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 Retirement of 'The Animal'

Dave Bautista. Remember him? He's the guy who left WWE last year to go and be a success in Hollywood based off his role in surprise smash hit Guardians of the Galaxy. He's the man who is arguably a bigger wrestler-turned-actor than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson at this point, because really how many legitimately enjoyable and successful films has Rocky starred in and how many does he have lined up? Big Dave's been cast in a Bond film, that's pretty big business.

But I'm not writing this to directly compare Batista and The Rock. That wouldn't be especially interesting and there would be no purpose to it. The subject here is whether or not we've seen the last of 'The Animal' in a wrestling ring.

"Don't like me? Thumbs down!"

The short, lazy answer is "No." The slightly less short but no less lazy answer is "No, obviously not." The reason for this is that Batista is a pal of Triple H, a guy very high up in the WWE decision-making and creative process. On top of that there's the fact that WWE always enjoys cross-promoting with mainstream stars, and to them there is no star more mainstream than a Hollywood actor. Having one who is known just as well in the wrestling as in the acting world is an added bonus, as is having one who can actually get into the ring and wrestle a match under their own steam without being carried by someone. Which is an ability Batista has¹.

But this doesn't necessarily mean Batsy will wrestle again. There's a difference between making an appearance to promote a movie and maybe Batista bombing a mid-card act and returning to the ring for the sort of short term run we saw last year. The former gets word out about a product that needs promoting whilst actually going on the road to wrestle every night sees guys run the risk of injury, which can hamper the more important (and highly-paid) acting work.

I enjoyed Batista's run last year. The guy's never been great in the ring but 2014 saw him participate in some enjoyable matches, most obviously the triple threat with Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton at WrestleMania and the two Evolution versus Shield bouts at Extreme Rules and Payback. He showed he could contribute to excellent matches if he was booked correctly and his weaknesses were hidden. More importantly he absolutely nailed his role as a man who thinks he's a big shot because he's been in films. He did some career best work once he was allowed to fully embrace his status as a heel. Plus there were the Bluetista and Wave Batista memes, things which will end up, rightly or wrongly (but, y'know, definitely rightly) as highlights of Batista's career.

It's these memes that actually make me think Batista will never return for anything beyond one or two matches at a time. They demonstrate how wrestling fans are willing to turn Batista into a figure of fun and ridicule. The guy doesn't actually need wrestling. He is, as mentioned above, a star and a success without wrestling now, and as such he has no reason to put up with wrestling fans having fun at his expense. It could be argued that that's part of the job of a heel but Batista wasn't actually meant to be a heel last year.

By all accounts Batista signed on for a return on the understanding that he'd win the Royal Rumble and be the fiery babyface to end Randy Orton's world title reign at WrestleMania. I don't imagine he'd be holding a grudge against fans for "costing" him a title reign, but I do think the treatment he received will have made me think a little harder about future returns. Wrestling seems to be something that he still enjoys but it's not something he needs for a living or, for that matter, to get people to go and see the films he's in.

If I had to put money on it I'd say we'll see Batista return and wrestle again. He's been very open about his desire for a WrestleMania retirement match. While he may not get his wish of retiring opposite Triple H I do think he's a big enough and important enough name for WWE to do a retirement match with him on 'The Grandest Stage of Them All'. A full time run seems unlikely though. Batista simply doesn't need it. Which is a shame because 2014 showed that there's plenty of mileage left in Batista's narcissistic egomaniac character yet.

***

¹ Insert your own joke about Batista's ability here.

NXTweet 12.08.15

Is NXT as good as it was six months or a year ago? I don't think so. If Twitter and wrestling news (by which I mean gossip and rumour) sites are anything anything to go by a fair number of people are with me. The trouble is that the show has lost a lot of its key players over the last few months. Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami went out to injuries. Adrian Neville got promoted. Kevin Owens is still around for the time being but he and Finn Bálor seem to be having their developmental appearances rationed, presumably to make us appreciate seeing them that bit more.

This isn't a problem. The point of NXT is to provide a platform for less experienced wrestlers to get better, and veterans with less experience of wrestling in a TV environment get comfortable in that environment. The likes of Baron Corbin, Enzo and Cass, the Vaudevillains, and Alexa Bliss are the ones who should be benefitting from NXT.

Owens, Zayn, Itami and the rest are there to draw us in as viewers. Their absence is disappointing but understandable. And it's not like the show is entirely bereft of indy darlings. Bálor and Owens are still there. The former Uhaa Nation will debut at Takeover. Tyler Breeze is pretty much an honorary former indy standout at this point thanks to his stellar work over the last year. NXT may not be as good as it has been but it's still a must-watch show that focuses on using pro wrestling as a storytelling means. Which, personally, is what I want form a wrestling show as much as great matches.

Intro

Tweet 1: You want tweets about NXT? YOU GOT IT!

Tweet 2: That was a Frank Costanza reference done badly.
Tweet 3: Last week Billy Regal was asked about giving the title match at Takeover a ladder stip. He made the stip seem special and dangerous.
Tweet 4: Contrast that with Main Roster WWE doing ladder themed PPVs because they're too lazy to give us interesting booking.
Tweet 5: Big fan of Regal being like "Nah, not making it a ladder match" then making it a ladder match.

Tye Dillinger v Solomon Crowe

Tweet 6: Remember when Solomon Crowe was a hacker? Now he's a man the commentators tell us "thrives on chaos". My word.

Tweet 7: Tye Dillinger is a solid 7 at best.
Tweet 8: Solomon Crowe is now the guy who faces the newly gimmicked lads. He needs to disappear for a bit and come back repackaged.
Tweet 9: I've said it before, I'll say it again: he should have stuck with the shirt and tie look.
Tweet 10: Your tattoo of a big cat is not a perfect 10, Tye.
Tweet 11: Exposed knee alert. This is about to get real...

Not 10.

Tweet 12: Tye Dillinger looking genuinely amazed that he won clean there.
Tweet 13: I bet Dillinger didn't even make that sign himself. What a phoney!

Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley talk about Mojo being hyped backstage

Tweet 14: "I been blowin' you up all night!" - Mojo Rawley to Zack Ryder

Barry Corbin v Axel Tischer

Tweet 15: What's up with all this screen time for Barry Corbin lately?

Tweet 16: Barry Corbin wins via star tattoos and wolf magic.
Tweet 17: "I am the real deal!" - Barry Corbin, who isn't
Tweet 18: I do like him putting over his finisher though. Too many wrestlers just chat about being generally great.
Tweet 19: Samoa Joe versus Barry Corbin. Do we have to?
Tweet 20: Joe's taken his towel off. He means business.

Barry's got another big lad fight coming his way and he's probably losing it.

Tweet 21: Legitimately amazed at the booking of this confrontation. Corbin being booked to smack Joe around for a bit is so un-WWE.
Tweet 22: Normally the heel would run off. Corbin wasn't made to look cowardly before getting Joe'd.

Bull Dempsey workout video

Tweet 23: I'm going to miss the hoss version of Bull Dempsey.

Finn Bálor v Marcus Louis

Tweet 24: I'm still such a fan of Marcus Louis' unhinged gimmick. Basically the NXT version of Kane.

Tweet 25: I hope Marcus is still in NXT in ten years, being thought of exactly like Kane is on the main roster.
Tweet 26: The please retire mentality.

Baby Kane with his egg head.

Tweet 27:  Marcus Louis' head is very egg-like. How about doing something with that?
Tweet 28: Do a story where he believes himself to be a mutated ostrich egg. The twist comes when it's revealed HE ACTUALLY IS.
Tweet 29: Intrigued that Finn continues to use the Kliq hand sign so prominently. That could be some foreshadowing for something years away.
Tweet 30: Almost certainly isn't though.
Tweet 31: Kevin Owens attacks Finn Bálor. They have a ruck at ringside then Finn gets power bombed in the ring.

Title change coming? Naaaaaah...

Tweet 32: Imagine if this set up a storyline back injury for Finn and they did a title change.
Tweet 33: I wouldn't be against a title change tbh. Can't really see it happening though. Finn seems like the future focus of NXT.

The Vaudevillains get slapped by Alexa Bliss

Tweet 34: Don't worry, lads, the Vaudevillains have A Plan.

Tweet 35: Is the woman the Vaudevillains are bringing in Rock's most recently signed cousin? I'm voting yes.

Apollo Crews hype video

Tweet 36: Apollo Crews v TBD. Should be an excellent match.

Number one contenders match: Bayley v Becky Lynch

Tweet 37: Pumped for Sasha Banks on commentary.

Tweet 38: Byron Saxton staring around like a textbook #creep here.

Look at that selling though. So pro.

Tweet 39: I like this look Becky Lynch has had since the last Takeover but what is she meant to be? Actually what?
Tweet 40: Saying steampunk is all well and good but that's not an answer. She's not a steampunk.
Tweet 41: Is she just meant to be really into steam or something?
Tweet 42: Fan of steam, Becky Lynch.
Tweet 43: Strong chat between Graves and Banks. Proof that Graves is the man holding that commentary team together I reckon.
Tweet 44: Jay Z is part-owner of the Barclay Center? I don't know why but I find that really funny.
Tweet 45: Becky with some absolutely devastating running leg drops there, brother.
Tweet 46: I wonder what Hogan's up to right now. "Something unsavoury" seems a safe bet.
Tweet 47: Really hope Hogan crops up on 5's Celebrity Big Brother in a week or two. 4 wouldn't have touched him after this racism thing. 5 might.
Tweet 48: Liking the story of this match. Becky's going after Bayley's arm because she knows her finisher is killer she will get her a win.
Tweet 49: Bayley's just trying to survive.
Tweet 50: Desperation rollup as Becky tries to lock in the armbar gets Bayley the win. Good, logical end to the story. Thumbs up.

'The Boss' versus 'The Hugger', coming soon.

Tweet 51: Another number one contender for the women's championship, another episode ending with Sasha standing on a table.
Tweet 52: Good episode, everyone.

Double the Butterfly, Double the Fun

Over the last few years there's been intermittent talk about a Divas tag team division being introduced to WWE. Much of this talk has come from the Bella twins in interviews with various non-WWE organisations, websites and magazines (and, for what it's worth, it tends to be more Nikki than Brie). The recent renovation of the Divas division has, predictably, led to the Bellas making another push for it.

Potential tag team champions.

In principle I think it's a good idea. A singles belt and tag belts would help the division to feel more like a rounded, competitive division rather than a bunch of wrestlers swapping one championship amongst themselves. It would also make sense considering the prominence of tag wrestling in general these days.

The trouble is that it feels far too early for the Divas division to be heading in this direction. Right now the focus should be on establishing that this really is the best Divas line-up we've had in years. That means continuing to highlight Sasha Banks,  Becky Lynch and Charlotte (Flair) as women every bit the equals of their more tenured peers. It also means continuing to give women's matches the time to impress and satisfy, as well as making the singles championship currently carried by Nikki Bella feel like a prize worth winning. The introduction of tag titles would detract from this process and it would throw the focus of the division off kilter.

It would also highlight the lack of depth to the roster. Yes, the additions of the three NXT stars is welcome but it only brings the number of active wrestlers up to nine. Throw in Natalya (who's currently taking time off to help husband Tyson Kidd recover from an injury) and that's enough for five teams, hardly enough for a thriving division despite what large stretches of the last decade of WWE's men's tag division would have you believe.

Stick Charlotte in a singles title feud with Sasha Banks,
have Paige and Becky as a tag team.

The good news is that there are two pairings that are obvious for carrying a Divas tag scene. One is the Bella twins. You really shouldn't need me to explain why but I will: they're sisters and therefore a natural tag team. The other is the pairing of Paige and Becky Lynch. Their shared background on the British indies provides a logical reason for the two to form a regular team (because they feel a kinship). Their real long-time friendship dating back a decade could be referenced to make their journey to the tag team titles seem more special and heart-warming, more of an achievement.

 

A third option worth touching on is the "family" connection between Naomi and Tamina, although Tamina's limited in-ring ability would make them a poor choice to carry the division.

If the Divas' roster can stretch to twelve or so strong (a perfectly achievable goal considering the number of women in NXT) then a Divas tag division would be entirely justifiable. Emma and Dana Brooke are a logical pair of call-ups to make should tag straps be introduced. Alexa Bliss could find someone to team with. The two newcomers who I won't name because they're currently rotating through various handles could be introduced as plucky underdogs. Bayley and Charlotte's friendship from NXT would be the good basis for a call-up and a title chase. The division just needs time to get its singles work right. Post-WrestleMania next year things could, and should, be very different.

Randy Orton's Battle with Development

Sticking with part of yesterday's topic, when is someone going to get around to freshening up Randy Orton's act. He's had the same dreary entrance music since 2008. The last time he changed up his look was in 2011 (and that was just the addition of a closely trimmed beard, hardly revolutionary stuff). I can't remember the last time he debuted a new move or participated in a non-pay-per-view match where he came across as motivated to have a great match.

These are all things that would be easy to fix. Jim Johston, WWE's resident musical composer not-so-extraordinaire, could be prodded into producing something new for 'The Viper' or outsourcing it to one of those generic bands he likes. Orton could grow out his hair or shave his head completely. The latter is something he flirts with on occasion but never goes all the way with, always retaining the closest of buzzcuts.

Some different coloured trunks could be ordered. Orty likes a primary coloured squiggle on black a lot of the time and that's served him and many other wrestlers well. But it's dull and contributes to the overall dullness of Orton's character. Even something as simple as switching to white trunks could help give Orton an air of freshness.

Blandy Borton.

He could work on his promos, debuting a catchphrase or altering his cadence. He could implement a new move, either a transitional piece or a submission finisher. The dragon sleeper's free and I feel that, accompanied by a body scissors, would fit well with Orton's character. In longer, more important matches he could even target his opponent's neck, softening them up for the dragon sleeper and the RKO.

Imagine how much good it would do Orton to take a month or so off TV and return with a new haircut, a new submission move, new entrance music, and a lively, spirited promo style. He would seem like a new man, which may encourage people to show some interest in him. That in turn may encourage Orton to start tying a little harder.

It's notable that John Cena, a man who's been around as long as Orton and enjoys the same level of status within the company, continues to switch up his move set and makes a point of introducing new merchandise every few months. Yeah, the T-shirts are there to keep the money coming in more than anything else, but it helps Cena's look to constantly change. It's something Orton really needs to work on but he won't. Because of complacency.

Yeah, complacency will stop any of my suggestions from coming to pass. Orton knows he's guaranteed a certain status within WWE no matter. He has no reason to try and impress anyone because he has nothing to gain from it beyond the respect of people he very likely doesn't care about ("internet smarks"). Orton and his bosses are happy with how he looks, acts and wrestles. Therefore we're stuck with the same routine we've had for years.