a good thing...

The second reason is that ‘The American Wolf’ was only just beginning to hit his stride as champion. He’d had the belt for eleven months and the first half of his reign was completely forgettable. During his first four months he defended the title only three times, once against non-ROH competitor Tommy End, once against entertaining non-threat Colt Cabana, and once against Roderick Strong. This was not Richards’ fault, ROH had scaled down the number of shows they running during this period in preparation for their 2012 relaunch. But the point still stands: Richards was not being given the best opponents possible.

Another problem was that much of Richards’ reign was characterised with matches against Roderick Strong and Eddie Edwards. All three are great wrestlers and they never produced any matches that disappointed but there are only so many times you can see three men clash with one another. It was a lack of variety that damaged the majority of the Davey Richards ROH title reign.

What’s frustrating is that he was just beginning to defend the belt against a wider variety of opponents. By all accounts Richards’ matches against Jay Lethal and Adam Cole were impressive and his main event match with Michael Elgin at Showdown in the Sun was an astonishing display. More defences like that against different names plucked from all levels of the roster could have really helped Richards make more of his time as champion. Had Richards been facing those sort of guys from the start of his reign (rather than the small cadre of main event talent at Ring of Honor’s disposal) I think we’d be looking back on a far more impressive reign.

Going Fourth

If WWE wanted to try a different approach to pushing talent to the top once WrestleMania XXVIII is in the history books they could do a lot worse than resurrecting the Four Horsemen name. The group is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on March 31^st and will be fresh in the minds of WWE fans, which would make the April 2^nd RAW a great time to introduce a modern version of the faction.

Imagine what a cliffhanger ending to the traditionally packed post-‘Mania RAW it could be!

I imagine that episode of RAW is going to finish with The Rock and John Cena together in the ring, either with ‘The Great One’ putting Cena over or the two agreeing to a rematch at SummerSlam (or perhaps even WrestleMania XXIX, who knows). Whatever the case those are the two I expect to be in the ring at the end of that week’s RAW and they are undoubtedly the two men involved in the biggest match at this year’s WrestleMania. If four young guys were to enter the ring through the crowd and attack the two megastars they would earn themselves a ton of heat.

If WWE went with that angle they would be setting up numerous singles and tag matches. Cena has not feuded with a proper faction since he faced JBL’s Cabinet in 2004, and that wasn’t the most threatening group ever to grace a wrestling ring. Battling four young, hungry guys on the rise would be something new for the company’s top guy and give a fresh spin to matches we would have undoubtedly seen before (because Cena has faced everybody).

Two of the Horsemen could face Rock and Cena at SummerSlam. Zack Ryder could be brought in as Cena’s TV back-up between now and then (after a brief segment showing that the two have made piece following their tedious fallout last month), which would allow for a babyface to be elevated along with the four heels.

An even more impactful debut would be to have the four guys attack Cena and Rock after their main event match at WrestleMania has concluded. Having four young guys beating down a legend and the promotion’s top star on the biggest show of the year would be massive shock, draw intense heat, and put the signify that the group means business.

Even if WWE didn’t want to use the group against Cena and The Rock it would still be something different for modern programming. There’s not been a proper faction in WWE since Legacy. They disbanded in early 2010, but in truth they were never really made into the dominant faction they could have been. The last time a gang truly ruled the roost in WWE was in 2005 when Evolution were a force to be reckoned with. That was seven years ago, more than long enough to warrant another stab at the time-tested formula.

Without Cena and Rock to feud with the best way to use such a group would be to have them focused on obtaining the company’s top titles. That seemed to be what the original Horsemen were always about: Flair having the world title with the three other men working to get the tag belts and a mid-card strap between them. It not only makes the championships seem more important (because wrestlers are making it clear they want to win them) but also makes the wrestlers themselves look good when they accomplish their goal.

Further down the line this makes a babyface dethroning a member of the group for a title mean more because they’ve overcome the odds and defeated a heavily pushed star who cares about being a champion and has (hopefully) been booked strongly while on top. If the Horsemen are booked right fans should be desperate to see them lose their titles.

There are four ideal candidates for a revived Four Horsemen group: Daniel Bryan, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger. Bryan would make a fantastic centrepiece to the group and his alliance with three other guys would add some spice and variety to his feud with Sheamus (which I assume will continue until Extreme Rules in late April, possibly longer). Bryan is exactly the sort of wrestler that would have gone into the group years ago, and as the most prominent (and recent) world champion of the foursome he’s a natural fit for the leader spot.

In twenty years wouldn't it be nice to see a similar picture featuring Swagger, Ziggler, Rhodes and Bryan?

Cody Rhodes could begin obtaining shady victories via help from Swagger and Ziggler, ideally against genuinely popular mid-carders like Santino and Zack Ryder (yeah, him again). This approach could also be useful for elevating mid-card wrestlers. Take Justin Gabriel as an example: he could beat Rhodes in a non-title match and earn himself a shot at the gold. If ‘The Dashing One’ had to cheat to obtain a victory over Gabriel it would show that he’s not capable of beating him, thus showing that Gabriel is someone fans can get behind and root for. He could cut very simple promos saying that he’s proven he can beat Rhodes and just needs a match where Rhodes doesn’t rely on outside interference.

That approach could work with anybody, and would elevate two guys (Rhodes and whoever was chosen as his opponent) effectively. That’s exactly what WWE needs to do.

This would leave Ziggler and Swagger to work as a tag team. This is a comedown for Ziggler who has made great strides as a singles performer in the last year, but it wouldn’t need to be a long term thing. Swagger and Ziggler have built up a solid on-screen chemistry and would make a great lead tag team for a revived doubles division. This would be the toughest part of the Four Horsemen idea: making the tag titles mean something so that all members of the group have meaningful belts. I think “All American Perfection” (as the duo have been dubbed online) would be capable of making any two men on the roster look competitive. It would simply be a case of WWE pairing up guys and creating some decent tag ranks.

A Four Horsemen revival would work over a long or short period of time. The aim could either be to have four guys work as a unit for several years or to make it a shorter term deal with the goal being a feud between the lead guy and one of the other three over the world championship. That would be a different way of starting a feud and should lead to the creation of a genuinely popular babyface star when the Horseman v Horseman feud started.

If WWE got behind this idea they could elevate a lot of wrestlers. The Horsemen themselves would obviously become bigger stars and there would be lots of opportunities to elevate mid-card wrestlers and tag acts too. I mentioned Zack Ryder, Santino and Justin Gabriel above but anyone capable of forming a babyface connection with the fans would work in such a spot.

If anyone from WWE happens to be reading this, maybe give it a try. You could be surprised by the results.

A King Versus a Dragon

Did the world really need to see Bryan Danielson take on Mark Henry for a second week in a row? Probably not, but we got it anyway. Danielson’s one of the best wrestlers at WWE’s disposal and one of the few men capable of dragging a bearable showing out of ‘The World’s Strongest Man’, but two weeks in a row is not doing Danielson, or the audience, any favours.

Having watched this week’s Superstars I think Danielson’s bout with William Regal would have been a better addition to SmackDown. Thanks to Danielson’s popularity and the match taking place in Liverpool (close to Regal’s hometown of Blackpool) the contest between the two got a tremendous reaction from the crowd. The relationship between the two men (Danielson has credited Regal as his mentor and a strong influence on his career many times over the years) allowed for a natural story to be told throughout the match, both in the ring and on commentary.

Had the student versus teacher match taken place on SmackDown it would have reached a wider audience and would have possibly improved the blue brand’s ratings. Contrary to the promotion’s beliefs there are still people out there who want to see a solid wrestling match on WWE television, and Regal v Danielson is one of the best examples of such a match WWE is capable of promoting.

Had Regal and Danielson been granted a show-long build that including a backstage interview for each man and an emphasis by the commentary team on the influence Regal’s had on Danielson’s career (perhaps even mentioning the maroon trunks the former ‘American Dragon’ wears as a tribute to his mentor) the match could have made for one of the liveliest and memorable SmackDown main events in a long time.

It certainly would have been more enjoyable than another Mark Henry match, as well as being a more logical use of both Danielson and Regal.

A few months ago I wrote about how Regal deserved to wrestle the World Heavyweight champion on the Liverpool show. I still think that would have been nice, but Regal v Henry would have been nowhere near as good as the Danielson v Regal match that Superstars hosted. Once again WWE has thrown away a great opportunity to do something different, meaningful and memorable.

And they wonder why their ratings are decreasing and they can’t get new talent over.

The Invisible Man

Think back to the SmackDown ladder match at Money in the Bank. There were several men fans felt were potential winners: Wade Barrett, Sheamus, Cody Rhodes, and even Sin Cara. But none of them left victorious. That honour instead went to Bryan ‘Daniel Bryan’ Danielson.
 
It was a move that surprised everyone, mainly because WWE had done nothing with the former ‘American Dragon’ for months. His last appearance on a WWE pay-per-view had been a disappointingly brief showing in the Royal Rumble six months earlier. Since then he’d been limited to TV appearances and pay-per-view dark matches against the likes of Drew McIntyre and Ted DiBiase. There was also the infamous decision to bump his US title match with Sheamus from WrestleMania and turn it into a pre-show battle royal.
 
Many assumed, perfectly reasonably, that Bryan winning Money in the Bank would be the start of a renewed push. That wasn't the case. Bryan cut a promo on the July 22nd SmackDown in which he announced his intention to cash-in his shiny blue briefcase at WrestleMania XXVIII in Miami. Following that he... well, he didn't do much frankly.
 
Bryan's sole pay-per-view appearance since becoming 'Mr Money in the Bank' was at SummerSlam, where he lost a very enjoyable bout to Wade Barrett. Losing to Barrett, a man who has been pushed consistently as a future world champion and is an established upper mid-carder in WWE, didn’t hurt Bryan at all. But it also did nothing to establish him as someone who would be wrestling for a world championship any time soon. At SummerSlam it was Barrett who left looking like the bigger star with the brighter future, and as it is Bryan who is currently ‘Mr Money in the Bank’ that should not have been the case.
 
WWE should have changed its attitude towards the former ROH champion when it booked him to win the blue brand’s ladder stunt-fest. If Bryan is to be accepted as a serious contender to a world championship (and that is what WWE wants otherwise they wouldn’t have booked him to win) then the weekly burials by ‘The Voice of WWE’ Michael Cole and the nonsensical losses to men that should be beneath him have to end.

Whether WWE intends for him to win his cash-in match or not it would be better for business if Bryan is perceived as a genuine threat to the champion, whoever it is, when he challenges for the gold. If he’s built up with convincing wins and is treated like a star on the rise by the commentary team (the guys who are paid to put the talent over, remember) then Bryan could become a star even if he loses to the world champion.

Perhaps WWE don’t want him to succeed. It’s no secret that Vince McMahon is not a fan of any wrestler who has been embraced by “the internet wrestling community.” The nastiness that Cole directs at Bryan each week is fed to him by none other than Vince himself. In Vince’s world (which, sadly, WWE is) Bryan becoming the first man to unsuccessfully cash-in a Money in the Bank briefcase will “prove” that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a WWE Superstar™.

Hopefully that’s not the case. Hopefully there’s a long term plan in place that necessitates Bryan being lumbered with the dreaded losing streak gimmick recently. Perhaps he will cash-in on an unsuspecting champion early in 2012, win the title and then brag about how he fooled everyone into thinking he’d wait until WrestleMania. A heel Daniel Bryan would be a tremendous addition to the current WWE product and would make a great opponent for a babyface CM Punk.

Or perhaps WWE really will manage to hold off and save Bryan’s championship match for WrestleMania. It’s pretty much guaranteed Bryan would have a great match with whoever the champion is (and I’m including Mark Henry in that statement!). The best choices for his opponent at ‘Mania would be Randy Orton or Christian: both are accepted by fans and would wrestle a great bout with the challenger.

The happy-go-lucky smiley babyface we get right now isn't doing Bryan Danielson, the fans or WWE justice. Neither is the claim that he "won't shave his beard" until WrestleMania. WWE should be doing everything it can to get the guy ready for a top spot. The fact that “internet fans” like him is irrelevant and should be forgotten: simply put, Daniel Bryan at the top in WWE would be good for business.

Sooner or later WWE are going to have to promote 'The American Dragon'. He’s too talented for them to overlook for much longer.

Walking a Golden Mile

On 8th September William Regal tweeted the following:

Trying to think if Teddy Long owes me a favour.I need to get a World Championship match on Smackdown on Liverpool.

Maybe the last chance I have of becoming the first English World Champion in front of WWE's loyalist fans.

Regal has been considering hanging up his boots for several years now. His sporadic in-ring appearances, increased agent-style work backstage and move to the announce desk are all direct results of his decision to wind up his career and find a new role in the company.

Being good friends with Triple H (Levesque teamed with Regal, under the hilariously poor ring name Terra Ryzing, as the Blue Bloods during his brief stint in WCW) Regal is always going to have some sort of job in WWE. His track record with helping to train young wrestlers isn’t going to hurt his job prospects either. Bryan Danielson, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Samoa Joe, and CM Punk all join Triple H in counting Regal amongst their teachers. It should be clear from that list that Regal knows how to pass on good advice.

But job security isn’t enough. Regal wants to retire with a meaningful world championship accomplishment on his CV. And who can blame him? Having wrestled all over the world for nearly thirty years Regal is one of the most talented WWE employees never to win a world championship.

Besides anything else if Mark Henry is getting a world title reign Regal deserves one too.

I’m aware of how unlikely it is to happen but it would be a nice gesture on WWE’s part, not just to Regal but to British wrestling fans. Davey Boy Smith may still be Britain’s most famous wrestler but over the years British fans have gradually gained respect for Regal and a love of his character and ring style. He may not be capable of the feats of strength Smith could pull off but there’s something loveable about a man calling someone a silly pillock on US television and wiping his feet before getting into the ring.

A world title reign for Regal would be an acknowledgement of his hard work and dedication to WWE and wrestling in general.

Is a world title win in Regal’s future? It’s not likely. But a challenging for a world title isn’t out of the question. If WWE properly promoted a Regal title challenge during their autumn tour they could shift a few extra tickets and bump up their Sky ratings. Whether or not they’d bother promoting a match for these relatively minor gains is debatable but it’s not impossible.

By the time WWE returns to Britain it’s possible there will be two different world champions knocking about. Mark Henry looks like he’s in for a lengthy title run but by today’s standards anything over the five month mark in WWE can be considered “lengthy”. He may have dropped the title to Orton, Sheamus, Christian or someone else entirely by the time of Liverpool’s SmackDown taping in November. That means we shouldn’t rule out hope of Regal getting a competitive match for WWE’s younger world title belt.

Of the two current champs Cena would be the preferred opponent for the Brit as his size would allow him to work a more believable and competitive match than ‘The World’s Strongest Man’. Plus you’d also get the patented Cena Mixed Reaction™. Regal v Cena in Britain would have a fantastic atmosphere.

In an ideal world CM Punk or Bryan Danielson would be a world champion by the time of the tour and would be involved in a match with Regal. Both men have enough respect for the veteran to treat him as an equal and have a highly competitive and enjoyable match (before beating him).

Whoever holds the gold when RAW and SmackDown roll into Liverpool  hope WWE sees the potential and books a Regal in a world title match. Even if he doesn’t win it would mean a lot to him and his fans. And if Regal’s talk is to be believed there may not be many similar opportunities left.

The Life and Times of Blyler Tack

On September 11^th 2010 Colby ‘Tyler Black’ Lopez made his final appearance for Ring of Honor. Black had announced before that match that he had agreed to a WWE developmental deal and would be leaving the promotion, win or lose, after the September 11^th show. He had also declared his intention to retain the title and leave as champion. Naturally this didn’t sit well with the ROH faithful, who pelted the champion with chants of “NXT” and “FCW” as he defended the title against Roderick Strong in one of the best matches of the year.

As the outgoing heel champion Black naturally lost the match, but the biggest losers that night were the ROH fans. Black had proven himself to be a capable and adaptable performer. His promos may have needed a little work, but his wrestling was sound and he was good enough at reading an audience to know that using John Cena’s patented “You can’t see me!” hand gesture and the Five Knuckle Shuffle would get him huge heat during his bout with Strong. No doubt about it, Tyler Black was one of Ring of Honor’s most dependable all-rounders.

So what have WWE done with Black since he signed his developmental contract? What they do with practically all independent wrestlers: changed his ring name (to Seth Rollins), stuck him in Florida Championship Wrestling and left him there for a year. This isn’t anything new. It’s exactly what they did to CM Punk when he signed a developmental deal (after a storyline very similar to Black’s at the end of his ROH run coincidentally) in 2005. It’s what they’ve done to Colt Cabana, Bryan Danielson, Bryan Kendrick and tons of other talented individuals over the years. Why do they do this? All together now...

To teach them how to work!

Yes, it’s WWE’s belief that you cannot succeed in “the big leagues” without having been taught to wrestle (or sports entertain) the ‘WWE style’. In the last five years or so only a handful of men and women have bypassed FCW and debuted straight onto the main roster. Bryan Danielson was told he would be debuting on the ECW replacement (which became NXT) when he re-signed with the promotion in late 2009, but ended up working a few FCW shows of his own volition, saying that he wanted to keep free of ring rust and stay in shape.

Kia ‘Awesome Kong/Kharma’ Stevens and Sin Cara (the original one, Luis Ignascio Urive Alvirde a.k.a. Mistico) are the only other two names that spring to mind as those deemed ready for the bright lights of Monday Night RAW. In the case of Kharma WWE made the right decision: she had been ready for a spot in WWE for years. But they got it completely wrong with the former Mistico. His inability to speak English and unfamiliarity with the US style (Mexican wrestling works to a noticably different pace and logic to wrestling anywhere else in the world (it’s part of its charm)) made him the ideal candidate for FCW. That he was deemed ready despite these severe limitations puzzled most fans and time has proven that it was the wrong decision. In turn that has proven that FCW is a useful tool but not one that can be applied to every wrestler the same way.

On an edition of Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast that was recorded around the time of his exit from Ring of Honor Black joked that he would be called up to NXT and given the ring name ‘Blyler Tack’, in reference to the massively unimaginative ‘Daniel Bryan’ ring name Bryan Danielson had been given, or ‘Gaylord Hanski’, in reference to the idiotic names of NXT’s second season. He was joking but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s longing for a spot on NXT now, silly ring name and all.

Black wasn’t and isn’t the perfect worker. As I noted above his promos could be better and he is (or was when he signed) used to the more frantic pace of indy matches and the stiff style of Ring of Honor. He did need to make some changes before appearing on RAW or SmackDown but a year is overkill. That WWE have had Heath Slater, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, David Hart Smith, Tyler Reks, Trent Baretta and various other no-hopers on TV throughout 2011 without giving Tyler Black a try is both astounding and moronic... especially at a time when WWE desperately needs to create new stars for its paper thin roster. He’s a star-in-waiting, and the sooner WWE realises that the better.

Better is Better

With all the attention RAW’s been getting recently thanks to CM Punk, Vince McMahon and Triple H it strikes me that SmackDown isn’t receiving the praise it deserves. For the past several months now the blue brand has been providing viewers with a consistent and enjoyable product. The long term plans and building of new stars shows that WWE is considering the future more than they have for the last half decade. It’s good news and should be treated as such.

I’ll start by drawing attention to Mark Henry. This may be the 437^th time he’s been pushed as a monster heel, but unlike previous occasions mostly everything is being done right. He’s been put over equally large and intimidating competitors and been credited for various storyline injuries which makes him seem far more unstoppable than he ever has before. More importantly he’s not been rushed into challenging for the world title. I can remember a similar push in 2006 where he was chosen as the opponent for World Heavyweight champion Kurt Angle completely out of the blue. The two had a decent match at the Royal Rumble, but everyone knew who was going to win because the former ‘Sexual Chocolate’ had come from nowhere to wrestle in the main event.

The slower approach and the way Henry has been built up make him far more credible. I still don’t think WWE would go all the way and give him the championship, but I think he’d be an acceptable challenger to a babyface champion at this point. He has an imposing look and an edge to his voice when cutting promos that makes him credible. Both he and WWE have done fine work since May.

Sheamus is another guy who has been used well lately. He was allowed to look dominant against both Randy Orton and Christian and now seems on course for a face turn. If and when that happens I think he could be incredibly popular. He has a clear sense of humour, a unique appearance and the ability to work an enjoyable match with anyone on the roster. I’ve said before that if he were one of the good guys he could become the new face of SmackDown. That’s still the case.

I originally thought we’d see him included in the Orton versus Christian feud in time for a triple threat match at SummerSlam but it appears that’s no longer the case. The new direction (a feud with Wade Barrett) should be fine as long as it doesn’t last too long and stall the ‘Celtic Warrior’s’ momentum.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he were World Heavyweight champion by the end of the year. Nor would I be surprised if he ended up feuding with Mark Henry at some point.

I have a lot of time for Ezekiel Jackson. He doesn’t wrestle a style I like and doesn’t have any impressive moves, but if his push continues on its current path he could stand a chance of becoming a big star. He’s a limited worker and his mic skills aren’t that good, but he still routinely gets decent reactions from crowds. It would be easy enough for an intelligent writing team to keep him away from microphones and keep feeding him expendable heels and jobbers.

Still disagree? Think of it this way: how enjoyable would it be to see him knock John Cena unconscious? Your answer is probably “very”, which goes to show that if booked right ‘Zeke could progress beyond the 1980s smiley babyface approach and develop a genuine appeal.

A month or so ago we saw Nattie Neidhart mentoring AJ and Kaitlyn in a feud with Alicia Fox and Tamina. That storyline appears to have been dropped (or possibly demoted to Superstars, a show I don’t keep up with that match), which is a shame as it featured two of the most naturally charismatic and genuinely popular divas WWE has at its disposal in AJ and Kaitlyn. These aren’t former models signed to contracts because of their looks like some of the divas, they’re women with a clear passion for wrestling. That translates into their matches and promos andshould be enough to earn them a spot on TV each week. Hopefully they (and Natalya) can return to the blue brand to finish what they started. It had the makings of a nicely paced feud that could have gone in a few different directions.

Money in the Bank saw Bryan ‘Daniel Bryan’ Danielson get a promotion. By booking him to win the ladder match it’s clear the SmackDown writing team has plans for him. For the immediate future those plans may just be meaningless bouts with the likes of charisma vacuum Heath Slater, but being ‘Mr Money in the Bank’ means that Bryan’s guaranteed a “big” moment at some point, whether his cash-in is successful or not.

His announcement on the July 22^nd show that he would use the briefcase to guarantee himself a title shot at WrestleMania could be played a few different ways. The first and most obvious is that the former ‘Mr Small Package’ really could end up wrestling the champion at next year’s Miami supershow. Danielson in a world title match at ‘Mania would certainly cater to the hardcore fan market, which WWE seem to be paying more attention to lately, but that by no means guarantees it’ll happen.

Alternatively, we could see Danielson cash-in and win the title at any point before WrestleMania (the Royal Rumble would be the ideal time) and begin a slow heel turn by saying that he deliberately misled the fans and the wrestlers by lying about his plans. He has the verbal skills to pull off such a storyline and by having him take joy from fooling the fans he’d be guaranteed heat.

He could also cash-in early and become a big face by saying that he’d intended to wait until WrestleMania but the champion was so annoying and arrogant that he just had to beat them earlier. This would work especially well right now with Christian as the champion: he’s so disliked that Danielson could very easily be presented as a hero saving us from the egomaniacal ‘Captain Charisma’.

Particular praise should go to the Christian and Randy Orton feud. It’s been going since early May and it’s a credit to both the writing team and the wrestlers that it’s still managing to entertain us. The popularity of Orton, Christian’s effectiveness as a heel, and the (mostly) well timed twists and turns have all played their part to make this a contender for feud of the year. Above all it’s the quality of the matches that have made this feud stand out. Simply put it’s rare to get matches of such length and quality in WWE today.

The feud should be drawing to a close at or shortly after SummerSlam and I hope WWE has plans for both men afterwards. Christian holding on to the belt and segueing into a feud with Danielson or Sheamus would be ideal, freeing Orton up for his inevitable feud with Mark Henry. That second idea may not sound appealing but I think Henry v Orton has the potential to be surprisingly decent.

I’ve not even mentioned the good work that’s been done with the Usos (though sadly the tag team resurgence many predicted hasn’t materialised), Jinder Mahal, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, Sin Cara (before his Wellness violation caused him to be taken off TV), and Kane (finding new things for that character to do after fourteen years on TV isn’t easy). Mahal and Rhodes in particular have the potential to progress to the main event if used correctly. It’s nice to see WWE preparing them properly and giving them time to develop.  

If you happen to have read this without being a regular viewer of SmackDown I’d suggest you give it a try. While it doesn’t have the spectacle and revelations of RAW it does provide better wrestling and a more slow-paced approach to feuds and character building. In other words it provides exactly what WWE needs right now.