Family Ties

Judging by videos we’ve seen over the last two weeks it looks as though Luke Harper and Erick Rowan may be getting split from Bray Wyatt and slotted into singles roles in the not-too-distant future. This is something WWE do pretty frequently, and it almost never works out. The reason for the all too consistent failure is simple: they don’t plan anything for the guys beyond the initial breakup of the team.

Nothing that’s been shown indicates that things will be different for Wyatt’s henchmen. Admittedly the story’s closer to its beginning than its end but the track record speaks for itself. For the most part WWE doesn’t do this particular wrestling plot well.

Look back at The Prime Time Players. They were not going to become the hottest thing in wrestling. They weren’t even going to become the hottest team in the promotion. But they’d gelled. They had a routine that people liked. A chant, a dance, and a whistle, nothing revolutionary but it was popular. They had a following and a regular spot on the card. They’d made the best of what they were given and did good work.

When they were split it became apparent that there were no plans in place for either man to do anything interesting as a singles performer. Titus revealed a nasty streak, violently attacking Darren Young after he’d lost them a tag match. The betrayal led to a match between the pair at Elimination Chamber. Titus won that and then… did nothing. He worked as a generic mid-card heel for a few months before settling into a fresh tag team with Heath Slater. D-Young was injured a couple of months into his time as a solo face, but nothing in that time indicated that WWE was about to initiate some master plan to turn him into a star.

Basically WWE took a very successful-by-modern-standards team and split them to get one match extra on to a pay-per-view. Then put one who’d been pushed harder after the breakup into a new team. So he’d have to start from scratch making his new unit work.

Nobody gained anything from this sequence. The profiles of both men dipped and a fun little double act was needlessly retired. It’s all too easy to find similar examples of pairings being prematurely disbanded for no reason throughout company history. It even happened to the New Age Outlaws at the height of their popularity.

What a good-looking pair of dudes.

Splitting the Wyatt clan now seems too early. It’s not that I think Bray Wyatt needs Harper and Rowan, or that Harper and Rowan particularly need him. Wyatt himself will survive a split whenever it comes. But Harper and Rowan need each other. In singles roles Harper and (particularly) Rowan would almost certainly become generically booked big lads drifting from one pointless match to the next, no hope of capturing a singles title or entering into a meaningful feud. Wyatt can survive lengthy periods of being obsolete because he has demonstrated what he’s capable of and his character is over. But Harper and Rowan can’t. They don’t have the same standing or presence.

The pair are best served as a tag team. That way they’re likelier to be included on shows and remain relevant. They can contribute more and Rowan can continue to benefit from teaming with a more capable, experienced partner. It’s also worth noting that being in a tag team doesn’t preclude Harper from being placed in singles matches. If WWE are desperate to trial him as a solo artist they could simply do so with big Erick at ringside. If Harper flourished in the role they could always have Rowan turn on him or him drop Rowan as a partner.

Without a plan a split is not going to work for anyone. And there’s no reason to believe WWE has one.

The 2014 RAW Season Premiere

On Monday WWE will promote their “season premiere” of RAW. This is a label they often trot out around this time of year, an attempt to combat the return of (American) football to Monday nights. WWE understands that football holds far more mainstream appeal in America than sports entertainment ever could, although whether or not they’d publicly acknowledge it is another matter entirely. They also understand the need to put on as good a show as possible to compete with the more popular programme.

Yeah, I know. Pretty exciting...

What has been announced for this year’s premiere is, quite frankly™, not terribly encouraging. First of all there’s a SummerSlam rematch between Roman Reigns and Randy Orton. Their PPV clash was proficient although it didn’t come close to reaching its potential. The likelihood is the same results will be achieved here: the pair will have a good-but-not-great match that neither excites nor offends. While that would usually be fine something more is needed for a show WWE are relying on to attract a significant audience.

Worse than that is the securement of Jerry Springer’s services. This is a man who famously inspired Vince Russo’s Monday Night RAW writing back in the second half of the nineties. I mention this to demonstrate how old hat Springer’s act is by now. I’ve no doubt he still has a level of popularity and notoriety in the US, but it will be a fraction of what it was at his peak. This is not the bold, exciting appearance it would have been in 1999. Frankly it wouldn’t have been especially bold or exciting then.

Another outsider WWE contacted to appear was Michael Sam. He’s a football player who recently came out as gay before finding himself without a team to play for in the upcoming NFL season. So WWE, being WWE, offered him the chance to show up on RAW to talk about whatever he desired (although they very clearly would have expected those desires to include his coming out and not having a league team to play for). It was a very blatant publicity stunt and one that didn’t work out for them as Sam ended up joining the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys. Which means he won’t be at RAW.

The invite did get WWE a fair bit of the attention they so obviously desired. Various news providers and sports analysts covered the development. But that doesn’t really mean much. A declined invite, no matter how much it was talked about, won’t encourage people to watch a show. And it also made WWE look pretty insensitive for not offering Darren Young, their own employee who went through something similar to Sam last year, the same opportunity. They posted a positive message of support for Young on their website but he didn’t get any promo time to address his revelation on TV.

I’m not saying Young should necessarily have been given time to talk about his revelation. Had he been given time it’s possible the move would have been labelled exploitative and cynical. But to offer the chance to a non-employee who works for what is essentially your biggest competitor is an incredibly transparent move. It’s impossible to believe WWE made the offer solely because they feel it’s the right thing to do or to give a role model a platform on which to speak. They wanted him to attract NFL fans and media coverage.

Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho: coming to a cage on your TV this Monday.

The one thing I think Monday’s RAW has going for it is the Bray Wyatt versus Chris Jericho cage match. I didn’t enjoy their Battleground match and didn’t see a huge improvement in their SummerSlam clash, but I’m in the minority. Most people love seeing ‘Y2J’ wheel through his list of tiresome catchphrases and stock of easily botched wrestling moves and have found his dispute with ‘The Eater of Worlds’ rewarding and satisfying. With that in mind putting the third and presumably final match of their programme on free TV is a clever move. People who are torn between watching football and wrestling may come down on the wrestling side just to see this match.

But that’s one match on a three hour show. Most people interested in the cage match will tune in just for that and then turn back to the football if they’re interested in both. If it goes on last they’ll switch over only when it begins. Jerry Springer chatting it up with the Bella twins and Reigns and Orton having a Blandest Big Event Match of the Year rematch is not enough to keep people engrossed for three hours. It’s definitely not enough to attract new or casual viewers who are interested in the football.

I can’t really understand why WWE didn’t make the September 1 episode of RAW the season premiere. They were facing no more competition than usual and so if they’d put all their effort into making that a couldn’t miss show, securing Springer, loading up on legends and promoting their planned rematches, it would have been more likely that a hook could have been found to encourage people to watch the next episode.

Yeah, that would have meant putting in just as much effort for the following episode to keep any extra viewers they’d picked up interested, but they should be doing that anyway. If WWE wants to stop themselves being trounced by Monday night football they need to up their game and offer an enjoyable, logical show with interesting performers and desirable matches on a weekly basis. It looks like they might be trying for that here, but if so they don’t understand what a 2014 audience wants from a wrestling show. They’re thinking is right, but their execution is way off.

SmackTalk 21.02.14

For the final (relatively) significant piece of WWE television to air before the arrival of The WWE Network SmackDown felt anti-climactic. The new streaming service was, to the best of my recollection, not mentioned once and the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view was half-hearted. It was as though WWE were producing a piece of television by the numbers. While that’s nothing new I would have expected their final non-Network era piece of work to be more meaningful.

As understated as the show was it was still enjoyable. The opening two matches in particular were very good. The first saw Daniel Bryan defeat Jack Swagger relatively quickly with a running knee. The second also featured Bryan, this time tangling with his old indy foe ‘Don’t Call Him Antonio’ Cesaro. That one got longer and was more enjoyable, even though it saw Bryan writhing in pain for a lot of its run time.

The main event, Christian v Sheamus, wasn’t bad but wasn’t especially good either. It was a standard match from the two men. That they’re deemed worthy of headlining SmackDown demonstrates how little effort is put into the programme these days. The same match closing RAW simply wouldn’t happen.

A better choice for the main event would have been the lively six man tag that pitted Erick Rowan, Luke Harper and Bray Wyatt against Goldust, Cody Rhodes, and Rey Mysterio. The Wyatts are easily as over an act as either Christian or Sheamus, Goldust and Cody aren’t far behind and Rey Mysterio, for all he’s falling apart and passed his best, can still excel in multi-man showings. It was the best match on the show.

Opening

Tweet 1: It's SmackTalk time!
Tweet 2: Nothing says B show like a Christian v Sheamus main event.

Daniel Bryan v Jack Swagger

Tweet 3: But don't worry, Daniel Bryan's in the opener! "Why put the most over man in the company on last?" he asked rhetorically.

Tweet 4: Lengthy recaps of RAW happenings. Never a good sign. Still, it's nice to see Kane wrestling in his vest again.
Tweet 5: Swagger v Bryan? And we could have had Cesaro v Bryan. #continueddisappointmentofSwaggersexistence
Tweet 6: Anyone else noticed that Zeb Colter usually wears a tie? I like that. So few people dress for ringside anymore.
Tweet 7: Just look at Jerry Lawler.
Tweet 8: Actually, don’t.
Tweet 9: I still don't understand why The Real Americans aren't wrestling in red, white and blue gear. Natural fit for their characters.
Tweet 10: Swagger's working the injured arm but I bet he'll still try the ankle lock at some point.
Tweet 11: Swagger gets randomly belted with the knee then loses. Completely unsurprising result.

Daniel Bryan v Cesaro

Tweet 12: Oh look, it’s Rita Repulsa!

Tweet 13: Oh we ARE getting Bryan v Cesaro? Delightful.

Bryan v Cesaro never gets old

Tweet 14: JBL says it's best for business. I think that line's played out by WWE. Does Triple H even say it anymore?
Tweet 15: How many times has Vickie Guerrero been the SmackDown general manager? It's got to be at least four.
Tweet 16: Michael Cole concedes that, on paper, Bryan v Cesaro is best for business.
Tweet 17: "Whaddaya doing, Jack?" - Unbiased commentator Michael Cole
Tweet 18: "No! No!" - Jack Swagger, misunderstanding the concept of yes chants
Tweet 19: Why was Kane's walk down to ringside not televised? That could have been a highlight of this show.
Tweet 20: Why refer to your most popular wrestler as a gnome and a farm animal?
Tweet 21: Small package followed by a Swiss Death European uppercut. Good exchange. Nice that those moves are now established as convincing finishes.
Tweet 22: Kane interferes. What a bad dude. I'm pretty much convinced he's going to do the same at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 23: I'm getting worried that WWE are planning Kane v Bryan at WrestleMania. The correct use of Bryan at 'Mania is a triple threat title match.

Christian speaks to Renee Young backstage

Tweet 24: Christian getting some boos there.

Tweet 25: 'The Man of the Peeps' lashing out at the fans there. No reason for it beyond reminding us he's a heel now.
Tweet 26: I'm bored of all WWE heels sounding the same.

The Wyatt Family v Goldust, Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio

Tweet 27: JBL is wearing a polka dot tie and a checked shirt. Not cool, bro. #fashionsense

Tweet 28: The Wyatt Family are being booed. What exactly have they done or said to make them heels?
Tweet 29: Bray Wyatt: king of nonsense.
Tweet 30: Remember when Mysterio and Cody Rhodes hated each other and Dusty came in to betray his pal for his son? Well now they're tagging together.
Tweet 31: I miss Goldust’s pink gloves.
Tweet 32: "Constantly talking in riddles..." - Michael Cole on Bray Wyatt. I think he was thinking of The Riddler
Tweet 33: Goldust needs a better brand of face paint. The one he currently uses is always running. Maybe put in a call to Prince Devitt...
Tweet 34: Goldy gets the hot tag to Cody. Has Rey even been in this match yet?
Tweet 35: Ah he's just tagged in. Knee status: frisky.
Tweet 36: I couldn't be more pleased that Harper escaped the 619. Mysterio is a smug little ferret who needs taking down a peg.
Tweet 37: Erick Rowan is tossing Rey Mysterio around in a bear hug. It's not particularly interesting but bless 'im for trying.
Tweet 38: "He's like a member of the MENSA society" - Michael Cole on... wait for it... Bray Wyatt

FYI: Rey Mysterio's outfit was modeled on the Swiss flag

Tweet 39: Goldust is the most over man on his team. WWE need to find a way of transferring some of that reaction to Cody permanently before they split.
Tweet 40: Tasty little springboard from Cody there.
Tweet 41: Great finishing sequence to that match. Lots going on and people being taken out. Right result too: Wyatt over Goldust with Sister Abigail.

Sheamus speaks to Byron Saxon backstage

Tweet 42: Sheamus, cut back on the hair gel, yeah?
Tweet 43: "A fired up Christian is just what the doctor ordered!" - Sheamus, revealing his view on America's leading religion

Renee Young hosts a dance off involving Emma, Santino, Summer Rae and Faaaaaan… daaaaaan… goooooo

Tweet 44: Emma and Santino... *rolls eyes*

Tweet 45: Renee Young's hosting the dance off, so it's not all bad.
Tweet 46: And in fairness I love me some Fandango.
Tweet 47: I wasn't that into this crowd to begin with but they've completely lost by not humming Fandango's music.
Tweet 48: Cole's feigned enjoyment of Emma's dancing is nauseating.
Tweet 49: #hipaction
Tweet 50: Forget Bryan, Fandango v Santino needs to be the WrestleMania main event! #grudgematch

Titus O’Neil v Dolph Ziggler

Tweet 51: I'm still a fan of Titus O'Neil even though he's not going anywhere as a singles wrestler.

Tweet 52: Darren Young's on commentary claiming that The Prime Time Players were the roughest and toughest tag team in WWE. He is incorrect.
Tweet 53: This match is a waste of Dolph Ziggler.
Tweet 54: Darren 'You Know What?" Young.
Tweet 55: Nice that Ziggler won but doing it off a WHISTLE distraction? C'mon, WWE.

Road Dogg v Jimmy Uso

Tweet 56: The Usos gets a televised entrance but the Outlaws don't? Poor...

Tweet 57: It says something about the younger members of the WWE roster that Road Dogg has worked the crowd better than anyone else on this show.
Tweet 58: Yes, including Bryan. He's more over than Road Dogg but he was selling for most of his matches. There wasn't much interaction there.
Tweet 59: Road Dogg loses. That makes me think the Outlaws will be winning at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 60: So does Michael Cole saying that the Usos have the Outlaws' number.

Sheamus v Christian

Tweet 61: FELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!

Tweet 62: "Sheamus is out there, cue up the piped in crowd noise, quick!"
Tweet 63: After my comments about Road Dogg's crowd interactions it's probably fair to point at that Sheamus is also doing well in that area.

Tweet 64: Who does Michael Cole think has the most momentum going into the Chamber match? Cesaro...

Tweet 65: Even if that were true (it's not) Cesaro ain't winning the WWE title at EC.
Tweet 66: Orton's never won a Chamber match. That's another reason to predict a victory for him.
Tweet 67: Why did Sheamus take a bump near the timekeeper's table? He wanted to look up Lilian Garcia's dress. #filthySheamus
Tweet 68: It sounded like Sheamus just shouted "I'm Irish!"
Tweet 69: JBL's sports guru gimmick is annoying.
Tweet 70: Mostly because he only knows things because he looks them up specially on Wikipedia, as opposed to having a genuine interest.
Tweet 71: JBL thinks Christian is bad looking. What he needs is a blue dot over his face...
Tweet 72: Tornado DDT being countered into the Irish Curse was nice.
Tweet 73: Anyone who thought Christian would win doesn't know WWE. 
Tweet 74: SmackDown ends with Sheamus hitting his own chest and then being knocked out of the ring by Christian.

It was never going to end well for Christian

Tweet 75: Maybe 'The Celtic Warrior' will be the man jobbed out by Lesnar at Elimination Chamber.
Tweet 76: I don't want to see that. Because ti will almost certainly mean we're getting Lesnar v Shaymo.

The Titus O'Neil Show

Forget having Batista win the Royal Rumble. Forget allowing CM Punk to walk away. Forget continuing with the epic push of Randy Orton. The biggest mistake WWE have made so far this year has been splitting The Prime Time Players.

Titus O’Neil and Darren Young were never going to be the slickest or greatest tag team working in wrestling. But they easily had the potential to be the one of the most entertaining. More than that, they hold no appeal as singles acts. Working alone they’ll just get lost amongst WWE’s packed roster of no-hopers.

The dream is over...

The PTPs had things left to achieve together. Despite teaming up while the doubles scene was at a low point and working together for nearly two years they never won the tag team championship (although they did become the number one contenders several times). That’s an obvious goal they could have worked towards. They could have tried to get themselves a meaningful non-title tag match on a pay-per-view. A match against the New Age Outlaws would have been a nice thing for them to try and obtain too. They would have been a great choice to be part of the division’s foundation because they’re decent wrestlers, have solid characters, and can function as either fan favourites or dastardly bad guys.

They also had a lot of potential outside of the ring. Specifically they could have done well with their own WWE flavoured chat show. When I say chat show I mean the sort of show you get in the US, rather than British shows hosted by the likes of Jonathan Ross (his shows are more about shilling movies, TV shows and other assorted nonsense) or Jeremy Kyle (a man too aggressive and angry to have started his career in the US). I mean more the likes of Montel Williams or Maury Povich.

Picture the scene. A talk show set is constructed on the entranceway (the ring long ago became passé for this sort of thing), consisting of a couch, an armchair, a fake wall with a logo on it, and a lamp (because shows like this always have needless furniture). Titus strolls out wearing a polo neck or a suit with tinted glasses and talks about two men who have been having a disagreement (to wrestlers feuding, though it’d all be framed in chat show terms as opposed to wrestling terms). He introduces the first and gets him talking about the problems he’s been having before announcing that he has a surprise and brings out the second guy.

As the two men answer his questions Titus makes affirmative noises and cuts over them with new questions. As those are being answered he throws things out to the floor, where Darren Young’s wandering around in the crowd holding a microphone. ‘Delicious’ Darren (Titus’s name for his partner) asks members of the crowd their opinion on the disagreement and moves on before he can be given an answer.

Back on the stage Titus wraps things up with his thought for the day, ignoring his guests and concentrating on himself. The name of the show? Titus.

This could work with the Prime Time Players as either faces or heels but would probably work best as the latter, with Titus using the segment as an in-character way of getting himself over. It’s exactly the sort of thing WWE puts on slower episodes of SmackDown and would have been a nice way of getting less important feuds on TV and giving The Prime Time Players something to do.

It would have been an entertaining use of the two. I’m confident it would have been more interesting that what they’ll end up doing as singles wrestlers. And that disappoints me. It’s another wasted opportunity from WWE: changing things for the sake of it instead of trying to make use of what they already have in place. As things stand right now I'm not expecting RAW to become The Titus O'Neil Show anytime soon.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 8

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 8 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

Not every episode of That Wrestling Podcast can reach the heady heights of a John Cena discussion. Knowing that we deliberately slow the pace with this episode and fall back on what we intend to make a staple: discussing how far three wrestlers can go in the company¹. The men in question this week are Dolph Ziggler, The Miz and Titus O’Neil.

Plus… do you remember when wrestlers had a catchphrase at the start of their entrance music? We discuss that for several minutes too.

***

¹ If you have a suggestion for this “format” get in touch. We can’t think of one.

Uso Oh No

So WWE spent over half a year building up The Shield, involving them in the WWE title picture, giving them an impressive undefeated streak, putting them in the ring with the likes of super worker Daniel Bryan and Hall of Famer-in-waiting The Undertaker, so that they could wrestle a pre-show match against Jimmy and Jey Uso? Wow. Anti-climax, you say?

I admit I'm being facetious there. Obviously Rollins and Reigns haven't been pushed with the intention of setting up this match. Their incredible rise up the card was always going to slow eventually. Eight months into their WWE careers seems like a good point for that. There's plenty of time for them to be pushed again later.

What puzzles me is why WWE didn't plan things better. The Shield’s (well, Rollins and Reigns’, Ambrose is still hanging in there) drop down the card could have coincided with increased focus on the tag division. Once WrestleMania was done and dusted it became clear pretty quickly that 'The Hounds of Justice' were going to be relieving Team Hell No of the tag titles. That happened at Extreme Rules, with Bryan getting a rematch alongside Randy Orton at the following month’s Payback. That means there were two months in which WWE could have spent time preparing two or three secondary teams to create a division for The Shield to rule over.

Because nobody in WWE cares about tag team wrestling that didn't happen. Instead they waited until the week after Payback to book a hasty number one contendership match won by the Usos. Yep, the same Usos that have been appearing almost exclusively on Main Event and Superstars for the last couple of years. The same Usos nobody has any reason to care about, including Jimmy and Jey themselves.

My complaint isn't that WWE didn't bother to spend two months creating a tag division for The Shield. They were obviously never going to bother doing that so why get upset by it? My complaint is that they chose the Usos as the first opponents of The Shield instead of the far superior Prime Time Players.

I've sung the praises of Titus O'Neil and Darren Young before but the sentiment bears repeating. Neither man is in danger of usurping Daniel Bryan's spot as the best wrestler in the company. CM Punk's status as the company's greatest promo is similarly safe. They’re not the greatest at any one thing but there's just something about the pair that works. They've put far more effort into being a marketable tag team act than have the brothers Uso. Face paint went out in the nineties, guys.

Face paint hasn't been particularly relevant since this guy... and it was tenuous even then

Titus O'Neil has more charisma than both Usos put together. You only need to listen to him on commentary for proof of that. He carries himself like a star too. The Usos look like they’re resigned to losing the moment they appear.

Darren Young is not as good as 'The Big Deal' but he’s not dead wood. He carries his part of the unit well. Together the PTPs have far more to offer than Jimmy and Jey.

That the Players are bad guys isn't a problem. There's nothing about their act that wouldn't allow them to work as fan favourites. They come across as being naturally likeable. They could have been presented as credible opposition to The Shield with greater ease than the Usos.
Perhaps if Rollins and Reigns squeak by their rumoured SummerSlam opponents of Kane and The Undertaker with the gold we’ll see them tangle with Young and O’Neil. I’m not going to hold my breath for that though.

Ain't Nobody Got Time for a Players Split

There's a rumour going around at the moment that the Prime Time Players are going to be split. The reason for this supposed split is that Vince McMahon (a.k.a. the boss) is a fan of Titus O'Neil and wants to use him as a singles act.
 
Nothing could harm Titus more than a split from Darren Young right now. WWE is awash with neglected, bodged, and poorly handled singles pushes. The last thing the company needs is another two low- to mid-card grapplers to fit onto TV shows. That both Christian and Mark Henry, men who have proven their worth in the last two years as singles wrestlers, are waiting to return to television tells you all you need to know about the abundance of singles acts at WWE's disposal.
 
Being in a team plays to Titus's strengths and disguises his weaknesses. As part of double act the amount of ring time he gets is halved while his ability as a witty talker allows is put to use by having him work as the mouthpiece of the team. Reallocating to the solo ranks would show him up as a limited performer and grant him no extra promo time. It would be a foolish move.

Ain't nobody wants to see a Prime Time Players split

 
There's also the fact that the PTPs are one of only two notable teams on the books right now, thanks to the premature split of the Rhodes Scholars. If O'Neil and Young are split that will leave Team Hell No as the company's only regular combo, and the appeal of their combo dwindled months ago.

And let’s forget that the two men have improved since being moved to SmackDown following the NXT restructure last spring. ‘The Big Deal’ has come the farthest, both in terms of ring work and promos, but Young has worked hard too. The pair have forged an identity for their team where the creative department haven’t bothered and introduced some enjoyable gimmicks and phrases to their repertoire. The whistle, the hair pick, and the “millions of dollars chant”, not to mention their new “Ain’t nobody got time for that” phrase are the products of their own hard work.
 
I hope this rumour turns out to be false. Sending Titus off on his own would be disastrous. If he's earned fans backstage then he should be rewarded with a push in his current role. He'll be of more use to the company as one half of a tag team for the foreseeable future, and there's nothing wrong with that.

SmackTalk 02.11.12

SmackDown is on a downswing. This week’s show didn’t feature Team Hell No. It didn’t feature the Rhodes Scholars. It didn’t feature Antonio Cesaro. It didn’t feature Ryback. It did feature lashings of Big Show and Sheamus though. So that’s… something.

Not every wrestling show is going to be great. I appreciate that. Sometimes there are duff episodes and sometimes you’ll get periods where there are creatively barren runs. Downswings and upswings are part of the nature of the business and always will be.

Just because a company (or show… or brand) is going through a rough patch creatively doesn’t mean those in charge have to make things worse for themselves. That’s what WWE did on Friday’s SmackDown. The company has booked itself into a corner with the Big Show v Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio v Randy Orton feuds. They are a contributing factor to the downswing. I’m not really enjoying either but I can tolerate them because I know that they are happening in part in order to kill time before bigger and better things kick off.

Where WWE are failing to help themselves is in omitting the talent mentioned at the top from shows. SmackDown, as I have written before, should be a show used to highlight and push men and women lower down the card. John Cena and CM Punk, the promotion’s top drawers, do not appear on the blue brand. That makes it the perfect place to give others time in the spotlight.

 

The Miz looks unhappy. Maybe the state of SmackDown is getting to him too

 

The Rhodes Scholars, Ryback and Antonio Cesaro have all benefitted from exposure on SmackDown this year. They are part of the reason I watch the show. When they are left off the show in favour of a match pitting babyface R-Truth against babyface Justin Gabriel something somewhere is clearly not right. Both Gabriel and Truth deserve TV time, but not necessarily against one another. Couldn’t that segment have seen the Rhodes Scholars or Three Man Band interrupt the match, igniting a tag team encounter?

Despite knocking the Show and Sheamus rivalry above I thought the tag team main event was a good idea. It kept their rivalry alive and mixed them up with another ongoing programme. I’m always a fan of that happening. I also thought it was good to get Kofi Kingston in such a high profile spot. If a downswing in creativity is what it takes for the writing team to push a man of his ability and charisma then perhaps we should hope for them more often.

Opening

Tweet 1: Soooooo... SmackTalk?

Tweet 2: This video package about Brad Maddox and the Cena and AJ nonsense is hilariously overdramatic.
Tweet 3: Big Show sounded aroused (sexually) in his Hell in a Cell backstage promo.
Tweet 4: Was John Cena wearing one of his own T-shirts in those shots of him eating dinner with AJ?

Miz TV, featuring Sheamus, Kofi Kingston and Big Show

Tweet 5: Has Sheamus been drinking?

Tweet 6: The lighting monkeys are dropping the ball. Is it Kevin Dunn's night off?
Tweet 7: Big Show. The champ is here.
Tweet 8: Two faces and two heels are in the arena. If this segment doesn't end with Teddy Long making a tag match I'm going to be disappointed.
Tweet 9: Had Big Show walked to the ring he would have been winded. There's a reason he's never been in an Iron Man match...

Big Show and Booker T backstage

Tweet 10: Big Show appears to be unaware of the cameraman walking backwards in front of him...

Tweet 11: Does Booker wear glasses to look smart? Doesn't work.
Tweet 12: The tag match everyone knew was coming has been made. Teddy didn't make it though. Shame.

Darren Young v Sin Cara

Tweet 13: Darren Young v Sin Cara? Oh God... #botchheaven

Tweet 14: JBL saying that the PTPs have the potential to be the best tag team in the world is going to be the funniest comment of the night.
Tweet 15: Sin Cara just lost clean to Darren Young. Remember that push he got when he first arrived?
Tweet 16: I've never noticed Titus's eyes do that before. Weird stuff. Freaky-looking guy.

Are the Prime Time Players the best tag team in the world? JBL thinks they could be

Rey Mysterio v Titus O’Neil

Tweet 17: Sin Cara may have jobbed clean but Mysterio won't. He's actually worth something.

Tweet 18: 'The Big Deal' jobbed clean. That's more like it. Good work, writers. Keep it predictable.
Tweet 19: I hate Rey Mysterio anyway but I particularly hate him when he's in a tag team. It's all stupid hand signs and hugging.

Recaps of various RAW happenings

Tweet 20: They just showed that graphic of Cena and AJ at dinner. Cena was indeed wearing his Rise Above Cancer merch.

Tweet 21: Brad Maddox is confirmed for RAW! That'll get the ratings up! Lucky Birmingham.

Booker T, Teddy Long, David Otunga and Natalya backstage

Tweet 22: Teddy and Booker. Prepare for a tag match...

Tweet 23: David Otunga doesn't get anywhere near enough TV time.
Tweet 24: This new spit take gimmick could be easily dropped though. Why WWE feels the need to include weird stuff like that is beyond me.
Tweet 25: Natalya seems to be involved in said weird stuff fairly often. Perhaps she's into it...

Randy Orton v Wade Barrett

Tweet 26: BARRETT RING COAT ALERT!!

Tweet 27: I'm a BIG fan of the Barrett ring coat. And the rose. The whole gimmick package really.
Tweet 28: What's random about Josh's questions exactly?
Tweet 29: Del Rio jumps Orton. Whaddavillain!
Tweet 30: There's a girl in the front row having a fit because she touched Randy Orton. If it was the other way round there'd be a court case.
Tweet 31: JBL keeps referring to Michael Cole. I thought we were shot of that guy.
Tweet 32: Perfectly adequate second rope elbow by Barrett, there.
Tweet 33: Barrett gets a win from a rollup. He could at least have been allowed to hit the Souvenir from behind for a distraction win.
Tweet 34: I wonder if Josh will mention Show and Miz's time as tag team champions (ShowMiz). Probably not.
Tweet 35: JBL might though.

Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio have a brawl in catering

Tweet 36: "Randy Orton is not a biper" - Alberto Del Rio

Tweet 37: No! Not the catering area!
Tweet 38: This backstage food fight is ridiculous. The lack of commentary doesn't help. It's like they want us to think of it as very serious stuff.
Tweet 39: Randy Orton tries to walk through a table. #botchofthenight

David Otunga v Great Khali

Tweet 40: The Great Khali is back on SmackDown. Nobody noticed he'd gone. Nobody would have cared if they had.

Tweet 41: Khali's sabbaticals are never explained. I want to know what he gets up to when he's away from the ring.
Tweet 42: I like the idea of him tutoring underprivileged kids from rough neighbourhoods.
Tweet 43: What's David Otunga up to? Posing. Only posing.
Tweet 44: "Great Khali's hands are the size of laptops" - Josh Mathews
Tweet 45: Natalya is watching on a monitor She's happy. Because Otunga is getting beaten and he spat coffee on her earlier, you see.
Tweet 46: Yes, it's the beginning of the Otunga v Natalya feud we've all been waiting years for!

Justin Gabriel v R-Truth

Tweet 47: Gabriel versus Truth feels like an odd match. Presumably some heels will do a run-in. 3MB are my guess.

Tweet 48: Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Undertaker will return to start a rivalry with Gabriel. That'd draw.
Tweet 49: Truth won. No idea what the point of the match was. Literally none.
Tweet 50: No heel run-in. No heel turn. No good match. That was a textbook example of a wasted segment.

Truth and Gabriel adhere to the Code of Honor

Miz and Big Show have a natter backstage

Tweet 51: Big Show is top bunk.

Tweet 52: Miz beat Josh and JBL to a mention of ShowMiz. Probably for the best...
Tweet 53: WWE should have Del Rio and Orton face one another in a Boiler Room Brawl.
Tweet 54: SmackDown's live next week? Won't it be about two in the afternoon when the show's filmed in Birmingham?
Tweet 55: The answer you're looking for is yes.

Big Show and The Miz v Kofi Kingston and Sheamus

Tweet 56: Big Show is holding the belt over his head because it won't fit around his waist.

Tweet 57: I want Show to work this match without taking the hoodie off.
Tweet 58: Big Show mat wrestling and throwing out random woooooos is brilliant. I want him to do that in every match.
Tweet 59: Charles Robinson looks like a haggard woman of 83.
Tweet 60: "Irishmen love to fight!" - JBL with a massive generalisation
Tweet 61: The heels win, ending the show on a low note. That's why they did Gabriel v Truth. It was designed as a fan pleaser.

Prime Time Poser

I think it would be fair to say that David Otunga is not the greatest wrestler of today. His ring work is basic at best and he's prone to botching. I've seen him mess up pin attempts in the past.
 
That doesn't mean the guy has nothing to offer WWE programming though. Far from it. Otunga understands how to get a character over, something very important in the wrestling business, particularly WWE.
 
Whether he's flexing his way to the ring and posing mid-match Otunga or wandering around backstage wearing a bow tie and a sweater while clutching a coffee, Otunga has displayed skill at building little ticks into recognisable character traits. Introducing his real life background as a Harvard law graduate was another smart idea. Why create fake gimmicks when you can use someone's past for the real thing?
 
In addition to this Otunga is a smooth and erudite talker. That's a skill many within the company lack.
 
The former legal adviser to John Laurinaitis hasn't been used properly as a wrestler for months. When Big Johnny was written off of television Otunga found himself in a diminished role. His absence to film WWE Studios' next bargain bin spectacular The Hive further hampered Otunga's chances to carve a niche for himself in WWE's mid-card.

One of Otunga's natural skills: posing

 
In a way this is good. I don't think WWE should be trying to use Otunga as a wrestler. I feel he's far better suited to a role that allows him to do more talking than wrestling. It's no accident that his biggest career highlight so far has been as a stooge to Laurinaitis.
 
The perfect spot for Otunga would be managing the Prime Time Players. Young and O'Neil's lack of promo ability would be nearly hidden by an association with Mr Otunga, and it would allow the former Nexus member to play to his strengths. Otunga could cut promos more meaningful than the string of slapdash catchphrases slung together by former frontman AW. The three man unit could become a successful heel act if given the time to gel.
 
The best part is that while Otunga wouldn't be wrestling he could still pose! If that's not a reason to do this I don't know what is.

Prime Time Comedy

Last Friday WWE released Brian ‘Abraham Washington’ Jossie from his contract. The only thing that surprises me about the situation is the amount of time it took.

The reason for his release is no secret. On the July 30^th edition of Monday Night RAW (episode 1001, fact fans,) during a match between the Prime Time Players and Epico and Primo, AW made an inappropriate joke over the microphone about NBA player Kobe Bryant and rape. After realising how inappropriate the comment was AW fell silent for a few moments.

He eventually regained his composure and continued making less controversial remarks from his station at ringside. After the match he headed backstage and immediately apologised to WWE management and the performers who had been in the segment with him. Meanwhile the job of apologising to viewers was left to commentator Michael Cole. The promotion also released a formal apology after RAW went off the air via TMZ.

The brass were said to be furious with the All World proprietor, which is understandable, but the fact that he was wired up with a microphone headset at the following evening’s SmackDown taping indicated that no serious action would be taken against him.

AW has stated that there was no malicious intent behind the remark. I believe him. That still doesn’t mean it was something that could or should be overlooked.

Since being released on Friday Brian ‘AW’ Jossie has mentioned various instances of similarly controversial matterial broadcast by WWE. The examples he has given have included another comment made about Bryant by Big Show on a 2003 episode of SmackDown, John Cena making homophobic slurs (which he did regularly up until a year or so ago), fat jokes directed at Vickie Guerrero, and Vince McMahon poking fun at Bells Palsy sufferer Jim Ross.

He’s correct. None of the above should have been aired. But it doesn’t excuse his mistake, nor does pointing it out mean he will be rehired. The fact is that the above examples have not resulted in formal reprimands or firings for a reason.

Vince McMahon is the boss. As such he will do and say whatever he likes on WWE television. If he makes a comment that causes a severe backlash against the company he will issue an apology but won’t be fired. That covers the fat jokes too: they are made at Vince’s direction because it amuses him.

As for John Cena: it would take a lot for WWE to fire him. If he made a similar remark it’s likely the most he’d receive is a fine and a suspension. As WWE’s biggest merchandise seller his position within the promotion is as safe as an active wrestler’s can be.

As for Big Show making a similar comment: not only was he a more valuable performer to WWE in 2003 than Jossie is in 2012 but it was made before WWE’s shift to PG. It is the responsibility of the performer to think about whether what they’re saying will fit with the tone and direction of the company when they have a microphone in their hand.

AW wasn't an integral part of the act: he didn't even dance!

The comment had caused only a relatively minor media backlash against the federation but it wasn’t AW’s only blunder. He had also sent out a message via Twitter stating that he and the Prime Time Players supported Linda McMahon’s recent political campaign. He ended said tweet with the unorthodox hashtag “#voteordie4linda.”

Whether it was meant in jest or not doesn’t matter: it was a stupid thing to do and Jossie should understand that. He has been released in order to safeguard Linda’s political aspirations. All WWE employees are well aware of Linda’s senate campaign and should understand that it means WWE is being extra cautious regarding their media image. The guy has nobody to blame but himself.

I imagine Darren Young and Titus O’Neil will be largely unharmed by this unforeseen setback. Young is decent enough on the microphone to handle promo duties for the pair but if WWE is desperate for them to have a second then they can simply promote someone else from developmental. Byron Saxton could work in the role. Or perhaps Rosa Mendes could turn on Epico and Primo.

Whatever direction is taken with that unit I imagine it will be the original plan. The loss of a manager isn’t enough to alter WWE’s plans for the tag belts.

         
What’s next for Brian ‘AW’ Jossie? According to some the fact that he has been vocal about his release may help him to regain his job once things have blown over. Apparently Vince doesn’t rehire people who just accept a sacking. To me this seems unlikely, at least for the time being. While I can imagine this being Vince’s logic I just don’t think the promotion would be desperate to reintroduce a manager to TV.

AW’s promotion from developmental earlier in the year could be considered a test to see whether or not the manager role would still work in 2012. I believe AW did a good job in the position and made the Prime Time Players a more palatable act but he was far from a revelation. It’s difficult to imagine any decision makers in WWE desperate to have a bit-part player back on TV.

If he’s going to remain relevant within the wrestling business the most obvious place for him to seek employment is TNA. I think the chances of him getting a gig there are good. Not only is he a former WWE performer but he’s a decent talker and could perhaps attract some media attention (this is TNA, they don’t care whether media attention is good or bad).

Most importantly the soon-to-debut Aces and Eights faction provides an excellent way to introduce him. Apparently the gang is going to have a big role at Bound for Glory. AW’s no compete clause will expire around a month after that event. It would take very little effort for him to be built up as one of the mastermind’s of the angle and be revealed on an episode of IMPACT in mid-November.

The man himself has talked about pursuing a career in comedy. Judging by how well his comment on July 30^th was received I’d advise against it.

ZackDown SmackTalk 13.07.12

As you probably know, SmackDown is usually recorded on a Tuesday evening. This week that didn’t happen. Instead it was recorded after Monday’s live RAW went off the air. As a result of that the show featured a whopping forty-five minutes of ad time. In addition a large portion of the hour and fifteen minute runtime was allocated to recaps, RAW memories and various backstage segments. I would estimate that less than an hour of footage was shot in the ring.

That a show that lasted only seventy-five minutes and was the final major TV programme at the company’s disposal before a pay-per-view event (read my preview of it here) does not bode well for RAW’s upcoming weekly third hour. This should have been a show crammed with reasons for people to buy Money in the Bank.

Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise: the story of the week was that Zack Ryder was the GM. The creative highlight of this one-night deal was the show being renamed ZackDown. That may be a (sort of) clever play on words but I’d expected a lot more. ‘Long Island Iced Z’ has recently had a few run-ins with Damien Sandow but the two didn’t interact at all. ZackDown would have been the perfect opportunity to progress that mild rivalry into something more meaningful.

On a similar note WWE missed a trick by not using Tyson Kidd on this show. His surprise entry into a Money in the Bank match got a lot of fans talking about the potential of a proper push for the Calgary native. You’d think WWE would want to capitalise on that popularity and have Kidd appear as much as possible. A perfect spot for him would have been teaming with Christian. We didn’t need to see anymore from Santino.

Ryder booked his share of matches mid-show though (a GM speciality). He gave us Big Show v Great Khali and Chris Jericho v Sheamus. The battle of the giants lasted a matter of seconds and was clearly designed to get over Show’s WMD KO punch over as a dangerous finisher in time for Money in the Bank. The idea was to make people consider how easily Show could win his Money in the Bank ladder match if he KO’d his three opponents as the match begins. It probably convinced a few people that could happen, so it wasn’t a bad move.

‘Y2J’s’ clash with World Heavyweight champion Sheamus was a fairly pedestrian affair. It contained a few memorable spots but there was never any doubt that Jericho would be staring at the lights come the finish. Sheamus had to be protected before his clash with ADR.

ZackDown felt like a wasted opportunity. A guest host who is also an active member of the roster should produce an above average show and create something new for that star to do in the future. Next week will be business as usual for Zack Ryder. This show accomplished nothing.

Zack Ryder promo

Tweet 1: Let's watch tonight's SmackDown!

Tweet 2: How do you start SmackDown right? Send out Zack Ryder as GM for the night. Ummmm...
Tweet 3: "I have no idea what you just said" - Michael Cole to Booker T
Tweet 4: "ZackDown" starts with "the world's largest fist pump." Nice to see Ryder has his priorities right.
Tweet 5: Albertoooooooooooooooooooooooo Deeeeeeeeeeeelll Riiiiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooooooooo!!
Tweet 6: ADR thinks winning the WHC will allow him to rule SmackDown. How does that work exactly?

Alberto Del Rio v Sin Cara

Tweet 7: Sin Cara really needs to be sent back to CMLL. Or NXT. He doesn't know how to work...

Tweet 8: His red and white outfit is better than the blue and gold one. Puts me in mind of Jushin Liger.
Tweet 9: Mathews mentions Cara's in MITB as if he has a chance of winning. He doesn't.
Tweet 10: Booker just said ADR can't make any cheap shots in tonight's match. He started by jumping Sin Cara! WWE needs to sort its commentary out.
Tweet 11: That's not news though.
Tweet 12: Sin Cara wins about as much as Val Venis circa 2000.
Tweet 13: What would happen to the lights if The Undertaker came to the ring during a Sin Cara match?
Tweet 14: #wewantKharma is trending. I agree with that. If she really has been released WWE may as well officially fold the Divas division.
Tweet 15: "You can't sleep on this guy Sin Cara cos he can do somethin' special" - Booker T on Sin Cara
Tweet 16: Cara taps out to the cross arm breaker. A win for Sin Cara would have been surprising seeing as ADR's challenging for a title on Sunday.

Alberto Del Rio works over Jushin 'Thunder' Liger... or is it Sin Cara?

Tout ad

Tweet 17: WWE and John Cena are touting Tout. How about promoting some new talent?

Tweet 18: Nah, get some tiresome fans chatting instead.

Zack Ryder, Big Show and The Great Khali backstage

Tweet 19: Zack Ryder backstage. Teddy Long thinks he's doing a great job. Why is he even there? What is his job?

Tweet 20: And there's Khali doing Ryder's catchphrase. Just a mess of vowels and consonants.

Darren Young v Primo

Tweet 21: AW and the PTPs. I'd like to see AW do a gimmick where his headpiece is hooked up to the commentators so he can join in on play-by-play.

Tweet 22: I do enjoy watching Rosa Mendes.
Tweet 23: AW's headpiece is hooked up as a microphone instead, so everything he says can be heard. This is far better.
Tweet 24: There so much potential in this gimmick. AW isn't as naturally as funny as Kevin Steen though (he used to do this on ROH's HDNet show).
Tweet 25: A leg drop, an elbow drop and a fist drop? That's being pushed as a false finish now? C'mon...
Tweet 26: "Primo steals one!" - Josh Mathews after Primo pinned Darren Young clean in the middle of the ring following a rollup
Tweet 27: I love it when Cole refuses to look at Booker because he knows he'll laugh.

For those keeping score Epico, Primo and Rosa are now babyfaces

Zack Ryder, Sheamus and Chris Jericho backstage

Tweet 28: Jericho is laying into Ryder's fake tan. He's clearly lathered in the stuff himself, plus he's wearing a stupid jacket.

Tweet 29: And the less said about his leather trousers the better.
Tweet 30: "It'll be like two monster trucks or Transformers colliding" - Josh Mathews on Big Show v Great Khali
Tweet 31: Does he know what machines are?
Tweet 32: Jericho v Sheamus could be good. Depends how sloppy 'Y2J's' feeling.

Christian and Santino v Dolph Ziggler and Cody Rhodes

Tweet 33: Christian and Santino versus…?

Tweet 34: Ziggler! #ShowOff #heel #heelsdoitbetter #bestontheroster
Tweet 35: Ziggler and Rhodes. The two likeliest candidates to win the WHC MITB if you ask me.
Tweet 36: How many times will wrestlers point at the briefcase hanging over the ring during this match do we think?
Tweet 37: They’re at it already!
Tweet 38: Booker's talking about never having won a Money in the Bank match but having tried to do so. I cannot remember him EVER being in one.
Tweet 39: He probably was at some point but he wasn't a regular in them. Commentary is stupid tonight.
Tweet 40: Booker has NEVER been more than filler in Money in the Bank, if he's been in it at all. The guy doesn't even know his own career...
Tweet 41: Heels win via Zig Zag. Dolph getting the win on SmackDown further convinces me it will be Cody's turn to go over on Sunday.
Tweet 42: #ReksvsRyback is trending. That's a solid trend right there.

Big Show v The Great Khali

Tweet 43: Oh good, now we get to see Big Show v Khali. Aces.

Tweet 44: The Great Khali can't even walk convincingly.
Tweet 45: That shot of Big Show was meant to show him warming up but it looked like he was dancing to Khali's music.
Tweet 46: Khali's reign as World Heavyweight champion is when the belt jumped the shark.
Tweet 47: Thankfully that was a short match. Show goes over via WMD. The bout was clearly designed to get that move over for Sunday.

Tyler Reks v Ryback

Tweet 48: Reks and Hawkins get a televised entrance this week. What sinister magicks have been invoked to make that happen?

Tweet 49: Reks will hand Ryback his very first loss. The defeats he suffered during his time in Nexus don't count apparently...
Tweet 50: Ryback is selling? OMGs.
Tweet 51: According to Josh Mathews, Ryback eats eight to ten large meals a day. More needs to be made of Mathews' Ryback fetish.
Tweet 52: Ryback handles Reks with ease. I think we'll see both members of the MidCard Mafia tackle "the undefeated one" on Sunday.

Another Tout ad

Tweet 53: The fan who picked the unveiling of the Higher Power as his favourite RAW moment is a smart lad. Classic WWE. Classic Vince.

Justin Gabriel v Damien Sandow

Tweet 54: Damien Sandow v Justin Gabriel. I won't be satisfied unless 'The Self-Professed Intellectual Savior of the Masses' goes over.

Tweet 55: Rolling through the Russian leg sweep was a nice spot. Smoothly done.
Tweet 56: Sandow is very good at getting his character over with limited TV time. #celebratorycartwheel

Chris Jericho v Sheamus

Tweet 57: FELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Tweet 58: SmackDown… is… JERICHO!!
Tweet 59: "Chris Jericho, one of the all-time greats" - Booker T as Jericho played the cowardly heel and rolled to the outside
Tweet 60: I'm picking 'Great White' to win this.
Tweet 61: Lionsault. Rare for that move to not be met with a pair of knees.
Tweet 62: Sheamus unsubtly readjusting his trunks there.
Tweet 63: Sheamus completely no sold the Walls of Jericho. Poor form.
Tweet 64: Why does a trembling hand indicate that a wrestler is close to tapping out?
Tweet 65: "What a match! What a match!" - Michael Cole on the distinctly average Sheamus v Jericho match
Tweet 66: Sheamus jumping off the top rope into a (sort of) Codebreaker was a nice spot.
Tweet 67: 'Y2J' charges into a Brogue Kick, resulting in a Sheamus victory. Not a bad match but it certainly didn't warrant Cole's overexcitement.
Tweet 68: Del Rio sneaks up on Sheamus and knocks him off the stage with some kicks. Now he has the cross armbreaker on Sheamus against the stage.
Tweet 69: This shouldn't pose a problem for the champion. He no sells getting crushed by cars, remember?