WWE TLC 2015 review

TLC is a funny show. It's always held at a time when WWE is in some sort of holding pattern between whatever their big summer angles were and the beginning of 'Mania Season at the Royal Rumble. Sometimes this can result in desperation plots that catch on and become great. Other times it can result in an uninspired show that can't be taken as anything other than the filler it is. Sadly, this year's show fell firmly into the latter camp.

The lads.

It started well though. The three-way tag title ladder match was exactly the kind of opener a WWE pay-per-view needs. New Day headed out first, talking about the Lucha Booties and "Uso" sounding like a disease and their desire to become the faces of the division. They also reminded everyone they were heels by having Xavier say he hadn't done anything special with his hair because he wouldn't waste the effort on Boston.

Being a tag ladder match there was no shortage of memorable spots. They included: stereo moonsaults to the outside by the dragons on New Day; stereo topes onto a ladder by the Usos on everyone; a belly-to-belly suplex onto a ladder from Big E to an Uso;a hilariously unspectacular belly flop from the top rope onto Kofi by Sin Cara, followed seconds later by a tope into a Swanton bomb on ladder-covered Usos; Big E bench pressing a ladder off himself with both Dragons still on top, Kalisto leaping off with a cross body block on Jimmy and Jey; the Usos smacking Kofi with a ladder as he was trapped in a tree of woe; Sin Cara monkey flipping Kalisto onto a ladder atop an Uso; Xavier Woods talking about stamina bars on commentary; Kalisto headscissoring Kofi into a ladder; Soledo del Sol from the top of one ladder onto another; and a Jimmy Uso splash off the top rope onto Big E, who was under a ladder (obvs). New Day retained after Woods threw his trombone at Kalisto, stunning him and allowing Kofi to pull him off the ladder and climb up to retrieve the belts.

Knowing they couldn't top that match WWE wisely decided to follow up with Ryback versus Rusev. If there was an official big lads championship in WWE it would have been on the line here. These are two of the company's premier hosses and it showed in a match that should have satisfied anyone who likes this kind of thing. A Lana distraction eventually led to a Rusev victory via Accolade. While dull, it did at least work as a way of re-establishing Rusev and Lana.

Chairs matches are bad. This was no exception.

After a stilted, unnatural conversation between Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose (Reigns really, really shouldn't speak) we got match three. That was a chairs match for the United States championship, Alberto Del Rio defending against Jack Swagger. They kicked off with a duelling chairs spot and then had a basic encounter featuring basic weapons spots. I imagine I'd have been more interested in this bout if I weren't bored by ADR. But I am so I didn't. 'The Essence of Excellence' won with a double stomp onto a pile of chairs.

That was followed by the Wyatt Family v the Dudley Boyz, Tommy Dreamer and Rhyno in a tables match. Trash cans (dustbins) and kendo stocks were brought in immediately, seemingly so Strowman could no-sell them and look powerful. He was briefly teamed up on by Team ECW but was saved by Erick Rowan. He was put through a table, eliminated, for his trouble.

Harper and Wyatt took over after that. At one point Harper hit a Michinoku driver and Michael Cole called it correctly. That was surprising. Rhyno was their first victim, getting booted through a table by Harper. The Dudleys slipped back in to hit Harper with a Doomsday Device. Bubba got distracted targeting Strowman (possibly a shoot considering his reputation), leaving Devon to set up a table. He was immediately thrown through it by Wyatt.

E-C-dub, E-C- ahhh, I can't be bothered.

That left Tommy Dreamer and Bubby Ray against the three remaining Wyatts. Which was a really odd call. Dreamer didn't last long though: he got eliminated after a tope through a table by Harper. Bubba responded to being left alone by dousing a table in lighter fluid. Because that clearly wouldn't have been PG it came to nothing. Strowman wandered in and choke slammed Bubba through the table to get the win for his team.

The match was better than I'd expected but was by no means good. That the Wyatts weren't permitted a clean sweep was the biggest weakness. It really would have helped their standing as a faction had they not lost anyone. Maybe something will come of Rowan being eliminated. I hope not, frankly. He already has one failed singles push to his name. We don't need another.

The Intercontinental championship match was preceded by a promo from Kevin Owens. He laid into Bostonians living vicariously through their (presumably) successful sports teams before turning his attention to Dean Ambrose. Naturally enough he said Ambrose and the Boston fans had plenty in common.

A disinterested referee watches Ambrose risk his neck.

They had one of the night's better bouts, an indy-styled altercation built around familiar spots and near falls. This is the sort of thing that both men (though Owens in particular) excel at. It was nice to see them given the chance to do their thing here after an ever-so-slightly disappointing meeting at Survivor Series, although they still didn't get that long. 'The Lunatic Fringe' got the surprise win, playing into the false finish theme by reversing a pop-up power bomb that felt like a definite match-ender and getting the pin and the title. It's a bit of a shame that Owens' reign is over so soon but at least he lost to someone with some name value. I'm interested to see whether WWE get it right with Deano now.

The Divas title match between Charlotte and Paige took the semi-main event slot. That's been the traditional slot for female wrestlers over the last decade. One aspect of that tradition has been giving the matches little time and less reason to happen. That's something that has, pleasantly, been dropped from the women's division since the Divas Revolution over the summer. The story itself largely failed at everything except introducing new names to the roster but it's nice that's it's had a more positive long term effect.

The story going into the match was that Charlotte had become increasingly like her father, bragging about her abilities and cheating to win. This included her sneaking an unfair victory out of supposed friend Becky Lynch. It doesn't matter that aping her massively charismatic father doesn't play to her strengths, this has been a step in the right direction for Charley. She's a more natural heel than face at this point in her career and this is good for her.

Time for a new title belt, I reckon.

That said it did make the match peculiar. Charlotte has clearly been cast as a heel and Paige has spent months in that role too. The crowd decided 'The Nature Girl' was the default heel and threw their lot in with 'The Anti-Diva'. The action was most notable for Charlotte honing her Ric Flair tribute act, although she did get a (ropey) cross body from the top and a big boot that he'd never have hit. She retained after slinging Paige face first into an exposed turnbuckle, which she'd set up as her dad distracted Paige and the referee.

Which left only the main event: Roman Reigns challenging Sheamus for the WWE championship. They set the tone from the opening seconds of the match when Reigns raced across the ring and lamped Sheamus square in the mouth with a right hand. It was a "snug" encounter ful of the prerequisite ladder and tables bumps, neither man putting a foot wrong. Both wrestled like they had something to prove. Let's face it, they did. Reigns needed to prove he warranted his position as the anointed one and John Cena's heir. Sheamus needed to show people he's worth more than an interim run as world champion and that he should have had this spot on his own merit.

"Bah gawd, look at the physicality! Look at the carnage!"

What this was was a fitting main event that saved the pay-per-view from utter mediocrity. What this was not was Roman Reigns' night. After Superman punching 'The Celtic Warrior' off the top of a ladder just as he laid his hand on the title belt Reigns seemed to have the match won. He steamed up the ladder as Michael Cole screeched that this was his chance. But it wasn't. Rusev and 'Dirty' Berty Del Rio, Shaymo's League of Nations stablemates, hit the ring and assaulted Reigns.

They teased Reigns overcoming the odds as long as they could. ADR helped Sheamus recover as Rusev trapped Reigns in the Accolade. Reigns broke free, clobbered the interference runners, and yanked Sheamus off the ladder. That earned him a Brogue kick which sent him sailing out of the ring. Obvious Sheamus victory right? Well, yes, but not before Reigns had puled himself back into the ring and over to the base of the ladder, prompting a look of stunned disbelief from Sheamus and a hurried unbuckling of the title belt.

After the match Reigns destroyed everyone. He speared Del Rio and Rusev as they hoisted Sheamus up on their shoulders. Then he hit all three with a chair. A lot. Triple H and Stephanie showed up at ringside. Reigns continued his assault, sporting the expression of a man who'd had enough of having obstacles thrown and had finally snapped.

Roman Reigns losing his mind there.

'The Game' got into the ring to help Sheamus and ended up taking a beating too. Reigns gave him a Superman punch and seven chair shots before power bombing him onto the Spanish announce table. I say onto because it didn't break. Not to be denied a memorable visual Reigns leapt off the English announce table and hit the COO with an elbow drop. Then, just for good measure, Reigns speared Trips as he was being helped to hobble backstage.

This sequence ensured the show ended on a strong note. It was Reigns snapping, taking his frustrations out on the people who have held him down in storyline and bored viewers in real life. It was the perfect way to win the crowd over and get them firmly on Reigns' side. The show went off the air with the fans going crazy for the chosen one.

And it set the stage for a heck of a RAW...

Results summary:

New Day defeated the Usos and the Lucha Dragons to retain the tag team championship
Rusev defeated Ryback
Alberto Del Rio defeated Jack Swagger to retain the United States championship
The Wyatt Family defeated the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno and Tommy Dreamer
Dean Ambrose defeated Kevin Owens to win the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte defeated Paige to retain the Divas championship
Sheamus defeated Roman Reigns to retain the WWE championship

Fantasy Booker: Survivor Series 2015

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

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

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

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

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

This match feels overdue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Push this man.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

First round RAW matches:

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

First round SmackDown matches:

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

Second round matches:

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

Semi-final matches:

Roman Reigns defeats Alberto Del Rio
Kevin Owens defeats Cesaro

Final match:

Roman Reigns defeats Kevin Owens and Sheamus

WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 preview

Last month's WWE pay-per-view was called Night of Champions. Judging by the card we have here this month's could easily be marketed as Night of Rematches (holds for laughter, gets silence). All but one of these matches is something we've seen before in one form or another. While rematches are a part of wrestling and some shows are going to be heavier on them than others this seems a particularly bad instance of RematchMania.

Ryback v Kevin Owens and Charlotte v Nikki Bella are both straight-up rematches from Night of Champions. On that show Owens and Charlotte defeated their foes for the Intercontinental and Divas championships respectively. Both matches should be good but I can't see any reason we should expect a title change. The new champions would only be weakened by dropping the gold so soon after winning it.

Despite these fun little conspiracy theories floating around about there being a cabal of influential people within WWE desperate to bring about Owens' downfall (hey, there's a Reality Era storyline waiting to happen) I don't think it will manifest itself (not that I think it's true) in a loss for him here. Meanwhile Charlotte seems to be the chosen one for the new look Divas division. She'll hold onto the strap to work that defence that's so clearly been set up against Paige. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if something happened to further that programme here.

An even more chronic rematch example is New Day versus the Dudley Boyz. The two teams didn't just face off at Night of Champions, they also clashed at the MSG special. Annoyingly it was the same combo of New Day wrestlers each time (Kofi Kingston and Big E). Had they been permitted to switch in Xavier Woods we would have one fresh combination to run through here before the inevitable table match stip gets wheeled out.

I expect New Day to win here. They won't lose the titles until that tables match happens. That is the natural time for Bubba and Devon to get their much ballyhooed tenth (WWE) tag title win. Hopefully we get an altered finish here though. I don't want to sit through the NOC and MSG bout for a third time.

Reigns versus Wyatt is yet another rematch although it does have the fact that we've never seen the pair in a Hell in a Cell match going in its favour. Last month I incorrectly predicted a win for Roman in his tag match because I assumed that would be the end of the feud. I foolishly didn't think to consult my WWE PPV calendar before writing that. Had I done I'd have remembered HIAC was coming and would have known that Wyatt v Reigns was the obvious match to go with.

I expect this match to be good. Reigns hasn't had a bad pay-per-view match this year. He's had a couple with dull portions though and while one of those came against 'The Eater of Worlds' (at Battleground, Wyatt won) I think the cage gimmick here, not to mention interference from the Family (they're fenced out but that won' sop 'em), will be enough for them to keep viewers engrossed for the duration. I'm interested in the layout of this match because Reigns matches have been getting a tonne of attention from creative since 'Mania and it's his first Cell match, a big deal in WWE. Plus, y'know, make look strong and all that.

There's the US Open Challenge tarring John Cena too. While we don't know who'll answer that the chances are that it will be someone who we've seen face Cena before, because Cena's worked with everyone. Ziggler is a contender for the spot given his recent determination to answer the call and defeat Cena. The member of Ne Day that doesn't wrestle the tag match is a possibility too as they all recently took a crack at the challenge. Dean Ambrose and Wyatt's henchmen are all candidates too what with their matches being cancelled due to a Randy Orton injury.

Hard to say who'll win without knowing who the challenger is. But I'll go with Cena retaining and losing the belt on RAW. There's so much talk of him taking time off that it seems impossible he'll be the champ this time next week. But I think he'll drop the gold on Monday rather than on PPV. Which would make sense as that's been the home of his Open Challenge since it started.

The only other match that's not a PPV rerun is WWE world champion Seth Rollins versus... Demon Kane. Yes, Demon Kane. Because that's how we're referring to him now. That character's mad and fragmented nature has finally reached the point where WWE have embraced it and decided to run with a multiple personality storyline for him. I personally think they should go further with it and retcon Isaac Yankem, the Christmas Creature and Fake Diesel to be more of Kane's personalities. It'd be a laugh if nothing else.

You have to feel bad for Seth, really. Since winning the title he's gotten to work with Ambrose, Reigns, Orton, Lesnar and Cena on pay-per-view and a bunch of talented lads on TV, and now he's come up against the problem that seemingly every world champion in WWE faces sooner or later: proving themselves against Glenn Jacobs. As a character in a wrestling environment Kane is tremendous. There are very few things that can't be done with him at this point because he has such a ridiculous history, backstory and gimmick. But that doesn't mean he should be wrestling for the WWE title in 2015 at the age of 48.

Rollins will win. He'll be booked to show far too much weakness for 'The Devil's Favourite Demon'. The best way this match could be handled now that it's been announced is Rollins making short work of Kane, pinning him clean with a Pedigree before sauntering backstage and cutting a promo to Renee Young about how he's the best champion ever and he's retired Kane. Which, for the record, is a thing in this match: if Kane loses he's kayfabe fired as the kayfabe Director of Kayfabe Operations. It's entirely possible this will be his last match with the company. Though it probably won't be.

Last but not least there's the evening's second Hell in a Cell match between Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker. The pair have met in this match before. Okay it was thirteen years ago but it still happened. And on top of this exact bout having happened before (I believe the only time ever that two guys have had a one-on-one Cell match more than once) 'Taker and 'The Beast' headlined SummerSlam two months ago. These two facts taken together make this match seem very familiar despite the part-time schedules of the men involved.

I'd originally assumed this programme would stretch until WrestleMania 32. I'm pleased that it isn't. By the time that show rolls around it will have been two years since Lesnar ended The Streak. While there's a natural story to tell between the two on the 'Mania platform it's not necessarily one worth telling. Even if 'The Last Outlaw' avenged his loss at WrestleMania XXX he'd still be without his Streak. There are better uses for Lesnar both at WM32 and leading up to that show. Doing a couple of rematches with 'Taker makes sense but keeping it running for that long would have been dull.

I'm leaning towards a victory for 'The Pain'. Both lads were protected by the "controversial" (read "massively unsatisfying") ending to their SummerSlam bout, telling the crowd that they're each as good as each other and either can take a win here. This shouldn't be the case. Lesnar should win. He has the longer future in the company and is worth more to them at this point. As he no longer has The Streak there's nothing to be gained from having 'The Phenom' get his win back. He retains his veteran allure and character mystique no matter what. Lesnar losing tarnishes the monster reputation that's been built up over the last several years. Lesnar losing is absolutely not what's best for business.

***

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker
Roman Reigns to defeat Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins to defeat Kane to retain the WWE championship
The Dudley Boyz to defeat New Day by disqualification 
Charlotte to defeat Nikki Bella to retain the Divas championship
Kevin Owens to defeat Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship
John Cena to retain the United States championship

WWE Night of Champions 2015 review

Following a standard issue excellent video package WWE's eighth annual Night of Champions pay-per-view kicked off with an Intercontinental title match. Defending champ The Ryback got a mixed reaction from the Houston fans. That didn't deter him from running through his "Wake up!" and "It's feeding time!" shtick. Challenger Kevin Owens got a more positive reaction and started out the match with the crowd behind him.

'The Big Guy' spent the first minute or so of the match knocking Owens down to the mat. Then he gorilla pressed him to the outside and encouraged the fans to cheer him. They did. Owens shrugged off the gorilla press and began targeting Ryback's arm. Ryback absorbed various armbars and takedowns, a Russian leg sweep with his arm pinned behind his back, and a senton onto his arm before finally managing to floor KO with a clothesline. Owens escaped a power bomb but got caught with a spinebuster. The champ went to follow up with a meat hook clothesline but Owens struck him with a super kick instead.

That earned Owens a two count. He tried to put the champ away with a pop-up power bomb but The Ryback ducked out of the way and got his meat hook clothesline. Owens was hoisted up for the Shellshock but was spared the move when Ry' realised his elbow was too hurty to fall backwards. Owens took this opportunity to drop down to the mat and shove Ryback arm first into a ring post.

When that only got Owens a two count he hit an arm takedown and locked in an armbar. Ryback sold that for a moment before powering up to his feet and deciding he was, in fact, strong enough to hit Shellshock after all. But it wasn't to be: Owens raked Ryback's eyes before he could be dropped and slipped out of the move again, schoolboying the champ for a three count and the gold.

Owens as champ is a good thing. The reaction he got here, and the reactions he's been receiving on TV lately, showed that people were ready for the change. It's a nice change of pace and a call back to when the IC strap was used as a signified that wrestlers were destined for big things in WWE. Ryback's reign was fine but he'd had it long enough. I think he'll work better as a babyface chasing a rematch anyway. Owens deserves a meaningful run and I think he'll get it.

An ad aired for Brock Lesnar's Go to Hell tour. Next month he'll wrestle Big Show in MSG, appear on Steve Austin's podcast, and then face Undertaker at Hell in a Cell inside the cage. The highlight of this should be Lesnar's appearance on Austin's podcast. If there's any chance of Austin v Lesnar happening this should make it clear. The match with 'Taker could be fun but we've seen it before, at No Mercy 2002 (Lesnar won), and I imagine we'll get another offbeat finish even though the obvious thing to do is have 'The Beast' win decisively.

Match two was Rusev versus Dolph Ziggler. Before the match 'The Bulgarian Brute' told Rich Brennan he wasn't in the mood to chat, he was in the mood for crushing "the puny American" Ziggler. Grade A lad banter from Rusev, that. They also took the opportunity to establish that Summer Rae, Rusev's girlfriend, was wearing earrings 'The Show Off' had given to her on RAW. Because it's a soap opera feud and needs soap opera trappings.

The match was fine, mostly because both lads rarely have a bad match, although there was very little crowd heat between the start and the finish. To keep the ridiculous soap antics of the feud strong the finish saw Summer get involved, hopping onto the apron, taking a bump and being ordered to the back by the referee. She responded by taking offer her shoe and throwing it into the ring where it hit Rusev in the face. Ziggler snuck in a Zig Zag and won. Rusev left alone. Summer screeched in the aisle. Michael Cole delivered what he probably thought was a zinger about the sequence giving new meaning to the word "heel". Let's never speak of any of this again.

Heat magnets New Day entered first (in some absolutely fabulous new gear) for the tag team title match. They cut an anti-Dudleys, pro-table promo in an attempt to turn the crowd against them. It mostly worked, but they're never going to be completely successful because they're just too entertaining.

The match was fun. Big E and Bubba had some stiff big boy exchanges, Kofi was excellent as a cocky heel, and Xavier was cracking riling up the crowd (highlights included smack-talking Bubba, loudly screaming  "New Day!", and playing the Rocky theme on his trombone). Devon was also there. Bubba was isolated for a while before he made a hot tag. Within two minutes of that they'd hit a 3D. Woods broke the count up in front of the ref to cause a DQ, giving the Duds a win but ensuring New Day retained the belts.

After the match New Day beat down Bubba and Devon then set up a table. They didn't get to use it though. The Dudleys recovered and put Woods through it. Presumably this was done to give the crowd something to cheer after such an unsatisfying ending and to create cause for a tables match between the two teams either at the MSG Network special or at Hell in a Cell.

The Divas championship match was not the scorcher we'd get from an NXT women's title match. It was heavy on delay tactics from Nikki towards the start and had a far slower pace. The champion targeted the challenger's leg and kept her on the mat to work it over. It was a logical story that played on Charlotte's figure eight leg lock finish, the idea being that ikki would do such an effective job that Charlotte wouldn't be able to apply her trademark hold effectively. It succeeded in engaging the crowd and kept them invested in Charlotte. It also played to the pair's respective strengths. 'The Nature Girl' is very convincing when it comes to selling and Nikki works best with a slower, more deliberate pace where she's free to interact with the audience without needing to do try anything overly athletic. 

Charlotte would eventually fire up and give Nikki some chops (accompanied by unenthusiastic wooos from the crowd). Nikki fought back, clambered onto the second rope and launched herself at the challenger. Charlotte caught her with a spear and locked in a figure eight leg lock, despite Nikki having effectively worked over her leg for the entire match. Nikki only managed to hold on for about ten seconds before she tapped out.

Compared to what we've seen from Charlotte in NXT this wasn't that great. Compared to the average Divas title match over the last few years it was. Charlotte and Nikki told a story, played to their strengths and provided the clean finish that was needed. I don't think we could have asked for more. Nikki's reign hasn't been bad and I enjoy her work but I'm pleased we've got a new champion. Charlotte defending against her fellow fresh additions is what the division needs now.

After a brief Kevin Owens promo (he said he's a prize fighter who now has a prize), a check-in with the pre-show panel (they said nothing of interest), a commentary team check-in (they blathered about the following match) and a shot of PCB and Flair backstage (Charlotte botched her pa's limousine-ridin' catchphrase then left to celebrate her win) the Wyatts v Shield rivalry was introduced. Of note during the entrances Michael Cole called Dean Ambrose a dude, Roman Reigns got a babyface reaction, and a guy who looked a bit like New Jack slipped into the ring to stand with Reigns and Ambrose before the third man was introduced. Security quickly removed him and Ambrose and Wyatt, being stone cold pros, played the incident up.

The actual third man was Chris Jericho. Because apparently he has to get himself involved with every hot act or feud he can in an effort to convince people, and himself, that he's still relevant and capable of hanging with younger fellas. He isn't and can't. Despite the involvement of 'Y2J' the match was good. Highlights included; Reigns deadlifting Harper into a sit out power bomb; a Harper suicide dive to Reigns followed by a senton on the floor from Bray; Ambrose turning a Sister Abigail into a(n unsuccessful) schoolboy; Strowman being booked to stay on his feet after two Superman punches; a crazy-good spear from Reigns to Strowman; and Jericho being caught in mid-air as he tried the Codebreaker on Strowman and being muscled up for a backbreaker. The finish saw Jericho, who'd tagged himself in as Reigns seemed poised to polish things off, pass out in Strowman's bear hug.

The match was surprisingly short at thirteen and wasn't a patch on the Shield v Wyatts matches of 2014. But equalling them was an unreasonably high expectation for this match. It was the fun outing it needed to be and it had the right result: Reigns and Ambrose should not be able to beat the Wyatts with anyone other than Seth Rollins (and that match will happen again someday). It also seemed to contribute to the long term plan of having Reigns accepted by the majority of fans by getting him a good opening reaction and sticking him in a good match. Following the finish the Shield boys looked disappointed and checked on Jericho. He heelishly barged passed them and wandered up the aisle, setting up Jericho v Reigns and-or Ambrose. Because, as already stated, Jericho has to get involved with every act that could conceivably be considered hot.

Backstage Triple H and Stephanie McMahon told Seth Rollins they believed in him. He said he was the man, pumped himself up and headed off down a corridor. Sheamus wandered up and hinted at a Money in the Bank cash-in. Trips and Stepher looked concerned. If they were that concerned they wouldn't have booked their boy in back-to-back title defences, but there you go.

Despite being the obvious choice for show-closer (see my preview for why) Cena v Rollins took the semi-main event slot. As predicted they tore the house down (not literally) with the match of the night. Rollins hit Cena with a Blockbuster, a tree of woe double stomp, a sling blade, a tope, and a superplex floated into a falcon arrow, amongst other moves. Cena hit Rollins with his belly-to-back suplex, the Five Knuckle Shuffle, a sunset bomb, a tornado DDT, and the STF. They also reversed a number of one another's usual moves, Rollins kicking Cena in the head on a FKS attempt, landing on his feet off an AA, and turning another AA into a sunset flip, Cena turning a buckle bomb a hurricanrana and weaselling out of a Pedigree at least once.

Cena would win the match with an inverted suplex, his Dangerous Top Leg Drop and an AA, giving him his fifth United States title. It's interesting to note that even though the match was packed with big moments there was only one finishing move (the STF is a hold so doesn't count here) and it brought things to a close. This seemed like a concerted effort to rein in the number of finishers in main events matches in an effort to make them mean more.  

After the match 'The Future' grabbed the WWE strap and tried to leave. Cena cut him off and AAed him in the aisle before throwing him back into the ring. The match that followed was heavy on ringside action and big bumps from Rollins, both designed to hide the physical limitations of 56-year-old Steve 'Sting' Borden. For the most part it worked.

Sting dominated Rollins until he headed to the announce area. Rollins shoved 'The Icon' off the English announce table through the Spanish announce table and Sting (kayfabe) cracked his head on a monitor. In the ring Sting took a sling blade, a falcon arrow, and a buckle bomb. The big man from WCW kicked out of them all. Instead of doing the sensible thing and hitting Sting with a Pedigree, Rollins went to the apron and went for a springboard something or other. Sting recovered and shoved him off the ropes into the crowd barricade below.

Rollins pretty much no-sold that and was back in the ring almost immediately. He was met by an amped up Sting. The champ took some right hands and a pair of Stinger splashes. Then Sting pulled out the big guns and tossed Rollins out of the ring to give him a cross body block from the top rope.

In the ring Sting hit the Scorpion Death Drop. Rollins saved himself with a foot on the ropes. Sting got the Stinger splash again then followed up with a mounted ten punch in the corner. Rollins countered that into a buckle bomb. After that Sting collapsed while running the ropes and the referee called the ringside doctor in to check on him. After a bit of a breather he was cleared to continue (a storyline sequence designed to protect Sting). Rollins immediately went for a Pedigree. Sting turned it into a Scorpion Death Lock. Rollins escaped and tried the Pedigree again. Sting again reversed it onto the Death Lock but Rollins reversed that into a small package to get a three count and retain the world title just shy of the fifteen minute mark.

After a few minutes of celebrating from Rollins, Sheamus rushed the ring and Brogue kicked the world champ. Before he could officially cash-in Kane made the return that literally nobody's been waiting for. He continued the Rollins abuse with a choke slam. Shaymo returned to the ring but he was choke slammed too. 'The Big Red Machine' then ended the show by Tombstoning Rollins, leaving us with the question: whose side is he on?

Night of Champions was a good show. There were no outright bad bouts. The opener, Nikki versus Charlotte, and Cena versus Rollins were all very enjoyable. The main event was far from a classic but it was fun if you like a brawl with clever use of big bumps. The booking of Rollins was disappointing. He's supposed to be an undeserving, cowardly champion but he retained the world title clean and held his own with Big Match John, a feat that not just anyone in WWE can manage. They should have gone all the way with him overcoming the odds and had Sheamus take his briefcase title shot only to lose. Three title matches in one night would have really helped Rollins' character.

***

Results summary:

Kevin Owens defeated Ryback to win the Intercontinental championship
Dolph Ziggler defeated Rusev
The Dudley Boyz defeated New Day by DQ
Charlotte defeated Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
The Wyatt Family defeated Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Chris Jericho
John Cena defeated Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins defeated Sting to retain the WWE championship

WWE Night of Champions 2015 preview

Do you like title defences? If so you'll love Night of Champions. It's the WWE B level pay-per-view where every championship is defended in a match, which somehow sets it apart from all those other WWE pay-per-views where all titles are defended. Plus there are bonus matches that don't even involve titles at all! WWE is truly spoiling us.

With every title being defended double champion Seth Rollins will make two appearances at this event. He'll defend the WWE championship against Sting and the United States championship against John Cena. The US title match is expected to go on last. Considering the respective ability of Sting and Cena I think that's the right call. 'Big Match John' is clearly more capable of delivering a satisfying main while having Rollins face 'The Icon' first will ensure he's fresher, all the better to carry the ageing former WCW headliner to something passable.

I'm fully expecting Cena to regain the US belt. Keeping Rollins a double champ doesn't seem feasible long term and it's tough to envisage Sting wandering out on RAW with the world gold. It's by no means impossible, there's ample time for Rollins to drop the belt to someone and give them a short reign before he regains it and drops it to Reigns. That someone could easily be Sting. Rollins versus Reigns is the obvious big match for WWE to be building to but there's time for them to surprise us before they get there, basically.

There's a way for all three guys to come out of this show looking good. If Sting v Rollins took the semi-main spot then Rollins could cheat to win a fifteen minute match and sell exhaustion as his US defence kicks off. This would keep heat on 'The Future' for cheating in another title defence, protect Sting by not having him lose clean, and make Cena look strong for giving the heel his comeuppance, with Rollins being protected in his second match because he's wrestled back to back defences. Instead of this I suspect Rollins and 'The Stinger' will open the show and that WWE will go with the same story suggested above, though it won't work anywhere near as well with Rollins having a few hours to recuperate between bouts. 

The other gents' single strap will be defended by Ryback against Kevin Owens. It's a match that has the potential to be hossy excellence. It's quality will ultimately be determined by whether or not Ryback's on form. As a character he's always gold, face or heel, but his ring work can vary. Owens will definitely carry his end of things. Expect his usual big match arsenal of fishermanbusters and double jump moonsaults. I'll be surprised if 'The Big Guy' doesn't get to kick out of at least one of Owens' power bomb variants too.

I'm torn on a winner for this match. Ryback is still very much one of the company's projects, a lad they're determined to get over. It's the reason he got the IC strap in the first place. But Owens very clearly has top line potential himself and is a better worker with (seemingly) a more passionate following than big Ry'.

I'm leaning towards an Owens win. I've been predicting Ryback wins since he won the belt on the basis of it not feeling like time for a change. Now it's beginning to. If WWE are serious about wanting their championships to mean more (and the booking of the US title since WrestleMania indicates that they do) then Owens would be a good man to put it on. Of course, successfully defending against Owens could really help to legitimise Ryback's title reign. So there's that.

Over in the tag division New Day will defend the titles against the Dudley Boyz. Given the New Day's table-themed protest against the Dudleys immediately after their return and the lack of gimmick matches on this show it's surprising that this isn't a tables match. I suppose that could change before the event or even on the night. If it does I expect Bubba and Devon will leave as ten time (WWE) doubles champs. If it doesn't then I could see New Day winning in order to set up a rematch for the MSG special or Hell in a Cell in October.

The match will be great. Because New Day. In fact it'll be great because of the Dudleys too. They've been great since their return to the company last month. Bubba has proven he was entirely wasted as Bully Ray in TNA. Not that that's news to anyone.

The evening's other tag match will be a six man. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns, the two man Shield, will once again pair up to tangle with the Wyatt Family. It's the stables rivalry that will never end, which, in a way, is part of why it's so special. The guys involved can always slip into a programme based on their allegiances to these groups. It's the sort of thing that works so well in wrestling.

The Wyatts will be represented by Bray, Luke Harper and new boy Braun Strowman. A mystery partner has been teased for Ambrose and Reigns. The list of potential partners seems pretty short. Randy Orton was attacked by Bray and co on the 7 September RAW and was shown talking to Reigns and Ambrose later in the evening so he'd be a logical choice. Erick Rowan had reunited with Luke Harper before he suffered an injury in June but it's possible he could return to oppose them citing jealousy over Braun Strowman bring brought in. That sounds an underwhelming and slightly silly reason for a face turn but WWE have offered far less in the past. Personally I'd like to see Cesaro as the mystery partner. It wouldn't make much sense but he's not booked and he can wrestle his socks off (possibly literally).

I suspect we'll get 'The Viper' as the third man though. Although he's boring a lot of the time he'd be perfectly watchable here. Sharing the ring with five other men would limit his screen time and allow him to hit his key spots without doing much else. That's pretty much ideal for him.

The current incarnation of the feud (which started back at Money in the Bank in June) is tied at one win each. 'The Eater of Worlds' defeated Reigns at Battleground. Reigns and Ambrose picked up a tag win over Wyatt and Harper at SummerSlam. Assuming this is the final match in the series I'm predicting a Reigns, Ambrose and mystery partner victory here. Reigns needs to be kept strong for the WWE title win he's getting sooner or later. That said I'd love to see the Wyatt Family win after interference from a returning Rowan or, better yet, a debuting Sister Abigail.

Also announced for the show are Dolph Ziggler v Rusev and Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons v The Cosmic Wasteland. I've got little to say regarding Ziggler, Rusev, Lana and Summer Rae. The story seems to be deliberately emulating a trashy soap plot. This is fine and something wrestling can parody very well. Sadly nobody involved is going as crazy with their material as they need to to make it work. I'll hope Lana swerve turns on 'The Show Off' to reunite with Rusev.

The six man match will be on the pre-show. I don't usually cover those but I love this Cosmic Wasteland thing so much that I just wanted an excuse to mention it. Stardust has been a highlight of WWE since his issue with Stephen Amell became A Thing and casting The Ascension as his henchmen was a stroke genius. They look good together, it gives a previously aimless team something to do, and it helps 'The Prince of Dark Matter' seem that bit more of a threat. No logical analysing here, I want them to win.

Finally there's Nikki Bella's Divas title match with Charlotte. This match originally took place on the September 14 episode of RAW with the story on that night being that Charlotte wanted to win not just to become the Divas champion but to stop Nikki becoming the longest reigning champ in history. We got a Dusty finish. Charlotte was announced as the victor and new champ, Ric Flair nigh on teleported down to ringside to get in some celebrating with his daughter, then it was revealed that Charlotte had pinned Brie. The match was restarted and Nikki got in a pin to retain her title and shatter a record.

The reasoning behind this sequence was beyond reproach. Nikki cheating to win in the manner she did is a long established character trait. Stealing the title from Charlotte's grasp is the perfect way to get heat on a heel. The trouble is that so much leading up to the match had been haphazard. Nikki had flitted back and forth between face and heel. The Divas Revolution story, while entertaining and definitely movement in the right direction, had not produced that many truly memorable or meaningful matches.

The good news is that the NOC rematch has been announced with stipulations that favour a fair fight. Nikki can lose by DQ, ruling out any heelish shenanigans. Things are set up for a Charlotte victory and Sasha Banks has been surreptitiously readied as her first challenger with clean TV wins over former champion Paige and a subtle restructuring of BAD to make it clear that 'The Boss' is... well, the boss. Nikki is unlikely to regain the title after losing it to Charlotte but she can float around near the top of the division as a perennial challenger, her longest reign ever giving her something to crow about and helping portray her as a legitimate contender.

If Charlotte doesn't win at Night of Champions WWE will have to go back to square one with their Divas division. I don't think they want to. I'm confident enough people backstage understand that Sunday needs to be Charlotte's night.

***

Predictions summary:

John Cena to defeat Seth Rollins to win the United States championship
Seth Rollins to defeat Sting to retain the WWE championship
Kevin Owens to defeat Ryback for the Intercontinental championship
Charlotte to defeat Nikki Bella to win the Divas championship
Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and their mystery partner to defeat The Wyatt Family
New Day to defeat the Dudley Boyz to retain the tag team championship
Rusev to defeat Dolph Ziggler
The Cosmic Wasteland to defeat Adrian Neville and the Lucha Dragons

John Cena's Sweet Sixteen

Over the last year much has been made of the fact that John Cena's next world title win will tie him with Ric Flair's record of sixteen. Ever since he lost his fifteenth world championship at SummerSlam 2014 we've been hearing rumour through The Dirt Sheets™ that WWE wants to have Cena's next win and the reign it kicks off be big deals. We heard it mentioned on-screen leading up to SummerSlam this year, Cena's first title shot since January's Royal Rumble, with him specifically name-dropping Flair and announcing that he wants to reach that milestone.

This makes sense. With only one man having been as prolific as Cena when it comes to winning world titles it's entirely understandable that WWE would want to focus on that journey as a story. Cena equalling a record tally is a logical, understandable plot for wrestling because it focuses on wins and losses and the importance of titles. It's also something that has never really been done before in wrestling, at least not in the exact circumstance of someone tying Flair.

The thing is that Cena's world title win won't see him equal Flair's actual record. It will see him equal the WWE approved record, the one that discounts a number of 'Naitch's' early NWA world championship victories. For what it's worth Flair is said to privately consider himself something like a twenty-one time world champ. Not that Flair's private feelings or the legitimate number of title reigns he's had actually matters. What matters is that Flair is known as a sixteen time world champion and Cena's next win will see tie this.

The once and future champ.

When it comes (and it will come) Cena's next WWE championship reign needs to be something memorable¹. Running through standard issue title defences against Rollins, Kane and Orton won't cut it if WWE wants to do the story they're going for justice. What is the story they're going (or will be going) for? That in winning sixteen world championships Cena, who is frequently lambasted as a poor wrestler with little understanding of selling and ring psychology, is every bit as good as Ric Flair, who is frequently held up as the greatest professional wrestler ever.

A long title reign will be needed to do this story justice and for a long title reign WWE will need plenty of challengers. Right now there are very few people who could believably defeat Cena on pay-per-view. The number who could defeat him for a world title is even smaller, especially such an importantly numbered title. And if a long Cena title reign is to work in 2015 or beyond then the audience should be able to feel that Cena could lose in any defence, adding to the drama of each match, therefore heightening reactions and making the achievement of each successful retention seem greater.

Had one of Cena's allegedly star-making feuds against Bray Wyatt, Rusev or Kevin Owens gone differently over the last eighteen months things could be different. Had Cena left any one of those feuds without getting a victory then the opponent in question would be perfectly positioned as a title challenger for 'Big Match John' come his next world title reign. They could have been presented as the only man of the last decade Cena had failed to defeat and a favourite in a title match against him. Basically, Cena losing more in these programmes would have made a victory for him at a later point a bigger deal.

Rusev in particular could have been great in this role. Had WWE thought enough about it 'The Bulgarian Brute' could have been built up as Cena's gateway to a sixteenth world title. Had Rusev dropped Cena on three or four straight pay-per-views he would have been established as a juggernaut and a natural contender to the WWE world title. He could have won that from Rollins, either in a singles match (in the right city Rollins could have played the face) or a three-way including someone like Ambrose, Lesnar or Reigns to give people a face to get behind, and gone on to have a few months as a dominant world champion. Cena could have gone on his undercard quest to find himself (the Open Challenge thing could have worked as Cena testing himself instead of as a US title reign) before challenging Rusev to a world title match and beating him. This would have seen Cena finally getting the victory that had eluded him, ending Rusev's undefeated streak, and equalling the sixteen title reigns record in one match.

But, sadly, nobody in WWE seems to think that far ahead.

The good news is that Cena's next world title win is unlikely to roll around until next year.  Roman Reigns seems like the natural choice to take the belt from current champ Seth Rollins, likely at WrestleMania 32 Star in Texas next April. It's unlikely Reigns' inaugural world title run would last less than four months, which would take him through to SummerSlam, a fitting stage for Cena's big win. Next August gives WWE plenty of time to rebuild Rusev, Owens and Wyatt, along with preparing other acts like Cesaro, Stardust and Ryback, giving Cena the stacked roster he needs to make his sixteenth world title reign the success it deserves to be.

***

¹ The irony here is that Flair's final WCW world title reigns were massively underwhelming. The fifteenth world title reign of Ric Flair began on an episode of Nitro and lasted seven days, ending when he was stripped of the belt by Vince Russo. Jeff Jarrett then won the title later on the same show and lost it the following evening to Kevin Nash at a Thunder taping. 'Big Sexy' then handed the title back to Flair on the following Nitro², with Flair going on to lose the title back to Jarrett later on in the show.

Yes, that means Flair's famed sixteenth world title reign began with Kevin Nash handing him the belt and lasted less than two hours. Woooooo!

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