In my last post, I made a point of not focusing on the
extent of people’s reactions to the Royal Rumble fallout. Grieve how you will.
I just wanted to point out what I felt really was at the heart of some bad
decision making on the part of the WWE.
In part, I was inspired for a dislike of those that complain
about the complainers, and insist that whatever the company decides is best and
we should all just accept the status quo. It’s a ridiculous notion in my
opinion because, if you do any amount of reading into pro wrestling news,
analysis or history, you’ll find the business is riddled with prejudices and
agendas that are not in the best interest of fans or some of pro wrestling’s
hardest working talent. Having the ability to voice dissent is an awesome power
to have in this day and age, and if you look at WWE programming, as often as it
might prove to be a thorn in their side, they use it as the basis of a lot of
their content.
So, now that I’ve defended the average wrestling fan’s right
to rage, I’m going to say that having experienced my fair share of agita over
the Royal Rumble match, I’ve vented, come to peace with it, and now I have
reached a point of disgust with a certain level of audience reactions. It’s the
kind of stuff that makes the critics look bad and does more damage than good to
the cause of bringing about a more interesting wrestling product. I’ll
highlight a few of these offenses and then be so bold as suggest a way of
trying to bring about change in a more constructive manner.
·
Don’t make up imbecilic hate mongering twitter
handles. It’s painful to see people put their creativity toward inventing
online monikers with the subtlety of a bowling ball being dropped on one’s foot
to put someone down. Attaching Roman Reigns’ name to whatever nasty unoriginal
epithet you can think to get attention on twitter is not a way to change the
course of things. It’s just a self-serving way of getting attention. It’s a
‘look at me, look at how clever I can be’ mentality that emphasizes the worst
elements of social media.
·
“Don’t hate the player...” Lambasting one
talented wrestler for the role he has been thrust into is something like a
personal assault on someone undeserving of your wrath. Roman Reigns didn’t
appear out of nowhere. He would not be thrust into the spotlight he is in if he
has been doing subpar work for the past year. Instead, understand that WWE is
short on superstars, they are trying to bring guys into top dog positions I a
‘homegrown’ fashion when their past is marked by pro wrestlers who achieved top
spots after years of experience both in and out of the WWE. The WWE needs to
figure this out and find a balance of guiding new talent and letting them find their own voice. Destroying
a very talented and hardworking individual’s psyche by heaping nasty misguided
campaigns against them does not lead to this happening.
·
DO support other outlets for pro wrestling that
contain the qualities you would like to see WWE have. It doesn’t have to be one
or the other; you can always enjoy both, or all 3 or what have you. Voice your
support LOUDLY, yes, loudly enough for the WWE to hear. Vince may not be just a
tweet away, but plenty of folks in the WWE machine certainly are. I hope to
highlight a lot of these other organizations in this space, but you need look
no further than the WWE owned NXT. Chances are, if you’ve been upset with WWE’s
recent booking and also have the WWE Network, you are probably an NXT viewer
already. If not, then you have no excuse to not be checking it out. It offers
an amazingly different alternative to the way WWE does things. Tweet about it,
bring signs to shows about it, call out for the talent there to be called up to
WWE, or for NXT to have a more prominent spot in WWE programming, and the
message will be clear: It’s time for them to start thinking about adapting
those positive policies on the main stage. Whether they actually listen or not,
it’s another story.
Now that the Reigns and Bryan breakdown has been put out
there and then some, the triple threat match with Brock and Rollins and Cena
has been praised to the heavens, the haze is clearing and I am recalling other
things happening in the Royal Rumble to think about. Let’s recall just a few.
·
Bubba Ray Dudley has returned. Based on his
achievement of pretty high status in TNA and his not so cheery parting of ways
with the company, it’s safe to guess he is back in WWE long term. I was
doubtful of this happening because of the way he seemed to throw his weight
around in TNA; whatever angles it lead to, none of them could’ve been that good
because frankly, none of the angles he was in on TNA were good. In his Rumble
there are signs of him taking direction and doing his thing as an in ring
performer. He will probably get a lot of babyface applause in his return, but
could make a great heel. His vinegar-like promos in TNA are testament to that.
WWE’s playing field of heroes like Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Eric Rowan
could use some formidable antagonists to go up against.
·
Bray Wyatt looked fantastic. A lot of attention
was given to him, making him seem like a major threat. I can only hope this
continues, leading to a very strong feud and match at Wrestlemania. Although it
made for a momentary buzz of excitement, I hope this does not lead to a Wyatt Family reunion triple threat match thing. It
has a bit of entertainment value but would be more of a spectacle than a strong
wrestling match. Wyatt deserves better. All 3 of them deserve a shot at unique
matches that highlight their individual qualities.
·
While not making the intended splash it was
supposed to because of everything else going down, Dolph Ziggler had a brief
but impressive charge in the Rumble. I have an image of my head of many super
kicks being delivered, and a huge double DDT before being tossed out to clear
the way for the lumbering story that was set to happen. I hope he is further
catapulted to a very important spot on the Wrestlemania card.
·
Cesaro, Wade Barret, and Dean Ambrose were all
there at the end, but it did not necessarily do anything for them, not like it
should have. These are all very capable wrestlers with personas able to draw
big crowd reactions. Upon returning, Barret knocked out Cesaro in a quick match
and took Ziggler’s intercontinental championship. Other than that, he’s been
given nothing to work with and his time in the Rumble was brief and negligible.
He should really be give better. Cesaro and Dolph had an interesting bit of
battling on the outside of the ropes; an impressive spot but nothing too memorable.
Ambrose had a good look of intensity preparing for battle side by side with
former Shield ally Reigns but did very little before being thrown out by Kane
and Big Show. His allegiance to Reigns seems to be overshadowing his individual
traits, which WWE has been striking out with by casting in goofier shades than
they should. He should be given a good opponent to trade wins and losses with,
accompanied by a credible story that doesn’t lead us to roll our eyes.
There are a lot of pieces to be positioned leading up to
Wrestlemania. Let’s hope WWE gets it right with these mid-to-top level talents
that could and should matter.
Mondo Pro Wrestling on Twitter: @MondoCurryMark
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