Fantasy Booker: Survivor Series 2015

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

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

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

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

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

This match feels overdue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Push this man.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

First round RAW matches:

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

First round SmackDown matches:

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

Second round matches:

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

Semi-final matches:

Roman Reigns defeats Alberto Del Rio
Kevin Owens defeats Cesaro

Final match:

Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens and Sheamus

ADR: The Potential Return

So the current #hotrumour is that WWE is interested in re-signing Alberto Del Rio. If you've lost track he's the guy who was released from his contract in August of last year (feels like a lot longer ago) for assaulting a member of the production crew backstage after they'd allegedly made racially derogatory comments about him. A response which, honestly, seems pretty just.

Yeah, he looks fetch but ADR didn't fit in too well in LU.

Since being released Del Rio has changed his name to Alberto El Patron, capitalising on WWE's baffling decision not to trademark the 'El Patron' nickname he used during his time in the company. His most prominent appearances have come in Lucha Underground, ROH and AAA. Truth be told he actually seemed a little out of place in LU, both in terms of character and wrestling style. In ROH he wrestled a handful of very good matches in early 2015. Then he stopped being booked for whatever reason (it's likely that his work with the other promotions mentioned here were behind that), a pity as 'The Essence of Excellence' felt like a good fit in the Land of Honor. His AAA work has seemed to go down better though. The promotion is clearly happy to have him as they put their top title, the mega championship, on him in December 2014 and he's still got it now.

You may be wandering why WWE would want to rehire someone they released for attacking a co-worker less than eighteen months ago. The answer here is simple: they have also lost Rey Mysterio and haven't managed to build up a new star to market to their Latin American fans. They need the star power.

Which is odd because they have the perfect guy on the roster. Kalisto is young, talented, wrestles the style, is the nationality required, and wears a mask. He's a significantly better worker now than a guy like Rey Mysterio is. He may not be as breathtaking or revolutionary as Mysterio in his prime but nobody will ever be that good (or at least that significant) again. The aerial antics of 90s Mysterio have been replicated, standardised and exaggerated upon too much for that. But Kalisto would still be a good choice for WWE to push if they want to have marketable Hispanic star.

Push this man.

That nothing much has been done with Kalisto is odd. He received a call-up to the main roster the night after WrestleMania 31 and... that's it really. He and Sin Cara, as the Lucha Dragons, have been booked as just another team. They've only wrestled on two pay-per-views, Elimination Chamber and SummerSlam (and Chamber technically wasn't even a PPV). They've not been protected or presented as anything special, nor has the team been booked to make it clear that Kalisto is a singles star in waiting. Had they been given more to do Kalisto would probably be in a good place to wrestle in prominent singles matches on the company's upcoming Mexico tour and act as a draw for the Fed.

It may be WWE's own fault they haven't replaced ADR and Mysterio but that is ultimately irrelevant. All that matters is that they haven't been replaced. Bringing back Del Rio is a good enough answer in the short term. He's an established name and could fill the top Latin star role as well as giving the top of the card a welcome fresh name to play with. If he were willing to go back, and chances are he would be for the right money (and one thing WWE isn't short of is money) and some form of resolution regarding his initial release, he could help WWE. But if he does they should also help themselves and build up Kalisto anyway. Because he's the guy with the long in-ring future who could be selling merch in ten years.

The VaudeHipsters

I like The Vaudevillains. They're talented guys who play well off one another and work well as a pairing. But their current gimmick is markedly different to the ones they had when they made their debuts and that's worth reflecting on. And it's one that may ultimately keep them as NXT guys, as opposed to WWE main roster guys.

The excellent 'Drama King' phase.

Aiden English first became a featured NXT performer in the latter half of 2013. He was a singer. Specifically a music hall singer (although he didn't actually sing in music halls what with being a wrestler ad all), emphatically not the sort of pseudo rock star wrestling has had an abundance of over the years (Chris Jericho, I'm looking your way, pal). And he actually could and did sing. He also had an entrance of above average flamboyance: he'd sing his way to the ring and be thrown roses after winning.

Aside from a rambling, hard to engage with rivalry against Big Cass there wasn't a great deal going on for English at this point. He clearly wasn't going to progress as a singles act. He lacked the physique, gripping promo skills or indy rep it takes to stand out in NXT as a lone star. Which is why someone made the smart decision to pair him up with someone as a tag guy.

That someone was, obviously, Simon Gotch. After a period of inactivity on the televised show English returned to Full Sail with Gotch and announced that they were The Vaudevillains, a clever name that acknowledged the music hall influences of 'The Drama King's' singles run and the Edwardian tropes of Gotch, who was sporting a waxed-up moustache and doing a circus strongman mixed with silent movie star routine. NXT has since become a show that has a healthy number of characters on it but at the time this level of detail for guys not at the top of the show stood out. It was engaging and helped them stand out. Which is the point, of course.

The pair were initially presented as bad guys. This worked for a while, mostly due to the strength of English's previous solo run. In terms of heelishness Gotch did very little for the tandem. His mute performance gave him an air of innocence and charm, not exactly the most intimidating, villainous traits a wrestler can have. The Full Sail crowd took to him even while they were still booing English.

The hipster lads.

Gradually they warmed to English too. Their various backstage skits aping the style of silent movies during their feud with the Lucha Dragons played a role in that opinion shift. Their music was a big part of it too. Catchy and carefree it encouraged people to clap along and engage with the entrance. Basically the two were never going to stay heels because pretty much everything they were given, from the above to feuding with the technically proficient and flashy but devoid of personality Lucha boys, was something that drew viewers in in a positive manner.

After their unsuccessful challenges against Sin Cara and Kalisto the 'villains were given a brief hiatus from NXT. They returned in June, fully embracing the babyface role and launching into a slow-building, eventually really very good series of matches with tag champs (Wesley) Blake and (Buddy) Murphy. There's a chance it could flare up again but that seems unlikely. The programme peaked at Takeover: Brooklyn on August 22 where English and Gotch dethroned BAMF for the NXT tag straps.

It was at that Takeover show that they were defined as hipsters for the first time. Which had been glaringly obvious for a while it just needed someone to verbalise it. They've got the joviality and facial hair generally associated with that subculture. It's not a bad move but it is a shame. A hipster tag team makes a great deal of sense but is it more than a music hall singer and a circus strongman teaming up to enjoy sepia entrances and a spot of wrestling? I don't think so. 

The WWE Tag Team Division's Battle Against Fate

WWE's tag team division hasn't had an easy time of it this year. This is a shame. There's clearly been effort put into making it worthwhile and a worthwhile tag division would be most welcome. It would help WWE's TV product to feel more interesting and lively. It would also give the many lower cards wrestlers who currently have nothing going on something to do.

The Usos disappeared after WrestleMania because Jey suffered a shoulder injury. Their status as the company's longest-standing, most reliable unit likely altered plans for the division. It's all too easy to imagine that they were pegged to work with New Day, who would officially go heel within a month of 'Mania. To an extent their unexpected hiatus was probably a good thing. It's all too easy to imagine that, had the Usos been available, we wouldn't have seen as much of the various other units on the roster.

Sadly the main team I (and probably most other people) would have wanted to see featured also disappeared due to an injury. Tyson Kidd suffered what has apparently been described as a freak neck and spinal injury in a dark match against the newly signed Samoa Joe in early June, ending his run alongside Cesaro. Weeks later Erick Rowan tore his bicep at a house show (or, if you prefer, live event). He'd reunited with his Wyatt Family partner Luke Harper in May and it seems likely, now that SummerSlam's been and gone, that the three original Wyatt Family members were to be put back together for a six man tag against Ambrose, Reigns and someone else (Sting, according to the rumour mill) at 'The Hottest Event of the Summer'.

These losses were in addition to the unfocused use of The Ascension and the Lucha Dragons. Konor and Viktor were never going to amount to a great deal in WWE but had they been used with more care earlier in the year they could have been a far more over act by now. The Dragons, on the other hand, should have been given far more to do and received some protection from the writing team. They're an exciting team with obvious merchandise potential. Kalisto is very clearly a singles act waiting to happen who could be that Top Latin Star™ role we're always hearing WWE want. He may not have the name value or status of Rey Mysterio but he's ten times the worker Mysterio is these days. And he wears a cooler mask! What more do they want?

The tag division had mostly been left to the Prime Time Players and New Day. Focusing on two teams is nothing new. It's been the standard approach from WWE for years now. But it's disappointing because they seemed to be setting up a positively thriving division with the Usos, Cesaro and Kidd, the Wyatts, New Day, and the Lucha Dragons. New Day and the PTPs are very engaging teams who connect with audiences well in their respective roles and it would have been nice for them to have had a deeper roster to work with, even though the PTPs wouldn't have been receiving as much attention as they have been.

The good news is that despite all of these injuries and scuppered plans WWE is forging ahead with making doubles ranks worthwhile. The post-SummerSlam August 24 episode of Monday Night RAW saw a return and a debut that should and could impact on the division. 

These lads know how to win belts.

The returnees were the Dudley Boyz. Which may not mean anything to some people because it's actually been ten years since they were last employed by WWE and allowed to use that name. For the last decade they've been Team 3D in TNA. They're former twenty-four time world tag team champions, having held the WWE tag team titles once, the WWE world tag team titles eight times, the ECW tag team titles eight times, the WCW tag team titles once (although that was when the belts were under WWF ownership), the TNA tag team titles (a surprisingly low) two times, the NWA tag team titles once, the HUSTLE super tag team championship once, and the IWGP tag team titles two times. How many of these reigns are recognised by WWE is anybody's guess. I'd assume they'd count the WWE, WCW and ECW reigns but they could surprise us and acknowledge others.

In addition to being the most decorated double act to ever hit the wrestling biz the Dudleys are twenty year veterans and were a significant part of the Attitude Era. That Maggle Cole said that the tag scene had gotten more interesting when the Duds hit the ring to attack New Day and have a staredown with the Prime Time Players indicates that their return will be a permanent one, or at least not something that's over after a few weeks.

I'm interested to see what's done with Bubba and Devon. Matches against New Day and the Prime Time Players seem likely and both could be good. I'm be particularly interested in seeing them tackle heat magnets New Day which, judging by the last week of television, seems like a match we'll get at Night of Champions. A match with the Usos could also be fruitful considering the big bumps Jimmy and Jey frequently take. It's just a pity The Ascension weren't afforded better booking. If they had they'd probably be ideal opponents for the Dudleys right now.

The Wyatt Lads.

Monday's debut was Braun Strowman. He's a developmental guy who's been under contract since May 2013. Naturally he's been based at the Performance Center for the last year. Although he never appeared in a match on NXT he did feature regularly for a while as the large Spartan in Adam Rose's Exotic Express entourage. That he never got an official debut on the developmental programme likely means that WWE are still willing to have guys bypass a period of televised learning if the right spot presents itself on the main roster. This is a good thing. It means they're in a better position to surprise us.

Strowman joined Wyatt and Harper in attacking and ultimately laying out Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Presumably the Shield lads will recruit a third man to help them in their battle against the Wyatt Family. Cesaro would be a nice addition, but I'd take Dolph Ziggler or anyone vaguely talented with not much to do right now. Once that feud's done it seems reasonable to assume that the Wyatts will stay together and two members will form a regular tag team. As much as I love Luke Harper he deserves to be the number two singles guy of that group. Strowman and Rowan would be a good pairing. Rowan is painfully bland and Strowman seems green around the edges. Pairing them would help cover these failings and give the tag division more bodies.

The summer of 2015 could have featured a great tag division without the spate of injuries we saw. But there's nothing to stop WWE getting their plans back on track and factoring in the Dudleys and an altered Wyatt line-up. A division with New Day, the Dudleys, and the Usos on top and the Wyatt Family, the Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, and the Prime Time Players in supporting roles sounds pretty good to me.

The Man Beast Does NXT

Back in February Terry 'Rhyno' Gerin returned to WWE. He had previously been employed by the company from March 2001, after the closure of ECW, to 2005, when he was released following an altercation with his wife at the after party of WrestleMania 21. During his initial WWE run he was firmly a mid-card act, albeit one who was protected more than most and received more opportunities to outshine his peers. Since his return Rhyno has been cast in an entirely different role, that of the resident veteran of NXT, the popular developmental brand that is edging further away from its developmental remit by the day.

Putting Rhyno in NXT has been a good move. It makes NXT seem important and legitimises it's claim at being a hot brand by having a guy who's been around for so long wanting to wrestle and be champion there. It gives the younger guys someone experienced to work with and learn from. And it's provided Steve Corino's former 'Rookie Monster' with a deserved career renaissance.

"Bring me Cyrus to do my talking!"

The first two are things I've covered before and are, in truth, the most important things about Rhyno's work in NXT. He's essentially an extra trainer who actually gets into the ring and has televised matches with guys, as opposed to helping them lay things out behind the scenes. It's useful and necessary work. But it's Rhyno getting a fair shake that interests me more because throughout his career 'The Man Beast' has come close to getting the top line treatment several times, always just missing out in favour of other guys who better fit the mould of what wrestling companies look for in their main eventers.

Look back at his first big push. Paul Heyman introduced Rhyno to ECW and built him up as a near unstoppable juggernaut. He steamrolled top star Rob Van Dam and was credited with causing the broken leg that put him out of action. He powered through Yoshihiro Tajiri to win the television champion, was positioned as the company's lead heel, and won the world title at final pay-per-view Guilty as Charged 2001. ECW went out of business just as Rhyno was about to become the focal point of the company, including a presumably lengthy reign as the world champ.

The theme continued in WWE. Within his first month he had one of the most enjoyable hardcore title matches ever with Raven (Backlash 2001) and had great singles matches against The Rock and Kurt Angle during the Invasion storyline. This in addition to being one of the names chosen to represent the ill-fated alliance of WCW and ECW in the main event of the monstrously popular InVasion pay-per-view. His good fortune came crashing to a halt after he suffered a neck injury in October and was written off TV for surgery.

When he returned in February 2003, over a year later, he was not afforded the same opportunities as he had been before (after a promising rumour that he'd be brought back as the bodyguard of Matt Hardy came to nothing). He was shunted from a team with Chris Benoit to a feud with Chris Benoit and then into another team, this one with Tajiri. By the time te incident at 'Mania 21 rolled around Rhyno was just another face in the crowd, although it's worth noting he still routinely got better than average responses.

Rhyno's non-WWE career was characterised by a typically lacklustre stint in TNA and an underwhelming stint in Ring of Honor. There are only two things about his time there that stand out in my mind. One is him winning the NWA world championship (TNA's top prize at the time) from Jeff Jarrett only to lose it back to him two days later. He was popular at the time so this was a particularly dumb move: instead of capitalising on someone's connection with the audience and trying to make a new star TNA chose to troll people instead¹. The other was his worked shoot outrage at WWE resurrecting ECW as a third brand in 2006, which culminated in a hilarious skit in which Rhyno burned the "original" ECW world title belt, safely wrapped up so we couldn't see that it was, at best, a replica. Natch. He did little in ROH besides act as an enforcer for heel stables, although he did get to wrestle a rough 'n' tough match with world champion Kevin Steen.

The routinely strong booking of NXT should ensure another setback doesn't befall Rhyno, allowing him to have the strong run he's deserved to have for years. He's already had the chance to show off his better-than-I-remembered promo skills and work opposite top lads Finn Bálor and Sami Zayn. He's had impressive matches with Kalisto and Bull Dempsey, and he has of course given Baron 'Barry' Corbin the longest, most enjoyable match of his (admittedly short) career so far at Takeover: Unstoppable. And it's being made very clear Rhyno is a candidate for a world title shot. Long may this continue. 

***

¹ This inability to gauge what their audience wants is why TNA is going down the tubes so spectacularly now.

The Divisional Approach

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

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

AMERICA!!

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

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

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

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

NXTweet 01.04.15

Sami Zayn returns! Team Jordillinger implodes! Emma acts heelish again! And Hideo Itami and Tyler Breeze continue their feud in a two-out-of-three falls match! All this... and more!

Intro

Tweet 1: I'm watching NXT... now.

Tweet 2: Coming up: 53.40 of goodness. Minus ads.
Tweet 3: Dedicating this episode to the memory of CJ Parker's developmental contract.

Sami Zayn returns

Tweet 4: I'm just noticing that Sami Zayn has disproportionately large hands.

Tweet 5: Lad in the audience sporting a flat cap there. It's catching on, Sami! #nevergiveup
Tweet 6: Basically Sami Zayn returned after about a month and a half off and said he's going to have a rematch. Lovely stuff.

Rhyno v Unnamed Bloke

Tweet 7: 'The Ladbeast' Rhyno.

Wrestling in a T-shirt. What have you become, Rhyno?

Tweet 8: Disappoints this year's 'Mania didn't feature a story about how Rhyno Gored his wife in a hotel foyer.
Tweet 9: "It doesn't matter!" - 'The Brahma Rhyno'

Dana Brooke video

Tweet 10: We're all agreed Dana Brooke is being brought in to replace Natalya as the resident strong style blonde who uses Bret Hart's colour scheme, yeah?

Footage of Kevin Owens after his match with Finn Bálor last week

Tweet 11: Wandering what Owens did after he retained the title last week? He say backstage and had a laugh. Good for him. Good for Kevin.

Emma v Bayley

Tweet 12: Emma getting her babyface bubble intro then not doing the skin the cat entrance. Lol, mate.

Tweet 13: The commentary team are acknowledging catcalls from the audience! What witchcraft is this?!
Tweet 14: Vince will explode when he hears that happened.

Roll-up for the win, bro.

Tweet 15: Disappointed that the audience aren't more into this match. It's good and Emma and Bayley are both over.
Tweet 16: Maybe they don't know to treat Emma as a heel after her slap work the other week.
Tweet 17: Emma's going to carry on losing. Eventually she'll be pushed over the edge and unveil a Great Muta-esque heel persona.

Devin Taylor interviews Becky Lynch

Tweet 18: Becky Lynch. Does anybody care about Becky Lynch? No. Not even Becky Lynch cares about Becky Lynch.

Tweet 19: "Why hasn't Becky Lynch had her shot?" - Becky Lynch
Tweet 20: The reason I dislike Lynch is that she comes out with generic heel promos like that. Impossible to believe she believes it.
Tweet 21: Also the rocker chick gimmick is deeply clichéd. And she doesn't seem to believe in that either.

Lucha Dragons v Blake and Murphy

Tweet 22: Still loving Blake and Murphy's 90's kids' TV theme music.

Tweet 23: If there had ever been a rave seen on Power Rangers this is the music they'd have used.
Tweet 24: I like the way Kalisto's really energetic and happy and Sin Cara half-heartedly goes through his pose routine.
Tweet 25: They should change his ring name to Rey Kalisto. Just to troll Mysterio.
Tweet 26: "I got him!" Wesley 'Jeff Jarrett' Blake

LUCHA! LUCHA! LUCHA! LUCHA!

Tweet 27: Blake and Murphy should be put in dungarees and called up to the main roster as Bray Wyatt's new henchmen.
Tweet 28: On the subject of Wyatt's henchmen, Rowan needs to be repackaged as an unkempt psychology lecturer. Signature foreign object: Rubik's cube.
Tweet 29: Blake and Murphy winning via shenanigans, a running suplex and a frog splash. That was the best bit of the match and that's upsetting.

Devin Taylor interviews Sami Zayn, Rhyno appears and grunts

Tweet 30: That Rhyno and Zayn confrontation was erotic.

The Mega Powers Explode: Jason Jordan v Tye Dillinger

Tweet 31: RIP Team Jordillinger. Can't believe this match is happening. Heartbreaking end of an era.

Tweet 32: Jordan's busting out a singlet for his singles run. Hoping he adopts Jerry Lawler's tear down a strap routine.

Saddening scenes as Jordan and Dillinger face off.

Tweet 33: Within seconds BOTH straps are down. Jason Jordan is out of control!
Tweet 34: Jordan wins. Erm... good?

Tyler Breeze v Hideo Itami

Tweet 35: Fifteen minutes left to fit in a video package, entrances and a two-out-of-three falls match? Good luck with that.

Tweet 36: Maybe someone will go over with two straight falls. Probs not though. That's not a very WWE approach.
Tweet 37: And I think it's worth reminding ourselves sometimes that as good as NXT is it's still ultimately WWE.
Tweet 38: Look! Look, everyone! It's Tyler! #swoon
Tweet 39: I popped for the selfie stick. #notlikethat
Tweet 40: Disappointed Hideo's not carried over KENTA's love of pork pie hats.
Tweet 41: KICKS.

The power of kick!

Tweet 42: Itami gets the first fall via kicking.
Tweet 43: I'll tell you what. This buff referee needs to slim down a bit. He's upstaging the rasslers.
Tweet 44: Logically, the first fall of two-out-of-three fall matches should be roughly the length of a regular match and it rarely is.
Tweet 45: "Playing possum they call it!" - Corey Graves on playing possum
Tweet 46: This match is good though, innit.
Tweet 47: I like Hideo's hair and I don't care who knows it.
Tweet 48: Breeze winning is a pleasant surprise. That's part of what makes NXT so enjoyable though. The main guys are kept equal.
Tweet 49: Still not wild about the Beauty Shot as a finish though. He needs a DDT variant called the Botox Injection. I've said this before...
Tweet 50: Good episode, everyone. Good hustle.

That RAW Recap 30.03.15

The more I think about it the more I think WrestleMania 31 (reviewed here) is one of my favourite instalments ever. There were things I disliked about it but the good far outweighed the bad and the quality of even the worst stuff (Big Show winning the battle royal, for example) was so high that as a show it deftly overshadowed the last several 'Mania cards. It's still too early to tell but it might even be that this show is my second favourite WrestleMania behind X7, a show I, like many others, hold in incredibly high regard.

The last few years have seen the RAW after WrestleMania more lauded than the big spectacle its followed. Whether it was The Shield saving Daniel Bryan from a beating at the hands of a reformed Evolution in 2014, Dolph Ziggler's electrifying cash-in in 2013, or Brock Lesnar returning to F5 John Cena in 2012, RAW has always had something to rival 'The Showcase of Immortals'. The excellence of WrestleMania 31 meant that for the first time in years RAW was going to struggle to be the more highly regarded of the two shows.

Rematch clause, bitch.

Things got off to a strong start when Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman marched out to the ring. Heyman introduced them, reminded everyone of what had happened the night before (because I'm sure there were loads of people watching RAW who'd chosen not to watch or read about WrestleMania), and announced that Brock Lesnar was enacting his rematch clause right then and there. Instead of new WWE champion Seth Rollins it was Stephanie McMahon who answered the pair. She informed them Rollins was still flying back from his early morning TV appearance on the east coast but that she felt certain he'd accept Lesnar's challenge upon arrival.

As an opening segment this was great. It gave the crowd Lesnar, the one person they really wanted to see, positioned him as an official babyface, and set something up for later in the programme. The writing team tries to do this fairly often but they usually have no idea what people want to see as a show's thread. I suspect this was more happy accident that considered insight, but the result's the same.

The first match saw new Intercontinental champion Daniel Bryan defend against Dolph Ziggler. Going with Ziggler versus Bryan in this spot was a clever move. It gave the crowd two more guys they cared about and the pair were awarded enough time to have a satisfying match. In storyline terms it did seem a bit off that 'The Show Off' got the first shot at D-Bry while the former IC champ Bad News Barrett was relegated to the commentary desk.

Oh, Sheamus. Who did this to you?

Bryan won after surviving a super kick and a Zig Zag and hitting the running knee. Bad News then attacked both Bryan and Ziggler before a returning Sheamus ran out to chase him off. He was sporting a ridiculous Mohawk and beard beads. In a move that shocked precisely no one 'Great White' attacked Bryan and Ziggles too, then cut a two word promo. "Oi'm back." He didn't even toss in a "fella".

An eight man tag match followed that. Cesaro and Tyson Kidd teamed with The Ascension to tangle with New Day representatives Big E and Kofi Kingston (Xavier Woods was again on standing-at-ringside duty) and the debuting Lucha Dragons. Kalisto proved incredibly popular with the live crowd. They immediately broke into an NXT chant and stayed invested in Kalisto throughout the match. The Cesaro v Kalisto exchanges were the easy highlight and made it clear that Kalisto could work as the company's new lead masked Latin star. 'The King of Flight' got the win for his team when he pinned Viktor off the Salida del Sol.

After a slow mo video of Adrian Neville performing the Red Arrow Brock Lesnar returned. Seth Rollins followed him. That the WWE world championship match was supposedly kicking off RAW's second hour set alarm bells ringing. The match clearly wasn't going to happen at this point because it was a natural main event. It was only going to happen here if an angle was planned.

The angle we got was something special. Rollins backed out of the ring at the beginning of the match and announced that he was jetlagged and his foot hurt a bit so he wasn't going to be defending the title against Lesnar. This triggered one of the most furious rampages in wrestling history from 'The Beast'. He grabbed Rollins from ringside and tossed him back into the ring. There he tried to German suplex him but Rollins landed on his feet and hit an enziguri, which Lesar no-sold.

Rollins again left the ring and tried to run through the crowd and was again caught by the former champion. Lesnar went for an F5 through the announce table but Noble and Mercury saved Rollins. Lesnar clotheslined the pair of them, giving the champ enough time to dive over the barricade and run backstage.

RIP Michael Cole.

Lesnar hurled the announced desk onto its side in frustration, crushing JBL and Booker T. Then he grabbed Michael Cole (to thunderous cheers) and took him into the ring to hit him with an F5. Not satisfied with killing WWE's former lead heel Brock grabbed an indy guy who was cosplaying as a cameraman at ringside. This brought out Steph again, demanding 'The Pain' put the man down. Lesnar did so with an F5.

Steph screeched about Lesnar' actions being unacceptable and suspended him. Lesnar paced back and forth in the ring, Heyman trying to reason with him. For a moment it felt like they were trying to tease Lesnar hoisting Heyman up for an F5 but that didn't happen. Instead the crowd chanted "One more time!" so Heyman called an audible and told Lesnar to F5 the camera lad again. Lesnar obliged and then stormed backstage with the crowd chanting his name.

This was another great sequence. It kept Lesnar as the unstoppable monster, made Rollins look like a complete coward, and created a logical reason for Lesnar's next sabbatical (necessitated by his light contract). This was the best thing on the show.

Sadly things went downhill from there. Damien Mizdow's win over Stardust was enjoyable because the audience was so into Mizdow. The Miz's post-match attack went down well for the same reason. Curtis Axel versus the debuting 'Don't Call Me Adrian' Neville was also warmly received although the match was too short to be anything particularly special.

Does the United States title mean more after this match? Not really.

Surprisingly, it was John Cena's open challenge that stopped the audience's buzz. Cena himself was greeted with a strong mixed reaction, as is always the case the night after 'Mania. Dean Ambrose got a loud response when he came out to face him. But once the match started the audience just died. They weren't as into the match as they had been the rest of the show, presumably because people would have rather seen Ambrose do something less obviously designed to simply get him on the show and seen Cena confronted by Russian killdozer Rusev. Cena won with an AA, the inevitability of which may also have harmed the crowd's response to the match as a whole.

Backstage, Renee Young asked Seth Rollins for his views on Brock Lesnar. Before he could give much of an answer Randy Orton showed up to remind us of his existence and to declare that he was going after 'The Future's' title. Rollins booked a six man tag main event with Kane and Big Show as his partners. This left Orton approximately half an hour to find two partners, the idea being that this would be hard as he's not a popular guy.

AJ Lee, Paige and Naomi defeated the Bellas and Natalya when Naomi pinned Divas champion Nikki with the Rear View. In a locker room Ryback approached Orton and talked to him about eating. This seemed to signify that he was going to help Orty out and team with him. Rusev returned to his winning ways in a match against Goldust. This match felt like what it was: an excuse to have Rusev on the show without getting him involved with Cena.

Gold piping. Gold belt. Rollins has started liking gold.

The main event saw Randy Orton, Ryback and Roman Reigns defeat Rollins, Show and Kane when Reigns speared 'The Big Red Machine'. When you stop and think about it Reigns being in this match was odd. It was a last minute addition to the show, meaning that had Rollins not made the match Reigns wouldn't have been booked but Curtis Axel an Goldust would. The crowd clearly weren't interested in the match. They amused themselves by performing a Mexican wave and performing chants for various NXT stars, including Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Hideo Itami and Enzo Amore. I don't blame them. This was an uninspired main event. Things should have been reworked so that the Lesnar angle closed the show.

For the first time in years WrestleMania was easily better than the RAW that proceeded it. Everything that happened with Lesnar was great, and the less-is-more approach taken with Reigns is what should have been done all along. But there wasn't enough on offer to come anywhere close to competing with 'The Granddaddy of Them All'. 2015 was the year WrestleMania took back its crown.

NXTweet 18.03.15

This is the first NXT episode ever recorded outside of Florida. Discounting the original-concept NXT, obvs. Bliss v Banks is the highlight.

Intro

Tweet 1: I've got my coffee. I am now watching NXT.

Tweet 2: "The road called. NXT answered!" - NXT's gritty voiceover lad
Tweet 3: I am hyped for some fat guys trying out for NXT and being mercilessly mocked by the non-televised meatheads.

Tyler Breeze v Kalisto

Tweet 4: Kalisto seamlessly slipping into the irritating Latin stereotype role previously held by Rey Mysterio.

Tweet 5: OMG IT'S TYLER!! #swoon
Tweet 6: Several thousand dollars for the selfie stick. Yep, that's completely believable.
Tweet 7: I'm immediately wondering if ROH could run this building.
Tweet 8: The referee keeps touching Breeze. There's totes something going on there.
Tweet 9: Yeah Kalisto's good and all but he's still massively annoying.
Tweet 10: The supermodel kick as Kalisto was handspringing though...

Gorgeous move.

Tweet 11: "Tyler Breeze is stomping a hole through Kalisto right here!" - Corey Graves, getting one of the most basic homage calls in wrestling wrong
Tweet 12: Breeze is stomping a mud hole in Kalisto and by God he's walking it dry!
Tweet 13: Breeze had to go over there tbh. They did a good job keeping us guessing though.

Video looking at Kevin Owens v Finn Bálor, featuring Alex Riley

Tweet 14: Video hyping Bálor v Owens here. Has Bálor been on since he beat Kendrick?

Tweet 15: When even was that?
Tweet 16: Another airing of Alex Riley's "I'm a man" line. Doesn't get any better than that.
Tweet 17: They swerved us, bro! This video's about Alex Riley's comeback from the announce desk that nobody except him cares about!
Tweet 18: Genuinely thinking this will be the best match Riley's ever had.

Alexa Bliss backstage

Tweet 19: Alexa Bliss talking about excitement there.

Tweet 20: #feelings for Alexa Bliss, mate.

Arnold Classic video package

Tweet 21: Straight into the coverage of the Arnold Classic with this...

Tweet 22: Blake and Murphy posing with sick kids. I bet the kids LOVED that.
Tweet 23: Schwarzenegger shaking hands. Some bloke talking about people contributing to the world. This is all hilariously pointless...
Tweet 24: Maybe pointless is harsh. Self-congratulatory though.
Tweet 25: That Arnie promo made it worth it.
Tweet 26: Oh Lord...

Tweet 27: "That gold would look really good around Hulk Hogan's waist" - Hulk Hogan on the NXT championship
Tweet 28: From anyone else I'd think that's a harmless comment made in passing. From Hogan...

Finn Bálor and Alex Riley backstage

Tweet 29: Backstage Bálor tells Riley he's going to watch him tonight. Riley says he wants him to watch. Powerful, erotic stuff.

Wesley Blake v Big Cass

Tweet 30: Blake and Murphy's 90s kids' TV entrance music gets me every time. These too are so unbelievably generic and I love them for it.

Tweet 31: Enzo Amore. Bringing the mullet back.
Tweet 32: People boo Carmella because they see through the "hot as Hell" line.
Tweet 33: #sweetboy
Tweet 34: Calling it now: Carmella's heel turn will come in the form of costing Enzo and Cass the tag straps.
Tweet 35: "This guy's sawft!" - The audience on Wesley Blake
Tweet 36: I'm still relying on the names written on their trunks to tell Blake and Murphy apart. Not a good sign, champs.
Tweet 37: Blake should gone full D'Lo Brown and ask the crowd "Who's sawft now?" when he's controlling Cass.
Tweet 38: I'd mark if the Carmella turn came here in a completely random, pointless match.

In a month or two this will be revealed as having been a cunning plan.

Tweet 39: I say that and then she did actually cost Cass the match.

Title card for Banks v Bliss and a Dana Brooke vignette

Tweet 40: "Columbus-bred" - Rich Brennan on Alexa Bliss

Tweet 41: Now hoping for a "Columbus life-born, Columbus life-bred, when the time is right I'll be Columbus life-dead" Bliss promo.
Tweet 42: Little vignette for Dana Brooke there. She does not look dissimilar to Natalya.

Sasha Banks v Alexa Bliss

Tweet 43: Big fan of every aspect of both of these women. Looking forward to this match.

Tweet 44: Sasha ain't ratchet.
Tweet 45: "I can say for a fact she is not!" - Rich Brennan on whether or not Sasha's ratchet

A WWE wrestler getting booked well in their hometown? A rarity.

Tweet 46: Bliss goes over via count out. This is a strong argument in favour of extending the count to twenty...
Tweet 47: Not the best match ever but still superior to the bulk of Divas matches.

Kevin Owens backstage

Tweet 48: Kevin Owens with an effortlessly great promo there.

Alex Riley v Kevin Owens

Tweet 49: Alex bloody Riley.

Tweet 50: Riley is the Ray Purchase of NXT.
Tweet 51: How does Riley have the face of a haggard forty-something?
Tweet 52: Loving how over Owens is. Enjoying that "Mr Wrestling" chant too.

Alex 'Hateable' Riley.

Tweet 53: Riley is wearing wristbands with "Say it to my face" written on them. Mate... no.
Tweet 54: Bullet Club T-shirt sighting.
Tweet 55: Pleased Riley got jobbed out without ceremony. He didn't deserve a competitive showing with a guy like Owens.
Tweet 56: Plus it makes Owens look bigger. He said Riley couldn't compete on his level and he proved himself right.

DX green on the logo there.

Tweet 57: Bálor saving Riley makes him a heel in my book.