The Power of Bolief

Bo Dallas's motivational speaker gimmick is similar to the archetypal televangelist. For whatever reason WWE seem unwilling to fully embrace this¹ and instead keep Bo doing the same trite promos that end in his "Bolieve!" catchphrase. Yeah, it's a damn nice pun but Bo could be doing more as a character and livening up the lower card as he does it.

Do you.. Bolieve?

Here's an idea. Have Bo come out dressed in an all white suit, including a white tie and white shoes. They should go full televangelist with it and have him look like he's trying to resemble an actual angel. The New Day lads have honed the televangelist promo style but they're not using the look. That's still wide open and Bo would fit it well.

With this new look could come a new focus in promos. Instead of just setting himself up for his punchline catchphrase Bo could spend a few weeks or a month talking about how he wants to help WWE Superstars™ who are floundering and struggling. Interrupting random matches on SmackDown and getting segments on Main Event would be enough to get this new approach across, with it being made clear that Bo's looking to help lower card lads.

After a few weeks Bo could reveal the guys he wants to help, interrupting a match involving them or simply calling them to the ring during SmackDown (this clearly isn't high profile enough to get air time on RAW). There are a few options for this. Bo could tell Cutis Axel and Damien Sandow that they're better than imitating people from decades ago. He could tell Fandango and Adam Rose that they're both great athletes not being taken seriously because of their silly gimmicks. He could tell Zack Ryder that management aren't interested in him despite his hard work and that he hasn't been relevant for years.

Bolievers?

They're all middle or lower card guys (whether they deserve to be or not). The diea should be that Dallas recruits them to be Bolievers and becomes their manager. Let him manage two guys, give them new all-white ring gear (maybe have their names in black on them or something) and use them as a tag team. You'd have a new team, a new use for Bo Dallas that plays to his strength of being both irritating and ridiculous, and something for guys who are currently directionless.

You would also have the option to imply that Bo is some sort of sinister cult leader who's brainwashed guys into being Bolievers. That may not sound like anything particularly novel in and of itself and it wouldn't be. But it's worth noting that Bo's real life brother is Bray Wyatt, a man well established within WWE canon as a cult leader. Doing something similar with Bo would create the option to play the cult leader thing up in a future storyline. It's an idea that does things short and long term.

But it won't happen. Obviously. Nobody in WWE writes for the mid-card anymore.

***

¹ It's possible they're concerned about upsetting big Christianity fans in their own locker room or religious groups outside the company. But that argument doesn't really tally with them referring to Brock Lesnar as the Devil or the continued depiction of The Undertaker as a demon and-or zombie.

Marital Troubles

One of the few consistent stories WWE’s told over the last few months has been the one concerning the marital problems of Tyson Kidd and Natalya. It’s been a prominent part of Total Divas and has been a regular, if minor, aspect of the pair’s appearances both on the main roster TV shows and NXT. All the signs indicate that it’s not something that’s going to come to much outside of Total Divas, which is a waste because WWE could do something memorable with it if they wanted to.

It’s been pretty well established that part of the problem is Tyson having a problem with Natalya getting the spotlight when he doesn’t. There have been times where he’s posed in front of her after she’s gotten a victory and he’s frequently not bothered going to ringside for her matches, while she accompanies him for all of his (unless a storyline reason prevents her from doing so). There’s also been the more highlighted stuff with Tyson being “overly friendly” with Nikki Bella when she’s been competing against his wife.

Note Tyson's complete lack of interest.

So how about building towards Natalya versus Tyson Kidd at WrestleMania 31? Have Kidd continue to upstage Nattie on RAW and SmackDown across the next week of TV, and refuse to accompany her to the ring for matches she considers important. Nattie could win a number on contenders match on an episode of SmackDown, earning her a shot at the winner of the Nikki Bella versus Paige Fast Lane match on an episode of RAW. Her celebrating could be interrupted by Tyson strolling to ringside and batting her out of the way to stand on a turnbuckle. Because he’s totes a megastar.

Natalya could shrug that mistreatment off as she shrugs all his mistreatment off, and then convince Tyson that she really, really wants him there at ringside to see her become the Divas champ at against Nikki or Paige. He’d reluctantly agree (it’s not like he’s on RAW much anyway) and be at ringside for the match. This being wrestling he’d end up accidentally costing her the match in some way and then storm backstage when she dares to blame him for her loss.

This would end up being a turning point for Natalya, the moment that makes her realise that her husband doesn’t respect her or her career. The following week’s RAW could see her announce she’s made a decision about her marriage, setting up the reveal for the following week and giving people a reason to tune in. Naturally the commentary crew could play up that she’s going to ask Tyson for a divorce, because that’s the on the nose approach favoured by WWE.

But instead the next week’s show would arrive and Natalya would get an in-ring promo segment challenging Tyson to a match at WrestleMania. He’d laugh it off before being convinced (through a slap or the threat of separation or some other Grand Gesture™) that Natalya’s serious. Maybe he could say no and then spend weeks being convinced that Nattie will go through with her threat of divorce, or maybe he could simply say yes to begin with.

Either way it would need to be clear that the match isn’t about spousal abuse (because that’s distinctly un-PG and, more to the point, not something I think pro wrestling is well-equipped to tackle) but rather about respect and gender equality (the former of which is firmly in pro wrestling’s ball park and the latter of which really should be). Natalya would want to prove she’s just as good a wrestler as any of the guys and that Tyson should respect her. Tyson wouldn’t necessarily have to transform into a raging sexist for the story to work, he could simply remain the inattentive husband who believes Natalya supporting his endeavours is of greater import than him supporting hers.

Natalya would need to win the match, of course. A mid-card husband versus wife story of this nature needs to win with the wife vindicated otherwise it sends a very poor message. Ideally she’d go over with the Sharpshooter before they reconcile with a hug. I think Natalya and Tyson could have a good match if they had more than five minutes, and it would be nice for them to get a genuinely memorable, meaningful WrestleMania Moment.

SmackTalk 10.10.14: SmackDown Fifteenth Anniversay

If I could I’d start this post by making note of some of my favourite SmackDown memories from the past fifteen years. With it being an anniversary show it seems the appropriate thing to do. Unfortunately I can’t remember anything that wasn’t highlight by WWE during the show. That’s mostly due to SmackDown being the number two show for the majority of its life.

In fact the only thing I feel that’s worth mentioning here is that the first regular episode of SmackDown aired in the US on 26 August 1999. That means WWE are close to two months late with this fifteenth anniversary celebration. And, for the record, that wasn’t even the first episode of SmackDown. The first episode had been recorded and aired as a special in April ’99. I’d understand WWE ignoring that date in favour of the show’s debut as a weekly fixture, but I can’t say the same about this random October date.

But this isn’t the first time WWE have changed facts and figures for their own needs. It won’t be the last either. What was nice about the show was that WWE managed to capture the general pointlessness the programme has in 2014 and turn it into something worth celebrating. Truly they are masters of turning nothing into something (albeit something forgettable and entirely skippable).

The show kicked off with a video package filled with fast cuts between memorable SmackDown moments. Included were a generic Edge and Christian bit; some double posing from Triple H and Hulk Hogan; a face-off between Hogan and Brock Lesnar; Rock’s sliding People’s Elbow on The British Bulldog (it wasn’t clear that it was Bulldog, but it was); Schwarzenegger holding a replica title belt over his head and grinning; Rhino goring Chris Jericho through the stage set; Bischoff swerving the universe at the Billy and Chuck wedding by peeling off a fake face (which is particularly strange taken out of the wedding context as it was here); Cody throwing Sandow's briefcase into water and Sandow leaping in after it; Eddie Guerrero doing a frog splash off a cage (I can’t remember who took it, for which I can only apologise); Cena debuting opposite Kurt Angle; the Lesnar-Big Show ring explosion; Austin blowing up the DX Express; Rock making Coach dance the Charleston; and Undertaker parodying himself with the "Buckle up Teddy!" line. After that the video rattled through shots of Austin, Rock, Undertaker, DX, Jericho and others on SmackDown, presumably to remind us that the show was once pretty relevant.

Sadly there was no "Tag match, playa!" But we'd get to that. In fact we’d get back to many of the clips shown here. WWE replayed many of them later in the show in a series of celebratory reminders which, again, seemed designed to remind people that things used to happen on SmackDown.

In the arena it was Stephanie McMahon who got the show started. She was introduced not only as a principle owner but also the first ever SmackDown GM. As she strode to the ring Michael Cole informed us that when SmackDown first aired JBL was still wrestling and Tom Philips was ten years-old. Naturally he avoided revealing that when SmackDown first aired he was being humiliated by The Rock on a weekly basis.

Stephanie mentioned Rock coining the term SmackDown and losing to Triple H on the debut episode. Then she got interrupted by John Laurinaitis. The initial reaction to him was (understandably) uninspired but a nice “People power!” chant started up as soon as his music cut. Big Johnny said he'd been researching (though he didn't say what) on the WWE Network and had some matches he wanted to make. He didn't get to reveal them because Teddy Long came out, to a much louder reaction than Laurinaitis had received. JBL got up to dance and shake Teddy's hand. The crowd broke out in a “Teddy!” chant. Children wept with happiness. Women screamed out their love and adoration. Men shouted that they aspired to one day be as charismatic, powerful, and downright cool as Teddy Long. WWE were fools to release the man. He's money.

"Tag match, playa!"

Teddy and Johnny had a little back and forth (including Teddy nonsensically cramming in the line "The proof is in the playa") before Johnny announced a tag match. Teddy upped it to a six man tag match. Laurinaitis jumped it to a ten man tag. Teddy stacked it up further still, settling on a fifteen man tag match. It took him an age to run through the teams. I’m sure this as a joke at his expense, and that the segment was edited heavily.

Steph added the stip that the two men would captain the teams. The winning team would earn their captain the title of Best GM Ever. She put over the night’s Miz TV and then Adam Rose danced out to wish SmackDown a happy birthday and tell Stephanie to be a Rosebud. Stephanie booked him in a match with Kane. The three GMs danced into a break for some mid-2000s SmackDown surrealism.

The evening’s first glance to the past video played. It focused on the main event of the first episode, Triple H defending the WWF world championship against The Rock. It ended with guest referee super kicking ‘The Brahma Bull’ in the face, allowing his buddy to recover and hit a Pedigree for the win. I have never seen this match because Sky took a while to start airing SmackDown. I’ve seen enough Rock v Triple H matches to assume it was good.

After a break Kane came out. He was not wearing a vest, sadly. He listed some of the things he's not (a cheeseburger, a bunny, a lemon, a Rosebud) and said that what he is is a party pooper. Obviously he did this because those things were in Rise's entourage, but listing what he's not should be a new Kane gimmick. Basically, I want Kane to be made as peculiar and strange as possible. He no longer makes sense in any way as a character. WWE should embrace that.

‘The Big Red Machine’ won quickly with a choke slam. It was Rose’s first loss, pretty impressive when you consider how long he’s been on TV without a serious push behind him. He can now fulfil his destiny and become a jobber to the stars. After the match Kane punched, kicked and choke slammed a number of the Rosebuds. He nearly got his hands on the bunny, but it got away.

Blast from the past vid number two saw Kurt Angle issuing an open challenge to any young guy in the back wanting a shot at him. Because he was a big star in a big company back then, and a competitive match against him was a big deal. Cena lost the match, although WWE omitted that fact because these days Cena has to be shown as all powerful, not someone who’d lose to cleanly to a guy who no longer works for the company. Rikishi, Ron Simmons, and, most significantly, then-WWE champion Undertaker were booked to congratulate him afterwards. Ron said Cena would go far. He is wrestling’s Nostradamus.

Match two saw AJ Lee wrestle Alicia Fox. It was another short match. AJ won when she got picked up for a slam and countered into a Black Widow. Paige attacked after the match but AJ quickly dispatched her and skipped off.

The third recap focused on big stunts. Included was footage of Eddie Guerrero leaping off a cage (again); Jeff vaulting from one ladder over another ladder and going through a table; Rey Mysterio's debut jumping off a cage onto the UnAmericans; Kane jumping off a turnbuckle onto the New Age Outlaws during an inferno match; Mark Henry breaking into a cage; Mark Henry awkwardly jumping off the second rope through a table (probably edited to fool people not paying attention into thinking Henners did a top of the cage splash through a table); The Shield triple power bombing The Undertaker through a table; Stephanie slapping Linda; Rhino Goring Jericho through the set (again); and Lesnar superplexing Big Show to collapse the ring (again).

Kofi's face equals pain.

That was followed by Seth Rollins v Kofi Kingston. Rollins had Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble with him at ringside. Which gives me a chance to talk about their status as the New Stooges. Basically, I’m all for this. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco received a sort of second career when they became Vince McMahon’s stooges in 1998, and it’s arguably what they’re most remembered for now. I like the idea of Triple H having a similar relationship with Noble and Mercury, two guys who were always competent but never especially over during their runs as active wrestlers.

Rollins versus Kingston was not the first match you'd probably expect. Rollins controlled the bulk of the encounter and kept the pace slow. Early foray to ringside and brief Kofi comeback aside there was nothing much to see. Rollins won with a buckle bomb and a Curb Stomp.

That was followed by a Wyatt Family video. It focused on Luke Harper having been fixed and getting sent out into the world. I think splitting the trio is a mistake. You can read a lengthy explanation here, but basically Harper and Rowan are more likely to be booked, and booked relatively prominently, if they remain affiliated, even loosely, with Bray.  

Another recap followed that. The topic was Money in the Bank cash-ins. It was an odd choice as there were only two to show. The first was Edge’s World Heavyweight title win over ‘Taker, one night after he’d defeated original Money in the Bank contract holder Mr Kennedy for the briefcase. The second saw Jack Swagger cashing in on Jericho to win his one and only world title.

Everybody taps.

Ziggler v Rusev was preceded by the obligatory replay of The Rock's surprise appearance on RAW. The match was, by the standards of Rusev's TV appearances, a competitive affair. Ziggler sold for a while before making a comeback with a corner splash and a Fameasser. Rusev weathered those, blocked a super kick, then hit a super kick of his own and applied The Accolade for the tap out victory.

Afterwards Lana laid into Philadelphia (hey, you gotta get that cheap heat) and The Rock. Rusev said Rock would pay for what he'd done and also challenged Big Show to face him on RAW, promising to crush him. I expect that will be more angle than match. The natural place for that bout is Hell in a Cell (the show, not the gimmick).

A reminder that Steve Austin and Booker T once brawled around a supermarket came next. I hated this segment at the time. It was a funny enough premise but it dragged. I’m sure the unedited version lasts around five minutes, which is a painful amount of time to watch two men hit each other with groceries.

The Rock, Triple H and Stephanie were shown meeting up backstage after RAW. It started with awkward, unamusing smalltalk. They reminisced about the first SmackDown main event. Rock brought up how amazing it would be for them to have one more match at a WrestleMania. Both thought they'd win, obvs. The segment ended with Triple H telling Stephanie Rock was cheap for never picking up a cheque. It took a while to get going but it ended up being pretty enjoyable.

For the record I think WWE could do worse than a Triple H versus Rock match at WrestleMania 31 or 32. The most interesting thing about the idea, to me, is that even though they feuded on and off for years they never had a singles match at a WrestleMania. In fact, the only match they had at a 'Mania was a four-way elimination including Mick Foley and Big Show which saw ‘The Great One’ and ‘The Game’ as the final two. Promoted as their final ever confrontation, with videos put together to remind us that their feud was a constant as they progressed from the middle to the top of the roster and included dozens of TV and pay-per-view confrontations, I think it could be a big nostalgia attraction. That said, I think it would be better to have both men facing younger guys.

Back in the arena Michael Cole showed a (sloppily made) cake with the SmackDown logo on it. JBL chucked it over Tom Phillips and everyone had a good laugh. Well, Cole and Layfield did. The audience chuckled humourlessly. I rolled my eyes. The eye-rolling stopped when Booker T was introduced as a guest commentator for the main event. His first sentence on the headsets included the words “shucky ducky quack quack”. I’d be completely fine if JBL were only on RAW and Booker was left to handle SmackDown again.

The final flashback video showed highlights of the episode of SmackDown where Austin psyched out the McMahon-Helmsley faction. They went out the ring to call him out, foolishly leaving their tour bus unattended. ‘Stone Cold’ took that opportunity to hijack a crane and blow the bus up. Natch.

Match-wise Team Teddy versus Team Johnny was the main event. Teddy team was comprised of Sheamus, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, the Usos, Los Matadores, and El Torito. Big Johnny’s was comprised of Cesaro, Bo Dallas, Stardust, Goldust, Damien Mizdow, Slater Gator, and Mini Gator.

It was the longest match of the night by a wide margin. It had time to be good but there were too many guys involved for it to accomplish that. Everyone seemed to settle on making it inoffensive and they managed it. And if that doesn’t perfectly sum up fifteen years of SmackDown I don’t know what does.

Dives are always good for a pop.

Jimmy Uso was kept in the ring to play babyface in peril for a while. During this time there was a loud “We want Mizdow!” chant and extended cheers when he tagged in. When Jimmy finally managed to make the tag it was to Sheamus. He blasted through the majority of his opposition and a sequence of Big Spots™ kicked off. Shaymo lined up Cesaro, Stardust and Slater to give them all his ten punch spot. The babyface tag teams hit some dives. Henry went to hit a World’s Strongest Slam on Bo but found himself sent tumbling over the top rope. Bo then power bombed El Torito onto a gaggle of guys hanging around at ringside. The ending saw Mizdow tag in and try an SCF on ‘Great White’, only to be rammed into the turnbuckle, slump to the mat, and take the match-wnning top rope splash from an Uso. Let's say it was Jey.

After another Wyatt video, this one focusing on Erick Rowan (described as a big child) it was time for the main event promo segment. Before introducing his guests Miz announced that the Ambrose v Cena match at Hell in Cell will not just be for a Cell match with Rollins. It will also be a contract on a pole match. Maybe Russo, free of the constraints of working for TNA, has returned to WWE to book pole matches. But probably not.

Ambrose kicked things off by saying he attacked Cena on RAW to show that it doesn't matter who he is or what he’s accomplished: nobody crosses Dean Ambrose. Anyone that crosses him gets hunted down. He also made it clear that he wants Rollins inside the Hell in a Cell because Rollins crossed him. Which was a good move: it would have been all too easy for the focus of the segment to be Cena and Ambrose's match, when it should have been about the hatred both have for Rollins and their reasons for wanting him. Which is what ended up happening, unfortunately. But hey, Ambrose tried.

Cena immediately did his best to undercut Ambrose by being patronising, telling him he was impressed. Apparently he listens to the reactions everyone gets and watches every segment of every show. Which is probably true, but it could make him sound a little paranoid about the safety of his spot. He said Ambrose has "it", that mythical, undefinable quality that separates the massively successful wrestlers from their peers? No. A pair of baseballs, which Cena pulled from his pocket. Presumably they were there to represent testicles, a shorthand for tenacity and determination in wrestling.

How else was WWE going to close their fifteenth anniversary SmackDown show?

Cena yammered a bit more putting himself over and saying he likes his chances at Hell in a Cell. Miz asked Ambrose if he likes his chances against Cena. Ambrose’s response: "Yep." Cena said he'd see Ambrose at HIAC. Miz stopped him and tried to stir things up between them. The faces gave Miz a beating. Cena quickly hoisted 'The Awesome One' up for an AA but decided to put him down and let Ambrose hit the double arm DDT instead... after which Ambrose took an AA.

As a wrestling show, this episode of SmackDown was subpar. Only one segment did anything for the next pay-per-view and only one match lasted more than five minutes, and it wasn’t very good. But as a celebration of SmackDown’s fifteen year history it worked. Teddy Long, John Laurinaitis and Booker T were all used effectively and everything about the self-contained story of the episode (the battle of the former GMs) screamed inconsequential filler. And if that’s not SmackDown for most of the past fifteen years, I don’t know what is.

The SmackDown Spot

WWE have got Tyson Kidd, Justin Gabriel, Bad News Barrett, Luke Harper, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, the new and improved Sin Cara, Damien Sandow, and Dolph Ziggler sitting in the locker room. That’s a list that omits anybody who might be even remotely confused with a main eventer, guys like Cesaro and Bray Wyatt, and the perma-injured likes of Rey Mysterio (and, seemingly, Christian). Oh, and people who just aren’t particularly interesting like Zack Ryder and The Miz. It’s a bunch of talent not even appearing on the show.

There’s Evan Bourne sitting on the sidelines, having apparently been ready to return for over year from the injury he suffered in 2012. He’s a charisma vacuum, as are Kidd and Gabriel, but he’s capable of exciting matches. He’d be a fresh addition to the roster after so long away too.

They’ve even got access to David Otunga! He’s not appeared on TV in forever, despite having an incredible array of wrestling tools at his disposal (I know I’m in the minority on this but the guy’s valuable in roles other than Active Non-Gimmick Wrestler).

This had to happen apparently. I'd probably have been
fine if Hornswoggle weren't involved.

And yet somehow, for some reason, somebody made the decision to give Hornswoggle and El Torito a match on SmackDown. I’ve nothing against Torito. In fact I’ve enjoyed his JBL and Cole Show antics and the swagger he exhibits whenever he’s stationed at ringside. The guy’s entertaining. I’ve no time at all for Hornswoggle, but this isn’t really the point. Why are two gimmick seconds, one of whom hasn’t appeared in anything even approaching a meaningful capacity in years, getting time to have a match on TV when the names above aren’t even appearing?

Diego, Fernando and 2-out-of-3MB were at ringside on the show. Couldn’t they have had a tag match in place of Torito v Hornswoggle? So what if they’d had that exact match on Main Event. It would have been more entertaining than the leprechaun and the bull (even that four word description makes the match more fun than it could ever be). If repeating meaningless matches within the same week is against the rules then they could’ve done a six man instead and had ‘swoggle and Torito do the finish.

I appreciate that not everyone’s going to get on every show. With a roster so large people being relegated to the locker room is inevitable. But that’s not an excuse to exclude everyone. Give us someone off the list instead of nobody.

For all they’re getting a lot right these days WWE are still dropping the ball on little things (no pun intended). Next time can we have Kidd and Gabriel in matching trunks doing their storyline best to impress management enough to be awarded a tag title match? Please and thanks.

That Wrestling Podcast Episode 44

That Wresling Podcast Episode 44 by Dave Hatton on Mixcloud

On April 25 2011 Mark Henry tuned heel. It wasn’t the first turn of his career and it wouldn’t be the last, but it would be the most significant. It instigated the push that finally saw him accepted as a main event act after years of half-hearted and incomplete attempts by WWE. ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ started mentioning his Hall of Pain, produced the best promo work of his career and cultivated a monster aura.

At Night of Champions, five months after he’d gone bad and been rocketed to the top, Henry defeated Randy Orton to capture the World Heavyweight championship. That result, and the fact that it was clean, amazed me. I’d been convinced that Henners had been built up in order to be fed to a valiant babyface, which ‘The Viper’ then was. I hadn’t expected him to capture what was WWE’s second most prestigious title.

I was shocked by the reign but he did look good with the gold

It took me quite a while to warm to Henry. His promos and look upon turning were positive points but his matches remained as ponderous and uninspiring as ever. It probably didn’t help that I’ve never been that big a fan of big men in wrestling, particularly those who work the sort of slow, powerful style Henry does.

For most of 2011 the character was there but the match quality wasn’t. But towards the end of the year I began to be won over. Henry had some great interactions with Daniel Bryan (doesn’t everybody?) on episodes of SmackDown and at the 2012 Royal Rumble. He had a trio of matches with CM Punk on the April 2, April 9 and April 16 episodes of RAW which were, in hindsight, pretty fun.

Shortly after that Henry disappeared from TV to undergo surgery. He would return nine months later and continue to benefit from strong booking. This was another surprise. Previously breaks from TV had been one of the most common reasons for his pushes faltering. When he returned Henry not only qualified for a spot in the Elimination Chamber but was protected in his inevitable exit from the structure. A month later he cleanly defeated the previously unstoppable Ryback at WrestleMania XXIX.

Since then Henry has continued to be presented as a top act, most notably in his solid swerve turn on John Cena prior to Money in the Bank 2013. While my initial reasons for disliking the push, specifically that WWE could have given a younger member of the roster with a longer future and a less disappointing past such as Brodus Clay to spot in Henry’s place, remain I can’t deny that Henry hasn’t grown into the role and been accepted in it by fans. I wouldn’t claim to be the biggest Mark Henry fan, and I’d still argue that his matches often come closer to being boring than exciting, but when he’s on form against the right opponent Henry can and does shine. If WWE could get more people over to the same extent they'd have far fewer problems.

I just wish Henry hadn’t shaved his head bald. The dreads look was wonderful.

The Titus O'Neil Show

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

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

The dream is over...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Class of 2002

In 2002 WWE was reeling. The Attitude Era was over. It was an approach that had served them well since 1997 or so and finding a new presentation style wasn’t easy. The number of top names was also decreasing. ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin walked out in the summer of 2002 and was forced to retire shortly after he returned in 2003. The Rock was yet to take his great hiatus but he was not the regular fixture he had been years before. Shawn Michaels was years away from a full-time return and Mick Foley was too banged up to do anything more than make sporadic in-ring appearances.

The names they did have were being split between the newly established RAW and SmackDown rosters. Halving the roster was something WWE felt they had to do (and for a while it was the right move) but it didn’t do them any favours when giving people reasons to tune in. So the obvious decision to try creating some fresh stars was made, before there were no big names left to help establish new ones.

The reason I bring this up is that the four most prominent men introduced during this era appeared on their first WWE show together in years on the January 20^th RAW. They are of course John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton and Batista. All worked alongside one another in Ohio Valley Wrestling in the early part of the millennium and all got spots on either RAW or SmackDown in 2002.

Of the four it was Lesnar who was expected to be the biggest name. He was not only promoted first, debuting on RAW the night after WrestleMania X8, but he was given the strongest push. He won the 2002 King of the Ring tournament (the last time the tourney was a pay-per-view), captured the WWE championship from The Rock in a great main event at SummerSlam, and went undefeated for months. It was one of the greatest star-building exercises ever. By the end of his debut year ‘The Next Big Thing’ was a legitimate main event star.

Batista, Orton and Cena had less glamorous beginnings. Orton started out as a bland babyface on SmackDown and seemed utterly unremarkable. A switch over to RAW was perhaps supposed to be the beginning of something more meaningful but wasn’t: Orton continued being exactly as bland as he had been on the blue brand. It wasn’t until he suffered an injury and was kept on TV via his conceited Randy News Networks updates that he begun to develop a character and show signs that he might have something.

Batista also debuted on SmackDown. But he wasn’t a babyface, bland or otherwise. He was the assistant to the corrupt Reverend Devon, named Deacon Batista. They teamed together for a while (including a feud against Randy Orton and various babyface partners) but ultimately split up, with Batista turning face on his boss.

Following that he too was moved to RAW where he and Orton joined forces with Ric Flair and Triple H to form the Four Horsemen inspired group Evolution. That was when the newcomers really clicked. Batista became the group’s heavy, setting him up for a successful face turn on Triple H in 2004 (basically a rerun of his turn on Devon but on a far grander scale). Orton was presented as the future of the business and went into his ‘Legend Killer’ phase.

Who's this young buck?

Finally there was John Cena. His debut came when he answered an open challenge issued by Kurt Angle. The match was good, not that that was surprising when one of the men was Kurt Angle. In fairness Cena played his part as well as could be expected. As a complete unknown he had no established rapport to fall back on but he successfully played the underdog and encouraged the crowd to rally behind him.

His rise since then should be known to everyone. After turning heel (on Billy Kidman of all people) he spent months wrestling as a generic bad guy before dressing as Vanilla Ice for a Halloween episode of SmackDown. That led to him taking on the bad boy rapper gimmick full time and gaining popularity with fans, mainly because there were very few other acts to latch onto. Eventually he claims he went to Vince McMahon and told him that he was ready to be ‘The Man’. The rest, as they say, is history.

I find it interesting that these four men have become as big as they have and yet nobody else from that period did much of significance. I can’t think of a single other training league to turn out several top level wrestlers but nothing else. I think it shows that the four men had something about them that meant they would succeed no matter what, otherwise there would be at least some other success stories to point to from that OVW era.

No, Rico doesn’t count.

In a way it’s nice that the key figures of what was an important training league will be a part of WrestleMania XXX. It turns ‘Mania into a sort of celebration of the last decade plus of wrestling in general. The four biggest men to be trained primarily in OVW will join Attitude Era stars Triple H and Undertaker, ROH standouts CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, more recent indy darlings Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, and the longest serving member of the roster. The class of 2002: the future is finally here.

B Plus Storyline

Before Survivor Series I expressed the hope that the teaming of CM Punk and Daniel Bryan was the start of a long term plan. I didn't have a specific idea in mind but a second PPV against the Wyatt Family at TLC seemed likely and seeing the pair of them as the final two in the Royal Rumble wouldn't have been hugely surprising. In fact I would have only been partially shocked if one had turned on the other (at, say, Elimination Chamber) to setup a singles match between them at WrestleMania XXX.

Will the universe implode if Daniel Bryan teams with a man in a goat mask?

With so many options available I predicted a win for the tandem. My reasoning was that if they were building to anything together that involved their period as a team being taken as meaningful they had to have experienced success, otherwise there would be no logic for them staying together. Beyond setting up a match between them of course, but in storyline terms that wasn't something we could point to.

When the Wyatt Family duo of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan fell to Punk and Bryan I assumed I was right and that WWE had plans that stretched a significant distance into the future. And then the November 25^th RAW happened.

On that show Bryan and Punk were beaten up by the Wyatt boys. Nothing wrong with that, you might think. And you'd be right. The heel beat down is an integral part of the modern pro wrestling landscape.

The trouble is that it didn't end with a mere duffing up. The Wyatt Fanily also kidnapped Bryan. This was followed a few days later on SmackDown with Bray Wyatt informing the world that he's going to turn Daniel Bryan into a monster.

And so it has come to this. Daniel Bryan, the hottest WWE wrestler of 2013, has been placed into a brainwashing angle. There are few things more synonymous with the mid-card than this sort of story.

In fairness it's possible WWE will surprise us (well, me at least) by having Bryan return to RAW completely normal, perhaps throwing in the enjoyable touch than his boundless positivity (Yes! Yes! Yes!) helped him resist Bray's wiles. More likely is that Bryan will become a fully-fledged member of the Wyatt Family and face Punk at TLC. Potentially we'll get both: Bryan returning to a big pop in his normal outfit on RAW before swerve-turning and aiding the Wyatts, followed by him tugging on some saggy dungarees on SmackDown.

Nothing about Bryan joining the Wyatt Family would be positive. If you think it giving us Punk v Bryan justifies it you're wrong. Those two have wrestled many times before and will wrestle again without this storyline involvement. It's just being done to give 'The Dazzler' something to do because WWE have already done everything they can think of with him besides letting him hang out in the main event continuously, and the reason that's not happened is that the "B plus" shtick you've heard Helmsley spout isn't solely a part of the show. It runs the risk of harming Bryan. Why should we rally behind and support him if he's shown to be the kind of man who's easily corrupted by a sinister Floridian swamp preacher?

The Punk and Bryan team had long term potential. Both in regards to the tag division and as the starting point of a future rivalry. The Wyatt Family made great opponents. But allies to the most popular man in the promotion? No. No. No.

The American Pitbulls

The saga of Davey Richards and Eddie Edwards continues!

Until recently the last major piece of news regarding the move of the American Wolves from ring of Honor to WWE was that they’d attended a tryout weekend at the Florida training facility in September. They’d returned to ROH after that. There was talk of them being offered developmental contracts but they kept being announced for shows with ROH. There was nothing solid to support an argument for or against them joining WWE.

This was until last Thursday. On that day WWE held an NXT taping in their regular haunt of Full Sail University and Richards and Edwards appeared as a tag team. Billed as the American Pitbulls they wrestled NXT tag team champion The Ascension in a non-title match.

The American Pitbulls

Unsurprisingly Richards and Edwards lost the match. Equally unsurprisingly they were given new individual names to go with the collective one. Richards was introduced as John Cahill while Edwards has become Eric Philbin. There’s nothing about either name that screams “larger than life wrestling personality!” but at least the team name has remained solid.

Despite this surprising development the two are still confirmed for Ring of Honor’s Final Battle show on December 14^th. Unlikely source Rob Feinstein has stated that this is because they’re being given an extended tryout with WWE. According to him Richards and Edwards (or, if you prefer, Cahill and Philbin) will wrestle at the next several NXT tapings before getting a run on SmackDown. If they can forge a connection with WWE fans during this time then, and only then, will they be offered contracts.

If true it’s an interesting approach from WWE. It’s also one I approve of. Giving wrestlers a chance to prove that they can fit into the WWE system is a better approach than just having them strut their stuff in front of company personnel. Getting over takes time. Working on NXT and SmackDown gives these guys, and any who follow them, the chance to create a following and an argument for being signed by WWE. It lets them prove they know how to do more than just have an exciting match.

Can Richards and Edwards get over, that’s the question. They managed to make it to the top of ROH together, but that’s a very different company to WWE. Fans of ROH appreciate lengthy, hard-hitting matches above anything else. They like a wrestler to have some charisma to them, but it’s not a prerequisite for success.

WWE fans, at least those who aren’t actively seeking out other forms of wrestling, are most concerned with characters. If a guy can wrestle well that’s great, but ultimately all someone needs is the conditioning to work a long match when required and a number of signature and finishing moves to slot into their matches.

So the question of success in WWE for the Wolves (or the Pitbulls) is less about their talent and more about whether they understand the key differences between the company they’ll be trying out for and the one for which they’ve spent the majority of the careers working. Both have been in wrestling long enough to know this sort of thing, and even if they had somehow convinced themselves they needed to concentrate on work rate they have friends in WWE (both road agents and members of the active roster) who would advise them otherwise.

Neither is known for their personality but I think they have enough in them to make an impression if they’re given the chance. They’re both worthy of WWE contracts and keeping them together as a unit would be the best (for business) move. I’m interested to see how they looked when facing O’Brian and Victor. And I’ll be looking forward to their matches against the likes of Wyatt Family and the Prime Time Players on SmackDown. If they have good matches against these sorts of guys they’ll deserve contracts.

The Backstage Finish

We all know that backstage segments are a part of modern wrestling. They exist to further storylines and feuds, to provide short bursts of exposure for characters, and to give the ring crew time to set up elaborate sets in the ring. They’re incredibly useful and, when done well, enhance a wrestling TV show.

I’m very much in favour of backstage segments that consist of an interview and a wrestler. It’s simple and effective. The interviewer poses a question to the wrestler, usually about an upcoming match or the person they’re currently feuding with. The wrestler then cuts a short promo on the topic, establishing their motivation in an easy to follow manner.

Sadly this approach seems to have gone out of style. It was pretty common years ago but has been replaced by skits where people sit or stand around having a conversation about a topic an interviewer could easily pose. It’s daft because the camera crew standing mere feet away is never acknowledged. But it’s part of a business that’s about big muscly men fighting one another in lycra outfits, so they’re hardly the most ridiculous thing about a wrestling show.

Besides, there’s a far more irksome form of backstage segment: the ones that provide a pivotal moment in a feud. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with a feud being moved along, but important moments in a programme should always take place in the ring. That way the crowd are kept enthused (at least in theory) and the wrestlers get the best reaction possible to their work. Audiences cannot be expected to react with the same fervour to something shown to them on a screen as to something that they see unfolding before them.

Take the closing segment of the July 26^th SmackDown as an example. It saw Damien Sandow storm out to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to retrieve his Money in the Bank briefcase from Cody Rhodes. Cody first made his former best friend beg to have his briefcase back. It was a distinctly un-babyface thing to do and the audience didn’t react well to it. They may have been just as subdued had the exchange occurred in the arena but obviously it’s not guaranteed. After that Rhodes hurled it into the sea (ocean? Gulf?), mocked his foe, and then wandered off, leaving Sandow to leap into the water before returning to dry land to cough and splutter his way off the air.

 

Damien Sandow, soon to be starring in Hamlet

 

The entire scenario played out over several minutes and completely failed to hold the crowd’s interest. They reacted to the case being chucked into the water and Sandow following it but were tepid for everything else. This harmed the image of both men. Which obviously isn’t a good thing for either man. Sandow appears to be heading for a World Heavyweight title reign sometime in the next year while Rhodes is in the process of being established as a babyface. Too many indifferent reactions could really hinder his chances of working out as a good guy.

I understand that these segments have to happen sometimes in order for programmes to have some variety. They shouldn’t be ending shows though, especially when they’ve gone for such a hefty amount of time, and be comprised of such questionable dialogue. If the babyface isn’t passionate about what they’re doing the fans aren’t going to be either.  Cody’s good but he didn’t seem thrilled with what he was doing on SmackDown. For a lot of the time he was simply stood around looking like an extra from an 80s heist movie.

Basically backstage segments should be kept as short as possible and everyone involved should be clear about what’s being accomplished. If they do have to run for several minutes then the wrestlers should be doing something that’s not been done before (and throwing things into bodies of water has happened many times on WWE and F programming). They certainly shouldn’t be closing shows.

That said… the feud of the former Rhodes Scholars and best friends is shaping up nicely. I’m looking forward to seeing them do more together. Though preferably in front of crowds.

Laganavision

Dave Lagana is a bit of an anomaly in wrestling. He's a wrestling fan that managed to get a job as part of WWE's creative department. That's not something that happens too often and it's safe to say that it happened in Lagana's case thanks to a combination of having Writer of Friends (you may have heard of it) on his CV. His timing probably helped too. He started with WWE in 2002. Since then WWE has become strongly opposed to the idea of hiring anyone, no matter what relevant experience they may have, who is a wrestling fan. They want TV experience, not opinionated fans.

Lagana had a fair run with WWE, lasting six years before getting released from his contract (or is that term only applied to the talent?) in 2008. During his time in WWE he worked as a writer on SmackDown, headed up the writing of ECW and was taken under the metaphorical wing of Paul Heyman. As far as wrestling CVs go those aren't bad things to be able to say. Having written Friends doesn't hurt either.

After his release Lagana wound up in ROH. His role there was undefined. During his not wholly unsuccessful attempts to turn himself into a media personality throughout the summer of 2011 Lagana was deliberately vague on the subject of what he actually did for Ring of Honor. He admitted he had the chance to make suggestions regarding the company's creative direction but that it was mostly left up to Carey Silkin, Adam Pearce and, later, Jim Cornette. It seems safe to assume he was more involved with the production side of things rather than scripting. That's what his known employment track record would make him a good fit for.

Lagana wound up getting moved on from ROH in the closing months of 2011. The company went into a creative tailspin shortly afterwards. In fairness I think that was more to do with the presence of Jim Cornette than the lack of Dave Lagana. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

Lagana quickly found himself snapped up by TNA (he was a former WWE employee remember) and started working on the company's Indian spin-off Ring Ka King. Despite being a massively successful and warmly received project the channel that aired Ring Ka King decided to pass on a second series. Perhaps they've got something against successful TV shows? Whatever the reason it didn't matter: RKK had provided Lagana with a chance to prove to TNA management that he could put together entertaining wrestling television. When it became apparent Ring Ka King series two wasn't materialising Lagana was moved over to work on Impact Wrestling.

Lagana's addition to the Impact writing team coincided with the initial push of Austin Aries. With Bobby Roode and James Storm recently established as headliners it seemed like the perfect time for a new writer to come in and take TNA in a bold new creative direction.

It didn't happen. Instead the promising new era faltered just before it was established. 'A Double' performed a senseless heel turn out of nowhere and dropped the title to Jeff Hardy then formed a tag team with former rival Bobby Roode. Meanwhile Hardy enjoyed a lengthy run before dropping the championship to Bully Ray.

I have nothing against Ray or Hardy but their ascension to the top felt like regression. Both men made their names elsewhere while Roode, Storm and Aries could be presented as TNA creations.

As Lagana is not acknowledged as the head of TNA creative it's hard to pin this on him. Bruce Prichard's the man in charge of the scripts and so it's him we should blame for the decidedly uninspiring product TNA puts out. If anything I think we should be encouraged that Lagana's still around and a part of the process. Last year's Impact quality boom coinciding with Lagana joining the team could be a coincidence, but it'd be a big one. It strikes me as more likely that he had a little more say last summer and that it ceased when ratings didn't immediately improve. If that's the case it's unfair. Ratings take time to go up, especially with the amount of choice viewers today have.

Lagana has a proven track record in wrestling. He’s learnt from probably the two most highly regarded bookers ever (Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman). He worked on SmackDown during what is generally considered one of the blue brand’s brightest periods. Ring Ka King was a solid show too, and that is generally credited as the work of Lagana and Jeff Jarrett alone.

 

Don't do what this sign says

 

TNA is clearly not as successful as it could or should be right now. They attract just over one million viewers a week, which is pretty poor considering their time slot and the size of the wrestling fan base in North America. The trouble appears to be that the promotion is happy to settle for the number two spot.

Having old boys like Prichard, Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Al Snow, and D’Lo Brown backstage is not going to change anything. They’re all interested in booking the same tired product TNA’s been putting out for years now, a strange mix of Attitude Era shock tactics and attempts to emulate the current WWE approach. The bad ratings and disinterest in pay-per-views (TNA are lucky if they pull a five figure viewing number) proves that this is not the way TNA should be going.

The company would be best served getting rid of everyone currently involved in the creative process with the exception of Lagana. I think he deserves a crack at steering TNA for a while. Bring in some fresh blood to flesh out the rest of the creative department. Do something WWE would never do and bring in wrestling fans.

There are plenty of fans out there who have an idea of what they’d like to see from TNA. An online application process could turn up some good ideas and new talent. Under Lagana fans could learn how to format a show, interact with wrestlers, and experiment with the tried and tested wrestling TV formula.

Over the last several years TNA has missed out on signing talent like Tyler Black, Chris Hero, Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley, and El Generico. They’ve proven incapable of holding on to established names like Rob Van Dam. I’m convinced this is largely because they’re presenting such a boring product: wrestlers simply don’t want to be associated with it and would rather take their chances in NXT.

A retooled creative division helmed by Lagana would provide TNA with a chance to go in a new direction. The company should not be satisfied with a number two spot. It should be figuring out a unique presentation and striving to be the best at that.

Long Live the King(s)

I'd been watching wrestling for about six months when I was first introduced to the King of the Ring concept. It was a sixteen person tournament (the number of participants varied each year depending on the strength of the roster) that pitted various mid-carders against one another in a series of matches. There was no overriding point to the series beyond signalling a push, which obviously wasn't the on-screen reason given but it amounted to the same thing. It was an unwritten rule by the late nineties that headliners were above King of the Ring.

That year the tournament was won by 'Bad Ass' Billy Gunn. He was not a shining example of what winning King of the Ring could do for a performer. Kurt Angle's win in 2000 was a better use of the gimmick, as were the victories of Edge and Brock Lesnar after that.

While there's not really anything for the wrestlers to win with King of the Ring besides a bragging right it was still a very useful idea and annual event. It would be slightly overdramatizing things to say that winning the tourney launched the careers of 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Triple H and Bret Hart but it did play an important part in each man's rise up the card. The same is true for Angle, Edge and Lesnar. Winning King of the Ring was a sign that each man was above their mid-card peers and destined for better things.

When WWE retired the tournament both as a pay-per-view and an annual occurrence in 2003 a lot of people thought it was a poor decision. While not everyone selected to make it to the finals and win had become a player for the group (joining 'Mr Ass' on that list are Mabel and Ken Shamrock) there were more successes than failures. It was a useful tool for raising wrestlers' profiles and WWE casually cancelled it, preferring instead to push their solo brand PPVs.

 

Yeah, this actually happened

 

The tournament made a low key return in 2006 as a tournament exclusively open to SmackDown wrestlers. It was won by Booker T, who changed his ring name to King Booker and became the brand’s top heel. It would become one of the best runs of his WWE career and was a perfect example of how the tournament could be used to build a new character (even if it did ignore the unwritten rule that only mid-carders got to win King of the Ring).

The gimmick returned on the April 21^st 2008 episode of RAW. The finals came down to CM Punk and William Regal. They had a very good outing which ended with a surprising win for Regal. It failed to spark a career renaissance for the Brit. Two years later the gimmick was dusted off again, this time to give Sheamus a boost. That resulted in his bizarre run as King Sheamus that saw him dressing like Loki from The Avengers.

 

And so did this

 

The last time we saw a King of the Ring show was then. I think the event is due a proper, regular comeback. It's the ideal tool for launching new careers because it creates so many booking options. Anyone winning would be signalled as someone due for a shove up the ranks but even non-finalists could be elevated by a surprise win in preliminary rounds.

There are plenty of ways to utilise the tournament format. It could provide a solid month’s worth of programming for RAW. That shouldn’t be dismissed as the show is currently pretty aimless. You could have a heel dominate all the ay to the finals, only to be upset by a plucky, young babyface. It’s the sort of thing WWE were going for earlier in the year with Bo Dallas before they lost interest in him.

It could be used to start rivalries too. There would obviously be a favourite in every match, and it would be very simple to book one guy to score a surprise win over another. The problem of there being no actual point to the event could easily be remedied by granting the inner a title shot at SummerSlam. It could even replace Money in the Bank, of WWE were feeling daring.

The tournament would be something fresh for WWE programming and could be used to spark some new stories. That alone makes it worth considering.

Considering the size of the roster there's never been a better time to resurrect King of the Ring. The promotion needs to make new stars as well as flesh out TV with interesting and talented characters who aren't necessarily in the main event. They need something that can highlight multiple wrestlers at once and create some surprises that aren't just booked for the sake of being surprising. The King of the Ring is, as it always has been, the perfect tool for the job.

Big Improvement

His legs are like steel girders. His hands are like sledgehammers. His head is farm-like. He's seven feet two inches tall and weighs five hundred pounds. He is the Big Show and he is 'The World's Largest Athlete'.

For much of his WWE career Show has been labelled with these stats and had to put up with these ludicrous comparisons. But then for much of his WWE career he hasn't encouraged anyone to give him anything better. He was a lazy slob who was paid nearly a million dollars a year no matter what shape he was in or how well he performed. There was a distinct lack of motivation for him to improve as a performer.

Things changed last summer. There's no obvious reason or a particular performance to point to as a starting point. Show simply developed a wrestling style that was good enough to sit alongside his above average promo skills. Finally he was the main event talent WWE had always hoped he'd be. It only took a mere thirteen years!

It didn't just happen overnight. Years of gradual improvement came together in the latter half of last year. Those promo skills? Show's always had them. He's a naturally likeable and funny guy that shines in mainstream media interviews. Talking has always been something he's good at. Maybe because it doesn't require any time in a gym or the skipping of meals to improve at it.

Show had slowly become a better worker since returning from a year long absence in February 2008. Appearing more confident at the whole wrestling thing Show put more thought into his matches, displaying a greater intensity and understanding of his role as a big man.

Look at that head. Looks like a farm (apparently)

When he returned he debuted the WMD KO punch. It was a significant addition to his repertoire. It's only a punch to the face (hardly impressive by wrestling standards) but Show's size adds a deal of legitimacy smaller performers would lack. That it's a striking move that can be hit in a variety of situations is an added positive. Striking moves have become popular in WWE in recent years thanks to the influence of MMA and indy wrestling.

It doesn't require much in the way of physical exertion either. It's like it was tailor made for the Big Show.

The second half of last year saw Show enter some of the best performances of his career. Along with Sheamus he amazed practically everyone in the world (maybe a slight exaggeration) when he had the best match of the night at Hell in a Cell. He entered solid performances opposite Alberto Del Rio at the January 8^th SmackDown taping, Randy Orton on September 25^th, and opposite fellow former WWE champions at Money in the Bank. He even managed to make his summer programme with John Cena not seem completely like the uninspired rerun it was.

At the unlikely age of forty-one Show seems to have finally hit his stride. Well done to him. And well done to WWE for having patience with him.