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.

WWE Battleground 2015 preview

With a Rollins versus Lesnar championship match in the main event slot WWE could have taken it easy with the Battleground undercard. They've done such a good job building Lesnar up (keeping him strong, if you will) over the last eighteen months that getting to see him wrestle can be considered a special occasion. Even when it's on a house show in Japan against Kofi Kingston.

But they haven't taken it easy. The undercard of the Batteground show has clearly had some thought put into it, with some matches that will almost certainly be very good and others designed to heat people up for bigger, better things sometime in the (presumably not too distant) future. Of the former we have Sheamus versus Orton and the tag team championship match. Of the latter we have Reigns versus Wyatt and (potentially) the IC title three-way. Meanwhile Owens versus Cena can fit snugly into both categories.

That comment about the three-way may confuse some people so I'll talk about that first. I don't think Miz, Big Show or Ryback should be considered locks for top card spots. Miz had his chance in 2010 and 2011 and he blew it. There's always a chance Show could be slotted back into a top spot in an emergency but on the whole I think we should be expecting to see him at this upper mid-card card level from now on.

But something big could be planned for Ryback. His status has been all over the place over the last few years. He went from main eventing shows against WWE champion CM Punk to being in a nothing tag team with Curtis Axel before being sensibly turned face again so that he could be slowly shifted up the ranks once more, which is where we find him now. This match is clearly designed to boost his standing by having him beat a monster and an irritant at the same time. It's possible that the intention is to have him ready for something big by the end of the year. Whether that's the case or not he'll be leaving with the gold.

The Reigns v Wyatt match is more definitely about making someone look good and getting them ready for something else. It's just not obvious who that is. I can fully understand people expecting Reigns to win this match but I don't think it's anywhere close to a foregone conclusion. We know that WWE likes to stretch feuds between major names (which Reigns and Wyatt are) over two or three pay-per-views. I fully expect to see a rematch at SummerSlam. And because of this it's possible 'The Eater of Worlds' will defeat WWE's favourite Samoan.

If that happens I don' think it will be a clean victory. It almost certainly wouldn't, in fact. Reigns is considered the more important of the two long term and as such he's the only man in this feud likely to gain a win clean. But Wyatt winning via shenanigans at Battleground would be the simplest way of setting up the SummerSlam rematch. It would also be unexpected and allow the creative team to do some sort of distraction finish with Wyatt utilising Reigns' daughter in some way, which is something they seem inexplicably big on right now.

Owens v Cena III: The Reckoning should be amazing. Their first two matches have both been match of the year contenders, adding to Owens' generally strong body of work from his six months in NXT and Cena's surprising, welcome, and mildly baffling string of wondrous matches against mid-card wrestlers. They're currently tied at one win a piece. That would usually make me lean a little more towards a Cena victory because it's rare for him to fall behind on the victory tally when he's in a series with someone, especially someone not yet established. You need only look at the Rusev programme from earlier this year for a perfect example of Cena losing an initial meeting only to go on to win each subsequent bout, despite it not being in the company's long term best interests.

Things are different with Owens. Not only does he have more momentum than 'The Bulgarian Brute' but WWE seems generally more interested pushing him, presumably because they see more potential in him than Rusev (rightly so, if true). By the time we were midway through Rusev v Cena it was clear they didn't really see Rusev as someone who'd be headlining soon (a shame because had Rusev not lost at all to Cena, or even just had one more win and looked a smidge more competitive in his losses he could have been a great world title contender by now). Owens is being afforded time to flesh out his character and being presented as a man who could very well be Cena's equal in the ring. This is, basically, a programme that features a man who has a future at the top of the card and a man who is the top of the card.

I think this is a bout Owens has to win. His character is one that needs the advantage over Cena at this point. We need to be shown that he'll keep pushing himself after suffering a loss, and a second win over Cena would be so much better for the longevity of this rivalry. The best route that could be taken with this feud is presenting Owens as the surly, indy-friendly version of Cena, which he pretty much is. For that to truly work he needs to have Cena's skill of rebounding from a loss with a more dominating performance.

The only downside of an Owens win would be the loss of Cena's weekly US Open Challenge from RAW.  It's been the highlight of most RAWs since it was introduced a few months ago and has allowed Cena to have what I think is shaping up to be the strongest in-ring year of his career. But this would be a small price to pay to enhance Owens for a bit. And there's no reason 'Mr Wrestling' couldn't do his own weekly challenge, which I'm sure would keep the good matches coming and be an interesting way of keeping the Cena v Owens rivalry alive.

On a similar note, I expect Sheamus v Orton to be good as well. They generally have enjoyable matches together, bringing out the best in one another and having good timing together. It's a shame they don't have more of a story beyond "Randy came back after his hols and took out his latest indecipherable babyface frustrations out on Shaymo" because if they did I think I could have been tempted into caring about this. Sheamus will presumably win because he's got the Money in the Bank briefcase and he'll need to be kept strong for whatever angle that earns him.

The Prime Time Players v New Day should be a reliably fun match too. New Day's ability to get insane heat from audiences should keep people interested and help to encourage cheers for the PTPs. The last couple of months have demonstrated that Young and O'Neil can contribute good matches if the booking's right and they're given long enough to pull themselves together. Hopefully that trend will continue. As far as winners go I'll go with the Players because they've only had the titles a month. Should New Day win it will be after cheating, quite possibly Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston swapping places at the finish. Because sneaky heels, am I right?!

Which leaves us only the main event to discuss. I'll start with the obvious and say this match should be very good. Lesnar and Rollins have interacted a fair bit this year what with their interaction in the Royal Rumble triple threat and their handful of intense scuffles. This, along with the fact that Lesnar matches always benefit from a lot of planning and forethought, should ensure they put on a good show. It's interesting to note that this is their first ever singles match despite them interacting as long ago as Night of Champions last September, when Rollins caused a DQ with a failed Money in the Bank cash-in.

The story of the match seems easy to guess. Lesnar will be the unstoppable monster he always is and Rollins will play the coward. Lesnar will dominant the early going before Rollins cheats to gain an advantage for a while. There things get hazy. Lesnar will obviously make a comeback but it won't necessarily lead to a win and his fifth WWE world championship. A month before SummerSlam doesn't seem like the right time for a title switch. For that matter Lesnar doesn't feel like the guy to take the title from 'The Future'. That would be Roman Reigns.

So I'm going to say we'll see Rollins retain the championship. I can't see it being a straightforward win. Lesnar's unlikely to take one of those for someone not named Roman Reigns.

Battleground looks like it could be a good show. Despite the puzzling absence of Dean Ambrose and the depressing absence of the Divas division, which had only been rejuvenated on Monday (although there's time for a women's match to be added I think it's sad that after doing such a good job of creating interest in the division nothing was immediately announced to capitalise on the momentum), I think there's a lot to look forward to. Owens v Cena and Lesnar v Rollins alone are worth watching this show for. Anything else being good is pretty much a bonus.

***

Predictions summary:

Seth Rollins to retain the WWE championship against Brock Lesnar via shenanigans
Kevin Owens to defeat John Cena for the United States championship
Bray Wyatt to defeat Roman Reigns
The Prime Time Players to retain the tag team championship against New Day
Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship
Sheamus to defeat Randy Orton

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 review

With several years of action-packed shows to follow the sixth annual Money in the Bank show faced a tough job this year. It had a good frame of matches to work with in Cena v Owens II, the latest Ambrose v Rollins match and, of course, the Money in the Bank match itself, but it also had Ryback v Big Show and a pre-show which saw R-Truth defeat King Wade Bad News Barrett I. Was it any good? The answer, pleasantly, was a resounding yes.

The main card kicked off with a ten bell salute to 'The American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. His music played afterwards. The audience and some of the wrestlers clapped along. Vince was amongst those who joined in. Randy Orton was amongst those who did not.

That was followed by the typically great video package recapping the build to the highlighted matches. In this case that meant Ambrose v Rollins, Cena v Owens and the Money in the Bank match. The latter kicked off the show. Which surprised me. With there being only one Bank match, and it being guaranteed to be a highlight of the show, I would have thought it would be saved for closer to the top of the card. Then again there was also a ladder match going on last, so spacing them out did make sense.

Randy Orton and Neville both got loud cheers when they entered. Kane got half-hearted boos. Dolph Ziggler got a monster pop, which got even more monstrous when people noticed Lana was present to give him a good luck kiss. Kofi Kingston got huge boos when he skipped to the ring. Sheamus was booed too, but not as much (yeah, New Day has more heat than Shaymo). Roman Reigns, naturally out last, got a mostly positive reaction. The writing team have done a good job turning him around.

The lads.

The match started with everyone except Kofi pairing off and the New Dayer taking the chance to try and sneak up a ladder to grab the case. The rest of the field turned against him, throwing him out of the ring before slipping into a standard issue brawling segment. Sheamus came out of that on top after going wild with a ladder. He was phased out of the match a few minutes later to make way for an all too short exchange between Kofi and Neville, the highlight of which was Nev hitting a monkey flip only for Kingston to land upright and immediately start climbing a ladder.

Reigns put a stop to Neville v Kingston, power bombing Kingston onto a ladder and Neville onto Kofi. The crowd, it's worth noting, ate this up. Kane put a stop to Reigns' attempted briefcase grab with a choke slam before taking an RKO from 'The Viper'. Kofi returned to stop Orty climbing the ladder and took an RKO too. Neville then springboarded back into the ring, over Orton, and shot up the ladder. He was yanked off the ladder and took a mid-air RKO, easily the best of the three.

Sheamus reappeared to halt another Orton attempt. 'The Apex Predator' put up a fight before being thrown head first into a ladder and smashed with a Brogue kick. Ziggler cut Sheamus off at the top of the ladder to a big reaction from the crowd. They traded punches and lunges at the wildly swinging case before 'The Show Off' slipped around behind Sheamus and took him off the ladder with a Zig Zag. Neville popped up to hit Sheamus with a Red Arrow immediately afterwards. It didn't realy make sense as far as winning the match went but it did at least please the crowd.

After selling his own move for a bit (ala Rob Van Dam and the Five Star frog splash) Nev dragged himself up the ladder for a punch exchange with Ziggler. 'The New Sensation' got the best of that when he smacked Ziggler's head into the top of the ladder and sent him falling to the mat. Before he could grab the briefcase Kane wandered back into the ring and grabbed him for a choke slam. Ziggler made the save with a crisp super kick. Ziggler and Nev took hold of a ladder and tried to batter Kane with it but he knocked them to the ground and then baseball slid the ladder into the pair on the outside.

Kane wasn't alone in the ring for long. Reigns returned to smack him with a Superman punch then did his tope onto everyone at ringside. This was the cue for Big E and Xavier Woods to sprint to ringside and throw Kofi back into the ring. Selling like mad, Kofi crawled up the ladder as Woods and E smacked the mat (triggering a "New, Day sucks!" chant). Reigns shot into view from the right of the screen to hit the interfering heels with his running drop kick in a great spot.

We're all interested in Wyatt v Reigns, right?

In the ring Kofi kicked at Reignsa few times before getting plucked off the ladder and power bombed onto a gaggle of lads outside the ring. Orton appeared and tried an RKO (outta nowhere edition) only to be dropped with a spear. The path was clear for Reigns. He started climbing the ladder before the lights went out. When they came back on seconds later Bray Wyatt was in the ring. He shook the ladder, grabbed Reigns, and hit him with Sister Abigail before disappearing.

Sheamus pulled himself back into the ring and clambered up the ladder. Neville sprinted to the top to try and stop 'The Celtic Warrior'. He put up a good fight but couldn't combat a fearsome eye gouge from Shaymo. That sent him off the ladder, leaving Sheamus free to grab hold of the briefcase to become the new 'Mr Money in the Bank'.

Naturally Jerry Lawler and Maggle Cole reacted to this as though it was the most sickening thing ever, even though Sheamus hadn't done anything wrong. Lawler even went so far as to say that Sheamus has taken the WWE championship out of Reigns' hands. It's comments like that that cause some people to give Reigns such a tough time.

Backstage Paige talked to Renee Young about being disappointed that no other Divas had offered support to help her bring down the Bella twins "empire". She said she'd win the belt to bring about change in the Divas division. Basically the feud is about Nikki and Paige both wanting change in the Divas division but not being able to agree on the form that change should take. They're basically Magneto and Professor X.

While the match didn't reach the heights of Banks versus Lynch it was better than the average Divas match. The pair broke out super kicks, spinebusters and an Alabama slam before Paige locked in the STF (the significance of which seemed to be completely lost on the crowd and the commentary team). They used their signature moves to good effect too: Nikki escaped a PTO and went for the Rack Attack, only for Paige to wiggle free and hit the Ram-Paige for a convincing near fall.

The Bella twins: masters of heel shenanigans.

Nikki would cheat to win. Brie and Nikki switched places (Brie had probably been hiding under the since the lights went out for Wyatt) and Brie went for a small package. Paige reversed it and got a three count, being announced as the winner and new champion. Brie grabbed the referee and revealed that she wasn't Nikki, proving this was the case by pulling padding from her bra (an amusing touch). Instead of disqualifying Nikki for outside interference the ref simply watched as Nikki ran back into the ring and blasted Paige with a Rack Attack then counted the three for her.

Before the Intercontinental title match The Miz came out to talk about how he'd transcended Ohio (the state the show was being held in) and deserved a title shot. The promo wasn't bad but Miz did a horrible job of linking his two points. The match was better. 'The Big Guy' immediately ploughed through Big Show with a spinebuster and the meathook clothesline before clotheslining him out of the ring. There he was distracted by Miz sitting at commentary, allowing Show to jump him when he got back into the ring and gain the advantage.

Ryback gradually worked up steam with a Fujiwara armbar and a suplex before Miz slid into the ring and jabbed at both guys with some weak punches and swaggered backstage. So Ryback's first title defence ever ended in a DQ in favour of Big Show. This was a disappointment. The match had been far better than I'd expected until Miz involved himself. Presumably they'll get to give us a more conclusion in a triple threat match at Battleground.

Looks like he's learned not to take this on his elbows...

John Cena versus Kevin Owens was preceded by a nice video package showing some of the many highlights of the interactions between the pair over the last few weeks. The match was good too, perhaps a smidge better than their rightly praised first encounter from Elimination Chamber. Sadly, it had the wrong result. Cena went over with the third AA of the match. While Owens got to survive the STF, an electric chair drop, two AAs (the first of which Cena did a solid job of selling by arguing with the referee), a snap sunset bomb and hit Cena with the cannonball, a super kick, the package piledriver (safety edition), the double jump moonsault, a second rope fisherman buster, and Cena's own shoulder tackles, belly-to-back and Five Knuckle Shuffle the fact that he lost was still saddening. A win could have done so much to elevate him and make him look like a dominant and unstoppable force. He didn't look weak in defeat but a win would have been far more beneficial both for this feud and in the long term.

After the match Cena gave Owens an off-mic pep talk, handed him the championship belt and offered a handshake. Owens accepted before kicking Cena in the stomach. Cena fell to the mat and rolled out of the ring (because he doesn't know how to make sequences like this look natural) and Owens followed him out to hit an apron bomb. He walked backstage laughing like Cesar Romero's Joker a the announers talked in Serious Voices™ about how Owens had gone too far. It currently looks like this rivalry will run through SummerSlam.

After a Total Divas ad Renee Young informed us Cena was being tended to by the medical team (something tells me he'll be fine). She then introduced Dean Ambrose, still in possession of Seth Rollins' WWE championship belt. Ambrose did a nice job of reminding us of his year-long problems with The Authority and explaining why he's keeping hold of the title belt. It didn't make me believe he'd leave the show a winner but it was a good bit of character work.

After a touching Dusty Rhodes tribute video Big E and Xavier Woods clapped down to the ring for a pre-match promo. They said Kofi had had the Money in the Bank match stole from him then talked about an Ohioan sports team that I've never heard of being cheaters. They ended by clapping and trying to start a "New, Day rocks!" chant. They fans chanted sucks instead causing Xavier to snap. Big E calmed him down.

Tag titles equal... millions of dollars!

This was a basic tag match which benefited greatly from the heat of New Day. Darren Young was isolated by the champs from the start. He made a single tag out to Titus then got wiped out by Big E's spear off the apron. That was a mistake from Big E: it left Xavier alone with Titus. He took a Sky High and was pinned within seconds. I'm disappointed New Day lost the tag gold because all three have been doing some of the best work of their careers in the group. It's nice to see the PTPs get a long overdue tag title win though.

The main event was preceded by a kick-off segment. They discussed the Money in the Bank match, the tag title match and Owens v Cena and made some main event predictions before throwing to a recap of Wyatt costing Reigns the briefcase. It was filler of the highest order.

More enjoyable filler followed in the form of Rollins being confronted by The Authority. Kane and J&J sniggered about how S-Roll was all alone. Stephanie piled on the pressure by talking about how the future of the company wrested on his shoulders. Triple H reminded him that going it alone in a ladder match was what Seth had wanted then barked at him to "show them" that he could do it. This version of the Triple H character, the guy who gives pep talks to his heel chosen few, is great.

The never-ending feud.

This was another enjoyable entry in the Ambrose-Rollins series. With over half an hour to play with they started out slow and built up to their more dramatic spots. They also took the unusual, but welcome, decision to have Rollins targeting Ambrose's legs. You don't get that in ladder matches despite it being a logical story to tell.

Rollins kicked his gameplan off when he crushed Ambrose's leg in a ladder. From there he smacked it with a chair and applied a ring post figure four before stomping away back in the ring and slapping on a traditional figure four. Ambrose punched his way free but would soon be hung up in a tree of woe with Rollins taking a chair to his knees.

Ambrose would return to his feet within a few minutes to lob a chair at Rollins' head and clothesline him off the top rope. Ambrose took a spill out of the ring, avoided a ladder that was chucked at his head, then got back into the ring to hit his rebound lariat (countered with an enziguri on the first attempt but hit on the second). He went for Dirty Deeds but Rollins escaped and ran into the crowd, triggering a brief chase-brawl sequence.

When they got back to ringside Rollins set up a ladder and took a back drop from the ring on to it. It was a nasty fall and something that shouldn't really be necessary. It was a good addition to the match though, and will make a fine addition to future Rollins highlight packages.

They brawled some more. Ambrose hit a Dirty Deeds on the Spanish announce table. Rollins grabbed a monitor an bashed Ambrose in the leg with it as he was close to the title belt. Ambrose got Pedigreed. Rollins got pulled from the ladder and thrown out of the ring but grabbed 'The Lunatic Fringe' before he could make it up the ladder. He then hit the running power bomb into the ladder and the barricade before hitting a slightly more traditional power bomb onto a pile of chairs. After dropping a ladder and some more chairs on top of Ambrose 'The Future' rolled back into the ring and clambered up a ladder.

Ambrose got back into the ring and pulled himself up the ladder. Both got their hands on the title and struggled back and forth. They fell and the belt came with them. When they hit the mat it was Rollins who had possession of the strap. His music hit and Cole referenced a football rule to explain why he'd retained.

Rollins wins lol.

Triple H came out to celebrate with his top guy as Ambrose sat in the ring looking sad. Jojo wandered out and asked him if there was anything he wanted to say. Rollins said he told us so and that nobody could hang with him. And on that note the show went off the air.

I was impressed with Money in the Bank. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is what it means for the future. We know that Reigns' inevitable world title win has been postponed again thanks to a new issue he has with Bray Wyatt. It's tough to imagine Money in the Bank holder Sheamus interacting with WWE champion Seth Rollins, which likely means he'll be the man to feud with Reigns once Reigns is champion.

The main attractions were the WWE title match, the Money in the Bank match, and the Cena v Owens rematch. All got plenty of time to tell satisfying stories and packed a bunch of stuff in. Of the less important matches only Big Show v Ryback (and R-Truth v Barrett if you want to include it as an official part of the card, which I don't) felt disappointing. The tag title match was saved by New Day's heat and the Prime Time Players getting the tag title victory they should have had a couple of years ago. Nikki v Paige was a good match and although it had a screwy finish it did at least make sense. It didn't quite hit the heights of Elimination Chamber, but I suspect that's mostly because expectations weren't as high for EC. Overall this was another very good show from WWE.

***

Results summary:

Sheamus won Money in the Bank
Nikki Bella defeated Paige to retain the Divas championship
Big Show defeated Ryback by disqualification
John Cena defeated Kevin Owens
The Prime Time Players defeated New Day to win the tag team championship
Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose to retain the WWE championship

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 preview

It's been ten years since the first Money in the Bank match took place at WrestleMania 21. Since then it has become WWE's top stunt match and a reliable star-making tool. It's also broken away from WrestleMania to get its own annual show, which is routinely one of the most exciting and eventful pay-per-views of the year.

What's nice about the Money in the Bank show is that it's far enough removed from WrestleMania for the writing team to have moved beyond reruns and be offering something new, generally making the card feel fresh and vibrant. It can usually be taken as an attempt to do something new and get things in place for SummerSlam. Free of the pressures of building towards a fast-approaching 'Mania, or paying it off, Money in the Bank is perfectly placed to be experimental and interesting.

That said there are numerous rematches this year but the big two, Owens v Cena and Ambrose v Rollins, are only rematches because of the last minute addition of Elimination Chamber to the special event line-up. Had that not happened both of those matches would be much fresher. Brand new in the case of Owens v Cena.

The Money in the Bank ladder match itself helps too, of course. It's a match so busy that it almost always features something memorable as everyone tries to cram in some new, death-defying spot or insane bump. As it generally features many of WWE's top names, and is a key part of the show's appeal, the layout of the match and it's bigger spots get a lot of attention. Those same big names get people invested. As does the prize: a WWE world title shot anytime, anywhere during the following year. The briefcase has been built up so well over the last decade that winning it means something. People know that and react as though winning the briefcase means something. Because it does.

This year's show will feature two ladder matches, one for the title match-bestowing briefcase and one for the WWE world heavyweight championship. The latter will feature Seth Rollins defending against Dean Ambrose. It's come about because just over a week ago Ambrose pinned Rollins to win the WWE championship at the Elimination Chamber show, only to have the title cruelly snatched away from him after the match's original referee altered the decision and disqualified Rollins for assaulting him. Ambrose kept the win but lost the prize.

'The Lunatic Fringe' earned another shot at Rollins via some Steve Austin lite jiggery pokery the next evening on RAW. The match was given the ladder stip because Rollins and Ambrose haven't done one yet and it's the traditional WWE method of sorting out title disputes of above average complexity. Ambrose being in possession of the title belt while Rolins is recognised as champ qualifies as above average complexity by wrestling standards.

I'll say the same thing about this match as I do about every Rollins v Ambrose match: it will be really good because Ambrose and Rollins don't have bad matches against one another. I imagine they'll do some interesting stuff with the ladder gimmick, even though we've seen it so many times before that being genuinely innovative is nigh on impossible. I'll be very surprised if Rollins doesn't leave with the title. He has a rematch with Brock Lesnar waiting for him some time in the next few months. It could be a non-title match but I don't think it will be. We've also yet to see him defend the gold against Roman Reigns.

There's also the fact that nobody seems to know what to do with Dean Ambrose. He's immensely popular, despite being given little to do for months on end, but nobody seems to know where to slot him on the card in the long run. I can sympathise with this: I love a bit of fantasy booking but I haven't got a clue what to suggest for Ambrose beyond having him be the vaguely rebellious character he already is. The thing is that I'm not paid to come up with things for wrestlers to do and the writing team is. Right now I think the best we can hope for regarding Ambrose is a commitment to properly building towards either a Rollins v Reigns v Ambrose triple threat or a Shield reunion. Both will happen at some point but I don't think Ambrose will do anything meaningful beforehand.

In other title matches the Prime Time Players will challenge New Day for the tag team championship, Big Show will change Ryback for the Intercontinental championship, and Paige will challenge Nikki Bella for the Divas championship. Darren Young and Titus O'Neil were booked very strongly in the tag team Chamber match last month, designed to set them up as credible challengers here. I don't think they'll win but I do like the fact that WWE are finally doing something with them and offering a division that doesn't just consist of two teams feuding over the titles and a bunch of others having meaningless matches. This should be enjoyable (I'm particularly interested in a Big E v Titus stretch) with the PTPs losing following New Day shenanigans. It's the Lucha Dragons we should be looking at as the men who'll relieve Big E and co of the gold.

I have little interest in Big Show versus Ryback. Extreme Rules demonstrated that Show can participate in worthwhile matches when enough planning goes into them, but his opponent there was Reigns and I think there was a sense of urgency to elevate him that isn't felt with 'The Big Guy'. I expect Ryback to win but I don't think this match will do him the favours Reigns' match with 'The Giant' did.

The Divas title match is a peculiarity. Last month both women were faces. The night after Elimination Chamber Nikki and Brie switched places during Nikki's title defence against Paige, allowing the fresh Brie to get the win on her not-really-identical-anymore sister's behalf. That was a distinctly heelish move, odd considering Nikki had only officially become a face less than two months earlier. It's an example of how little thought goes into the main roster's women's division, as is the fact that we're getting the fourth Nikki and Paige meeting at a special event in the last six months.  

I think we could be due a title change. That Michael Cole has been harping on about the length of her reign recently makes it seem as though they're positioning her (or trying to) as a dominant champion, the implication being that whoever defeats her for the title will have really achieved something. I could be wrong though. It could just as easily be a new trend that's going to continue throughout Nikki's record-setting title reign.

Speaking of big achievements, Money in the Bank will play host to a Cena v Owens rematch. They stole the show at Elimination Chamber. With two ladders matches on the this show it'll be harder for them to do that here. They'll also be hampered by raised expectations. As long as they hit the same blend of punch exchanges, big moves, and kick outs I'll be happy. It's not to everyone's tastes but it satisfies mine.

The right outcome (and it most certainly would be the right outcome) would be an Owens victory. It would make it clear that the newcomer has the veteran's number and that the outcome of their first meeting wasn't a fluke. Nothing about it would weaken Cena. It would take something far more drastic to lower his standing after his decade on top of the company than simply losing back-to-back matches to a (well-introduced) newcomer. It would boost Owens' standing. As he's the NXT champion it would probably do NXT some good too.

Sadly every Cena rivalry of the past tells us that Owens will lose. Just look at what happened with Rusev. Cena lost the first match in the series then went on to defeat 'The Bulgarian Brute' three shows in a row. Rusev, previously unpinned and unsubmitted, had his momentum crushed with his prolonged interaction with Cena. Owens has less momentum to lose, but a loss would still harm him. He'd become just another guy who lost to Cena after getting lucky one time. There's something to be said for feuds where one guy always wins. Cena desperately needs a feud like that like that. Handled right it could stretch for years, on and off, without ever becoming boring.

Finally there's the Money in the Bank ladder match. The official entrants right now are Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Adrian Neville, Sheamus, Kane, Kofi Kingston and so-called 'Big Dog' Roman Reigns. Kane aside this is a nice blend of talent, mixing established names with guys who can make this sort of match work and guys who could make convincing winners. Orton can never be completely written off in a situation like this. Sheamus and Ziggler are both in a position where they could get a surprise win. Roman Reigns is the obvious favourite. That's half the guys in the match that could theoretically win. Two of the other three should do something memorable in the match.

I can't pick against Roman Reigns with this match. He's been getting The Push since the start of the year. The company held off on crowning him world champion at WrestleMania for fear of a harmful backlash from the hardcore crowd. Undeterred they continued building Reigns up with a better than it had any right to be match opposite Big Show at Extreme Rules and a strong showing in a four-way at Payback (in which it was Randy Orton who was booked to take the pin). It was too early for Reigns at 'Mania because WWE hadn't been making him look like a credible singles guy for long enough. That's no longer the case. Reigns is ready and the Money in the Bank briefcase is his route to the top.

Money in the Bank looks like an above average show, as usual. It should easily better the majority of WWE shows this year although it will have to be something special to be more enjoyable than the Elimination Chamber Network special. It has the potential to do it though, and I hope it does. Because done right Money in the Bank is one of the best wrestling concepts out there.

***

Predictions summary:

Seth Rollins to defeat Dean Ambrose
Roman Reigns to win Money in the Bank
Kevin Owens to defeat John Cena
New Day to defeat the Prime Time Players
Ryback to defeat Big Show
Paige to defeat Nikki Bella for the Divas championship

WWE Elimination Chamber 2015 review

Every so often WWE manages to put on a pay-per-view so good it reminds you why you bother with them at all. The matches are exciting, they have a reason to happen, and performers look better afterwards than they did before. Technically this was not one of those times because this card wasn't available on pay-per-view. It was available exclusively on the WWE Network, an experimental offering designed to gauge the interest and feasibility of similar specials in the future. But in terms of ticking all the boxes required to remind you what WWE's like when it's good this show got the job done.

After a pre-show which saw Stardust beat Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan appear on Miz TV to hype his book, Tough Enough and life in general the Elimination Chamber spesh got underway with the tag team championship Elimination Chamber (the first of its kind, fact fans!). The Ascension and the Lucha Dragons started the match with a stretch characterised by Cole and JBL fumbling their way through awkward chatter about the rivalry the teams had in NXT. The decision to have these four lads kick the match off struck as some sort of test to see if the audience would break into an NXT chant in a similar way to how audiences used to when ECW alums wrestled one another. If that was the case then this crowd failed.

New Day suck.

There were no eliminations to be had this early. They had a basic exchange which ended with the Dragons on top of pods. Sin Cara hit a Swanton bomb on Konnor but Kalisto was unable to perform his move of choice as New Day had grabbed his leg. Cara was unable to capitalise, presumably because he'd winded himself or something (some luchador!) and all four men were incapacitated when the first pod opened and Cesaro and Tyson Kidd entered the match.

The BTE immediately blasted their way through both teams with some slick double team moves. Cesaro was like a man possessed, dishing out uppercuts like they were going out of style before sprinting across the ring and leaping to the top rope to superplex Kalisto. Moments later he would catch Kalisto out on the steel and attempt to power bomb him but Kalisto exhibited canny lad abilities and clung onto the chains of the cage, pulling himself free and scrabbling up onto the Prime Time Players' pod.

Los Matadores were the fourth team to enter. El Torito, who'd been maxing and relaxing on top of their pod (because mascots were allowed, according to JBL) launched himself onto Sin Cara as his boys joined the fray. Kalisto busied himself with climbing to the top of the cage to hanging down from the top of the structure before dropping awkwardly onto a gaggle that included everyone except his partner. This was likely designed to be a breath-taking daredevil spot. It was not impressive, although it took some guts and skill to pull off.

El Torito emulated the spot but got caught by The Ascension. Without their mighty bull protecting them Los Matadores were easy pickings for a Fall of Man from The Ascension. Thirty seconds later Sin Cara got one too. Yep, The Ascension got the first and second evictions of the night. Cole tried to highlight this sudden ability to pin people by shrilly telling us that it was the best The Ascension have looked in WWE. He wasn't wrong but all he really accomplished was making it clear how much better they were used in NXT. Good work, Maggle!

The Prime Time Players' pod opened as Konnor and Viktor were hammering Cesaro and Kidd. Amazingly, they were permitted to eliminate the boys from the wasteland with relative ease: Titus grabbed hold of Konnor as Young gave Viktor a gutbuster and pinned him. Just, as Tommy Cooper would have said, like that. The PTPs went on to have possibly their best ever match opposite the BTE. That wasn't a surprise, to be honest. Everyone looks good with Cesaro and Kidd.

Better than that Kings' finish where Hero did a pump kick I reckon.

Reigning champions New Day entered last. All three men were wrestling as payment for having helped Kane out on the previous episode of SmackDown. After a brief spurt of dominance the champions were quadruple (or triple?) suplexed by all four babyface. Cesaro and Kidd shut Xavier Woods back in his pod and then gave Kofi the big swing-drop kick combo. Then d-Young reappeared, rolled Cesaro up and got a pin, giving us New Day versus the Prime Time Players for the match's closing moments.

New Day went into full-on heel mode by sticking Titus's head through the chain wall. Their attempted triple team of Young didn't work out for them though: Young fought free of Big E's grip, knocked Kofi and Xavier off the top rope, and sidestepped a spear from E, sending him careening into a turnbuckle. After freeing Titus the two took it to New Day for a bit before getting overwhelmed by the numbers. Big E flattened Young with a belly-to-belly suplex on the grate then headed back into the ring to chop block Titus as he hoisted Woods up for a fallaway slam. That sent Titus down to a knee, setting him up for Trouble in Paradise from Kingston. That was enough to allow Woods to get the fall and win for his team.

The finish got some well-deserved heat. Although nothing New Day was illegal because all three members had been permitted into the match it was very much positioned as an unfair, unsportsmanlike approach. Thus sort of thing can only help them become more disliked. The only way it could have been better is if it had featured Cesaro and Kidd or the Dragons in place of Young and O'Neil. Both teams are more popular than the PTPs so it would have had more impact. Although I was impressed with how good the Players were made to look considering they've done nothing since they reunited three-plus months ago. It could be argued that the PTPs being the ones to be outsmarted and outgunned by New Day in the closing moments was intended to protect the more popular teams but that seems unlikely to me: Cesaro fell to a flash pin from Darren Young and the Dragons went down to a team they've previously handled pretty easily.

The match was enjoyable. Considering the number of guys involved it could have easily become an omnishambles so we should all be pleased it avoided that. There were no truly memorable moments but it was good fun and a solid advert for tag team wrestling in WWE.

After a recap of Rusev injuring his ankle on SmackDown and Lana wishing Ziggler good luck in the IC title match we got Nikki Bella's Divas championship defence against Paige and Naomi. 'King' kicked things off by openly perving on all three women, making Vince McMahon's (he produces the commentary crew and is insistent on keeping Lawler involved) views on women's wrestling crystal clear.

Spot of the match? Maybe, mate.

This match was not on the level of Banks v Lynch from Unstoppable but that wasn't for lack of trying. Although they only got about six minutes they packed in a lot: a stacked power bomb from the corner;  an inverted hurricanrana from  Naomi; and Naomi breaking up a PTO attempt with a nice super kick being amongst the highlights. Had they had longer it's clear this match would have been great. As it was it was very good. Nikki retained the title after a Rack Attack. Cole talked up her 189 day reign. I assume that means they're going to keep it on her a while yet.

Cena versus Owens was preceded by a nice video recapping their interactions on RAW. The match did the considerable expectations they were facing justice. Owens screamed at Cena and the crowd throughout, successfully making himself the bad guy to the majority. The pace was just as quick as any of Owens' matches against faster foes in NXT and featured all of the spots you'd want and expect. After setting the pace early on Cena was dominated for a few minutes.

Things slipped into high gear when Cena kicked out of a pop-up power bomb. Owens went for a double jump moonsault but Cena avoided it and got the AA. Owens kicked out and, after a yay-boo trade, floored the United States champion with a super kick. He attempted to mock Cena with the Five Knuckle Shuffle but got pulled down into the STF. After he made the ropes Cena went to reapply the hold but Cena took the chance to escape and used Cena's own AA to get a two count.

After selling disbelief Owens turned around into a tornado DDT. That got Cena a two count. So did his never-not-dangerous-looking top rope leg drop. Cena again went for the AA but couldn't get Owens up for it. Big Kev took the chance to drop Cena with a package piledriver into a power bomb. That provided us with another two.

Cena going down clean as a whistle here. What a time to be alive.

The two again traded punches. Owens tried a pop-up power bomb but Cena hit him with a springboard Stunner. With the NXT champ rattled Cena took things to the top rope only to be surprised with a fisherman buster. When that didn't finish Cena off Owens pulled out a Swanton bomb. Cena kicked out of the cover that followed and gave Cena a pair of hard clotheslines. He went for a third but Owens ducked and caught him with a pop-up power bomb for the clean as a sheet victory seconds before the twenty minute mark.

This match set out to accomplish a lot. It wanted to establish Owens as a credible name. It wanted to show Cena can wrestle a highly touted NXT prospect. It wanted to be a great, classic encounter. It accomplished it all. Both guys looked great and Owens got a win over a fifteen time world champion in his main roster debut. WWE couldn't have done better with this match. Owens got the introduction he deserved.

After that we got a match that would have warranted far more praise on practically any other WWE show between 'Don't Call Him Adrian' Neville and Bo Dallas. It did it's job of continuing to build Nev up. He went over with the Red Arrow as everyone knew he would. After that Triple H found Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns backstage and told Reigns he was barred from ringside for the main event. It had been announced that Reigns would be in Ambrose's corner. Despite this Ambrose just smiled and laughed.

The Intercontinental title Elimination Chamber match kicked off with Dolph Ziggler and King Bad News Wade Barrett I. They went with Barrett giving Ziggler a kicking and Ziggler bumping about. He left him to have a breather on the grate as R-Truth entered the match. Barrett forced him back into his pod and gave him a pounding then went back to Ziggler instead of trying to pin him for whatever reason. This allowed Truth to recover to attack Barrett for a bit. Barrett put him down with Wasteland before returning his attention to 'The Show Off'.

Barrett threw Ziggler into Mark Henry's pod (he was the replacement for Rusev), breaking the plexiglass and allowing Henners to wade into the match. Seconds later Ryback's pod opened and he joined the bout too. Things got a bit messy at that point. Henry clearly wasn't meant to be in the match so early which meant he joined Truth in awkwardly standing about.

The first elimination came when Truth hit the Lie Detector (the name of his finisher this week) on Barrett and pinned him. That King of the Ring victory continues to be massively confusing. The four faces talked amongst themselves and exchanged pinfall attempts. There was a brief alliance against Henry but it didn't last. Ryback would eliminate Truth with a spinebuster. During all of this Sheamus was meant to be in the match but his pod door was "stuck". This was revealed to be a swerve after Ziggler and Ryback wiped one another out during an energetic exchange: he pulled his naff Celtic cross necklace out of the door's hinges and swaggered out.

Sheamus made quick work of Ziggler by tossing him through his pod door. Mark Henry fell to a Brogue kick. Shaymo and Ziggler then had a lively tussle as Ryback lay about at ringside. Ziggler came close to pinning 'Great White' but he would ultimately fall to a Brogue kick. Which left Sheamus and Ryback to have a hoss fight. They gave each other a good pasting , including largely unnecessary White Noise and rolling sentons on the steel grate, and pulled out a good finish: Ryback power bombed Sheamus from the outside of the ring, over the top rope, and then scooped him up for a match-winning Shellshock.

It wasn't as good as the tag team Chamber match nor a classic of its kind but this match was enjoyable for what it was and avoided being an embarrassment. Ryback isn't the greatest wrestler on the roster but he is over. That's what WWE needs at the moment.

Ambrose went on to do a bit of finger-biting.

That left only the main event: WWE champion Seth Rollins defending the title against Dean Ambrose. After a satisfying undercard they had they work cut out for them but as Owens and Cena had earlier on the show they met the expectations they'd been given. After a good but unremarkable first half characterised by interference from J&J and Rollins working over Ambrose the match came alive when Ambrose fired off some jabs and a swift pin exchange sequence was launched. J&J pulled their boy to safety but that wasn't enough to save him from 'The Lunatic Fringe', who was perfectly happy to launch himself out of the ring with a suicide dive.   

Back in the ring Rollins was lamped by the rebound clothesline. The champ tried a backslide with his feet on the ropes but the ref caught him. Ambrose got a rollup for two as Rollins shouted at the referee and then ate a super kick seconds after Rollins had kicked out. They took a tumble to the outside so that Rollins could power bomb Ambrose into the crowd barricade. This would only get Seth a two count so he nailed his springboard knee and an elevated inverted DDT. This also only got him a two count, the perfect excuse for Rollins to bust out his always enjoyable exasperated face.

Rollins trash talked the challenger for a bit and smacked him with elbows until Ambrose avoided one and snuck in a tornado DDT. Rollins escaped Ambrose's rope-hung leg drop. Ambrose sidestepped the springboard knee and got the rebound clothesline. Rollins kicked out at two. Ambrose racked up another near fall with the top rope elbow before taking a suicide dive on the outside and a buckle bomb back in the ring. After taking out J&J and Kane with a top rope dive Ambrose clotheslined went for the elbow dive again. Rollins pulled the referee in to absorb some of the blow. Yeah. They did a ref bump. But it's not the staple it once was so that's okay.

Rollins went for a Pedigree. Mebt use countered, tripping Rollins and see-sawing him into the corner. Rollins landed on the second rope, kicked Ambrose to the mat, and tried for the Phoenix splash. Ambrose rolled away. Rollins in turn landed on his feet only to be spiked with Dirty Deeds. A new referee dashed down to the ring to count the three. Ambrose's music played. He was announced as the new champion. Everything was right with the world.

Two belt thievery angles within months of each other. Shameful.

It didn't last. The original referee kicked off and said Rollins was disqualified for dragging him into the path of the lunatic elbow. Lilian Garcia announced the Dusty finish to boos then J&J, Kane and Rollins rushed the ring and pummelled Ambrose. That brought out Roman Reigns, his music causing Rollins to flee into the aisle where he got KOed by 'The Juggernaut' himself. Reigns and Ambrose then merced all the heels and ran off into the audience with the championship belt. It wasn't a crowd-pleasing title change but it was a move that seemed to please the crowd and send them home on a positive note.

Elimination Chamber was excellent, easily one of the two best main roster shows of the year along with WrestleMania. Anytime a card is favourably compared to a good WrestleMania something's gone right. There wasn't a single bad match here. Rollins v Ambrose and the tag Chamber were both very good and Cena v Owens was a classic encounter. Every match had a reason to be happening and delivered on its build-up. This was, basically, WWE doing everything it could right. If only this happened more often.

***

Results summary:

New Day retained the tag team championship in the Elimination Chamber
Nikki Bella defeated Paige and Naomi to retain the Divas championship
Kevin Owens defeated John Cena
Adrian Neville defeated Bo Dallas
Ryback won the the Intercontinental championship in the Elimination Chamber
Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins by disqualification

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.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 47

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 47 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

This episode sees the debut of a new recurring feature. It is imaginatively titled Three Things. The premise of it is simple. We take three wrestlers, tag teams, or other role in wrestling and think of things (three to be precise) that could be done to improve them.

Here we apply it to three WWE tag teams. I won’t mention any specifics because I think finding out who we’re talking about and how we think they could be bettered is a large part of what makes the episode enjoyable. Although it’s possible you can guess through a process of elimination.

I will say that I think WWE is overlooking their tag team division and not doing as much as they could with the teams they have. It’s not that the doubles scene is bad. It’s been improving for around eighteen months now. In that time we’ve seen Team Hell No, The Rhodes Scholars, The Shield and the Rhodes bros doing everything they can to make the division and the titles mean something. The spate of six man tags involving The Shield and The Wyatt Family has helped too.

Do we have ideas to improve Goldust and Cody Rhodes

But WWE are at risk of losing this. The Rhodes brothers seem to have been cooled off a little since losing the championships in January and The Shield have been moved away from doubles action this year. Even The Prime Time Players, a duo who had lots of potential to work as a fun supporting act but never got the chance to be as good as they could be, have been split (read my thoughts on that stupidity here). The division is currently in the hands of teams that are mostly proficient but seem unlikely to keep the momentum of recent times going.

Of course, wrestling well is fine. It’s better to have good wrestling than bad, especially when it comes to an aspect of WWE programming that hasn’t been handled too well for much of the last decade. But there’s more to wrestling than just putting on good matches, especially in WWE. The tag scene is the perfect place for WWE to be experimental with characters and gimmicks or for humour to be inserted into shows. These things are important to keeping shows varied and for experimenting with guys who could be stars for the company in the future.

If the Usos are left as the centrepiece team of the division it’s not going to take long for the good work of Daniel Bryan, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and ‘The Hounds of Justice’ to be undone. Even if Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, the obvious choices to oppose Jimmy and Jey in the post-‘Mania season, are moved into the division it will lack the variety of the last year and a half.