Underdog No More

Back in May when it first became apparent that Daniel Bryan was going to be taking a significant amount of time off due to injury I wrote about how he’d need to change his ring style when he returned (read that here). Since then it’s dawned on me that D-Bry’s wrestling isn’t the only change that should occur. The way he’s presented could do with some alteration too.

We all know Bryan works well as an underdog. It was part of his original appeal and was the reason that his WrestleMania XXX storyline worked so well. If Bryan was not presented as a man who had to overcome long odds to win his battle against The Authority would have been nowhere near as satisfying as it was.

But as effective as the approach is the Bryan being an underdog thing can only go on for so long. The WWE management crew’s instinct is always going to be to present a man of Bryan’s height as an underdog but they need to move beyond that. Continuing with it indefinitely would see it become familiar and boring, running the risk of harming ‘The Dazzler’s’ popularity and making him look out of his depth at the top. Luckily there’s an alternate approach that wouldn’t go against anything that’s been established about the Bryan character at this point.

The beard should remain untrimmed.

Bryan should be portrayed as a super-efficient tapout machine. Have him wrestle expendable guys that are bigger than him (Titus O’Neil, Goldust and even Mark Henry would fit the bill) on TV and beat them in two or three minute glorified squash matches with the Yes Lock or a new hold that can be presented as even more deadly (have Cole tell a story about how Bryan devised it while he was recuperating from the neck surgery). When wrestling on pay-per-view or on TV against more credible opponents Bryan’s size should become less of a factor and he could simply be portrayed as a great technical wrestler.

The only exception I want to see with this is Bryan v Lesnar. That match is so obviously begging for the underdog treatment that it would be foolish not to take it. Have Bryan take a pasting from Lesnar before sneaking in a quick small package win. Or, if he’s losing, have him take a pasting, mount a comeback, and then fall to a kimura lock applied in desperation, showing that Bryan was able to push Lesnar to the limit and that ‘The Beast’ only got the victory in a last ditch attempt himself.

Even then it would only work once. A Bryan Lesnar rematch would probably work best (or at least be most enjoyable) if the story were that Bryan had figured out a weakness of Lesnar’s and was focusing incredibly proficiently on exploiting it.

If Bryan comes back and enters the same WWE routine his popularity’s going to take a hit. It might not ruin him, but why allow any damage at all to be done to a man who’s become a success for the company? Better to avoid it and continue to play to Bryan’s strengths.

A Breeze of Fresh Air

The last few months have taught us something about WWE and their developmental system. No matter how over somebody might be in NXT it’s always worth considering making a few tweaks to characters before transferring them to RAW.

Adam Rose, who’d been in NXT for a matter of weeks before it was announced he was moving to the main roster, is a good example of why this should be. In the smaller, more intimate confines of the NXT Arena (more commonly known as Full Sail University) he could be presented as a star. It helped that the crowd there was comprised mostly of regulars who’d get into the spirit of the character. In a more open arena the character doesn’t have the same feel and without regulars in the crowd every week he’s struggled to gain support.

A bit of forethought and this could have been avoided. WWE could have looked at the different setups and crowds RAW and NXT have and altered the presentation of Rose accordingly. I’m not writing him off. I still think he’s capable of doing well. It’s just that it’s taking longer than I suspect WWE wanted it to, and certainly longer than it needed to.

One of the best things about NXT.

One guy I don’t think this will happen to is Tyler Breeze. In ‘Prince Pretty’ there’s a perfectly rounded heel act that’s ready to be called up to the main roster as is. He has distinctive ring gear, a distice gimmick, and a distinctive promo style. The selfie taking, the announcement that he’s arrived in the building, and his introduction from various seasonal residences are all simple things that help to set him apart too.

The chief obstacle Breeze will have to overcome is not having a nondescript gimmick but a lack of size. ‘The King of Cuteville’ is one of the smallest men under contract to WWE and the promotion is well known for being reluctant to get behind guys who won’t attract attention in an airport. But while this is Breeze’s main obstacle it’s not an insurmountable one. Nor is it one I think he’s incapable of overcoming.

His character more than balances his less-than-monstrous proportions and he understands how to make his character connect with audiences. If he’s given a significant storyline upon being called up I’m confident he’ll make the impact that’s needed for wrestlers to carve a niche on the main roster. The question of how high he can go up the card is practically irrelevant at this point: that’s so reliant on WWE taking a shine to someone at present that even obvious main event guys like Dolph Ziggler are being left floundering.

I have one criticism regarding Breeze. Why, when he broke his finger, did WWE respond by downplaying it and booking him in short matches? The perfect way around a broken digit for ‘The Gorgeous One’ would be to put a hand cast on him and have him announce he’s been tapped for some hand modelling. That would write him out of storylines and be in keeping with his character. But even with that opportunity missed Breeze is ready for the call-up.

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.

Beating Elgin

Several years ago I wrote about Eddie Edwards defeating Roderick Strong for the ROH world championship. Three months later I turned that into something approaching a tradition when I did the same for Davey Richards after he’d beaten Eddie and the following year when I did it for Kevin Steen after he’d beaten Davey.

I haven’t always made an actual, proper prediction in each of these pieces. But I have since the Kevin Steen entry in 2012. I’ve never gotten it right. I thought Steen would lose the title to Michael Elgin. I thought Jay Briscoe would lose the title to Matt Hardy. And I thought Kevin Steen would defeat Adam Cole.

I stand by my assertion that Hardy should have dethroned Briscoe for the gold. It was a great storyline waiting to happen. As the hated sports entertainment practitioner ‘The Sensei of Mattitude’ was perfectly positioned to work a short reign as an unpopular (that’s putting it mildly) champion before losing the title back to lead babyface Steen. Speaking of which I think I was right to say Elgin should have ended Steen’s reign too: he was a fresh act and winning the title so soon after a string of breakout performances could have tipped him over the edge into ROH godhood.

But no matter how superior I think these scenarios would have been I was, as I say, wrong every time. I mention this to highlight that I do not have a good track record when it comes to selecting ROH champions. I’m going to keep writing these pieces but you shouldn’t pay too much attention to predictions as I’m statistically likely to be wrong.

On the subject of writing these new champion posts now is probably a fitting time to address why I don’t do it for any other company. Basically a Ring of Honor world title change is an event. The company still books their world title as the centrepiece of the company, the thing that everybody strives to win. New Japan does this too, but that’s not a company I follow closely enough to make predictions for. It would be doing the promotion and anyone reading a disservice.

WWE presents their world title as meaningful but it’s not the pinnacle of the company: that would instead be a programme with John Cena (or, possibly, Cena himself is the pinnacle). They’re better at making their title important than they were a few years ago thanks to the Daniel Bryan storyline that stretched from last year’s SummerSlam to WrestleMania but it’s still not presented in the same manner as world titles elsewhere. Besides, the title switches around amongst the same bunch of guys so often that such pieces would be redundant and too common to have any significance.

As for TNA, their world title’s a joke. It means nothing in the grand picture of the wrestling business and even if it did they make such random, last minute booking choices that it would be practically impossible to know who they’re going with next. Look at the last two champions: very few people would have predicted a title reign for Lashley and nobody would have selected Eric Young as the man who’d defeat Magnus.

But enough of this. I’m not here to write about TNA, WWE or New Japan. I’m here to write about Michael Elgin. His journey to the Ring of Honor world championship was a long one. His first title shot was against Davey Richardsat Showdown in the Sun Chapter 2 on March 31 2012. It was a match that opened a lot of people’s eyes as to how good Elgin could be. He went from being seen as a generic, charisma-free powerhouse that loomed in the background during Truth Martini promos to a man who could carry his side of a lengthy, exhilarating match. So good was that match that it would have worked perfectly as a title change. The fans would have accepted it and Elgin would have been a made man.

In fairness there was something to be said for waiting. Kevin Steen was also hot and primed for a run on top. ROH could afford to keep Elgin simmering as a top contender while switching the title on to a man people were desperate to see as champion. Having Elgin win the belt and keep it against Steen may actually have harmed him. It seemed sensible to give Steen his time and have Elgin relieve him of the strap at Final Battle. Unfortunately that’s not what happened.

Elgin mounted a second unsuccessful challenge at Glory By Honor XI in October 2012. That loss harmed his standing. He was no longer the hot rising star. He was the guy ROH were holding off on progressing. The man who was in the main event but not of it. He spent much of the first half of 2013 as the number one contender to the championship, which further harmed his standing. It either made him look weak and incapable of winning when it counted or like a petulant heel (even though he rarely complained about his treatment). Either way it was less than ideal.

By the time ‘Unbreakable’ reached the finals of a tournament held to crown a new champ he was part of the furniture. He was the guy who was there to lose and put over the new great hope, Adam Cole. He did a fine job of it and was protected whilst doing so but it was clear that Elgin was no longer capable of having the hot run he could have had a year earlier. That point was hammered home when he was unsuccessful in winning the title at Final Battle (in a three-way against Cole and Jay Briscoe) and once again spent the first several months of a new year being presented as the uncrowned champion.

The shaven-headed champ is here.

His title victory at Best in the World was really well booked. He and Cole put on a storming performance and the various run-ins and ref bumps all made sense in the context of long running storylines. It’s just that it came eighteen months too late for Elgin to become the massive star ROH need him to be. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a good choice for champion and that he can have an enjoyable reign with good title defences against many different wrestlers. It’s just that in order to expand as a promotion ROH need a fresh and hot act. Elgin is neither. Eighteen months ago he was fresh and it’s possible he could have helped attract new eyes.

So who can beat him? Truth be told I don’t think there are that many options on the roster. Kevin Steen would be a top choice if he weren’t heading off to NXT within the next few weeks. Elgin could have slowly turned heel and slotted into a programme with ‘Mr Wrestling’ for an enjoyable and fresh match at Final Battle or the 2015 anniversary card. But it’s not to be.

Similarly it appears that Chris Hero’s out. He returned to a great deal of fanfare at the end of last year but hasn’t appeared in an ROH ring in months. Had he been used regularly in meaningful plots he could have been built up as a credible contender and potential next champion. At the very least he could have been Elgin’s first major challenger, especially if they’d been placed into an alliance before Elgin’s victory to make a Hero heel turn more impactful.

But he’s not been around and he’s not confirmed for any upcoming shows. He could come back and beat Elgin later in the year or next year but it doesn’t seem likely. At this point I think Hero’s role is to be the guy with the solid reputation that puts over the regulars. And that’s probably for the best.

Frankly the most likely regular I can see winning the belt from Elgers is Tommaso Ciampa. He lost the TV championship a while ago and showed heelish tendencies when interacting with ACH at Best in the World. A friendly rivalry with ACH that progresses into something more violent as Ciampa keeps losing, prompting a violent outburst, would be a good way of re-establishing him without rushing things. As a heel he could work a few different programmes ahead of a title match with Elgin.

Of course he could just as easily stay a face but display more of an assertive attitude. That’s a fairly standard ROH approach and it would allow a face versus face match to be teased out for a while.

Other main roster regulars that could be potential Elgin foils are Michael ‘Don’t Call Me Mike’ Bennett and Silas ‘My Moustache is Manlier Than Yours’ Young. As a member of The Kingdom Bennett is one of the promotion’s lead antagonists and has a solid act in place working deliberately WWE flavoured matches with Maria interfering. He’s the sort of act that works on top in any western promotion but that has never been booked as an ROH champion. It would be interesting to see and isn’t something that needs to be rushed into. Bennett is always going to be a bad guy in Ring of Honor and the option to have him face off with Elgin will be there as long as both are on the roster.

Young has been knocking about on the undercard for a year or so now. He’s not done anything spectacular but his potential seems clear. He looks the part, is a fantastic antagonist and works a rough style that’s a perfect fit for ROH. It’s possible booker man Delirious has been biding his time with him so people don’t turn on him for being rushed. He’s a heel but that could still happen: there’s a world of difference between heat and disinterest, and a rush could encourage the latter.

That Silas has been selected as Kevin Steen’s goodbye feud is interesting. It indicates that ROH are finally done letting Young build steam naturally and that they’re finally ready to do something major with him. Being the last feud Kevin Steen has in Ring of Honor is a big deal, the sort that could establish someone as a new top name. If the treatment continues after Steen’s gone, against any other popular act that isn’t Elgin, a programme between the two could mean something come the end of the year.

The members of the War Machine team, Raymond Rowe and Hanson, are probably worth mentioning, although both are massively unlikely. In kayfabe terms Elgin is responsible for them forming a regular tandem and getting ROH contracts. That could lead to the two turning on Elgin for “sidelining” them as a pair to avoid them as tough challengers or, more likely, only one forming the opinion. These scenarios would be really long term deals, but the preparation’s already been done.

Finally there’s AJ Styles. He’s massively popular in the US and can legitimately be called an international success thanks to his IWGP championship win over Kazuchika Okada. That’s a title reign that won’t last forever. When it ends I could definitely see ‘The Phenomenal One’ relieving Elgin of the gold. His status as an original roster member would make the title win a big deal, and there’s already an established history between the two after their exchanges earlier this year.

Selecting one name to go with is tough. Elgin’s style, look and character are fantastically well-suited to a long reign. I’ve predicted those many times over the last three years but the closest we’ve had are the reigns of Richards and Steen. Neither of those surpassed the one year mark, and when I talk about a lengthy reign I generally mean something in excess of eighteen months. If I’m right and Elgin does get something approaching that (and I’m not confident that he will considering the booking of the title under Delirious) then it makes predicting who’ll beat him incredibly tough. How do you predict who’ll be in a position to work as champion that far in advance? It could be somebody not even on the roster.

I hope Michael Elgin gets his long run. It would somewhat justify the ridiculous amount of time he’s been kept waiting to win the strap and give him the best chance possible of going down as one of the all-time great ROH performers. That’s something I think ROH need to be looking at. It would be great if Elgin had a lengthy reign which ended at a time when four or five guys could potentially defeat him. I’m not going to hold my breath though. And I’m going to predict Silas Young as the man who’ll end up beating him to become the twenty-first ROH world champion.

Total Non-Stop Extreme Action Championship Wrestling

Remember back in late 2000 and early 2001 when ECW had a loyal fanbase but couldn’t get a television deal for love nor money? That’s basically like TNA now.

This isn’t to say that Total Nonstop Action is as popular or as influence as the Extreme outfit was. It isn’t. Even at the end of its life ECW was doing things that would influence the wrestling business at large and had access to numerous wrestlers who would go on to greater significance in other promotions. If TNA were to shut down tomorrow some of their roster would move on to work in other places and probably achieve more than they have under their current employer but there’s nothing being done by TNA that’s going to influence any other wrestling promotion.

Yet I still make the comparison between ECW and TNA. Because the situations are similar. TNA’s contract with Spike TV expires in October. A new deal has yet to be announced, which means it’s not been struck because if it had been Dixie and co would be crowing about it. The situation’s very ECW. Without a new TV deal TNA isn’t going to survive, because once a wrestling promotion has made the leap into producing regular television shows and become reliant on the level of notoriety and revenue that brings it’s very difficult to reformat.

This will be particularly true for TNA, who have never really been anything other than a promotion built around the idea of weekly broadcasts. Even when they started out with their weekly pay-per-views in 2002 this was the case, they were just making themselves available via a (slightly) different medium. If ECW, a company that had for a significant amount of time existed running monthly shows at a single venue, couldn’t overcome the lack of TV exposure and the inability to pay debts that that entailed TNA doesn’t stand a chance.

This is not exciting wrestling programming in 2014.

TNA has, bafflingly, a small but incredibly passionate and loyal fanbase. But that still won’t be enough to save them. Unless said fanbase organises some sort of Kickstarter project to keep TNA funded. But that’s unlikely and would require an obscene amount of money to work. To be honest I think most of TNA’s loyalists are smart enough to know that TNA simply isn’t worth that amount of bother. Maybe they could find a new home, but at this point that’s looking pretty unlikely too thanks to their humdrum viewing figures and uninspired creative direction.

There’s a very real possibility that Spike have, for whatever reason, decided to go with Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling as their new provider of wrestling programming. I imagine there’s some sort of contractual stipulation in place that allows a new deal being announced before a current one is expired. The closer we get to October the likelier I think it is that GFW are set to replace Impact. Ideally with a show called Feelin’ the Force.

This brings up the question of why Spike would want an untested group like Global Force over an established entity like TNA. The argument for TNA is that it can be relied upon to attract a regular viewing figure to the channel every week, and that it’s had success in the past which could, in theory, be regained at some point in the future with enough work. The argument for Global Force is that it’s something new, which means it can be presented as fresh and exciting without being tied to the preconceptions that come with TNA. Company founder Jeff Jarrett has a business history with Spike and, perhaps most importantly, could argue that he has plans and ideas that will attract fresh eyes to wrestling on Spike TV, something that TNA has failed to do in their years of struggle to present themselves as a worthwhile number two promotion.

Spike probably wants to keep wrestling on the channel. It’s relatively cheap to produce and will always get viewers. I suspect they’ll go with GFW. TNA have demonstrated that they only know how to tread water. With GFW there’s a chance of change for the better. And who doesn’t want that?