"RKO Vines" have gone viral, and WWE has noticed. Pretty clever. The RKO is a pretty wicked move.
Kane talked about working with Daniel Bryan, Taker vs. Sting, and more. Nothing too revealing, but it was cool to hear him discuss the longevity of his career. If WWE does do Taker vs. Sting, I'd appreciate cameos from Flair and Kane given the history those two have had with the combatants.
Chris Jericho talked about working with C.M. Punk, pitching stories to Vince McMahon, and more. There could be a book just on various experiences working with Vince. He's one of a kind, for better or worse. I do wish Jericho vs. Wyatt would have done more for Wyatt, but obviously Vince had other plans.
Everything else from yesterday is after the break.
John Cena granted another Make-A-Wish. He's a standup guy, for sure.
More footage from Darren Young's recent comeback video has been released. I wonder where he fits into things if he's not coming back to feud with Titus.
Update: Young also had an interview about returning. I really hope he doesn't get pigeonholed as "the gay wrestler", but I'm glad he's inspiring people.
JBL commented on a rumor going around about Justin Roberts getting into a fight with Michael Cole at Raw. It looks like the term "Maggle" to describe Cole is JBL-approved. I'm glad he's fine with it. As for the fight involving Roberts, I'm curious to know how that story got started.
WWE will announce its Q3 2014 financial results on October 30. This will include the latest subscriber numbers for the WWE Network. Things must be going fairly well if we're not in for a big cut in personnel like in past quarters.
TNA's audience Wednesday night was 982,000. After the end of the critically-acclaimed tag team title series and a less-than-noteworthy BFG PPV, they dropped off 120,000 viewers. It's going to be difficult to keep fans' interest in the remaining episodes of 2014 unless something really changes in terms of a new TV deal, some dates added to the live event schedule, etc.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. I think the goal is to convince the die-hard Cena fans to get on the side of the other talents as well, but that's an interesting point.
2. Cena working twice that day with that much travel in-between was insane. He has a solid work ethic, but stars shouldn't feel like they have to push themselves THAT hard.
3. It might be a little early to tell. I definitely imagine Team 3D wants to be a part of the January 4 show in the Tokyo Dome, but that could be more about working NJPW than any affinity for Jeff Jarrett and his new promotion.
4. I think we could very well have seen ads even if the Network was doing incredibly well. In fact, we might be seeing more of them because it would be reaching a large audience and companies would be more willing to pony up cash to be on the Network.
5. I can definitely see how some fans would be offended by it. I highly doubt they'd do something like that in Russia!
6. HE CALLS IT LIKE HE SEES IT, MAGGLE. Yeah, that makes sense for JBL as a heel commentator. Though commentary is really off the rails in 2014, and he would probably do that as a face, too, since his character has a history of being pro-America.
More wrestling tomorrow.
I read this article regarding Jericho's thought on Dean Ambrose and found it interesting. I had my skepticism regarding how quickly all three Shield members jumped on the scene and thought it was a bit premature at that time for them to be on the upper card thriving so quickly. However, I'm a believer in both Rollins and Ambrose and tend to agree with this article and Jericho's thoughts on Ambrose. He just sticks out and does have that "it" factor that is so rare. Do you agree with this article with him being the TOP guy in the company?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/article/wwe-news-chris-jericho-feels-dean-ambrose-is-future-face-of-wwe
That being said, if YOU personally, and not the WWE brass, had to rank all three Shield members with regards to where you would rank them 1-3, where would you put them right now? I know Reigns is hurt, but with him being healthy soon, do you really agree with him being the top guy over Ambrose or Rollins?
I personally would put Ambrose AND Rollins ahead of Reigns right now. I think if you put together the entire "sports entertainer" example, I just feel like Ambrose and Rollins are the two that fit that mantra and are more "ready to go" right now than Reigns. Whether it be the intangible traits (charisma, determination, personality) or in-ring talent, I feel they are a step or two ahead of Reigns right now, which is a bit inconsistent with what WWE agrees with, as they are obviously very high on Reigns.
I know WWE likes big guys and that Reigns has a prestigious lineage, but in reality, that doesn't have any dictation on how he SHOULD fare overall. For him to be mentioned as taking the title at WrestleMania THIS EARLY over Lesnar over so many other legitimate contenders seems a bit of a reach. What is your take on that?
Shifting gears a bit, I also saw that Darren Young second comeback video and 1) Do you think he will for sure rekindle his feud with Titus (for literally the fourth time) and 2) If not, what angle can you see him in, and 3) Is there really any logical angle to place him in besides with Titus if WWE is looking towards WrestleMania and with so many other talented guys on the roster?
I was skeptical on The Shield getting a big push right out of the gate as well. I knew Rollins and Ambrose had a LOT of hype coming up to the main roster, but I hadn't seen a lot of either of them in action until they debuted. In retrospect, I think people were mostly right on just how good those two are. I'm split on just how far Rollins can go, but both men are incredibly talented and both have the amazing work ethic WWE brass looks for in top names. Their years of experience before WWE have been invaluable.
ReplyDeleteAs for Ambrose being the top guy in the company right now, no way. He just hasn't been on the main roster long enough to be at the level of Cena, Lesnar, etc. The most talented guy is debatable, but I don't think he could really be considered the top guy right now given all the main events and titles guys like Cena and Lesnar have had. He hasn't even headlined a PPV as a singles star yet.
I'm glad you asked for my personal perspective, because I usually try to emphasize what WWE brass is looking for and what they think will work for the audience at large. I think that perspective is often ignored or downplayed because fans who care enough to read news stories about wrestling, watch NXT, etc. aren't WWE's audience at large. There are a lot of times when I agree with the sentiment of the "IWC", but think they need to put what they want in context when wondering why WWE books what they book.
From a skill perspective and talent and all that, I think Ambrose and Rollins are really far ahead of Reigns. Reigns has only been wrestling about four years, and just inside WWE and their farm system. Ambrose and Rollins each have nine years of experience, and a lot of that's outside WWE. If I was personally just looking at their resumes, I'd absolutely hire the young, but experienced Rollins and Ambrose over Reigns. That's not a knock on Reigns, but he's just not where they are from those perspectives.
I think a lot of the issue of who WWE pushes is based on outdated philosophies. Earlier WrestleManias had the likes of Andre, King Kong Bundy, Hillbilly Jim, Earthquake, Giant Gonzalez, etc. who were there because they were big spectacles. Wrestling was more of a cartoon with babyfaces just doing their "moves of doom" and that kind of thing.
Even through the Ruthless Aggression Era saw WWE sign a lot of people who either just had a big, muscular physique (Vince tried to push a bodybuilding federation years back), had a background in football or something similar, were more or less hired because of their lineage, and that kind of thing. Sometimes it turns out really well, like Wyatt (family, football), Orton (family), Cena (football), Rock (family, football), etc., but it's not what all fans want to see in 2014.
I think it's worth seeing what they have with Reigns, but I think I'd much rather see Bryan take the title from Brock if he's cleared. I might even get behind Cesaro as champ if they push him. Reigns has something worth developing, and a lot of times people don't show how good they can really be until they're given a big stage, but I wouldn't assume he'll be "the next guy" like it seems like WWE is doing.
ReplyDeleteI think there are a number of options with Darren. I don't think he's a big priority for WWE as an in-ring competitor being pushed, but I think they might try to find a role for him. Putting him with or against Titus is the obvious thing to do, but they could also pair him with someone else who's not really doing much right now or have him work with someone coming up from NXT. As much as I don't want them to pigeonhole him into teaming with other black wrestlers, I think they could put him with Big E, Kofi, Xavier, and/or R-Truth since none of those names are really doing much. I think he could work well with any of those names if they're given time to mesh. Putting him as a partier alongside Adam Rose could work if they want to have him feud with Slater Gator. He has the background with PTP and the South Beach Party Boys gimmick from FCW, so there's history of him letting loose.
WrestleMania's still a good ways off. There's plenty of time to put him back on the roster and push him if they want to. Is he as much of a priority as an NXT name who's never been on the main roster? Maybe not. But they could still find a role for him if they think he's worth giving TV time to (and he can be).
Speaking of NXT, there are a number of great talents down there (as was seen on their one Raw match). I think some of them have the same level of hype Ambrose and Rollins had before being called up. I think it will still be a while before some of them get called up (since they're just getting started in NXT), but I don't see why we won't see at least some of them make their way to the main roster in the next year or so.