WWE SummerSlam 2015 preview

Probably the most interesting thing to note about this year's SummerSlam is that it's the first time in what feels like years that there's been a WWE pay-per-view involving what feels like a substantial mid-card. It's become the norm to toss non-main event names into matches for the Intercontinental and US championships or pit them against established top boys like John Cena and Randy Orton in a token effort at getting them over. It's an approach that has yielded success occasionally (Cena v Owens) but has failed more often than not (Cena v Rusev, Cena v Wyatt).

I picked Cena as an example there deliberately. Despite being the biggest star on the roster it's actually Cena that's been at the heart of this mid-card resurgence. The Owens versus Cesaro rivalry has spun off from the Owens versus Cena rivalry. During that Owens was able to defeat Cena once, in a non-title match. He lost subsequent matches in which the US championship was up for grabs. Meanwhile Cena also made spirited defences against 'The Swiss Superman', with Owens interfering in many of them as he became increasingly frustrated at his own inability to beat Cena for the gold. He didn't want to see Cesaro accomplish something he was unable to.

We could also attribute the Rusev and Ziggler feud to Cena too, although his involvement there is less direct. He was the man who not only took the United States championship from Rusev but also handed him his first loss. This embarrassed 'The Super Athlete', causing him to flip out at his manager and girlfriend Lana¹. She left him and became empowered by her newfound single status because that's what happens in the good ol' US of A. There is no oppression for women, only empowerment. Anyway, while Lana was getting said empowerment (by hooking up with a new hot guy, obvs) Rusev suffered further televised losses, highlighting how important Lana had been to his career prior to their split.

Deciding to show that he was totes over Lana, Rusev hooked up with Summer Rae and encouraged her to dress like Lana. Because he'd been cast as a psychology ex-boyfriend and that's totally what psycho ex-boyfriends do. Summer also proved willing to act more submissive to Rusev, a reversal of the Lana-Rusev relationship in which it was Lana who was the dominant force. All of which could have become a very interesting story exploring the nature of relationships, moving on, and getting hung up on exes. But it didn't. Not because wrestling is ill-equipped for this sort of thing (I actually think this type of story is something wrestling can excel at) but because it wasn't given enough thought towards the start and was later hampered by Dolph Ziggler, Lana's new beau, disappearing after a beating from big Ru².

Cena himself will be both defending his United States championship and challenging for the WWE world championship. He'll be in a title versus title match against Seth Rollins. The idea here is absolutely sound. Since becoming a four time US champ at WrestleMania Cena has, amazingly, made the title mean something with exciting weekly title defences against some of the best wrestlers on the roster. Meanwhile Rollins has been a cowardly world champion, relying on interference, favourable rules and other assorted cheating to keep hold of the belt.

The story essentially sees a worthy champion who takes pride in defending and retaining his prize the right way facing off with a champion who cares only about protecting his status. It's an interesting look at what it actually means to be a champion in wrestling, and is noteworthy because it is emphatically not the sort of thing WWE usually does. Despite the high chance of the match having a screwy finish (to avoid titles changing hands) I'm looking forward to this match, because another way of looking at the match is to see it as the natural culmination of Cena's streak of matches against The New School: he's facing the original NXT champion, Triple H's on-screen golden boy, Seth Rollins. It's basically the ultimate US Open Challenge without actually being part of that series.

Away from Cena-spurred plots there's been the issues between Stardust and Green Arrow star Stephen Amell. Stardust, believing himself to be a real life super villain, took exception to Amell being in attendance at an episode of RAW and attacked him. Amell leapt the barrier and fought back (which security allowed because WWE are marks for outside talent). 'Don't Call Him Adrian' Neville then got involved, because he wears a cape and performs a move called the Red Arrow, making him a natural Amell ally in Stardust's mind. Then King Bad News Wade Barrett I got involved too, because tag matches, playa³!

Summarised here it sounds entirely daft. It has been, but to be fair that's the point of it. Stardust is a deranged character and that's what's driven the story. It works and it's a nice change of pace from the stuff that usually makes it onto RAW.

The Sheamus versus Randy Orton rivalry has continued from last month. I failed to care about it then and I still feel the same way now. 'The Viper's' character is deathly dull right now and the most interesting thing about 'The Celtic Warrior' is that he has a Money in the Bank briefcase to cash in. I don't necessarily think it will happen on this show but if it did it would be the most interesting thing Sheamus did all evening.

Rounding out the non-tag mid-card action is a triple threat for the Intercontinental championship. Originally scheduled for last month's Battleground it had to be postponed because Ryback suffered some sort of super-gross hernia. That show gave us a brief altercation between Miz and Big Show, his scheduled opponents, that hinted at 'The World's Largest Athlete' turning face (again) with the match itself being postponed because it was too valuable to simply not do⁴. Ultimately Big Show would remain a heel, surprising the many of us who have become accustomed to frequent Show swerve turns.

In all honesty I quite like this triple threat. I don't mind Ryback and I can appreciate The Miz for the effective heel he is. Big Show isn't especially welcome but if he has to be on a card this is the sort of level he should be at. It's the kind of match that establishes 'The Big Guy' as a legitimate champ, beating two upper mid-card lads at once. It doesn't hurt the IC title either, and that's not something we've been getting to say much over the last several years.

Outside of the main event the rest of the card is comprised of tag matches. The natural culmination of the rejuvenated Divas division, a nine woman, three-way trios match, has been booked already. I understand why this was done: it gets everyone on the show. The trouble is that it's a match that fees like it should end the current era of the Divas division. As the current era only started on July 13 this feels premature.

Meanwhile the tag belts will be defended in a four-way match even more blatantly slung together to get more lads onto the card to kill time. If it gets long enough it should be fun but it will be too busy and spot-heavy to become something meaningful.

Which is something that can't be said for the Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose versus Wyatt Family match. This is a rivalry that started with Bray randomly attacking Roman and cutting enigmatic promos that seemed to hint at the involvement of the latter's kid. Family-stuff aside this shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone: all Bray Wyatt feuds begin with him attacking someone for literally no reason at all.

The end of their singles match at Battleground saw Luke Harper run-in and throw Reigns into a ring post, allowing 'The Eater of Worlds' to win. This signalled the reunion of the Wyatt Family, a faction which makes the already enjoyable Harper and Wyatt so much better. Wyatt is more eerie when he has vacant followers at his beck and call, while Harper benefits from being associated with someone who can provide him with things to do.

Reigns brought in backup against the Family in the form of his buddy and old Shield teammate Dean Ambrose. The original plan was apparently for Sting to join up with Ambrose and Reigns but when Erick Rowan was unable to rejoin the Wyatt flock (because he's not healed up from an injury yet) that was nixed. Frankly it feels like a bullet was dodged there. 'The Stinger' would almost certainly have looked out of place alongside Reigns and Ambrose and I can't imagine a match involving him in the Seth Rollins spot could have done justice to the enjoyable Shield-Wyatts showdowns we had in 2014.

Which just leaves the main event: Brock Lesnar versus The Undertaker. There's so much history to this that I doubt I can do it justice in a couple of paragraphs but I'll give it a go...

WrestleMania XXX saw Lesnar hand 'Taker his first ever defeat at in the series' history. This was a significant deal because 'The Dead Man' had appeared at twenty-one previous 'Mania's and it was the sort of record that nobody in wrestling ever gets close to. It's something that not even the greatest of bookers could have planned.

This victory shocked pretty much everyone and set Lesnar up as an unstoppable beast, to the point where his advocate Paul Heyman actually began referring to him as 'The Beast Incarnate'. Lesnar went on a tear, trouncing John Cena in a staggeringly one-sided match for the WWE championship at SummerSlam 2014 and holding the gold until WrestleMania 31 eight months later. Though he lost the title at 'Mania he was not pinned or submitted: Seth Rollins cashed in his magical get-a-title-match-whenever-you-like contract and pinned Lesnar's opponent, Roman Reigns, to become the champ.

Naturally this annoyed 'The Beast' and he went nuts the next night on RAW. This caused on-screen bosses The Authority to suspend indefinitely. Surprisingly that suspension didn't actually last too long and Lesnar was brought back for his contractually obligated rematch with Rollins at Battleground. There 'The Pain' seemed to be on course to win the title back... until the lights cut out and came back on to reveal The Undertaker.

'The Phenom' made short work of Lesnar at Battleground, giving him a choke slam, a pair of Tombstone piledrivers and a kick in the privates. Things would be different the next evening on RAW: Lesnar was prepared and they had an intense brawl that saw a large portion of the roster hit the ring to join security in holding the two powerhouses apart. Since then Undertaker has (glossed over his return earlier in the year to defeat Wyatt at WrestleMania and) revealed that the reason he attacked Lesnar was that he was tired of Heyman going on and on and on and on and on and on about The Streak being taken from him. On the one hand you can empathise with 'Taker on that: it was humiliating. But on the other Heyman was obviously going to talk it up because it will go down as one of the biggest moment's of his client's career.

Basically this is being built as a big deal of a rematch. It absolutely is but there are slight problems with the premise. Firstly, the conflict between the two centres around Undertaker's Streak, so having them face off at event that isn't WrestleMania feels peculiar. Secondly, it feels strange for 'Taker to be positioned as the heel. And he is being positioned as the heel, whether people are going to react to him as one or not. He's kicked Brock low twice. It's nice in that it plays up Undertaker's I-will-gain-vengeance-at-any-cost mentality but at this point in his career (very likely less than a year away from retiring after playing the same character for two and a half decades) it feels like Undie should be a babyface.

Which isn't to say the match won't be good. It will be. Undertaker suffered a concussion in their WM30 showdown and he'll want to prove all the doubters that say he can't have a cracking match anymore wrong. When they feuded in 2003 (admittedly twelve years and many injures ago) Lesnar and 'Taker had wild chemistry. There's no reason to think they don't still have it. They just need to avoid head trauma to get through this.

All of which brings me to predictions. Rollins v Cena seems like a shmoz waiting to happen. Ryback retaining seems like a safe assumption seeing as it's his first title reign in WWE and he's not really gotten to do much yet, while the time feels right for a title change with the tag straps. I'd like to say the Lucha Dragons will win but I think New Day could regain to set up a proper title chase for Sin Cara and Kalisto (which they totally deserve). In the same vein I think Paige, Becky and Charlotte could win their Divas triple threat to set them up as the top contenders for Nikki's championship.

I'll be surprised if the celebrity special tag bout doesn't end with Stephen Amell proving he can defeat fully trained and experienced professional wrestlers, because WWE, as stated above, love to make outside stars look strong (although admittedly this wouldn't be the worst decision in the world). I expect the other big tag match to be won by Reigns and Ambrose. A swerve turn by Ambrose seems likely at some point because it's the sort of feud that could stretch for a while and see Reigns through to December or January, when he can start focusing on winning the WWE title again. SummerSlam seems the wrong time for it though: if it happened the NYC crowd would favour Ambrose, making Reigns look like a heel and a chump. I can't believe WWE would want to put their next golden boy, who they've been handling with kid gloves, in that situation.

Orton v Sheamus, Cesaro v Owens and Ziggler v Rusev could each go either way. I'll pick Sheamus, because it's his turn, Owens, because the company has seemed higher on him lately than tey have Cesaro (and they can book him to cheat), and Ziggler because Lana shenanigans are Rusev's Achilles heel.

The main event is tough. I could see each guy going over. Undertaker "needs" his win back and further rebuilding for his last hurrah next year (assuming it's coming). Lesnar needs to remain the dominating, unstoppable force he's been for much of the past few years. The Streak ending stalled Undertaker and caused the final years of his career to lose steam, because without The Streak he's pretty much just an old lad with a phantastical gimmick who may or may not deliver once the bell ring. Having the suspense his Streak provided really helped him. It's not on the same scale but Lesnar's continued dominance helps him in a similar fashion. It's for that reason that I hope 'The Beast' wins, just as I hoped he'd lose on the night he became 'The Conqueror of The Streak'.

***

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat The Undertaker
John Cena v Seth Rollins to end in a draw
Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns to defeat The Wyatt Family
Paige, Becky Lynch and Charlotte to defeat BAD and Team Bella
Kevin Owens to defeat Cesaro
Adrian Neville and Stephen Amell to defeat Stardust and King Barrett
Ryback to retain the Intercontinental championship against The Miz and Big Show
New Day to win the tag team championship
Dolph Ziggler to defeat Rusev
Sheamus to defeat Randy Orton

***

¹ Here I just want to pause and comment on the nature of the Rusev-Lana relationship. Between Rusev's debut and WrestleMania 31 the pair seemed to be nothing more than colleagues. Once Rusev went crazy and blamed Lana for his loss to Big Match Jern in an I Quit match this was retconned and we were informed that they'd basically been knocking boots all along.

Which would be fine if it weren't for the confusing wrinkle that Rusev and Lana are a real life couple who love together. When they were being presented as manager and client they were dating. Now they're separated on-screen but still dating. This is one of those times when the best thing to do is roll your eyes and say "Wrestling, eh?"

² In reality he was filming a probably terrible WWE Studios film.

³ Holla holla!

⁴ At least that's wat I'm assuming WWE thinks. Obviously Ryback versus The Miz versus Big Show is not an especially great match but at least assuming there's some value attached to it within the company gives it some logical reason for happening here.

The All New Divas Division

Think Stephanie McMahon is WWE’s top female heel? You’re right. She routinely gets more boos than any other woman in the company. That it’s through a combination of her character having over a decade’s worth of history behind it and her being positioned better than most other performers is irrelevant: Steph gets ‘em booing.

But as good as she is she’s not the top female heel wrestler. Because, y’know, she’s had one proper match in the last decade. It was a good match but still, it doesn’t really qualify as a regular performer.

Nikki Bella: winner.

As far as female antagonists go the top heel wrestler in WWE is Nikki Bella. After turning on sister Brie at SummerSlam Nikki was briefly linked to The Authority before being separated to continue her feud, which let’s not forget started in the womb, alone. Which she’s done well. Not all of her promo segments have been great but enough have hit the mark to establish her new, conceited character. The quality of her matches has been better than expected too. In short Nikki has put in real work, particularly in the ring, to justify her push.

Which makes the decision to pit her against AJ Lee more than welcome. AJ’s feud with Paige started out looking promising but the two never really clicked as regular foes. Part of the problem was that the writing wasn’t particularly strong. Instead of being presented as rivals of equal ability who’s rivalry was more about respect than dislike (a standard wrestling plot, but one proven to work more often than not) they were booked to become friends before Paige went mad and started mimicking AJ’s mannerisms and acting as though she were in love with her.

That sort of story can work. It was a massive success for Mickie James and Trish Stratus in 2006, for example. But then it worked because it was given longer to develop and was presented as something other than a token women’s feud. It wasn’t the right approach for AJ and Paige. They would have been better served in a scenario that allowed fans to pick a side and cheer for their preferred wrestler, rather than trying to force people to boo one over the other. Longer, better planned matches would likely have helped too.

A woman in need of new opponents.

AJ facing Nikki gives us a new match and a new story. It also gives us a situation where one woman is someone fans will want to boo and the other is someone they’ll want to cheer. Judging by how Nikki’s been treated over the last few months it seems safe to assume WWE will give their match or matches longer than the AJ v Paige encounters. That’s something AJ has warranted for a long time and it’s something she’ll hopefully make the most of.

Looking at the current state of the Divas division it doesn’t seem inconceivable that WWE is setting Brie (Mode) Bella up for a Divas title reign. The Bellas’ feud has been presented as higher profile than the Divas title over the last couple of months, subtly positioning the twins as the real stars of the scene despite AJ’s grasp on the gold. Brie is currently spending a month as her sister’s assistant (due to a stipulation that could well be the lovechild of Vince Russo and various episodes of Seinfeld) and will clearly become more downtrodden as the weeks pass. Either Brie could be forced to help Nikki become the Divas champion and then be the next one to challenge her for it, or she could cost her the title, continue the sister versus sister programme, and pick up the title from AJ in a three-way.

Neither would be the worst sequence in the world, but by the end of the Nikki and Brie programme whoever had the championship would need some fresh opponents. Right now the women’s division only really has four characters in it: Nikki, Brie, Paige and AJ. While the sisters are locked up with AJ WWE should use ‘The Anti-Diva’ to help turn some of the current no-namers on the roster into characters people care about. They’ve made a stab at this with Alicia Fox, and could follow up with the likes of Emma, Summer Rae and Naomi, three women who already have the foundations of individual characters but just need some screen time with people we’re more familiar with.

Bubbles but not much character.

The specifics of the characters isn’t important. What matters is that they have these women interact with Paige and each other to establish characters that viewers can understand and become invested in. By the time the Brie and Nikki story finishes (which I’m assuming will be in January at the absolute latest) WWE could have a rounded group of female personalities at their disposal.

I’ve said many times before that WWE has the makings of a great women’s division. AJ, Paige, Natalya and Emma are all great wrestlers, with the Bellas being underrated after making significant improvements. If they invested time in the division they could make it mean a lot, in turn making the debuts of the likes of Charlotte, Bayley and Sasha Banks mean more when they come. Now is the time to start that, and as bizarre as it is to say the Bellas are the ones to get the ball rolling.

NXTweet 24.07.14

I’ve said before that NXT is the best weekly wrestling show available to wrestling fans. It features a good blend of high quality matches, entertaining gimmicks, and promos. It doesn’t hurt that none of the regulars who appear on the show have been around long enough to feel stale, or for the writers to have lost interest in them.

It was the July 17 episode that made me want to revive NXTweet. It was a particularly strong episode, featuring almost every major act in the league in some form or other. The only one missing was Adrian Neville, and to be honest I can handle skipping him for a week. I’d recommend that episode to anyone who wants to get into NXT who isn’t a regular viewer (there have to be some people in that position reading this, right?).

But that’s last week. This week’s show was good too.  The only real disappointment was the Charlotte versus Summer Rae Women’s title match, and that was mostly a letdown because of how good both women have been over the last few months. They’ve shown they can do better work than they did here. Perhaps we’ll get a rematch that surpasses this. Hopefully they’ll have the metaphorical creases ironed out before NXT’s next special event rolls around. I suspect they’ll be in a three-way match also involving Sasha Banks there.

But as I say, everything else on this show was a good watch. I don’t know how any wrestling fan could watch The Vaudevillains, Tyler Breeze, Adrian Neville and Rusev and feel unfulfilled.

Intro

Tweet 1: Watching NXT. Prepare for some heavy tweet flow...

Tweet 2: Opening video on the BFFs was good. How is it that the NXT Divas are booked better, and are better in general, than the main roster Divas?

The Ascension v Jonny Vandal and Aaron Solow

Tweet 3: Best thing about the opener so far has been Konor's no-sell of a weak chop.

Selling? Nope.

Tweet 4: Within NXT The Ascension are magnificent. I'm not convinced they'll be treated so well on RAW.

Tweet 5: Also, more commentary team comparisons to The Eliminators and The Road Warriors wouldn't go amiss.

Tyler Breeze v Mojo Rawley

Tweet 6: Zoolander references during Breeze's intro. I approve.

Tweet 7: I'm less keen on the furry phone cover.
Tweet 8: And I'm even less keen on Breeze facing Mojo Rawley. He has the feel of a low card WCW guy from 1997.
Tweet 9: And and and... I'm also not keen on the Beauty Shot still being a spinning heel kick. It should be a DDT or something.
Tweet 10: But hey, Breeze won. So thumbs up, yeah?!

NXT Women’s championship – Charlotte (c) v Summer Rae

Tweet 11: Summer Rae wearing gold boots, Eddie G style.

Tweet 12: Not to be outdone Charlotte does a handstand cartwheel thing and then slides into the ring like heel Nigel McGuinness.
Tweet 13: That figure four headlock lasted foreeeeeeeeeeeever.

The never-ending figure four headlock.

Tweet 14: "I made you, Charlotte!" - Summer Rae, providing the requisite lols
Tweet 15: They're both long women apparently.
Tweet 16: The fans are bored so they're doing a Mexican wave. I feel their pain. This match is pretty poor.
Tweet 17: Is it called the women's championship because they're women but not full-fledged Divas? Knowing how WWE works, probably.
Tweet 18: Charlotte won. The wrestling they did wasn't bad but they did nothing to draw the crowd in.

The Vaudevillains v Sin Cara and Kalisto

Tweet 19: #Vaudevillainspop

Tweet 20: Kalisto teaming with Sin Cara. Prepare the botch klaxon...
Tweet 21: Renee Young chatting some nonsense about mask spikes there.
Tweet 22: Apparently Sin Cara and Kalisto want to be “the future of lucha libres." Not lucha libre or luchadors but lucha libres. C'mon, Renee.
Tweet 23: She pulled it back with a Giant Haystacks reference. That's my girl.
Tweet 24: The Vaudevillains are two guys with moustaches. Just like Basil and Manuel in Fawlty Towers. #justsaying
Tweet 25: There is something a little John Cleese about Aiden English as it goes.
Tweet 26: That was a solid tag match. Everyone was good. Even Sin Cara. Yes, really!

"Don't mention the war!"

Rusev v Adrian Neville

Tweet 27: Lana shrugging off the "What?" treatment like a boss.

Tweet 28: #Putinheat
Tweet 29: Now feels like an apt time to mention that Rusev was trained by Rikishi and Gangrel.
Tweet 30: "I am 'The Super Athlete'. Rusev!" - Rusev
Tweet 31: Is it the Eiffel Tower tattooed on Rusev's back or just a generic electricity pylon?
Tweet 32: Don't really get why Rusev didn't just beat Neville. He's a beast and main roster. Neville could stomach that loss.
Tweet 33: Didn't mind seeing Tyler Breeze again though. #mmmgorgeous

Post-match beating, just to remind us who the bigger star is.

Tweet 34: As ever NXT bests every other weekly wrestling show from any company.

Tweet 35: Yep, even with a DQ main event.

That RAW Recap 07.07.14

Two things stood out as being good on Monday’s RAW.

The first was the presentation of Roman Reigns. A few weeks ago he was a fun-lovin’ prankster, spiking coffees being carried by Vickie Guerrero so he could sneak his way into a pay-per-view main event. That wasn’t the sort of approach that was going to turn Reigns from a man with potential coming off a run as part of a popular trio into the leading man WWE needed. It didn’t play to his strengths. Worse, it made him look like every other WWE babyface.

Thankfully someone involved in the creative process seems to have realised that was a mistake. Monday’s RAW opened with Reigns striding through the crowd, to a reaction only reserved for top stars, and cutting a promo in which he displayed charisma and the ability to hit bullet points that further storylines (both necessary skills for those at the top of the WWE ladder). The response he got when addressing Kane, Randy Orton, John Cena and Triple H was a very good sign.

I don't want to know what Joey Mercury's grabbing for.

The good booking continued when Kane showed up and Reigns left the ring to battle him in the aisle. That he was keen to fight ‘The Big Red Monster’ made him look like the tough guy WWE needs. That he speared Finlay and then knocked Kane off the apron with a Superman punch ensured that RAW’s first segment ended with Reigns looking like a man who doesn’t back down. That’s the kind of star the promotion needs.

The show ended in a similarly positive manner. After Cena had defeated Rollins (in a non-title match) Orton and Kane appeared to duff up the world champ. Reigns showed up and immediately KOed both men with Superman punches, establishing that the move is incredibly effective. After briefly being dazed by a thump from Rollins’ briefcase (again protecting him by showing that Rollins needed to use a weapon to stun him) Reigns returned to the ring to save Cena from a choke slam by spearing Kane.

The episode went off the air with Cena and Reigns raising one another’s hands. When Reigns held up Cena’s hand the crowd booed. When Cena held up Roman’s hand the fans cheered. It was confirmation that Reigns is becoming accepted as a top guy and that he’s already preferable in the eyes of many to Cena. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Cena’s been on top for near enough a decade and WWE have done a terrible job of creating new stars over the last few years. Reigns is new and looks the part, so people will back him. They want change and Reigns represents it.

The second thing that stood out as being good was the booking of the non-main event names. This is something I’ve mentioned in a variety of articles over the last couple of months, my feeling being that giving people outside of main event plots something to do is what’s needed to make WWE’s weekly programming more watchable and to create new stars.

Please note that Fandango has "Girls" written on his tights.

The best example was Fandango. He followed up his enjoyable Money in the Bank performance with a stint as guest commentator during a Dolph Ziggler v Alberto Del Rio match. He was fun and got his character over before he leapt up on to the announce table for the planned finish: distracting Dolph with his dance moves.

But this wasn’t just promising because it gave Fandango something to do. It was clear that Fanners had a problem with ‘The Show Off’ giving Summer Rae (Fandango’s ex) a kiss and that that was his motivation for causing a disturbance. It’s not the ideal starting point for a Ziggler v Fandango rivalry but it’s at least a step in the right direction, and the involvement of Summer and Layla could allow for some tag matches to keep things interesting.

Similarly the idea of having The Miz read out fan mail was a nice touch. It got over his new wannabe movie star vibe, as did the Tom Cruise shades. I could have done without the return of his awful leather trenchcoat though. That things needs to be retired.

The Divas division was well served too. AJ Lee and Paige were paired up as a babyface team to defeat The Funkadactyls. Cameron opted to apply lip gloss instead of tagging into the match at a critical moment and was immediately pinned with a Paige Turner when she did eventually ta in. She and Naomi then had a shoving match followed by a fight. It was not impressive or multi-layered but it did get a surprisingly strong reaction, indicating audiences may be more into the Funkadactyl v Funkadactyl feud than I’d assumed. If so that’s good news. It means people can be pleased by a storyline involving performers who have only been half-heartedly pushed as long as it develops naturally.

Of course, the Paige and AJ thing was underplayed. There were no signs of jealousy or bitterness from the former champ. The closest they came was AJ flaunting the title belt a little too much, but it wasn’t pushed by the commentary crew and Paige didn’t really react to it. The long approach is being with their rivalry. That’s good.

While RAW as a whole was nothing spectacular it did several things right and indicated that the roster as a whole is being given attention. It’s a step in the right direction and I hope WWE sticks with it.

Diva Reconstruction

The WWE Divas division received a welcome boost on Monday when AJ Lee made a surprise return during RAW. After nearly three months off Mrs CM Punk sauntered down to the ring and defeated Paige, the woman who’d beaten her the night after WrestleMania XXX, to become a two time Divas champion. Her return is obviously a good thing. She’s WWE’s most over and capable female performer, and it opens up several storyline possibilities that could help to make the division, its title and its performers mean more than they currently do.

AJ Lee, celebrating her second title victory.

Judging solely by what occurred on RAW it looks as though AJ is going to be booked as a face. That would make sense. The reaction her return got shows that people are keen to cheer her, mostly because of how talented she is and because she carried the Divas scene for so long. Paige’s response to AJ’s return and the loss she suffered in their match was to look dejected and whimper a bit. It would seem fair to assume that she’ll try being nice about AJ’s entitled mean girl attitude for a few weeks before snapping and going heel, probably after failing to regain the gold.

Although Paige is a great technical wrestler she hasn’t managed to connect with audiences in her time on the main roster. She proved she could connect with crowds before her RAW debut (pretty much everywhere she worked, from SHIMMER to NXT). The reason she’s not managed the same in WWE is almost entirely attributable to her being given nothing to do but be a champion and work short title defences against challengers of the month.

A heel turn would suit Paige, basically. And an official face run would give AJ fresh things to do. Although the gulf between them is vast Paige and AJ are WWE’s most prominent and able female performers. They are the natural choice for the Divas division’s top feud.

But AJ Lee and ‘The Anti-Diva’ are not the only two ladies that are currently giving the division hope. Although they haven’t been the most exciting things to ever hit a wrestling show there are two other rivalries involving women in WWE at the mo: Summer Rae versus Layla and the (heart-breaking) splintering of much-loved institution The Funkadactyls.

The former was over the affections of love rat Fandango so it was hardly a great achievement for feminism but, on the plus side, it did at least see WWE’s writing team dedicating time to female wrestlers that weren’t involved in a title feud. That’s a step in the right direction (with either gender). Meanwhile the split of Cameron and Naomi is still in the early stages but every indication is that it will be awful. Though, again, it’s encouraging to see the writers doing something with female performers without the title being used as the impetus.

In addition to this recent booking has hinted at a showdown between Stephanie McMahon and Brie Bella sometime in the future. Perhaps it’s been decided that Triple H will sit SummerSlam out and Steph will represent the family in the ring. It’s unlikely to be a technical clinic but Steph v Brie has potential thanks to the heat Steph will bring. Plus I maintain that Brie is underrated as a worker.

This is not the best use of Emma.

These rivalries display a cast of Divas that is deceptively well-developed in terms of character. And they don’t include Alicia Fox, who has been cast as an overly excitable poor sport and shown herself to be a far better wrestler than she’d previously been credit for. It also discounts Emma who, brush with the law and multi-hour unemployment stint aside, still has the potential to overcome being saddled with Santino, get her NXT dance moves over and establish herself as a perennial contender to the butterfly belt and someone who can always be relied upon to churn out a solid bout.

Meanwhile in NXT Natalya’s reinventing herself on a developmental roster that includes captivating cheerleader cum fairy Alexa Bliss, the almost-certainly-not best friends forever Beautiful Fierce Females unit of Sasha Banks and Charlotte, the starstruck and naturally likeable Bayley, and the disappointingly stereotypical Becky Lynch. All of them are ready for the main roster in terms of wrestling ability. There are just a few wrinkles to be worked out in terms of gimmicks and characters in some cases. Considering the drought WWE’s women’s league has been in pretty much since Trish Stratus left in 2006 that’s a welcome sign.

With AJ and Paige on top wrestling for the championship, time being dedicated to non-title programmes, and a nice number of names waiting on the developmental roster the Divas division could very well be poised to become must-see wrestling viewing. That’s not something I would have expected to write six months ago. It’s a nice surprise.

Money in the Bank 2014 review

The chief selling point of this year's Money in the Bank pay-per-view was the crowning of a new WWE champion. The titular briefcase took a backseat to the title, with all three of the company's top rising stars and all but two of the active main eventers bring piled into the ladder match for the vacant title. This left the Money in the Bank contract match looking like a mid-card affair. This being the first time there's ever been a MITB match with only one world title on the roster that shouldn't have been the case. It should have been presented as something more prestigious than a mid-card prize.

WWE was hit with an unfortunate number of injuries but they still had options. A non-ladder bout could have been held for the championship, freeing up the bigger names to work meaningful matches against one another. Or the competitors for the pair of matches could have been jumbled up to create a mixture of former champions and undercard guys in each. Dolph Ziggler would have been accepted in the world championship ladder match for example.

But they made the decisions they made and presented the card they did. Was it as good-looking a piece of booking work as other shows bearing the Bank brand have been? No. Was it the above average offering it had the potential to be even with its clear limitations? Read on and see.

In notable happenings from the kick-off show WWE debuted a new Money in the Bank stats video, in the same vein as their Rumble by the numbers one and Daniel Bryan made his first appearance since being stripped of the championship. Bryan received a huge reaction and announced that he doesn't know when he'll return to the ring, mentioning the possibility of another operation.

This photo sums up perfectly why I like Bo Dallas.
Or, if you will, why I'm a Boliever.

After answering a couple of trite questions Michael Cole had collated from Twitter Bryan was interrupted by Bo Dallas. He was given a pep talk and responded by saying "Bo, leave!" It was a pretty insubstantial sequence but it did at least get D-Bry and Bo on TV. That's never a bad thing.

Money in the Bank proper kicked off with the tag team title match. That came as a surprise. I'd expected the briefcase match on first with the championship match closing the event. The Usos dictated the pace for the first several minutes, ultimately losing control when a Jey was shoved off the turnbuckle and landed face first on the crowd barrier. After absorbing punishment for a while he managed to tag out to his bro and the match phased into a brawling, double teaming and leaping over the top rope session. After a near fall heavy sequence Jimmy and Jey retained off a double superplex and a pair of splashes on Erick Rowan.

It was a satisfying opener. I can't help but feel it would've been nice to see the Wyatts win the belts but that can come later. The lack of meaningful teams practically guarantees a Battleground rematch.

Next up was a series of video recaps reminding us why Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose dislike one another. Then Ambrose was shown backstage cutting one of his eccentric, lively promos. Which, for the record, are hard not to enjoy. He said he planned to use ladders to win the contract and smash in Seth's face.

Match two was Paige against Naomi. They worked what I think we can at this point refer to as a standard Paige defence. The challenger was in control for much of the match and most of the time when Paige got the advantage she opted for submission holds. There was, however, the added thrill of seeing Cameron looking smug at ringside when her fellow Funkadactyl took a move. Paige won with a guillotine DDT.

After an expert panel segment and a repeat of the MITB by the numbers vid Damien Sandow came to the ring to call the crowd halfwits and say New York's better than Boston (because cheap heat, that’s why). He got his comeuppance at the hands of Adam Rose.

The Money in the Bank match followed that but was preceded by talking heads from the competitors. It was overly scripted nonsense not worth my time repeating. Ziggler was the best of the bunch, and got a heartening pop when he appeared on the screen. Also, it was announced Bad News Barrett would be unable to compete due to injury. That was a pity. He's been doing great stuff since WrestleMania and deserved to be included here.

The also-rans of the match.

The first ladder battle was the match of the night (although it didn’t have much competition). Impressive spots and storyline points in order of occurence: Ambrose entered last and went straight for Rollins; Ambrose butterfly suplexing Rollins onto a ladder; a Rob Van Dam tumbling senton onto Rollins, laying on a ladder propped in the corner; JBL lecherously saying that Jack Swagger is a weapon; Swagger power bombing Van Dam off the top of a ladder, followed moments later by Ambrose suplexing Rollins off the top; Swagger catapulting Ziggler into a ladder and Ambrose; 'The Lunatic Fringe' getting taken out of the match on doctor’s orders after "landing awkwardly on a shoulder"; Kofi back dropping Rollins off the top of one ladder onto another; 'The Show Off' super kicking a ladder into Swagger's face; Ziggler pulling himself up a ladder while trapped in a Patriot lock; Rollins doing a number on Ziggles with a chair; and an effective finishing sequence which saw Ambrose make his (inevitable) return to stop Rollins winning, only to be stopped from winning himself moments later by Kane.

Kane’s interference (specifically a Tombstone piledriver) allowed Rollins to take the briefcase, causing Michael Cole to kick off about the injustice of Ambrose being cost the match. The scene was topped off by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon coming out to celebrate with their charge. It was a well booked match that delivered the required thrills and spills and furthered the Rollins and Ambrose rivalry. Not bad considering it was missing Bad News and RVD got injured halfway through.

The need for some comedy was pretty high after such a hard hitting ladder battle. Thankfully RybAxel were on hand to provide it. Because there's little funnier than Ryback's perma-anger and Axel's depressing Better Than Perfect T-shirt and poorly designed ring gear featuring an axe that looks like a Wi-Fi emblem. They were facing the not unfunny Goldust and Stardust. Their team name really needs to be Gold Star.

The match went longer than their first encounter on RAW. But that wasn't hard as that match lasted less than two minutes. It was inoffensive but utterly unmemorable. Stardust got the win for his team off a roll up on 'The Big Guy'.

In the back Byron Saxton asked Fandango about the love triangle he was involved in. Fandango's response was that he loves triangles. Next he called Byron's question about fairly officiating the match "fascinating." It was a great example of why WWE needs to do more with its mid-carders. The Fandango gimmick isn’t cut out for the top of the card but it, and the man behind it, could do so much more in a thriving, well-booked mid-card. Summer Rae and Layla rocked up and bickered. Fandango remained the most captivating thing on the screen.

The talking continued in the ring with cheap heat act Lana and Rusev. They were met with a USA chant. Lana screeched for the crowd to shut up and, amazingly, they did. After some pro-Putin patter Rusev said something in (presumably) Russian. Part of it sounded like “super athlete.” Then Big E came out. A box appeared in the corner of the screen. In it was a pre-recorded talking head of E in which he seemed to be channelling Abraham Lincoln. The pair had a physical match but it never progressed beyond average (although Big E nailed his ever impressive spear through the ropes. 'The Super Athlete' went over with the Steiner Recliner then posed in front of a large Russian flag.

Fandango is magical.

Summer Rae v Layla was the penultimate match of the night. It was a standard Divas match but with the added twist of the two women flirting with guest ref Fandango throughout. Layla won after elbowing Rae in the face. She and Fandango had a kiss and a cuddle after the match. It was heart-warming to see, although Summer didn’t seem to think so.

And then, finally, it was time for the WWE championship match. The order of wrestler entrances was actually pretty interesting here. Bray Wyatt came out second (missing out on the impactful first spot to Sheamus), hometown star Cena was out fifth (and in fairness he tends to get booed in Boston just as much as anywhere else), followed by Orton. The final man introduced should have been Roman Reigns, presenting him as the star and holding off his big pop for as long as possible. Instead he was the penultimate man out and Kane took the final entrance.

The match was a slow starter. There just weren't any big spots happening and none of the men in the ring seemed interested in trying to draw the crowd in. That included the usually reliable Cesaro, Wyatt and Cena. It was a disappointing effort. The audience amused themselves by booing Cena and chanting "Boring!" For that to happen during the main event of Money in the Bank should cause the writing team some concern.

There were a few memorable exchanges, although most of them got subdued reactions from the crowd: Cesaro dangling above the ring from the belts; Orton doing the draping DDT off a ladder propped up between the ring and the announce desk; Reigns lifting up a ladder as Cesaro and ‘Great White’ stood punching one another on top; Cena doing the same; Wyatt suplexing Cena on to a ladder; Cesaro giving Sheamus a Swiss Death off a ladder; and Orton giving Cesaro an RKO to Cesaro off a ladder.

Roman Reigns should have looked like the star of the show.

People finally started reacting when Reigns was booked to storm through all of his opponents, presumably because that’s what they’d been waiting to see. It’s understandable. With three rising stars in the match WWE should have prioritised giving them all impressive moments and booking them to dominate the veteran headliners. That’s what audiences want: new stars. That the Reigns sequence culminated with him facing off with John Cena was a good call but the visual failed to get the sustained cheer it merited. That was probably a result of it taking too long to come about and-or the first portion of the match being so bland.

Cena and Reigns briefly traded punches to boos and yays but stopped pretty quickly. They should have recognised that it was drawing the audience in and gone a bit longer. Thankfully Bray Wyatt was in next, stopping the audience from cooling off too much. A roar of approval went up when he floored 'The Viper' with Sister Abigail. Unfortunately the pacing was off again as 'The Eater of Worlds' quickly vacated the ring to make way for ADR and a continued sequence of run-of-the-mill attempted title grabs. In an ideal world Bray would have hung around for longer.

The closing moments saw Reigns fight a bloody Orton off the ladder with headbutts and punches before being choke slammed by Kane. Cena then slipped in from nowhere and AAed 'The Demon', yanked Orton off the ladder and then jauntily scampered up the ladder to unhook the belts and become a fifteen time world champion. The show went off the air with Michael Cole saying "Ladies and gentlemen you can boo him or you can cheer him but there can be no doubt that John Cena is the greatest champion in WWE history." It’s hard to think of a comment more clearly designed to illustrate that Cena is above Daniel Bryan in the WWE pecking order.

Money in the Bank was not a good show. The opening match and the briefcase ladder match were both very enjoyable offerings but everything else was either forgettable filler or poorly formatted. Some of the matches were better cut out for an episode of RAW or SmackDown than for the undercard of what’s become the company’s fourth biggest event of the year.

The champ is here. Again.

The main event was the worst offender. Cena did very little before winning the thing and the opportunity to build up Wyatt, Reigns and Cesaro was horribly squandered. With the number of men involved the match could have been used to launch some fresh feuds for Battleground and SummerSlam. Even the obvious feud for those shows, Reigns v Orton, didn’t get the treatment it should have: there was no clear point where Orton (with help from Henchman Demon Kane) clearly and definitively cost Reigns the championship via shady tactics.

Money in the Bank 2014 was a missed opportunity and a below average offering. That’s partly attributable to injuries. It’s mostly attributable to WWE not knowing where they’re going or what their audience want.

SnookiMania

So apparently Snooki wants back into the sports entertainment game. What's that? You’ve never heard of Snooki? Allow me to attempt an explanation.

Snooki’s full name is Nicole Elizabeth Polizzi. She shot to quasi-fame as a cast member on Jersey Shore, a show about a group of recognition-hungry layabouts flaunting their wealth and glamorous lifestyles in semi-scripted feuds and storylines (not dissimilar to wrestling, as it happens). Swimming pools, nightclubs and cheating partners featured prominently.

On the back of her popularity on that show she bagged numerous media appearances and a dose of fame. She also got a second, not very different, show in which she has a starring role. It’s called Snooki & JWoww. JWoww was also on Jersey Shore and holds the same media personality job description as Snooki.

Fake tan? No, definitely not.

When it became clear that Jersey Shore could sustain a level of popularity for a while WWE felt the need to associate with the show. Not satisfied with giving Zack Ryder a gimmick inspired by the programme they also hired Snooki, as the most marketable and one of the most respectable cast members, to host an episode of RAW in March 2011. That met with unspectacular results, as these sorts of WWE experiments tend to. Only a handful of non-wrestling fans were keen enough on Snooki to tune into RAW to watch her antics unfold. None stuck around (at least not in significant numbers) for any non-Snooki wrestling shows that followed.

Undeterred by the general public's spectacular indifference WWE forged ahead with the original plan to feature Snooki at that year’s WrestleMania. Not happy with simply having her appear (because that had been done) somebody in the company decided that Snooki should wrestle at the event. That she did, in the once prestigious semi-main event spot no less, teaming with John Morrison and Trish Stratus to defeat LayCool and Dolph Ziggler. Yep, Snooki was inexplicably booked as a babyface on the show which attracts the most hardcore wrestling fans. To the surprise of very few (a number which I suspect includes Snooki's agent) she was booed.

I shan't lie. I'm not overly familiar with Snooki's career so I had no idea what she'd been doing since WrestleMania XXVII until I Googled her to write this. Turns out she's mostly just been filming the reality show already mentioned. I can't say with any certainty whether or not her fame has increased, decreased or abstained from fluctuation altogether since her last WWE stint but I'd guess it's about the same. Essentially I'd assume she still has her own group of loyal fans. And if that's the case WWE could do worse than using her again.

Yeah, I'm advocating the use of a celebrity by WWE. Not revolutionary considering the company's track record and fairly unremarkable considering the celeb in question's been involved before and had announced they want to be involved again (on the Talk is Jericho podcast, for the record) but hear me out. If WWE were to simply bring in Snooki for a guest hosting spot on RAW it would be pointless. It's been done. It's also been proven she doesn't inflict a major change on ratings, which is the number one reason people of her ilk are brought in.

What I think WWE should do is offer Snooki a one year contract. Immediately you've got someone who can, with the right training and booking protection, work as a top heel in the Divas division and who can give Total Divas a boost. With the show going into its third series a boost is exactly what’s needed (the announcement that Rosa Mendes is joining the cast won’t provide it). In fact there's even the potential to do a series focusing solely on Snooki becoming a wrestler (which needn't preclude her from the TD cast). That could be shown exclusively on the WWE Network, netting more subscribers as her fans are forced to sign up to watch, or sold to TV channel, getting WWE some cash for a show that's unlikely to cost a lot to make.

Signing Snooki to a full contract (obviously an above average one in monetary terms) would create far more mainstream interest in WWE than having her make a one off appearance would. A fully fledged Z-lister becoming a bona fide full-time wrestler? TMZ and the like would lap that up!

While the reality setup would be Snooki's natural domain she could function well enough as a wrestler. She already has that much vaunted gymnastics background Michael Cole banged on about at 'Mania XXVII and could be stationed at NXT for the first several months of her contract. That she's going to be unpopular with fans would just need to be embraced (or perhaps I’m being hard on her and she has the ability to work out as a face: if so it’s hardly a loss, she’d just be booked differently). Sticking her with the BFFs would be sensible. It would not only cast her as a heel but also offer her some protection by surrounding her with more experienced heads.

After three or four months she could be promoted to the main roster to be carried through matches by Natalya, Emma, and Paige (notice how Divas are rarely entitled to surnames?). In fact, Snooki could be used as a device to elevate all the BFFs. The group could be called up as a unit with Snooki positioned as the star. That would make storylines easier to write (as each face challenger would have various singles and tag matches waiting for them opposing the villainous group) and allow multiple roster members to benefit from a celeb signing. There would also be a natural blow off feud between Snooki and whichever member of the BFFs WWE feels has the most potential for singles success in the long run. That's probably Charlotte but personally I like Sasha Banks's chances.

Her background means she's going to understand the social media aspects of being a WWE Diva (a downfall of many men and women WWE hires) and she's likely to pick up the knack of cutting a promo quickly if she's got the right teacher. She’d certainly be looked after in the teaching department. WWE would want their high profile signing to learn quickly and well in order to benefit from her as much as possible. As such they’d put their top people on her (stifle that laughter…).

The timing of this is something WWE would have to look at. Snooki's currently pregnant, which makes it an unlikely deal to be struck in the immediate future. That's not a concern though, because signing Snooki now isn't really ideal for WWE anyway. This is the sort of stunt that would best work in conjunction with WrestleMania. That would allow Snooki to make her first and last appearances on 'The Grandest Stage of Them All' and would ensure whatever Snooki-themed reality offering was concocted would be ready to air in the build-up to her second 'Mania, where Snooki would ideally be having a significant singles clash.

Snooki versus Charlotte at WrestleMania XXXII? You heard it here first!

SmackTalk 20.06.14

SmackDown’s generally a one match show. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can lead to good matches ad interesting matches and good interesting matches. This week’s show featured the latter. The seven participants in the WWE championship ladder match at Money in the Bank were placed in a four-on-three handicap match. It was well booked and made the more important match the seven are to be involved in seem more interesting.

It’s an approach I think WWE should use more often. Getting a number of guys together who don’t usually interact is a good way of starting fresh issues. With that seeming to be something WWE has a problem with (so much so that they rarely bother doing it outside of the main event) it’s odd that they’ve not realised this themselves.

Anyway, just for fun, here’s a tweeting session I did.

Seth Rollins v Kofi Kingston

Tweet 1: Let's tweet some Smack.

Tweet 2: First guy out is Seth Rollins, meaning I have to make the obligatory Agents of SHIELD comment.

Seth Rollins, agent of SHIELD.

Tweet 3: Rollins was wearing trainers when Ambrose attacked him on Main Event. Can't imagine image conscious Triple H approved of that.
Tweet 4: He's facing perma-disappointment Kofi Kingston who's decked out like The Flash.
Tweet 5: "Dean Ambrose belongs in a rubber room" - JBL, perhaps hinting at plans for WWE to steal the Samuel Shaw story
Tweet 6: Kofi lost surprisingly quickly. I don't think it'll hurt his chances of being added to Money in the Bank though.
Tweet 7: Uh-oh, Seth's got a mic...
Tweet 8: Is Kane's new ring name Demon Kane? Everyone seems to be calling him that. It's like he's a DBZ villain who's reached his second power level

John Cena promo, featuring interruptions from Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Cesaro, Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns, and Randy Orton

Tweet 9: Michael Cole's welcoming us to the show after the first match and a recap vid. Weirdo.

Tweet 10: John Cena on SmackDown? SAYWHAAAAAAT?!
Tweet 11: Cole's introducing himself AGAIN. This is getting out of hand.
Tweet 12: Cena's jokes falling flat there.
Tweet 13: Rough cut to the crowd chanting "Yes!" It's almost like they didn't take Cena's original cue and had to be prompted a couple more times.
Tweet 14: Hahahaha interrupted by Del Rio of all people.
Tweet 15: Remember when ADR first debuted and he feuded with Rey about three separate times in his first year?
Tweet 16: Sheamus came out. I wanted him to say that he was going to unify the US title with the WWE and World titles to make the WWE triple crown.
Tweet 17: He didn’t. Poor.
Tweet 18: Heyman getting the most heat of the entire show by mentioning Lesnar ending The Streak there.
Tweet 19: Reigns and Cena could be something one day.

Wouldn't surprise me if this was a WrestleMania main event one day, to be honest.

Tweet 20: And I don't mean slash fic.
Tweet 21: Randy Orton. Go to guy for exciting promo segments.
Tweet 22: That promo segment ended with all the guys fighting. Didn't see that comin'...

Dolph Ziggler v Bad News Barrett

Tweet 23: Dolph putting the moves on Lilian Garcia there.

Tweet 24: Bad News Cape Klaxon!!
Tweet 25: Leave it to Barrett to drop in a football reference. Helping to stereotype all Brits as football lovers.
Tweet 26: Could've done with that being longer. Still good though. I want Ziggler v Barrett on the next three PPVs. I'll take them in MITB together.
Tweet 27: Bad News hit Ziggler so hard that his music stopped. Impressive.

Titus O’Neil v Adam Rose

Tweet 28: They're idiots for not saving Titus v Rose for a pay-per-view.

Tweet 29: Love the fact that Rose's entourage are the most excited people in the arena. Most people in the crowd aren't bothered.

The most excited people in the building.

Tweet 30: Can't wait for that bunny heel turn.
Tweet 31: Titus loses. Demands a rematch. Loses again. I'm sure someone, somewhere finds that hilarious.

Kane v Dean Ambrose

Tweet 32: #DemonKane

Tweet 33: Nice to see Rollins has put some effort in for his spot as a guest commentator. So few wrestlers care these days.
Tweet 34: Look at Lawler. He sits there in naff T-shirts every week.
Tweet 35: Once again I feel compelled to comment on Dean Ambrose being really, really surprisingly over as a singles babyface.
Tweet 36: Rollins didn't cost Ambrose the match. mbrose cost Ambrose the match. #BretscrewedBret

Jack Swagger v Big E

Tweet 37: BIG HOSS.

Tweet 38: It's the grudge match we've all been waiting for: Big E v Jack Swagger!
Tweet 39: These two had a cracking match at Elimination Chamber. My hopes are raised for this.
Tweet 40: Lasted about a minute so nowhere near as good as the match at Chamber. Gonna pin my hopes on Big E v Rusev.

Fandango, Summer Rae and Layla backstage

Tweet 41: Fandango not using his gimmick voice is the most kayfabe-breaking thing I've seen in years.

Tweet 42: Summer mouth rapes Fanners and Layla sees. Nothing is said. Their eyes do the talking.
Tweet 43: Yep. Really hyped for that Layla v Summer Rae match.

Bo Dallas v Fandango

Tweet 44: Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo!Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo! Bo!

Tweet 45: The obvious finisher for Bo Dallas is the bow and arrow. Why is this not happening?
Tweet 46: 'Dirty' Curty going back to his old ways, basically.
Tweet 47: Not pleased with Layla and Summer trying to overshadow Bo Dallas.

"Are you a... Boliever?"

Tweet 48: Is part of Bo's gimmick that he becomes a bystander in other people's storylines and gets wins out of it? If not it should be.
Tweet 49: Anyone who says Bo's not getting over is wrong. There are signs in the crowd for him and his victory is being booed.

Bray Wyatt backstage promo

Tweet 50: Wyatt Family screen thing going off with Bo in the ring made me think they were going to acknowledge them as brothers.

Tweet 51: 'The Designer of Chaos' is another great moniker for Bray.
Tweet 52: Nice that WWE are savvy enough to have Bray say that he's only siding with the other heels briefly.

Randy Orton, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, and Bray Wyatt v John Cena, Sheamus and Roman Reigns

Tweet 53: Instead of a four-on-three match they could have done Sheamus, Reigns and Cena v ADR, Orton and Cesaro v The Wyatt Family.

Tweet 54: Could've been interesting. Maybe they'll do it next week. But they won't.
Tweet 55: The question that everyone wants answered is: are there Mexican flags on the ring posts?
Tweet 56: Awkward shot from the cheap seats there. It was so they didn't have to show a bunch of tarped seats I expect.
Tweet 57: Bray Wyatt foregoing a musical entrance and instead choosing to teleport to the ring there.
Tweet 58: Love Cole making out Reigns is untrustworthy because he said nobody could stop him from winning the world title.
Tweet 59: This match perfectly illustrates how WWE could use six man tags to start new feuds every few months.
Tweet 60: It's not actually a six man tag, but still...
Tweet 61: "Sheamus loves to fight, don't he?" - Michael 'I Can't Think Of Anything To Say' Cole
Tweet 62: The announcers are pushing a lack of trust towards Reigns but Cena teamed with him and Ambrose the week after Rollins turned. Ridiculous.
Tweet 63: Cena and Orton tag in at the same time. The audience immediately begins booing.
Tweet 64: Needlessly sexual cover from Orton there.
Tweet 65: For those playing along at home it was the one he went for after he pointed at Reigns.
Tweet 66: "It's his first big chance at the title!" - Michael Cole on Cesaro, who also wrestled for the title in the main event of Elimination Chamber
Tweet 67: The Crowd Noise Machine is going into overdrive now that Reigns has tagged in.

Bray Wyatt's about to get Lex Luthored.

Tweet 68: Pretty good finish to that. All of Reigns' spots were used and then he went over. Works for me.

Tweet 69: I wish JBL would stop talking about watching Reigns erupt though. #filth