Wrestlemania Rewrite part 3: The Aftermath, London Calling

Ok, now let’s look at where all that could lead. And ahead is not so much a strict timetable of events as a spread of possible programs and alliances coming out of a Wrestlemania  main event won by Roman Reigns, backed by a suddenly reformed Shield.

Just a quick recap of the Wrestlemania fantasy I’ve etched into my mind, which can be read in full here.

Wade Barrett retained the intercontinental championship title after interference from Sheamus.

The Authority disbanded after Sting defeated Triple H.

Cena won the US championship title from Rusev.

The Shield ostensibly reformed, with Rollins and Ambrose assisting Reigns in achieving victory over Lesnar.

Now then, let’s look at the opening moments of RAW that would follow all this.

The original Shield music hits and Roman Reigns comes out carrying the heavyweight title belt. He gets halfway down the ramp, then stops, looks back, and Rollins and Ambrose soon follow. The three make their way to the ring and pace the canvas. Reigns teases the buzz in the crowd. Says he promised he would win the title at Wrestlemania, but didn’t say how. Raises questions about there being possible premeditation, then gives the mic to Rollins. Rollins suggests the fans must have many questions. That they don’t owe an explanation to anyone, but will clear some things up. He made a mistake, bet on the wrong team. Talks trash about the Authority’s lack of organization. Asks if he would do it again? Says, maybe… Is he sorry? He apologizes for nothing. He simply saw the writing on the wall, realized it made sense in that moment to help return the most dominant team in WWE’s history to power, and yesterday is the result. Rollins teases talking about the Money In the Bank briefcase.

But first Ambrose takes the mic. Says the fans must wonder how he could possibly go along with this plan? Could he possibly trust Rollins? Like Rollins? Is he crazy? He says, you know I’m crazy. He doesn’t know if he will ever trust Rollins again and may go on continually watch his back. But he realizes the two have something in common, always have: The desire above all else to be the best. He also realized that the three men standing in the ring, when on the same page, are unstoppable.

Rollins says now about this briefcase. He does see a need to take some responsibility for his actions last year. So he will use the briefcase as an insurance policy. If someone comes after the title, somehow manages to get the belt through nefarious means, Rollins will be there to cash in and claim it back. But, in the more likely turn of events that Reigns and The Shield hold off all comers, then the day the briefcase run expires, he will cash in and make a match against Reigns in a match that, no matter the outcome The Shield wins. And it will be the most incredible title match  in WWE history.

Other gears set in motion…

A new heel faction rises to power, which Wade 'Bad News' Barrett assumes leadership of. At some point, he and Sheamus discuss a planned collusion between them. They complain about the lack of opportunity they have long experienced because of their proud European heritage, that out of jealousy they have been held back, and often distracted by being made to fight amongst themselves. But no more. The future is theirs and their name is the European Union (negotiable). Their ranks will be joined by Cesaro, and possibly Tyson Kidd because, Europe, Canada…close enough! Adrian Neville can join the RAW roster and quickly join them, adding a high flyer to the team. They can also get the allegiance of Rusev.

Does this seem too cliché? Is a nationalistic anti-American gimmick too passé in 2015? It’s one of the hottest going stories around Rusev’s run right now. And also, the sentiment can be made more subtle here. However, there could be a touch of reality lent to it when you consider the core among this group really haven’t had a lasting successful push. This is especially signified by Cesaro and those famous words directed his way when Vince McMahon went on the Stone Cold podcast.

The Shield could continue its dominant run as babyfaces with an edge, or a group that fights both heels and faces (what a concept). Reigns could contend with a round of top tier oponents like Rusev and Bray Wyatt. With momentum from Wrestlemania, Wyatt could win the title from Reigns by way of a lot of tricks and outside interference, perhaps 1-22 months after Wrestlemania. Rollins could cash in the briefcase the next day on RAW and win the title back for The Shield, giving him a boost of main event star power.

Rollins could also feud with Neville in competitive bouts of agility and high spot-filled matches.

Sheamus could feud with Bryan, or whomever he caused to lose the IC title match at Wrestlemania.

Cena could challenge the increasingly influential European Union heel faction. He and Barrett could have a match to unify the IC and US titles, with the winner’s title being the dominant one and the loser’s title being retired. And, with interference aplenty, Barrett could win that match, gaining a push for his group. Leading up to it, promos could be run emphasizing the prestigious history of both belts.

-------

There you  have it. A change in direction. A call back to a very successful faction that ended too soon. A fade away of ineffective characters like Big Show and Kane (what, you thought I forgot them?), and a rise to power of new stars.

What do you think??  Let me know in the comments. Or

Twitter: @MondoCurryMARK

OverReactions & The Rest of the Rumble

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

React, reply, or rebut: leave a comment!