Monster Future

Over the years Big Show and Kane have both proven valuable to WWE. At various times in their careers each has been successfully presented as a legitimate monster. It's never lasted, usually because of the company's insistence on turning them into comedic babyfaces, but they have been able to slot into these roles when needed. The monster heel is an incredibly useful trope for a wrestling promotion to be able to call on, making Kane and Show handy guys to have around.

But this year's Royal Rumble highlighted that the pair of big lads are not as over as they once were. Perhaps it's because of how many times they've switched from heel to face and back again. Perhaps it's because they've been on the roster for so long that too many people in the audience now know that no matter how dominant either of them may become it's just a matter of time before they start losing to mid-carders. Perhaps it's simply because Big Show's been with the company for sixteen years and Kane eighteen (longer if you count his pre-'Big Red Machine' gimmicks).

Whatever the reason the fact that the audience turned so viciously on the climax of the Rumble demonstrates that Show and Kane are not what they once were. Yes, Daniel Bryan's early elimination, Roman Reigns' status as favourite to win, and the general booking played their parts too but two members of the old boys' club being booked to dominate young stars was a big reason the Philadelphia crowd got so riled. They wanted something and someone new. They would have been far more accepting of Bray Wyatt and Rusev being portrayed as the dominant heel pair, because they're fresher and viewed as more deserving of top spots. That's what modern audiences look for and that's something WWE's writing team (and Vince McMahon) don't seem to be able to grasp: modern audiences have strong opinions about people earning top spots.

Sooner or later 'The Devil's Favourite Demon' and 'The World's Largest Athlete' are going to call it a career, either when they decide to stop because they're too knackered or because McMahon decides they've had their time (it will almost certainly be the former). When that time comes WWE is going to need some new larger-than-average performers to fill the monster role. A quick glance at the roster reveals that there are actually a number of guys with potential to fill the void.

Luke Harper is a beard type Pokémon.

The most prominent candidate is probably Luke Harper. He has a head start over other names with regard to TV time and he possesses the requisite height and set of power moves to make a convincing monster heel. Just as importantly he has an eerie look that would lend itself well to the part. Harper is believable as a big bruiser who won't, or can't, be reasoned with.

His former teammates Erick Rowan and Bray Wyatt do little for me in this regard. Rowan has proven to be completely lost outside of the safe tag and six man environment that protected him as part of the Wyatt Family. Nothing about his matches makes me think he'll develop a suitably menacing style. His look is decent but not as strong as Harper's, or as some of the other names on this list.

'The New Face of Fear' is obviously going to go on to become a star attraction for WWE. He's most of the way there already. But while he may have a fitting air of menace about him, win fairly often, and possibly earn world championships in the future, he doesn't have the height monsters in wrestling traditionally do. He can be a headline act but he can't be someone who physically dominates whoever he steps into the ring with because he simply doesn't have the feet and inches to do it.

But height isn't everything. Big Cass is one of the tallest guys (if not the tallest guy) under contract but while he's in good shape his frame clearly isn't one made to hold a lot of muscle. He can look intimidating but it's hard to imagine him destroying guys because he's just a bit on the lanky side. In this regard he's like Kevin Nash, because Nash wasn't ever really used as a monster after his initial push to the top was over. He was more a heel with a bad attitude who could obliterate mid-card guys but had to take his time with main event names like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Even Rey Mysterio held his own against 'Big Sexy'.

The top two candidates in NXT are Bull Dempsey and Baron Corbin. Dempsey isn't incredibly tall or anything, but he's tall enough in comparison to the majority of the guys who'll comprise the main roster in a few years time. Plus he's beefy, which helps him look intimidating. He looks and wrestles the part and carries himself like a big deal.

Corbin can look moody pretty well.

But it's Corbin who seems like he has the better chance. His dispassionate (some may say vacant) stare before, during and after his matches is perfect. He has the height and enough muscle to look right presented as an unstoppable beast. The one thing he seems to lack right now is the ability to wrestle a competent match. He's looked good in his twenty second squashes but that's not surprising: it's nigh on impossible to look bad winning a twenty second match.

What's telling is his one competitive match in NXT so far, opposite Adrian Neville on the January 15 episode, saw his opponent do the majority of the work. Even in a five minute match Corbin looked out of his depth. But this is why he's in the developmental system: to learn and improve. If he learns enough then maybe he'll surpass my top pick Harper and become WWE's next resident monster.

WWE Fast Lane 2015 preview

Over the last month there's been a lot of talk about Roman Reigns' controversial victory in the Royal Rumble match. It's been a bit confusing, mostly because Reigns won the Rumble completely fairly. He eliminated Big Show and Kane, they came back into the match illegally and The Rock showed up to help Reigns take care of them. Rusev, Reigns' fellow finalist, returned to the ring after 'The Brahma Bull' had stepped out and was thrown out by Reigns and Reigns alone. The only controversy was how poorly it was all laid out, not the nature in which Reigns won.

WWE's idea of something being controversial (in this instance at least) is that fan favourite Daniel Bryan didn't win. Again that falls under poor booking as opposed to legitimate controversy. But WWE have described it in this way in an effort to disguise the fact that Reigns' win got an even more negative than they'd anticipated. The crowd booed because they wanted Bryan in the closing stage and weren't keen on Reigns, yes. But they also booed because the way in which Reigns won was formulaic and boring.

But WWE saw a way out with the controversy line and they took it. It's irritating that they feel they can so blatantly lie but it has at least lead to a Reigns versus Bryan match which will surely be better than the originally planned Reigns versus Big Show match could ever have been.

In fact the most controversial storyline development since the Rumble has been The Authority's choice to pit Bryan and Seth Rollins against each other on the January 26 RAW. Rollins had been pinned by the WWE champion the night before. Bryan had been fairly ousted from the Royal Rumble by Bray Wyatt. If they were looking for men to compete for the right to beat Reigns for his title shot both Wyatt and Rusev would have been more deserving. 'The Eater of Worlds' lasted longer than anyone else in the Rumble, held the joint record for most eliminations in the match, and, as mentioned, threw out Bryan. Rusev was one of the other joint record holders (the third was Reigns) and was the final man eliminated. Both had done more to warrant a crack at 'The Big Dog' than Bryan and Rollins.

But it was Bryan and Rollins who got the shot and Bryan that won. Which brings us to Fast Lane, where Daniel Bryan will wrestle Roman Reigns for the right to go on to WrestleMania and challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE championship. There are a few reasons this match exists. Probably most important is that it gives people some hope that D-Bry will replace Reigns challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE world championship at WrestleMania 31. It also serves to quieten down the people who are still arguing that Bryan is more deserving of a title match than Reigns. Finally, it's there to guarantee Reigns a good match on his way to almost certainly dethroning 'The Beast' at WrestleMania.

Initially I didn't think Bryan had a prayer of winning this match. I expected it to be all about solidifying Reigns as a top guy. There's nothing wrong with that. He has his limitations but there are worse people that could be in Reigns' spot, and WWE's needed fresh faces towards the top of the card for years. The Reigns push is a step in the right direction.

But over the last few weeks, as Reigns has continued to receive mixed responses on TV and WWE have gone out of their way to keep D-Bry looking strong, I'm not sure. It's possible that the reason Bryan's being protected is so that Reigns defeating him means more but it could also be WWE hedging their bets. I don't think they'd go so far as to write Reigns out of the 'Mania main event but I do think there's a chance we could see a triple threat in which Lesnar defends against both D-Bry and 'The Juggernaut'.

That's going to be my prediction for the match: a draw or no contest of some sort which sets up a three-way. For the second year in a row it would give WWE the best of both worlds: their chosen headliner and the guy the fans clearly want to see there. If I had to pick one guy I'd go with Reigns though. I can't see any reason for WWE to have Bryan win and have Reigns exit the title picture.

One step down the bill in terms of importance we have the first ever John Cena versus Rusev match. At the start of the year I'd been expecting to write about this match in March. For some reason it's been brought forward from its natural home on WrestleMania to the B-level February show. I wrote about this match a few weeks ago and touched on the fact that it may have been moved forward to begin telling the story earlier or because something else is planned for Cena at 'Mania (read that here). The latter seems unlikely. I imagine there's been a decision made to make the February pay-per-view more worthy of people's time than it has been in the past. If so, good.

It's tough to predict a winner for this bout. Cena is very rarely an obvious loser. He isn't one here. Rusev would stand to gain a lot from a series of strong showings against and victories over Cena but the writing team's track record in the star elevation department has been less than spectacular over the last few years. A double disqualification of some sort is a possibility to set up a rematch at WrestleMania but I don't really want to predict that twice on one show, especially in the top two matches.

I'm going to be hopeful that they'll do the right thing and have Rusev beat Cena here and in all matches of this series so that someone else can benefit from that first win over 'The Bulgarian Brute'. It would be even more impressive to beat an undefeated Rusev if he holds multiple victories over Cena.

Also announced for the show is a face-to-face meeting between Triple H and Sting. Their grudge began at November's Survivor Series when Sting debuted and helped Dolph Ziggler get his final elimination in the Team Authority versus Team Cena main event. That result saw The Authority banished forever. Forever apparently lasts less than a month and a half because they were reinstated by the end of the year and since then Sting has made further appearances to antagonise 'The King of Kings' for literally no reason at all.

It would be nice to think that their confrontation at Fast Lane would be where we'll find out what 'The Vigilante's' motives are. Sadly I don't think WWE have thought things through that far. They just know they need Sting to face someone at WrestleMania and they've gone with Triple H. Something half-hearted will be offered up as a token gesture but we won't get a logical reason for Sting to be gunning for a man he's never had anything to do with before fourteen years after the company they're linking him to closed down.

The two will agree to a match at WrestleMania. That's all this segment exists for.

There's also a Stardust versus Goldust match announced. It's a match that has been rumoured for every WrestleMania for the past three or four years and it's finally happening here. At Fast Lane. For a WWE mid-card match there's a lot of backstory here. Stardust was created last year when Cody Rhodes convinced himself he'd become the weak link of the team. Since then he's become increasingly unhinged, recently going so far as to declare Cody dead. 

Hopefully this match signals the beginning of the end for the Stardust character. It's been an enjoyable diversion but long term it can only be a hindrance to Cody. He doesn't necessarily have to win to look like a prospective star again but it wouldn't hurt. I don't think he will though. I think Goldust will win here, prompting a retirement stipulation rematch won by Cody. Winning that could be used as the trigger to make him realise how crazy he's become.

Beyond that only three matches are announced. Intercontinental champion Bad News Barrett defending against Dean Ambrose, Divas champion Nikki Bella defending against Paige, and tag team champions the Usos defending against the Brass Ring Club. Yes, that is a lot of title matches. Of the three Barrett v Ambrose will likely get the longest but I think it will just get trumped in terms of quality by the tag battle. Although it's nice to see 'The Lunatic Fringe' in a programme with someone it's disappointing that WWE are so clearly with how to use him. Slinging the IC strap on him would do the title some favours but it's hard to see it as anything other than a move being made out of desperation.

The tag match would be the ideal opener. It will likely be one of the best matches of the night and if they're given anywhere in the region of fifteen minutes the four men will do something tremendous. The challengers have racked up a number of non-title wins, both in singles and tag matches, against Jimmy and Jey over the last month but that's more likely to mean WWE are trying to wrong foot us than anything sensible or logical. I'm hoping Cesaro and Kidd win, the feud continues and we get a six person tag at WrestleMania (or on the pre-show) with Natalya and Naomi involved.

The Divas title match should be won by Paige. She's the best female wrestler on the main roster right now and is the best chance of turning the Divas division into something worthwhile. A women's scene centred around Paige, Natalya and Naomi could be excellent but it seems depressingly farfetched to expect anything resembling that to come about anytime soon. Nikki will probably retain so that she can drop the butterfly belt at the bigger show next month.

With such a slender card we can probably expect a couple of additions. A six man tag team match pitting the oddball trio of Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan against Seth Rollins and two other guys seems plausible. The two other guys could either be big Show and Kane or Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury. Noble and Mercury could probably make a six man tag match quite fun, so I'd hope for their involvement. Of course a Ziggler v Rollins singles match would be best of all but that's asking too much.

Big Show performed his most recent turn on the February 13 episode of SmackDown, punching Kane just because. They made peace on the following RAW but the latest instalment in their best of 4,001 series could be added to Fast Lane to get them both onto the show. Their inclusion on pay-per-views seems to be a priority for some reason.

Lastly the Prime Time Players pretty much reunited on the pre-Fast Lane RAW when Titus O'Neil saved Darren Young from The Ascension. That would be a logical tag match to include. Titus and Young are both disposable too. That counts for a lot when considering opponents for The Ascension.

The most interesting thing about Fast Lane is how many of its matches seemed to have been peeled off of the WrestleMania line-up. Rusev versus Cena is the obvious example, but Paige v Nikki, the battle of the Dust brothers, the tag title match, and Barrett v Ambrose all could have been saved for the bigger show. That's either a good sign that tells us WWE have prepared an amazing WrestleMania or a bad sign that tells us they're splurging early and they don't know how to follow up. We'll know in a month's time, won't we.

***

Prediction summary:

Roman Reigns v Daniel Bryan to end in a draw
Rusev to defeat John Cena
Dean Ambrose to defeat Bad News Barrett for the Intercontinental championship
Goldust to defeat Stardust
Brass Ring Club to defeat the Usos for the tag team championship
Nikki Bella to defeat Paige to retain the Divas championship

Beginning of the Reigns Era

Roman Reigns was the right choice to win the Royal Rumble. WWE has been in need of new top line talent for years. He has everything the promotion traditionally looks for in their top guys: youth, good looks, and basic in-ring competence. His promo skills aren’t the greatest, but he has time to improve and the company has ways of masking this particular shortcoming. Having him win was a step in the right direction.

But if you went solely on the reaction of the Philadelphia crowd you wouldn’t necessarily think this. In the arena the result was panned in spectacular fashion. There were two reasons for this. Firstly the Philadelphia crowd wanted Daniel Bryan to win. Secondly certain towns have reached the point where they can be expected to boo anyone management gets behind who haven’t been blessed as deserving beforehand.

The first is understandable. I imagine most people watching the 2015 Royal Rumble would have liked a D-Bry victory. He was a popular man making his return from serious injury. Had he won he would have earned his second consecutive WrestleMania main event and wrestled Brock Lesnar in one of the most perfect David versus Goliath bouts pro wrestling has ever been able to offer. It would have felt like WWE moving in a bold new direction with Bryan as the top star.

The second reason is not one I agree with. I think fans are entitled to react to what WWE produces in any way they see fit. That’s something that paying admission to the building should entitle you to. But that doesn’t necessarily mean fans are entitled to expect certain results and lash out when they don’t get them, which is what happened with the Reigns victory. We can expect WWE to create new stars and react to audiences, but anything beyond that is too much. Wrestling is, after all, meant to have an element of unpredictability to it, just as non-predetermined sports do.

He may not have been the ideal winner, but it's nice to see someone new on top.

My view is that people should stop expecting winners and expect more in terms of match and overall storyline quality. We don’t have the right to just state the Reigns win was wrong because we don’t know what the full plan is. WWE have done something right in giving a new guy a shot. New guys are only going to get to succeed if they get to win. Daniel Bryan wasn’t even entered in last year’s Rumble. WWE learnt from that mistake by adding him to the WrestleMania main event anyway and having him win. They’ve also learnt that they need to concentrate on youth, which is what they’re doing with Reigns, along with Rollins, Ambrose and Wyatt (and nothing has happened to make it seem as though Bryan’s push as stopped).

The reaction the Reigns victory earned from the Philadelphia fans was always going to come. But I don’t think it as destined to be as vehement as it was. At least part of the reason Reigns’ win got the reaction it did was in protest to the way it come about.

The audience had seen their favourite, Bryan, eliminated after only ten minutes in the match. The logic behind this booking decision was sound: he was ousted by Bray Wyatt, who had dominated the first third of the Rumble and has historically been pretty capable at getting the better of ‘The Bearded One’. The idea was that Bryan would get his time to shine and then leave, with a cool down period between his exit and Reigns’ arrival designed to let the audience blow off steam about the development.

Obviously things were viewed differently in the building. They saw Bryan eliminated, booed because they wanted him back, saw Reigns enter as the obvious lead candidate to win, and booed more because they still wanted Bryan. Had Reigns been allowed to come in later, or with a greater number of disposable guys in the ring to immediately storm through, I think he would have had an easier time of it. Let’s not forget that Reigns was presented in this fashion as far back as the 2013 Survivor Series and got a good response there. His performance in last year’s Rumble, also matching the model I’m proposing, saw the crowd warm to him too.

People do not just want to see a babyface struggling with an uphill battle. That’s a very 80s and 90s mentality to wrestling booking. What people want now is someone who carves through his opponents with relative ease or who is talented enough to wrestle a lengthy, energetic and exciting match. Reigns is incapable of the latter in a singles setting, leaving only the former an option. WWE do not seem to want to present him in this fashion and so he’s suffered for it.

The closing moments, which saw Big Show and Kane team up to battle Reigns, were massively anti-climactic. Had Reigns shrugged them off and dynamically tossed or Superman punched them from the ring a portion of the audience would have been won over. The plodding pace was a turn off and only attracted boos. As did the casting. Had Wyatt and Rusev, who had dominated the majority of the match before the arrival of Big Show and Kane, been cast as the two men Reigns had to overcome the match would have seemed far more dynamic. They are capable of more physically and don’t carry the stigma of being part of the old guard. It would have been three young guns closing out the Rumble, two of them happening to be heels and one a face.

Reigns is a good choice to headline ‘Mania. Closing out the company’s most important show will do a lot to elevate him. Winning, which is what I’m expecting him to do at this point, will only elevate him more. But one match alone can’t and won’t have the effect WWE needs. They need a sustained effort presenting Reigns as someone of importance but in a way that benefits him. What they went with at the Rumble wasn’t it.

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 review

For the last few years WWE has struggled with its Royal Rumble shows. The titular gimmick match, which is always the central attraction no matter what else is on the show, has seemingly become a problem for them. In theory it’s an easy match to get right. You ascertain who the audience wants to see win and you have them win. Or you pick a hot heel that people really don’t want to see win. WWE’s booking crew seem to have forgotten this, which has led to a string of limp, uninspiring matches.

This year was no different. A man neither the live crowd nor the home audience really wanted to see win was the man that won. Not only that but he did so in the most underwhelming, clichéd manner possible. It was a poor end to a poor pay-per-view.

This was not helped by a generic undercard. The show kicked off with The Ascension versus the New Age Outlaws. It wasn’t a bad match, but that in itself made it a slight disappointment. The Outlaws should have been very quickly squashed by Konor and Viktor in an attempt to erase the memory of the Kliq and the APA, all of whom are well into their forties, easily dispatching The Ascension on RAW. Because it’s The Ascension who are going to be of more benefit to WWE in the future, not the stars form the 90s.

Facepaint.

But we didn’t get that. Instead we got a competent match that ended with Billy Gunn tagging in to take Total Elimina- sorry, I mean The Fall of Man. It was the right result but the wrong route was taken to get to it.

Because the card only had five matches it was heavily padded. The first instance of this was the deluge of ads that followed The Ascension’s victory. Mixed in with that was news that Vince McMahon had tweeted about Rock being in Philadelphia, the city hosting the Rumble. We were also treated to Triple H and Stephanie McMahon discussing Sting. They were concerned he’d get into the building again. Then Paul Heyman rocked up and told them that the solution to their Sting problem was Brock Lesnar. Nothing came of this on the rest of the show so presumably it was setting something up for the future.

The tag team title match went on second. The Miz’s music got a raucous cheer from the crowd. Miz himself was booed while Damien Mizdow, his bearded, super-over stunt double, got a massive cheer. The Usos were met with indifference, although people did get into their little cheering gimmick.

The match was similar to the one they had at TLC, only here Mizdow didn’t get to tag in at all. He spent the early minutes hamming around, mimicking ‘The A-Lister’ and being adored for it. After a while the seriousness of the situation got to him and he asked Miz to tag him in, reminding him it was for the titles. Miz teased that he would but pulled his hand away at the last minute, his ego demanding that he and he alone regain the straps.

It wouldn’t work out for him. Moments later Miz would hit Jey with the Skull Crushing Finale only for the champion to kick out. A “Mizdow!” chant rang out through the arena as Miz ran into a super kick from Jey and then got splashed. The humiliation continued for him when Mizdow snuck into the ring and hit Jey with an SCF of his own, which Jey again kicked out of.

Mizdow slumped down at ringside in disbelief. Back in the ring Jimmy reappeared (he’s been inexplicably absent for several minutes) and gave Miz a splash from the top rope after Jey had sunset bombed him from the corner. That was enough to put The Miz down for a three count.

Mizdow made no effort to break the pin up and mimicked ‘The Awesome One’s’ annoyance with him after the match. It wasn’t a bad match but it was the relationship between Miz and Mizdow that was the focus rather than the action. That’s not a bad thing but it would have been nice, two matches into a five match show, to have had a match where the action was the focus.

Theoretically the Divas tag match fit that description. In practice though it was something approaching a wreck. It started off looking promising, with Paige and Natalya making lots of swift tags and working over Brie. It didn’t last though. Eventually the Bellas turned the tables and isolated Natalya. She spent several minutes working towards and just before she got it Brie yanked Paige form the apron, leaving Natalya to take a match-winning forearm from the face from Nikki.

After comments from Roman Reigns, Stardust, Goldust, Rusev, Miz and Mizdow (who again teased dissension), Big Show (who bizarrely claimed he's not mortal), Fandango, and Daniel Bryan about their Rumble-winning plans it was time for the WWE championship match. The first three matches had been mostly inoffensive and forgettable. This was one of two matches people were expectign big things from, and they got them. It was the highlight of the show.

Early contender for WWE match of 2015.

John Cena got massive heat when he entered first. That was understandable. The smart fan-filled crowd was never going to give him an easy time. Seth Rollins got a pop, because he’s someone that sort of crowd appreciates. But it was defending champion Brock Lesnar, alongside Philadelphia legend Paul Heyman, who got the biggest reaction of the three.

Seth slipped out of ring as soon as the match began. Lesnar simply set to work German suplexing Cena. After a few seconds Rollins saw an opening and returned. He was instantly grabbed for a German suplex but J&J saved him. That came at a price though: they were left open to Lesnar, who easily hoisted both of them up for a double German suplex. The next several minutes were a haze of German suplexes from the champion to both of his challengers. The crowd ate it up.

Lesnar eventually tired of the suplexes and slapped a kimura on Cena instead. Cena made it to his knees and then to his feet before Rollins broke the hold up with a knee to Lesnar's head. Rollins kicked at Lesnar, then Cena joined him to hit a double suplex on the champ. Cena followed up with an AA and Rollins stole the cover. Lesnar kicked out at one.

The challengers briefly took out Lesnar by drop kicking him into the ring steps. Back in the ring Cena hit his belly-to-back suplex and went for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Lesnar grabbed him for a German suplex before he could finish the taunt. Rollins broke up an attempted rolling German suplex with a super kick then kneed Lesnar in the back of the head to send him tumbling from the ring. Then one of those rare instances of Cena debuting a new move occurred. In this case Rollins turned round to take a Michinoku driver, the most stolen move of the 90s. Maybe he could start using it regularly and call it the Cena driver.

Rollins got a Blockbuster on Cena (and I was left disappointed that JBL didn’t namecheck Buff Bagwell). The subsequent pin attempt was broken up by Lesnar. Cena dropped ‘The Pain’ with a clothesline then got pulled out of the ring by Rollins, who springboarded back into the ring looking for a knee to Lesnar's head but got caught and F5ed. Cena broke up that cover to keep the match alive.

Lesnar German suplexed Cena then left the ring to pull apart the Spanish announce desk. When he returned to grab Cena he was blasted with three AAs in quick succession. Rollins pulled Cena off the cover but it didn't matter because Lesnar kicked out anyway. Rollins gave the champion a Curb Stomp, which Lesnar took really well, and Cena broke the cover up. Again it didn’t matter because Lesnar was kicking out.

Lesnar left the ring to recover. Cena followed him out and speared him through the crowd barrier into the timekeeper’s area, then pulled him back to his feet and threw him into the ring steps before smacking him in the head with them, sending Lesnar sprawling onto the Spanish announce table. A Rollins baseball slide wiped out Cena, who then hit a perfect elbow from the top rope onto Lesnar, bouncing off of him as he crushed him through the table.

Cena grabbed Rollins and put him back in the ring. Rollins surprised him with a small package for two. A super kick earned him another. Cena came back with an AA attempt. Rollins landed on his feet but then ran into a pop-up power bomb. Rollins kicked out and fired back with a buckle bomb. He attempted a Curb Stomp but Cena avoided it, latching onto his leg and pulling him down into an STF. J&J broke that up and helped Rollins hit a Shield bomb.

At this point a stretcher arrived for Lesnar and Michael Cole told us the champion may have suffered a broken rib. The inclusion of such an overplayed spot was the only negative thing about the match, but it wasn’t anywhere near bad enough to ruin it.

In the ring Rollins was handed his briefcase by Noble and Mercury. He tried to lamp Cena with it but was instead sent over the top rope (lucky he wasn’t in the Rumble match, eh?). Cena then hit a stacked up AA on J&J. Rollins returned and ate an AA of his own but managed to kick out. Then they staggered back to their feet and traded punches before Rollins scored an enziguri and a Curb Stomp for another two count.

Realising he'd need to try something special to keep Cena down Rollins went up to the top rope and hit Cena with a phoenix splash. But before he could make a cover he was grabbed and German suplexed by a returning Lesnar. Cena got one too, sending him rolling from the ring. Another German on Rollins didn't work out because 'The Future' managed to land on his feet, grab his briefcase and wallop Lesnar with it twice. He went for a Curb Stomp to Lesnar on the case but as he came off the ropes Lesnar sprang to his feet and caught him with and F5 for a successful title defence.

The match couldn't have been better. It was perfectly constructed, avoiding the awkwardness that often plagues WWE three-ways, and everyone got to look good. Cena entered one of his best performances in months. Rollins showed he belonged and was elevated by such a strong performance and not looking out of place with two far more experienced headliners. And Lesnar's status as an unbeatable monster was, astonishingly, not only kept intact but enhanced. It kept viewers guessing and made it clear that the WWE championships and something. Basically, we don't get matches like this anywhere near enough in WWE.

And we wouldn't get one in the night’s main event. The Royal Rumble match closed the show and it's the match that really let the card as a whole down. The opening half of the match was well put together but the back half was full of mistakes. It was basically a match put together according to a booking ethic that is decades out of date. I will touch on this again below.

The Miz and R-Truth started the match off. It made a nice change for the Rumble not to begin with someone announced for the number one spot. The battle from the number one spot has become played out. I was, however, disappointed that no one on commentary acknowledged the Awesome Truth reunion.

He's no longer a Bully, he's back to being a star.

They had a spirited exchange before being joined by entrant number three, the returning Bubba Ray Dudley. He hit the bionic elbow on Miz and then hit the Whassup headbutt and the Dudley Death Drop with R-Truth in the role of Devon. Bubba then eliminated both Miz and Truth as like Harper wandered out.

They traded some big lad moves before being joined by Royal Rumble debutant Bray Wyatt. Harper and Wyatt teamed up on Bubba as the crowd chanted for Devon. Instead they got a Bubba elimination. Bray and Harper exchanged words and then stepped apart, seemingly agreeing to work together.

Curtis Axel got attacked by Erick Rowan as he posed in the aisle. The commentary team made it very clear that Rowan was not an official entrant but Axel never made it to the ring and was never mentioned again. It’s also worth pointing out that Rowan exited the match over the top rope. It was a confusing move. If Rowan stole the spot that should have been made clear. If he didn’t then we should have been told why Axel didn’t make it to the ring.

Harper and Rowan agreed to go after Bray together (which got a loud response from the fans) but Harper turned on Rowan and sided with Bray. Both former henchmen would end up eliminated seconds later as they slumped themselves over the top rope and Wyatt simply tipped them out. ‘The Man of 1,000 Truths’ then stood in the middle of the ring and roared that it was his year. The crowd approved.  

The Boogeyman, Sin Cara and Zack Ryder all made their way into the ring. Each was quickly eliminated by 'The Eater of Worlds'. Number ten fared better. Because it was Daniel Bryan. The crowd erupted into a “Yes!” chant when he entered. He hit Wyatt with a clothesline, four corner drop kicks, smashed him with some kicks and then a top rope hurricanrana, all to a very loud response.

Fandango, Tyson Kidd and Stardust joined the fray. Kidd was quickly eliminated by D-Bry. Number fourteen was Diamond Dallas Page. He started hitting Diamond Cutters almost immediately. Stardust got one as he tried a scoop slam. Fandango was given one off the turnbuckle following a failed top rope leg drop. Wyatt found a haymaker ducked before he took his. The crowd loved it. It may not be a bad idea to look at booking Orton this way whenever he bothers to show back up.

Still a crazy over move after nearly twenty years.

Rusev entered at number fifteen. DDP tried a Diamond Cutter on him but Rusev shoved him off and threw him out, quickly doing the same to Fandango. His faceoff with Wyatt was cut short by a drop kick from Daniel Bryan, who followed up with kicks to both men. Seconds later the match hit its turning point when Daniel Bryan was thrown over the top rope by ‘The Super Athlete’. He landed on the apron but that wasn't enough to save him: Wyatt charged in and knocked him off, officially eliminating him from the match.

This decision baffles me. This was Bryan's return to pay-per-view and his first Rumble in two years after being omitted last year despite being the company's hottest act. The people wanted to see him win the match. I understand WWE wanting to go with someone else but if the paying audience is so clearly invested in someone you’re not booking to win it’s a good idea to keep them in the match for as long as possible so the crowd can enjoy themselves. I'm sure the argument against keeping Bryan in until the end would be that it would detract from support for a certain other "babyface" entrant. But any babyface that wasn't D-Bry was going to face a tough time with the Philadelphia crowd once he’d been eliminated. WWE should have known that, embraced it, and kept Bryan in looking like a contender until much closer to the end of the match. It's what people wanted and it would have made the match far more interesting.

Goldust entered at sixteen. Stardust tried to eliminate him as he went for Shattered Dreams but Goldy kept his feet off the floor and returned to give him a slap. The audience’s response to that and the generic action that followed was to boo and chant for Daniel Bryan. 

Kofi Kingston headed in at seventeen (to hefty boos) and got his annual clever elimination evasion spot shortly afterwards: this year he was thrown over the top rope and landed on the Rosebuds, who were at ringside for Adam Rose’s entrance. Rose looked miffed at this as he entered and got lobbed straight out by 'The Bulgarian Brute'. Kofi followed within seconds.

The boos really intensified when Roman Reigns entered at nineteen, very probably because they could sense what was coming. He got in shots on everyone before eliminating Goldust and Stardust. Big E also got a frosty reception for not being Daniel Bryan. Mizdow did much better, bringing many in the crowd to their feet. He was interrupted by Miz, who told him he was taking his spot. When he was immediately pie-faced off the apron by Reigns Mizdow reconsidered (egged on by frantic fans at ringside) and entered the match. He got in moves on Bray and Big E before being eliminated by Rusev, at which point he went back to mimicking an irate Miz.

Jack Swagger, Ryback and Kane entered at twenty-two, -three and -four and did nothing of interest bar triggering a "CM Punk!" chant (you get one guess at whose entry got that). Dean Ambrose came in at twenty-five and immediately became the crowd's favourite. Titus O'Neil followed him in, immediately getting eliminated by Reigns and Ambrose. It was meant to become a new quickest ever elimination but Titus somehow botched gravity and lasted longer than the current record of four seconds.

Lucky number twenty-seven went to Intercontinental champ Bad News Barrett, followed by Cesaro at twenty-nine. Rusev eliminated Big E with a drop kick before Big Show came in at twenty-nine. A gaggle of guys swarmed him but he shrugged them off with power. He quickly formed an alliance with Kane and they threw out out Ryback and Swags. The final man in was Dolph Ziggler. He immediately swatted Kane, Show and Bray with super kicks, hit the giants with a double DDT, and eliminated BNB with a super kick.

Cesaro grabbed Ziggler for a Big Swing then threw him onto the apron. Ziggler pulled him out and super kicked him to the floor. He returned to the ring only to take a KO punch from Show. ‘The Giant’ and ‘The Big Red machine’ then poured him (yeah, poured him) out of the ring. Kane was set up for a Sister Abigail by Wyatt but Show saved him with another KO punch and they threw him out too.

A dreadfully booked finish.

That left Big Show and Kane on one side of the ring with Reigns and Ambrose on the other. Rusev had quietly slipped out of the ring in order to do a surprise return later. The Shield lads escaped choke slams and worked together to topple ‘The World’s Largest Athlete’. Their attempt at tossing him out didn't work and they ended up getting battered by the large lads. Ambrose took a choke slam from Show and then got tossed out, leaving just Reigns and the giants.

It was a scenario which stank of Vince McMahon. The crowd realised this and chanted “Bullshit!” Cole covered the lax booking by saying they were unhappy about Bryan and Ambrose being gone. That was true, but the problem was far deeper than that. It had become clear Reigns was going to win, and not just win but do so via the 80s cliché of toppling giants. Giants who, as Michael Cole ham-fistedly reminded us, were very accomplished Rumble performers.

Show tried to eliminate Kane as they worked over Reigns, leading to a falling out. As they leaned against the ropes, looking vaguely like they were humping one another, Reigns snuck in to tip them both out. The match was announced as a victory for him even though Rusev was still knocking about (and Curtis Axel never even got in). Reigns didn’t get to celebrate for long: The Authority lads were unhappy at their treatment so they got back into the ring and gave him a double choke slam. The audience’s response was to chant for Rusev, previously one of the most reliable heels in all of wrestling.

The Rock's music hit. He stormed down to the ring, gave Kane a spinebuster and a People's Elbow then gave show a Rock Bottom after Reigns had given him a Superman punch. At that point Rusev returned. Reigns made short work of him, spearing him, pointing at the WrestleMania sign (which is a taunt that always maxes your power bar), and then simply picking him up and chucking him out.

‘The Great One’ slipped back into the ring to pose with his cousin as Triple H and Stephanie came out to scowl. This was all part of Reigns’ elevation package. He was getting the rub from The Rock and being cast as the anti-authority rebel, WWE’s favourite trope, by being the object of Tripper and Steph’s displeasure.

It didn’t work. Reigns was subjected to heavy boos as he posed the show off the air.

It was a dreadful Royal Rumble, characterising everything that’s wrong with WWE in 2015. They want people to pay for the Network and live event tickets and all the rest of it but they don't want to push the people fans want to see pushed. I'm not complaining about Reigns’ win here. It wasn’t ideal but I expected it and, more to the point we’ve only seen the beginning of the story with his victory. But Bryan could have lasted far longer and gone out in a far more impressive manner than he did. The same goes for Ziggler, Wyatt and Ambrose. The latter two were sacrificed to Show and Kane to make them look good for when Reigns Hulked up and tipped them out.

Reigns. One of life's winners.

WWE don’t seem to get how to book for a modern audience. Reigns' initial victory was earned by him sneakily tipping two big fellas out as they humped on the ropes. Where's the dynamism in that? He should have been Superman punching them over the top rope to the ground. If Kane and Show can't take that bump forget 'em, they shouldn't be there.

A Philadelphia crowd was always going to boo this version of Roman Reigns. He’s a typical WWE babyface. That’s what Philadelphia does to them. But I think they would have been happier had a more intense final act been crafted, heavy on young guys as opposed to men who made their Rumble debuts well over a decade ago.

As a show this could have been a far worse starting point for WrestleMania season. The undercard tag matches were inconsequential filler, which is preferable to being actively bad, while the world title match was an early Match of the Year contender. It’s the Rumble that dragged the thing down. There was a right way and a wrong way for Reigns to win. WWE went for the wrong way.

***

Results summary:

The Ascension defeated The New Age Outlaws

The Usos defeated The Miz and Damien Mizdow to retain the tag team championship

The Bellas def Paige and Natalya

Brock Lesnar defeated Seth Rollins and John Cena to retain the WWE championship

Roman Reigns last eliminated Rusev to win the 2015 Royal Rumble

WWE Royal Rumble 2015 preview

For the first time in years WWE had crafted an unpredictable beginning to WrestleMania season. The WWE championship match could be won by any of its three participants. The Rumble match has numerous possible winners. And there are three part-timers floating around who'll probably end up playing a part in the WrestleMania card but it's not obvious what.

And it's at the Royal Rumble where it will all start to take shape.

Let's start with the WWE championship match. Brock Lesnar will defend, for the first time since September, against John Cena and Seth Rollins. It's been an unspectacular reign for Lesnar so far. He trounced Cena at SummerSlam and then lost by DQ at Night of Champions before retreating to his woodland home. Although he's defending against Cena again here the addition of Rollins to the match should ensure we get something markedly different to last year's two Cena v Lesnar singles offerings. Some early two-on-one work against Cena giving way to a true three-way match seems like a realistic expectation. 

Any of the three could leave as champion. Lesnar could retain the title in order to put someone over in a grandiose gesture at WrestleMania 31. Cena could win his sixteenth world title because he's Cena and I fully expect WWE to give him at least two more reigns in order to cement his status as "the greatest thing ever". Rollins could win his first WWE world title so that he spends WWE’s peak period as champion, sending the message to returning and casual viewers that new people are finally being given things to do.

Until a few weeks ago I was convinced Lesnar would retain at the Rumble and lose the title to Roman Reigns in the final match of WrestleMania 31. Three things made me less certain: Rollins' addition to the match, Reigns' string of generic performances, and the Rumble having numerous potential winners who could match up with Cena, Rollins or Lesnar. I'm not counting 'The Beast' out completely, but Cena and Rollins look like they have just of much as a chance as he does right now.

Basically I'm saying it could go to any of the three men in the match. But the nature of previewing a show means making a prediction rather than saying "Hey, they all look good!" With that in mind I'm going to go with Rollins leaving the show as champion. Note that wording though. I could see Lesnar winning the triple threat match or Cena getting world title number sixteen only for Rollins to cash-in his Money in the Bank briefcase for an immediate rematch in which he'd bag the gold. At least part of my reasoning for this is wishful thinking, a hope that WWE have gotten their act together and realised that giving Rollins a title reign at this point could do him so much good.

Before we get to the Rumble match let's quickly look at the rest of the card. Which is the most tag-heavy affair WWE have offered in years.

The New Age Outlaws will make their first pay-per-view appearance since WrestleMania XXX. Funny how Triple H’s mates seem to come back for the WWE’s biggest annual shows, isn’t it? They’ll take on The Ascension.

In NXT The Ascension were presented as the most imposing tag team in years. They were promoted to the main roster at the end of December in less than a month that carefully cultivated aura has been stripped away by jibes from JBL and unspectacular booking. The January 19 RAW saw them get overpowered by the Kliq and the APA. They were outnumbered, but it still didn’t do them any favours. It would have been so much better in the long run if they’d made a comeback against Nash, Hall, Waltman, JBL, Simmons, and the Outlaws and ended the segment as the ones standing.

That’s not what happened though. They were overpowered and so looked weak. I imagine they’ll get the win at the Rumble to show that they can easily dispatch Road Dogg and Billy Gunn in a fair fight, but so what? The damage has already been done.

Paige and Natalya will team up to take on the Bellas. The story behind this match is that Tyson Kidd, Natalya’s husband, has shown more concern for Natty’s opponents than for Natty herself during her matches over the last month. Paige thinks he’s an idiot and Natalya has tried to justify his behaviour and they’re teaming despite these different views because they both dislike the Bellas (and presumably want Nikki’s Divas title). I imagine the Bellas will win following Tyson-related shenanigans, allowing the marital troubles story to progress.

The Miz and Damien Mizdow will get their tag title rematch against the Usos. The Rumble card generally has a lot of time for the undercard and Mizdow and Miz are amongst the most popular acts on the roster so they’ll probably get a fair bit of time. I'd like to see Miz and Mizdow become two time champions but I think the Usos winning seems likelier. A split between the ‘The A-Lister’ and his stunt double is probably coming so they get to have a match at WrestleMania. That would almost certainly be on the pre-show, but whatever.

Of course the best way to split 'The A-Lister' from his bearded double would be in the Rumble match itself. ‘The Awesome One’ could suffer elimination at the hands of some general do-gooder babyface, or contribute to the tally of some powerhouse who’s racking up the throw-outs like Rusev or Reigns, then demand that Mizdow mimic the elimination and leave the match. For the first time in the partnership Mizdow could refuse, standing up to his mean ol’ benefactor. Or he could go through with mimicking the elimination as a matter of course, to boos from the crowd, and then look back on it a few weeks later as the moment he realised he could be more than Miz’s stunt double.

Or they could do something else entirely. The point is that the elimination match invites a lot of different scenarios for a copycat gimmick, especially with someone proven to go as far with it as Sandow does.

Finally there’s the Rumble match. In addition to picking out a winner part of the fun of the Rumble over the last few years has been guessing who’ll stay in the longest and who’ll get the most eliminations. Oh, and seeing what wacky method of avoiding elimination Kofi Kingston has dreamt up.

The most eliminations title seems like something made for Rusev. It would keep him looking strong and could be brought up as a reason he should be given a WWE title match even if he doesn’t win. Which in turn could set up a confrontation with a certain megastar babyface. The longest time is a wider field. If Daniel Bryan goes in early it could be him, but I think he’ll get an entrance number with double figures so that his entrance is built up to. I’ll pick Dolph Ziggler. It seems like the sort of thing WWE would do with him.

As I noted at the top this year’s Rumble has many potential winners. There are returnees such as Daniel Bryan and the likely Sheamus and Randy Orton. There are guys WWE might want to elevate like Rusev and Roman Reigns. And there are guys who have a long shot of winning if management decide to go in an unexpected, some would say baffling, but not entirely unrealistic direction, like Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose.

Let’s go through that list one by one. Daniel Bryan seems like a strong candidate to win. He’s phenomenally popular, it’s his comeback match, and he’d work as an opponent for any of the three men in the Rumble title match. Bryan v Lesnar could be an amazing story, perhaps the greatest David versus Goliath match ever in WWE. Rollins and Bryan could tear the house with a ‘Mania setting and the entrances, status, and time that comes with, and their match could be sold as the beginning of a new era for the company. And Bryan v Cena could be presented as a battle between the two top guys in the company, the first time the two have touched since SummerSlam 2013.

Going against D-Bry is that he took a lot of last year off. Obviously that wasn’t his fault but in the topsy-turvy, light on logic world of WWE that’s a black mark. There’s also the argument that he had his turn last year and 2015 is the time for someone else to be given a crack at being ‘The Man’. It’s not something I’d necessarily agree with, what with Bryan still clearly being very over and talented, but I’d take it as an excuse not to have him win over his neck injury and 2014 layoff.

Sheamus may seem like a ridiculous person to mention as a potential winner but I’d like to remind you all that he won the match in 2012. The E is not above having ‘Great White’ win their biggest gimmick match of the year. When you consider that he’ll be coming back from an injury (worked or otherwise) and will probably get something impactful to do it’s not that hard to imagine a Shaymo win.

Randy Orton is obviously a candidate to win because he’s Randy Orton. Everyone that counts in the company’s decision-making circles loves the guy. Like Sheamus he’ll be making a return, and should get a far louder reaction because of the nature of his absence (he was sidelined by The Authority). What he has that Sheamus doesn’t is an existing grudge with one of the men in the WWE title match: Seth Rollins.

‘The Future’ is the one primarily responsible for ‘The Viper’s’ injury-slash-filming break. A match between the two is going to happen at some point this year, and WrestleMania 31 seems like a good spot for it. If they won their respective matches they’d be set on a path to that match. Of course, that grudge could also be saved for another time and Orty could be pitted against Lesnar before he leaves: a rare fresh match between established main event names.

Rusev isn’t that likely but he’s not impossible. The decision could be taken to push his undefeated status into overdrive, having him enter the Rumble early and toss out everyone before winning the thing. He and Lana get strong heel heat already, giving him the Rumble would increase it and be a way of elevating some new talent (which, as stated already, is something I’m hopeful WWE want to do before ‘Mania 31). Rusev v Rollins wouldn’t work. Rusev v Lesnar could with a little bit of tweaking to Lesnar’s character, and would do wonders for ‘The Super Athlete’ if he actually won.

But obviously John Cena would be the most natural man for a Rumble-winning Rusev to face. Cena stands up for “what’s right” (and being proud to be Russian is wrong) and would all too easily slot into the American hero role that the Rusev character works so well opposite. The quality of the match would be questionable, but it would be a tough one to call a winner for if they handled it right. If they wanted to WWE could take the plunge and have Cena lose to Rusev, setting him up as a truly unstoppable beast in a way that no other win could. If he won the title from Cena and was still undefeated the first person to beat him would get a massive boost.

Roman Reigns, like Bryan, would work well against any of the three WWE title match participants. Reigns v Rollins could be presented as a match that will determine the shape of WWE’s future and call on the pair’s history in The Shield, their tag title reign together, and their non-feud last autumn. Reigns v Cena could be presented as the future encroaching on the present, a changing of the guard moment for the company. Whether that guard change would come would be irrelevant for the match itself.

I’ve written about a match between Reigns and Lesnar at length. Suffice it to say here that having Reigns win the Rumble and then defeat Lesnar for the championship at WrestleMania, in a year that’s seen Lesnar overcome Cena twice, win the WWE world title, defeat him again in a three-way also involving Rollins, and end The Undertaker’s Streak, would be the best way possible of cementing him as ‘The Man’. That’s true of anyone of course, but Reigns as the look and charisma that WWE traditionally wants in its leading men.

Finally there are Dolph Ziggler and Dean Ambrose. They’re long shots, but they’re both over enough to make a Rumble win and ‘Mania headlining position just about feasible. Either man facing Cena seems unlikely: if they were to make it to the WWE championship match at WrestleMania it’s a safe bet that Cena would be in a significant non-title match to help keep the card looking big. Lesnar seems a little likelier because as much as he’s considered a draw he’s not the reliable professional Cena is, but I still think it’s unlikely we’d see him face a Ziggler or an Ambrose.

But either man against Rollins would work. Having them chase a heel Rollins for two months before finally dethroning him at the company’s flagship event would provide a good story, a memorable moment, and make it clear that everyone involved is someone of note.

Picking a winner from this list is hard. Realistically I could see Bryan being eliminated in the final moments by whoever he’s working with at ‘Mania. That could very well be Sheamus, who I can’t see winning because he’s Sheamus (and also because it feels like WWE are gearing up to push new people). Orton winning and facing Rollins would make a great deal of sense considering what they went through last year, but they could just as easily do that match without the title. Similarly Rusev doesn’t need to win the Rumble to clash with Cena. Ziggler and Ambrose are popular but they don’t seem like they’ve been positioned for such a high profile spot.

Which, by process of elimination, leaves me predicting a win for Roman Reigns. It’s not something I’m adamantly against but it’s also not something I’m really hoping for. Reigns has his strengths and isn’t the worst person WWE could move up, but I’d much rather see them give Bryan another go or try Ziggler as a top guy. But what’s nice is that I don’t feel especially confident about any of these predictions. WWE has a chance to really surprise us. I just hope they do it in a positive way.

***

Predictions summary:

Roman Reigns to win the Royal Rumble
Dolph Ziggler to survive the longest
Rusev to make the most eliminations
Seth Rollins to leave the show as WWE champion
The Usos to defeat The Miz and Damien Mizdow
The Ascension to defeat The New Age Outlaws
The Bella twins to defeat Paige and Natalya

The Real Man of Tomorrow

Anyone with a passing interest in comics will probably know that Superman was once frequently referred to as the man of tomorrow. With the way they've presented him since last June, giving him the Superman punch and positioning him as a big part of WWE's future, you could understand this nickname being used for Roman Reigns. But as things stand right now it would actually be more appropriate for Seth Rollins.

Since the pair went their separate ways last summer they’ve moved into very different roles. Reigns spent a while vaguely chasing the WWE championship before moving into a forgettable and mercifully short-lived feud with Randy Orton. Rollins joined The Authority, won Money in the Bank and had the best feud of the year with Dean Ambrose.

Tyler Black in the same ring as John Cena and Brock Lesnar. It happened.

The two were supposed to collide in the autumn but it ended up being called after Reigns hit the injured list. While his former teammate was out Rollins headlined his second pay-per-view in a row and then wrestled John Cena in a tables match at TLC. On the January 5 RAW it was revealed he’d once again be rubbing shoulders with Cena, joining him and WWE champion Brock Lesnar in a three-way match for the title at Royal Rumble. The January 12 episode saw him interacting with ‘The Beast’ himself, something usually reserved only for men of a certain station.

Rollins is WWE’s top active heel. He is one of the few people to receive something resembling genuine heat from audiences. That he turned on his pals in exchange for preferential treatment from the bosses is very relatable for audiences, and the fact that he revels in it makes him even easier to hate. But what’s really made Rollins’ character a success is that he has the ability to succeed without this preferential treatment. He could, if he wanted to, earn his way to the top. Fans recognise this and boo him more for it. Rollins is a very dislikeable characters as wrestlers go.

Reigns, meanwhile, has faltered. He’s offered a series of faulty matches as a singles guy and promos laden with awkward pauses, a variety of even more awkward voice pitches, and a general non-understanding of what wrestling fans want from a babyface in the 2010s. His good looks, better hair, and nice big muscles made him everyone’s choice to excel after the demise of The Shield, because those are the things WWE adores, but he’s actually doing significantly less well than his peers. This isn’t to say he won’t or can’t succeed, more that his shortcomings when compared to Dean Ambrose and particularly Rollins, are clear.

Rollins has stormed to the top of WWE. He’s managed to avoid making any serious blunders in the last seven months, and it’s paid off for him in the form of the Rumble main event match. That he’s been awarded a slot in a pay-per-view WWE championship match opposite top boy Cena and resident kill-monster Lesnar shows the level of confidence WWE decision-makers have in Rollins, and how happy they are with his progress. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him leave as champion. Whether he does or not I think this is just the beginning of a long stint at the top for the aptly named ‘Future’.

Incoming Irishman

We haven’t seen Sheamus for a while. The reason for this is that he’s been off healing up from surgery he received in November. It’s possible you haven’t missed him. It would be understandable. Sheamus did nothing of note in 2014. The closest he came to being interesting was winning the United States championship and teasing a heel turn against dean Ambrose, but even that wasn’t especially memorable. His reign was just as innocuous as every other reign has been with that belt in the last three years.

The likelihood is that Sheamus will soon be back on TV. From a character perspective the natural thing for him to do upon his return would be to target Rusev, the man who defeated him for the US title on November 3. Or possibly Mark Henry, who, along with Rusev, gave him the kicking that was credited with causing his absence in storylines.

In reality Sheamus will probably not do this. He’s been due a heel turn since 2013 and gunning for Rusev or Henry would only postpone that further. I think WWE will be keen to pull the trigger on ‘Great White’ going bad. They’re short on credible heels at the moment and Sheamus needs to turn. It’s an obvious thing to do and do quickly.

Even Sheamus looks bored by the idea of his comeback.

I’m not a fan of Sheamus. I don’t find him interesting to listen to or fun to watch. His signature moves are bland. The ten punch in the ropes spot is dull. White Noise is clunky to pull off. The Brogue kick is one of the most unspectacular finishes ever, although that it has least has been built up as a credible finish within WWE. The best thing you can say about Sheamus is that he does his best work against other hossy lads like Cesaro. But everyone does good work with Cesaro.

The heel turn is unlikely to change how I feel about ‘The Celtic Warrior’ but it might make him more bearable. It will allow him to make some much needed changes to his character and present him with a fresh list of opponents. A change in allegiance will also ensure he’s a priority of the creative team, meaning he’ll be given things to do and we’ll be given reasons to be interested in him. That should last at least a few weeks.

I’d be most interested in Sheamus taking a mid-card role and working with guys like Dolph Ziggler, Luke Harper, and the also soon-to-return Bad News Barrett to continue reinvigorating the Intercontinental championship. Failing that a team-up with fellow big boys The Ascension for a series of singles and tag matches with The New Day, leading to a climactic six man exchange, would play to Sheamus’s strengths.

Realistically I think ‘Great White’ will be closer to the top of the card, because he’s apparently popular with the right people in decision-making circles. Couple that with the fact that he’s one of the bigger names on the roster these days and you have a lethal combination that means he’s usually positioned pretty well in and around the Rumble to WrestleMania period.

A WrestleMania 31 match with Dean Ambrose or Dolph Ziggler doesn’t seem out of the question. The latter wouldn’t be too bad if ‘The Show Off’ won. The former would be terribly disheartening. After a year turning himself into one of the most interesting guys in WWE the last thing ‘The Lunatic Fringe’ needs is to be saddled with Sheamus for his first ‘Mania singles match.

Perhaps worse is the potential for a Sheamus versus Roman Reigns or Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan match at ‘The Granddaddy of Them All’. Reigns is not to everyone’s taste but he’s one of WWE’s best chances to make a new star. For that to happen he needs a lot of care an attention. A feud with Sheamus does not fall into that category after his poor 2014. And while Bryan and Sheamus have had very good matches in the past (like Cesaro, nobody has a bad match with D-Bry) the last thing the most popular man in the company needs right now is to be saddled with the returning ‘Irish Curse’.

A best case scenario would actually be for Sheamus’s return to be held off until after WrestleMania. That way he could be brought in to fill the void left by Brock Lesnar and any other departing part-timers, and he could be placed into a brand new feud with someone on one of the most watched RAWs of the year. But just you watch: he’ll return at the Royal Rumble and be booked strong to set up a WrestleMania match which is top of nobodies’ wish list.

Who Can Win the 2015 Rumble?

It's time, once again, for everyone to get on board the... Oh, wait a second. It's not that time. No. No, no, no. It's never that time anymore. No, right now it's time for us to look a month into the future at the Royal Rumble and ask ourselves who might win it. Which is something that, in theory, shouldn't take long because there aren't that many people on the WWE roster right now who look like potential winners.

Before going ahead and asking who could win it's probably a good idea to look at what the winner will be doing. By knowing that we can better understand the situation and who may be placed into it.

Obviously the winner of the Rumble will go on to face the WWE champion for the WWE championship at WrestleMania, it’s the traditional prize. That match will be billed as the main event even if it doesn't go on last, not that that's important for our purposes here. Right now the champ is Brock Lesnar. At the Royal Rumble he will defend his title against John Cena. This means that it will almost certainly be one of those two defending the strap come 'Mania. If Lesnar retains against Cena he's unlikely to make an appearance (at least not a wrestling appearance) at new February pay-per-view Fast Lane. Should Cena defeat Lesnar he probably will wrestle at Fast Lane, potentially in a title match. But it's unlikely WWE would have Cena win the championship only to drop it a month later so it's safe enough to assume if he beats Lesnar he'll be the champ at WrestleMania.

Lesnar's got to be the favourite to head into WrestleMania 31 as champ, right?

Which tells us we can expect the winner of the Royal Rumble to face Lesnar or Cena at WrestleMania. The number of guys who'd get to challenge for the WWE title at WWE's premier show is small already. That they'd be facing Lesnar, the company's highest paid guy on a per appearance basis, or Cena, the man the company has revolved around for the last decade, narrows things further. With Lesnar or Cena in the title match it's pretty much a guarantee the defence will go on last. Basically, having a second tier name win the Rumble and challenge the WWE champion on the WrestleMania undercard, something that was pretty standard for a while, doesn't seem like an option.

Which brings me back around to the slender number of prospective Rumble victors. Top of my list (and probably most other people's right now) is Roman Reigns. I mean, he's just the obvious choice, right? He looks the part and WWE have positioned him for a strong run. What better way to show that someone’s a big deal than by having him win the Royal Rumble and go on to topple a former UFC champion, a legitimate beast, in the main event of the biggest wrestling show of the year? I can only think of one thing bigger: having them defeat Cena at 'Mania.

Cena may have been handily dispatched by 'The Pain' at SummerSlam but he could gain retribution by blasting through Lesnar at the Rumble. Although WWE have done well making Lesnar into an unstoppable force of nature over the last year Cena is still the undisputed top star, no matter how many times Lesnar destroys him. Reigns versus Cena would also encourage fans to cheer Reigns, something that may not be quite so easy against a character like Lesnar. The boisterous ‘Mania crowd’s dislike of Cena would out weight their dislike of Reigns.

All of this is just as true for Dean Ambrose as it is for Big Roman. The reason Reigns edges ahead of Ambrose is that his face is a better fit. But Ambrose has the people on his side and that's not something that should be underestimated. Last year's WrestleMania is most remembered for WWE altering their planned Batista versus Orton main event to incorporate people's choice Daniel Bryan. Ambrose doesn't have such a fervent following as D-Bry but it's not impossible decision makers could learn from last year and go with the more genuinely popular choice rather than trying to force an embrace of their chosen one.

Randy wins lol.

There’s Randy Orton to consider too. Orton and Cena have never squared off at a WrestleMania. As uninspiring as it sounds it's the sort of match that WWE seems to love promoting. More appealing is the prospect of an Orton versus Lesnar match. They haven't clashed since both became made men in the promotion over a decade ago. It's one of the few fresh matches between headliners WWE have at their disposal. It may not be the greatest thing ever but it would certainly be a credible WrestleMania main event in terms of star power. So a ‘Viper’ win can’t be ruled out.

Daniel Bryan's name needs mentioning. There's clearly scope to do a big story with him returning to win the Rumble and topple the champ at 'Mania. This is dependent on his medical status, which is unknown to the general public, but a late January return has to be at least feasible. What's particularly interesting about the prospect of D-Bry winning is that matches with Cena and Lesnar are equally interesting. Cena and Bryan haven't touched since SummerSlam 2013, whilst Lesnar and Bryan have never interacted in any capacity. Both are matches that would attract an audience, and just as importantly either match could help to bolster Bry's rep in the long run.

This isn't likely though. Pushing Daniel Bryan has never seemed especially high on the company’s priorities list and Cena versus Bryan doesn't feel like a direction WWE would take for WM31. They seem to currently prefer to use Cena to elevate mid-card guys if the last year's anything to go by. Meanwhile if Bryan has healed in time for a lengthy match in March the last person he should be facing from a safety standpoint is Brock Lesnar. That said I'd enjoy either match.

It's possible WWE will decide to go with a dark horse as the Rumble winner. If they do I think Rusev could be in with a chance. He’s been pushed stronger than any non-indy standout newcomer in years and that’s almost certainly going to continue into the Royal Rumble, whether he wins or not. If he did win Rusev v Lesnar wouldn’t really feel right. Both have been presented as near enough unstoppable and one would have to crumble. It's a match that could work but I don’t think it would work now with the way both men are used. Because who would people cheer for? The dominating monster who robbed us of Saint Undertaker's holy Streak or the man proud of not being American?

Rusev v Cena, on the other hand, strikes me as very plausible. American super patriot Cena is the obvious choice to deal Rusev his first proper loss. Making it a world title defence would make the match that bit more of a spectacle, especially if in the time between Rumble and 'Mania 'The Bulgarian Brute' was made to look even stronger, pushing his unbeatable tough guy act into overdrive. The United States championship could pose a minor problem (a mid-card champ challenging the world champ is not the sort of thing WWE goes for these days. But they could simply have Rusev retire that title in a heat-grabbing, pro-Russia ceremony.

Could Ziggler do it? My guess: no.

It's possible a dark horse who’s been stuck in the mid-card for years will get the nod. Dolph Ziggler for example. It's not very likely though. They seem happy enough with 'The Show Off' in his current upper mid-card spot. And while Seth Rollins is just as well placed (if not better) he doesn't need the Rumble. The Money in the Bank briefcase is his ticket to 2015 main events.

Beyond this short list there's no one else who seems worth considering currently working for WWE. Bray Wyatt has floated around towards the top of the card but as 2014 draws to a close he’s in a dreary feud with Dean Ambrose, and before that a near two month layoff. Rey Mysterio is a big enough star but he never appears. Sting has yet to make his second appearance and it’s hard to see a part-timer in his late fifties being presented as the Rumble winner (especially with WWE’s attitude to incoming stars). And anyone who mentions Cesaro is doing some wishful thinking.

All of which illustrates just how badly WWE needs to get on with establishing their new batch of superstars. Hopefully WWE will make it a priority to try and elevate three or four guys this 'Mania season so that this time next year they have a thriving product that doesn’t seem as stagnant and formulaic. Not that I’m expecting that to happen.