How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part Three)

Part One

Part Two

It’s 2012. You’re WWE and you have Wade Barrett. He was embroiled in a hot feud at the end of 2011 and starting to get over once again as a main-eventer on SmackDown! However, an injury takes him away from television and halts his momentum. He’s back later on in the year but you need to rebuild him up again after a lengthy period of television. So how do you do this? Well I think WWE had have a good idea for Wade’s character but I think it could have been taken far further than it was originally was. We can get Wade Barrett from being stuck competing for the Intercontinental Championship to competing for world titles once again. Here’s How I Would Book… Wade Barrett. PART THREE!

In 2012, Wade Barrett returned with a bareknuckle boxer-like gimmick which had a lot of potential to build the Englishman back up again. He had the nastiness, presence and background to pull it off and this did lead to multiple Intercontinental Championship reigns in the future. Winning that title would be a positive in 2023 (due to the fabulous work of Gunther and WWE), but in 2013 it wasn’t considered as much of a prestigious championship.

This was a championship competed for by the likes of The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Wade Barrett and others who seemed to be stuck in mid-card purgatory. They weren’t able to exit this spot in the company and lacked a substantial enough title reign to be elevated beyond that point. After all, this was a championship that was competed for in a lot of WWE PPV kick-offs. Suffice to say, there was not a lot of interesting in winning the “workhorse” title.

I like the idea of an Intercontinental Championship but I think Wade is capable of so much more than that. In Part Two, I booked him as the WWE Champion in a big feud with CM Punk. In Part Three, he’ll be in the World Heavyweight Championship picture but we’re going to be taking a different approach to the booking. Let’s get into it.

Wade Barrett returns to WWE in 2012 with pretty much the same gimmick as he did in real life. The difference is that he’s got a lot more of a nasty streak which he’s demonstrating in his matches. He’s not just winning matches, he’s knocking people out with his new finisher in the “Bullhammer Elbow”. Barrett starts knocking people out left and right, which is the key. Barrett is knocking people out rather than just pinning them by hitting the Wasteland finisher.

Barrett wins all of his singles matches and he’s one of the sole survivors in the 2012 Survivor Series match (he was in the men’s match in real life as part of the winning team, so making him a sole survivor shouldn’t be a problem). He doesn’t say much during his run as he’s just beating people up and knocking out all of his opponents. He’s a silent but deadly tough man and he rarely ever, if at all, loses. He can lose the Royal Rumble match in 2013 and be eliminated from battle royals, but he’s not the type of guy you can take on one-on-one.

This is going to lead to WWE Elimination Chamber in 2013. There’s an Elimination Chamber match where the winner of this Chamber match would become number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 29. Barrett qualifies and subsequently wins the Elimination Chamber match to set up a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 29. His opponent in our re-telling is NOT Alberto Del Rio. It’s a man who can knock people out just as well as Wade Barrett would have been able to. The World’s Largest Athlete… The Big Show.

I honestly really like the idea of two “knockout artists” competing for the world title at Mania to see who is the hardest hitter. If you have two men who win a lot going into a big event, it creates intrigue as to who is going to win. Also, I really liked the idea of World Heavyweight Champion Big Show at the time. His feud with Sheamus is highly-regarded and having a giant world champion is a surprisingly hugely-underutilized booking strategy in the 21^st century. Having a huge giant smash everyone en route to WrestleMania seems like a no-brainer.

As Barrett is knocking out those in his path, Big Show has been reigning as World Heavyweight Champion as a fire breathing giant. His feud with Sheamus goes pretty much the same as it did in real life and Big Show wins the feud. He feuds with Alberto Del Rio and wins both their matches at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. He goes into WrestleMania 29 and has been reigning as champion since October 2012. Therefore, he and Wade have been building up huge winning streaks going into a big world title match at Mania.

We have a storyline which is essentially Wade’s Bullhammer vs. Big Show’s WMD punch. It mirrors Big Show’s feud against Sheamus, where it was the WMD against the Brogue Kick. The big question at WrestleMania is whether either man can knock the other out and who will come out on top. At WrestleMania 29, Barrett defeats the Big Show and wins the World Heavyweight Championship. A part of me did wanted to have Big Show retain the title but there really should be a payoff to pushing Barrett and Big Show so hard. You do build up monsters so someone can slay them and benefit form it. If Big Show is going to lose, it may as well be at Mania and against someone younger who has been pushed just as strongly.

However, as Wade Barrett celebrates becoming the champion on the next night on RAW, Big Show comes out and knocks out Barrett. This sets the stage for Dolph Ziggler, who cashes in his Money In The Bank Briefcase and wins the World Heavyweight Championship! This sets up a new feud for the world title after Mania 29…

I don’t like the idea of giving Barrett a short title reign. If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t like the idea of giving anyone a short world title reign. Really, every World Champion should be established as top guys in the company rather than being treated as transitional champions. Even when transitional champions were huge in wrestling during the 80s, they at least had a month or so before having the title change hands again. Really, it’s not something I’m a big fan of.

However, I also don’t want to lose the moment of Ziggler winning the title on the RAW after WrestleMania 29. This was a huge moment that people still talk about to this day. I could delay it until the next PPV I suppose but with the crowd on hand for the RAW after Mania and the timing, things lined up perfectly for that Ziggler cash-in. At least with this scenario, you get to set up Ziggler as a babyface early on and plant the seeds for a world title program involving Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett. This sets up their big feud which I’ll discuss now.

I do sort of like the way Ziggler was booked as part of his title reign in real life so I’m going to borrow some of the ideas. Ziggler retains the World title at Extreme Rules but loses the title back to Wade in similar fashion to real life at Payback. For those who don’t remember, they completed a double-turn at Payback 2013 where Alberto Del Rio viciously beat on Dolph Ziggler who was being spurred on by the fans. You could easily book the match the same way if it’s Ziggler and Barrett. Barrett can beat on Ziggler and Ziggler can be the sympathetic babyface until Barrett puts him down for good and regains his World Heavyweight Championship.

Ziggler attempts to regain the title at Money In The Bank but is cost the title by his then-girlfriend AJ Lee in a disqualification like in real life. Ziggler dumps AJ Lee and goes at it alone against Wade Barrett in one final match inside of a steel cage at SummerSlam 2013. Ziggler wins the title once again and moves onto whatever is next for him.

As for Wade, it was around this period where he started having VISA issues and was taken off of television so this is where we’ll leave things for now.

That covers Part Three. I’ll be honest, this is a period where things fit into place perfectly. You could easily keep Barrett’s gimmick and fit him into roles within the World Heavyweight Championship storylines already established in real life. You can even keep the big moments like Dolph Ziggler’s memorable Money in the Bank cash-in and still push Wade as a true main-eventer. With this re-write, I really hope I’ve made the best out of this new gimmick that was created for him.

Join us in Part Four where I’M AFRAID I’VE GOT SOME BAD NEWS….

How I Would Book series

#1 – How I Would Book… Rey Mysterio vs AJ Styles

#2 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar (Part One and Part Two)

#3 – How I Would Book… Wrestlemania 29 (Part One, Part Two, Part Threeand Part Four)

#4 – How I Would Book… Eddie Guerrero’s Road To Wrestlemania 22 (Part Oneand Part Two)

#5 – How I Would Book… The nWo 19th Anniversary Special (Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five and Final Part)

#6 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker

#7 – How I Would Book… The End Of The Streak (Part One, Part Two (John Cena), Part Three (CM Punk), Part Four (Randy Orton), Part Five (Bray Wyatt), Final Part)

#8 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs The Rock

#9 – How I Would Book… Kurt Angle’s Return To WWE

#10 – How I Would Book… John Cena vs The Rock III

#11 – How I Would Book… Kevin Owens as Intercontinental Champion

#12 – How I Would Book… Christian’s World Title Run In 2011

#13 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs John Cena

#14 – How I Would Book… Dean Ambrose Winning The WWE Championship

#15 – How I Would Book… Batista vs Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker

#16 – How I Would Book… Roman Reigns vs Undertaker (Wrestlemania 32)

#17 – How I Would Book… AJ Styles’ Road to WrestleMania 32

#18 – How I Would Book… CM Punk As Nexus Leader (Part One and Part Two)

#19 – How I Would Book… WrestleMania 32

#20 – How I Would Book… Who Ran Over Stone Cold?

#21 – How I Would Book… Rusev in WWE (Part One, Part Two and Part Three)

#22 – How I Would Book… Wade Barrett in WWE (Part One and Part Two)

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #5 – BROCK LESNAR VS. CM PUNK (SUMMERSLAM 2013)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

We’re about 18 months into the second run of Brock Lesnar and we’ve finally wrapped up a year long story between the former UFC Heavyweight Champion and “The King of Kings” Triple H. Time for someone new right? For his fifth match, Brock Lesnar had the chance to wrestle someone he’d never been in the ring with. He was someone who was a polar opposite to Brock in many different ways. He was not as big, he was not as athletic and he would not boast as much of a fighting career as Brock Lesnar. However, he did share something in common with Brock … he too was a Paul Heyman Guy. His name… was CM Punk.

CM Punk seemed like the perfect opponent for Brock after wrestling the likes of John Cena and Triple H. Not to knock these men, but both of these wrestlers were extremely familiar in the “WWE style” of wrestling which is somewhat micro-managed and limited. CM Punk, on the other hand, seemed able to do more given his own independent background and, with his size, allowed Brock to assert himself more as a monster. This was a true David vs. Goliath encounter, which Paul Heyman actually referenced in his pre-match promo about it.

This also had a deep-rooted story involving Punk, Brock and Paul Heyman which was a year in the making. We’d covered Brock Lesnar’s run in WWE so far but CM Punk also had Paul Heyman as his manager which would clearly bring himself and Brock to a meeting point. Eventually, Paul Heyman’s loyalties would need to be revealed when his two clients meet each other. Would he betray Brock again as he had done in 2002 or would Paul abandon his friendship with Punk for Brock Lesnar?

His decision at Money In The Bank 2013 by attacking Punk was a key factor in this match, as the driving motivator for Punk with Brock Lesnar being brought in to bail out Heyman. It created a great dynamic between all three men and the match itself captured this perfectly.

Let’s get into what led to this match….

Background: Paul Heyman was managing the two biggest heels in WWE from 2012 to 2013… CM Punk and Brock Lesnar. He returned as the advocate for Brock Lesnar in 2012 and when Brock “quit” WWE, he sided with WWE Champion CM Punk as part of an historic 434 day title reign as champion. When Brock came back in 2013, he would advocate for both men heading in WrestleMania 29. Paul was even about to be fired by Mr McMahon because of his meddling in CM Punk’s affairz but this ended up bringing out Brock Lesnar who attacked McMahon. There was a clear link despite Punk and Brock never actually interacting. That all changed after WrestleMania 29.

Punk had time off after losing the WWE title and losing to Undertaker but came back to a roaring Chicago crowd as he beat Chris Jericho. Punk broke off his business relationship with Paul the next night on RAW but still wished to remain friends. This conveniently led to Brock Lesnar coming back at the end of that RAW episode to F5 CM Punk. Heyman denied having anything to do with it, even swearing on his family that he wasn’t involved. However, Heyman’s true colours would be revealed as he cost CM Punk the Money In The Bank ladder match by slamming a ladder into his head. Punk vowed revenge which led to another appearance from Brock, who attacked Punk yet again. The match of Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk was made for SummerSlam and on the pre-show I believe, it was revealed to be a No Disqualification match.

NOTE: This was the fifth match in a row for Brock where there was a No Disqualification gimmick or stipulation.

1. vs. Cena (Extreme Rules)
2. vs. Triple H (technically a normal match but the referee was instructed not to ring the bell so it was unofficially a no disqualification match)
3. vs. Triple H (No Holds Barred)
4. vs. Triple H (Steel Cage)
5. vs. Punk (No Disqualification)

Date: August 18th, 2013

Brand: WWE

City: Los Angeles, California

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. CM Punk in a No Disqualification match

There was a segment during SummerSlam where Paul Heyman talked about revisionist historians saying that David beat Goliath. He said, in reality, Goliath took the best David got and then beat him up so much that they never saw David again. He compared that to the history between Brock and CM Punk. He said Brock would take Punk’s best shot and then Brock would beat up him so that we would never see CM Punk again. He said CM Punk was going to end up a martyr and would be pushed into martyrdom by the “Beast Incarnate” Brock Lesnar. Hell of a promo, as usual, by Paul Heyman. David vs. Goliath was a very appropriate analogy for this match.

I’m pretty sure that with the video package, they took clips from Punk’s “Best in the World” DVD where Paul Heyman talked about Punk, which is interesting. Then they showed Paul turning on Punk by throwing a ladder at him into Punk’s head. It was a brutal attack as well. Keep in mind that Punk has since publicly stated that he didn’t want to do the Money In The Bank ladder (1) match where Paul turned on him. Throwing this at him, literally, must have just sent Punk off after that match. He agreed to do a match he didn’t want to do and then got a ladder to the side of the head for it.

Punk tried to jump at Brock from the get-go but Brock caught him and delivered some shoulder barges in the corner. Brock even lifted Punk onto the top turnbuckle with a shoulder tackle with just his shoulders. Brock threw Punk around like a ragdoll very early on and it continued throughout this match. Punk tried to fight back but Brock caught the kick and did a high kick of his own. Brock threw Punk from corner to corner and continued the beatdown. You could tell early on that Punk was prepared to let Brock lay it in and bumped like crazy for him. Punk did a knee to knock down Brock and did a follow-up knee to send Brock to the outside.

Punk did an ugly looking suicide dive to Brock as the fans erupted with CM Punk chants. Punk got some steel steps, the ultimate weapon against Brock Lesnar at this time (please read my Cena and Triple H WM29 posts for reference)! However, Brock simply charged into the steel steps and knocked Punk down with them. Brock no sold the steel steps after being beaten with the steel steps twice in the past!

Brock got driven into the ring post by Punk. Punk did a double axe handle from the top rope to the outside. Punk knocked down Brock with a flying clothesline from the announce table. Punk stalked Heyman and Heyman ended up falling over. As Punk got his hands on him, Brock knocked Punk down. Brock threw Punk over the announce table and crashing into one of the chairs “with the greatest of ease” like Jerry put it. Cole claimed Punk hit his leg on the announce table. Brock did it again to the second announce table. Brock even grabbed the announce table cardboard cover, put it on Punk and did a double foot stomp onto a floored Punk. A very creative spot with Brock and Punk.

Punk even took a belly to belly suplex on the floor so this was a rough match for Punk although this was a pretty big match at the time. If Punk is going to take a beating, it probably needed to be in a big featured match at SummerSlam. Punk kicked at the legs of Lesnar and Lesnar responded with one big clothesline. It looked a little off as Punk didn’t really take a bump. It kind of looked like a shoot clothesline from Brock where he clipped him on the side of his head. Brock yelled about being the “best in the world” and saying “is this your boy?” as he walked around.

Brock did big back breakers to Punk as he threw him around. Punk also made himself almost weightless for these spots so it was easy for Brock to lift him. Punk bit Brock, delivered kicks to the gut and elbows to the face to rock Brock. Punk followed up with a flying knee from the top rope. Punk did two running knees to a cornered Brock but after Brock stopped a third one, Punk dropped Brock with a roundhouse kick. Punk did the flying elbow for a 2 count.

Michael Cole was really starting to get into it this match when calling it which added to the whole affair, to see the announcers actively getting into the match and wanting someone to win or lose. Punk and Brock both went for finishers in an exchange which led to a second roundhouse kick. Punk got Brock up for a GTS but Brock countered this into a Kimura Lock. Punk himself countered the Kimura into a Cross Armbreaker. Punk transitioned this into a triangle hold. Brock teased a tap out and teased a tap out but then Brock simply powered his way out and hit a powerbomb. Punk still had the triangle hold locked in. The fans were so into this that the production had to turn up the announcers to over-power the sound of the fans in the arena. Brock lifted Punk up and then eventually powerbombed him to get out of it.

That whole exchange was outstanding. I know Punk has also publicly stated frustration of losing this match(2) but this type of exchange put Punk at a very close level to Brock as his equal. Punk had a counter for everything Brock threw at him and almost made him tap out. We’ll get into the finish but the way this match was booked, Punk came off as the better man. He was the guy trying to tap out Brock and Brock basically had to use his power and his manager to find a way to win. He made Brock dig down deep in order to win. It was really well done.

The fans chanted “ this is awesome” and were super into Punk. Brock did somewhat of his own take on the Three Amigos with three rolling suplexes which the fans did chant “Eddie” for. Paul Heyman’s facial expressions, by the way, were phenomenal during this. He was visibly evil looking when Brock was winning, he was trembling with fear when Brock was losing and was about to tap. He was in fear as Punk was gunning for him and he sold it well just by his facial and body expressions alone. Paul Heyman is pretty great at his job!

Brock grabbed a chair but Punk still dove from the top rope onto Brock holding the chair in an ugly crash. Punk grabbed a chair and hit Brock twice on the back with it. Brock caught a chair shot and was about to hit Punk but Punk did a low blow. Heyman was all over the place complaining to the referee about this! Really, you could argue that Punk cheating was something out of Paul’s own playbook so it he was even more angry that Punk had done this. Brilliant storytelling again.

Punk did a chair-assisted elbow drop which seemed to hit Brock right in the face which Brock kicked out of. Punk hit Brock with a chair twice before Paul intercepted the chair. Punk got his hands on Heyman. Brock went for an F5 but Punk grabbed Heyman’s tie. Brock yelled at Heyman to let go. Punk eventually broke free and hit the GTS on Brock but Heyman broke up the pin to which Cole yelled “dammit Heyman”. Punk chased Heyman around and was lured into an F5 attempt, which was countered into a DDT. Some incredible spots for the second half of this match. Even those involving Paul Heyman were well thought out by everyone involved!

Punk locked in the Anaconda Vice as the fans roared once more. Heyman got back in the ring with a chair which Punk stopped. Paul pleaded with Punk that he was so sorry. Punk punched out Heyman. Punk tapped out Heyman with the Anaconda Vice but Brock capitalised and hit Punk with the chair multiple times. Brock got Punk and hit him with an F5 onto the chair and he pinned Punk for the win.

An absolutely outstanding match.

Match Rating: ****3/4

I really struggled to decide on this star rating. The one thing I concluded was that this was better than the John Cena Extreme Rules match. I gave that Cena match a 4 and a half star rating out of five. My reasoning is that the Cena match, while one of a kind and almost perfect, was mostly Brock beating the crap out of Cena. The Punk match had more of a story to it and the spots were a lot more crisp. Brock and Punk’s chemistry was on another level for about 95% of this match, especially with the triangle hold spot I mentioned earlier. That exchange was like a perfect wrestling to me.

The reason I didn’t give this match a straight 5 stars out of 5 thought was mostly because of the brutality of it. I felt some of the spots were really unnecessary. I don’t think Punk needed to take bumps on the floor, steel chair shots and he didn’t turn himself into a human ragdoll to tell the story of the match. The story of the match with Punk, Lesnar and Heyman was all they needed. Yes, there was an aspect that Punk would take the best of what Lesnar had to dish out and still keep fighting. That’s fine. However, there were exchanges in the ring that were much more compelling to me than if Punk took bumps on the floor.

I think if you were more accepting of those spots than I was, then I can see other people watch back this match and think this was a perfect match. In fact, I almost did give it a 5 star rating because some of the best spots in this match were just so memorable to me and well executed. However, this was bittersweet in the sense that this was Punk’s last great match before his departure from WWE in 2014. He left because of how badly his body was screwed up and his health, yet I just witnessed an all-time great Punk match where he took big hit after big hit which sure as hell would have added up to Punk’s health problems and frustration. To me, this match felt a little uncomfortable to watch with hindsight being 2020.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact through that both men did an incredible job on this night. This was a fantastic pay-off to a match nearly 18 months in the making. To me, I love the fact that we at least got this match before Punk and WWE parted ways because we may not have a had another chance to see it. Thank you both for a match that CM Punk has stated was his favourite SummerSlam match of all time (3).

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)
• #4 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H III (Extreme Rules 2013)

References

(1) The Art of Wrestling Ep 226 – CM Punk

(2) The Art of Wrestling Ep 226 – CM Punk

(3) @CMPunk, Twitter, 8:38 PM · Aug 19, 2020, https://twitter.com/CMPunk/status/1296169723567255555?s=20&t=ckEc4hOyhEU67IMwezqT5g

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #4 – BROCK LESNAR VS. TRIPLE H III (EXTREME RULES 2013)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

We’ve made it to the third and final battle between Brock Lesnar and Triple H from 2012-2013. For those of you that may not know what happened in this rivalry, please check out the links at the bottom of the post where I have reviewed the first two matches Brock and Triple H had in WWE and while I am about to give a brief background of this feud, the match reviews do demonstrate two completely styles of matches in the past between these two. Their SummerSlam match was very methodical and ring psychology-driven with a decisive victory. Their WrestleMania rematch was a poetic, brutal affair with all kinds of shenanigans leading to the hero getting his revenge. Will their Extreme Rules match inside of a steel cage be something completely different again or will it perhaps include the very best of both matches?

Well let’s go into the review and see if WWE ended this feud with a bang or a whimper…

Background: Brock Lesnar and Triple H were both 1-1 in a series of matches that began at SummerSlam 2012. Brock tapped out Triple H and won at SummerSlam which led to Triple H shaving his head and knocking out Brock with a pedigree on the steel steps at WrestleMania to even the score. Paul Heyman would even go on RAW and emphasise that all Triple H did was level the score and challenged Triple H to a rubber match at Extreme Rules. This match would be contested inside of a steel cage. Brock would actually send a message to Triple H by coming to WWE Headquarters and smashing up Triple H’s office with a sledgehammer as Paul Heyman recorded it. Triple H then showed up in a steel cage on RAW and said he had another office being inside the ring. Brock and Triple H would have a fight in the cage which Triple H won.

NOTES: I actually did discover during my review of this match that I had reviewed it before as part of an Extreme Rules 2013 review which I did at the time! If you’d like to read what I though about the match in 2013, you can click on this link to jump straight to it. Fair warning though, I was a very cringey writer back then! I was also 18 years old and very new to wrestling blogging!

Date: May 19th, 2013

Brand: WWE

City: St. Louis, Missouri

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. Triple H in a steel cage match

Before the match started, Brock Lesnar came out for his entrance and was immediately jumped on the entrance ramp by Triple H. One of the rare times Triple H doesn’t get to do his big elaborate entrance before the match! He just skipped it and got into a fight outside the cage before the match started. This opening spell was actually very fast paced, which I was surprised by given the pace of the previous matches. Triple H even came off the top turnbuckle with a double axe handle to start of the match inside the cage. Triple H was feeling ambitious by coming off the top rope!

Triple H threw Brock into the cage a few times and hit the spinebuster. Triple H tried a Pedigree but Brock just back-dropped him into the cage. Brock beat up Triple H some more. Triple H had a hell of a bump as Brock threw him from one side of the ring into the steel cage on the other side. Brock did it again, and Brock actually threw Triple H OVER the top rope and Triple H bounced down and rolled down the cage.

Triple H threw Brock into the cage in response. The cage bumps from both men were brilliantly done. They were very over-exaggerated in a good way to put more emphasis on it and it did heighten the “risk” of the cage with the way they both sold for these spots in particular. Brock did a solid German suplex afterwards and powerslammed Triple H into the cage.

Brock eventually tried a running knee but Triple H evaded and Brock went into the cage knee-first. This started a long spell of Triple H working on Brock’s knee so the ring psychology from their first match was present to some degree. However, much like the first match, it was a long period of time of spots focusing on a particular body part.

I like ring psychology and I thought it was fine for the smaller man (Triple H) to work on the larger man’s knee (Brock). However, a steel cage match isn’t really an appropriate one to display such wrestling prowess. I would have preferred they work around the cage match stipulation rather than just working holds for long periods of time. In their defence, Brock hit his knee on the cage first to set it all up so at least they did involve the cage to injure Brock at first.

Jerry Lawler calling Paul Heyman “the Walrus” or “the Paulrus” was the worst part of this match. This was WWE’s problem back in this time period. They’d think of one clever nickname for the heel and the commentators had to repeat it over and over again until everyone just got sick of it, and then they just kept doing it. As soon as Jerry said it, I just remembered how much this was beaten over our heads. A big grudge match isn’t the time for Jerry Lawler to be making these jokes.

Triple H hit the knee facebuster. Brock reversed the Pedigree attempt into a standing Kimura lock. Triple H fought out of it but Brock flattened him with the clothesline. Brock tried to exit the open door but Triple H cut him off with a chop block, which I actually thought was a great little spot.

Paul Heyman shoved the referee out of the way and slammed the door in Triple H’s face. Brock capitalised and hit an F5 on Triple H for a two count with Brock’s knee still messed up. Brock commanded Paul get him a chair. Paul ran around the outside and grabbed one. Charles Robinson, the referee on the outside, tried to stop him but he was pushed aside. The chair got passed into the cage as Brock beat up Triple H with it.

Paul told Brock to shake off the knee issues and Brock tried the F5 again but the knee buckled. Jerry even criticised Paul’s idea to shake of the knee problems. Paul shrieked “BROCK” as Triple H attacked him with a chair in retaliation. Triple H hit Brock with the chair that was supposed to be on the leg but it looked like it clocked him right on the backside instead. Triple H actually worked on the leg some more by just dropping elbows on the knee. Paul Heyman pleaded for mercy on the outside!

I loved Brock’s selling of his knee. He tried to walk to the door and he walked like me after a leg work out or if I’ve just done a leg press! If your leg hurts and you try to work, your legs are wobbly and even the act of walking looked like such pain for Brock. It was superb as Brock painfully walked to the cage door!

Brock got a Kimura locked in which Triple H mustered the strength to push Lesnar back into the corner to force a release. Triple H went back to the knee. Triple H even went for the Figure Four Leg Lock but after a minute or so, Brock was able to heave himself over to the ropes but there was no rope break in a cage match. Brock was eventually able to just turn it around.

The fans died down a little during this. It was mostly just Triple H beating up on Brock for a solid 5 minutes or so on the leg so the heat dissipated. It’s all about timing with the babyfaces “getting the heat” and working on legs or arms or whatever. Triple H is the good guy just beating up up on Brock and it’s hard to get into the babyface fire when he’s not the underdog. Look at the Brock vs. Cena match for example. Cena only got a few spots in during that match and the fans popped big whenever he did it because it was so rare in that match. Triple H just beating on Brock for so long just didn’t work.

Brock tried to escape the cage but Triple H cut him off with a chair shot to the leg. Brock and Triple H battled on the top rope. Triple H won the battle but then smiled as he revealed a silver sledgehammer that he hid on top of the cage. Brock cut him off before he could use it. Brock grabbed the sledgehammer and tried to use but Triple H reversed it into a rare sharpshooter. A very ironic move by Triple H given his history with Bret Hart!

Brock was able to reach a sledgehammer but as he touched it, Paul Heyman got into the cage. Triple H hit the Pedigree on Paul. Brock tried a sledgehammer shot but Triple H hit the Pedigree on Brock as well for a 2 count which was actually a pretty solid near fall as the fans were super into these spots.

Triple H tried to use the sledgehammer but Heyman was able to hit the low blow. Keep in mind that the Pedigrees on Heyman and Lesnar were at around the same time. Yet somehow, Heyman, who is not a wrestler, was able to get up at around the same time as BROCK LESNAR from a Pedigree to deliver a low blow! Suffice to say, my suspension of disbelief was not enough to allow this!

Brock even smiled “that’s my manager!” in a gleeful tone! Brock grabbed the sledgehammer with a smile on his face as he smacked Triple H in the face with it. To Triple H’s credit, he looked sound asleep after Brock hit him the sledgehammer so kudos to him selling his own signature weapon spot! Brock let out a roar and hit another F5, pinning Triple H to win the match.

BROCK FINALLY WINS A MATCH WITH THE F5! It only took him four matches after he came back but yes, Brock won here with a F5. Brock even placed the sledgehammer on Triple H’s chest and crossed his arm in a cool spot. JBL prophesised that maybe it was a sign of respect.

Match Rating: ***1/4

The way I see it, it was better than the SummerSlam match but not as good as the WrestleMania match so I put the star rating in the middle of those two matches. Dave Meltzer rated it at 4 stars and I can’t be that generous. The match was a good cage match but the weapons spots bothered me. You have a cage to use. The additional weapons just seemed like clutter. It didn’t quite have the “finality” to a feud that the WrestleMania match had. However, they utilised the cage well in the first half. I think the match died down a little from Triple H working on the leg. He’s a babyface working on the legs of the heel. That went a little too long for me. The sharpshooter and the figure four leg lock seemed odd choices for submissions as well.

Think of this as a very good cage match hampered by mismanagement of timing with heat spots and shenanigans near the end. I don’t think you needed Paul Heyman, chairs, sledgehammers and referee bumps to end a feud between Brock and Triple H. It weakened the physicality aspect from previous matches where two men were hitting each other with big moves and hurting each other to prove themselves as the better man. Brock should have won in a similar vain to the first match where he was the definitive winner with a clean win. Be the better man in the feud and move on to somebody else.

Overall, I felt this Brock Lesnar/Triple H trilogy was way better than I remembered and what I was expecting. None of them could touch Brock’s first match with Cena but they were both willing to take big moves and try new things in order to make it work. Some aspects worked, some aspects didn’t but I enjoyed the work of both men in this feud. We didn’t cover it but the storylines were good throughout and there was a personal aspect that ramped up the intensity for each subsequent match. Finally, the right man won the feud and could move onto something else while Triple H would transition into an heel authority figure at SummerSlam.

Therefore, I think this feud worked out fine. Coming up next, Brock wrestles a superstar who also considered himself to be a “Paul Heyman guy”. Thanks for reading this review!

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)
• #3 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H II (WrestleMania 29)

RETRO EXPRESS: THE RETURN OF BROCK LESNAR #3 – BROCK LESNAR VS. TRIPLE H II (WRESTLEMANIA 29)

Welcome to the Retro Express. This is where we’re taking a stroll down memory lane at wrestling history. This post is part of a new ongoing series where we’re reviewing every Brock Lesnar match since his return to WWE in 2012. We hope you enjoy.

We’ve approaching the end of Brock Lesnar’s first full year back with WWE. He returned on the RAW after WrestleMania 28 and here we are at WrestleMania 29 with Brock Lesnar booked for a rematch with Triple H as somewhat of a culmination to a near year-long rivalry between the two. After Brock Lesnar convincingly beat Triple H at SummerSlam, the No Holds Barred rematch included the added stipulation that Triple H’s career would be over if he lost to Brock.

Did this match surpass the original or was it a disappointing sequel to the “Perfect Storm” of their SummerSlam encounter? Well let’s get into it and see if WWE got it right:

Background: Brock Lesnar defeated Triple H at SummerSlam after no-selling the Pedigree and breaking Triple H’s arm for a second time. Triple H teased retirement at the end of the night as well as an episode of RAW a few weeks later. Both men disappeared from WWE television, with Brock Lesnar “quitting” WWE again while Triple H recovered from his “injured” broken arm. We wouldn’t pick up with this story again until after the Royal Rumble. Paul Heyman was about to be fired by Mr McMahon, due to Paul hiring The Shield to help CM Punk in his WWE title match with The Rock. As McMahon was ready to fire Paul, Brock Lesnar made his return. Brock F5’d the chairman of WWE as it was revealed that Vickie Guerrero had re-signed Brock to a contract. This attacked gave Triple H a reason to return as he beat up Brock on RAW and gave Brock 18 stitches by busting him open. Triple H challenged Brock to a rematch which Paul Heyman would agree to as long as Triple H agreed to two stipulations that he would find out after he signed the contract. After beating up Paul, Triple H found out that the match would be a No Holds Barred match and that his career would be on the line. This was must-win for Triple H.

Date: April 7th, 2013

Brand: WWE

City: East Rutherford, New Jersey

Commentators (First Hour): Michael Cole, Jerry “The King Lawler and John Bradshaw Layfield

Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs.Triple H w/Shawn Michaels in a No Holds Barred match. Triple H’s career was on the line

I’ll try to cover a few of the pre-match details as quickly as I can since I want to get into the match itself. The first thing is that the video package showed the angle where Paul Heyman revealed this would be a No Holds Barred match. I love how Paul menacingly revealed it was “No Holds Barred” like we didn’t just see what was basically a no disqualification match last time and Brock’s first match back was an Extreme Rules match. I loved the delivery of the line but in continuity, it’s not that big of a deal that we’re having the same style of match for a third time in Brock Lesnar’s case.

Shawn Michaels got his whole entrance as he came down to manage Triple H. It was to be expected given that he was literally introduced as “Mr WrestleMania” by Justin Roberts, so that part was fine. The more interesting aspect of Shawn was his outfit for this match. Shawn is an anomaly where he can either pull off an outfit really well or he looks ridiculous in an outfit. For every great WrestleMania attire he had, there was a Shawn Michaels referee outfit in shorts to counter this! For every yin, there was a yang and that was true with Shawn’s outfits. Shawn’s outfit here stood out big time. He had bright brown cowboy boots which fit Shawn himself and his lifestyle but just not the rest of his outfit! He had a trucker hat, skinny jeans and a black tank top to accompany his cowboy boots and it just didn’t fit at all. I could take my eyes of the cowboy boots. Trying to pull off cowboy boots in a casual outfit is a hard sell and it just didn’t work for old HBK!

Triple H’s WrestleMania entrances where also interesting at this time. He had a Motorhead-like structure surrounding him and he had white powder across his stomach. I didn’t know what the deal was with this when I watched it but when putting this review together, I did find a few interviews which explained it. Triple H revealed on Twitter that dry ice stuck too him and gave him 2^nd degree burns on the torso and arms. Kudos to Triple H for wrestling threw THIS MATCH IN PATRICULAR with burns on his body.

The match started with Brock and Triple H trading knees and punches. Triple H whipped Brock into the barricade which sounded ridiculously padded! I can’t really be upset that they added extra protection for the superstars! He bounced Brock off the announce table and punched away at Brock. Brock responded by pushing Triple H into the apron. Brock was about to climb over the barricade but Triple H clotheslined Brock and this big monster damn near landed right on his head. I can only assume that was Brock’s idea but it was nasty looking as he came crashing down onto the floor. This match is on YouTube and there’s a comment which mentioned: “At around 2:00 he legit landed on his neck and it’s not in the ring either. For guy who is close to 300lbs that was scary. Incredibly physical match from both sides, one of the best match.”

They were absolutely spot on. For a big dude to fly like that, he took a risk with that spot. It appeared Brock was fine though as started whooping Triple H’s arse. Brock tried a chair shot but Triple H threw a knee and Brock fell down in an awkward spot. Brock got thrown to the outside and one kid front in the row popped up and shouted: “you suck”… I laughed. Brock hit a belly to belly suplex on the floor. The hard bumps continued on from the first match and they pretty much picked up right where they left of. Brock beat on Triple H some more. Brock then transitioned a suplex into just a throw to send Triple H crashing through the announce table.

Then we got a legendary all-time Brock Lesnar moment. The camera man then zoomed right into Brock Lesnar’s face. Brock flexes, unleashes a gorilla like pose and then screamed in an extremely high pitched voice while beat red. It was one of the funniest scream ever, as even fans started laughing at this as Brock was fired up. His eyes popped out and everything. He sounded like a wolf trapped in an eagle’s body!

This didn’t stop Brock screaming though. He just kept doing it as he did a belly to belly on the remnants of the announce table. Credit to Triple H, he took a beating on this night as this spot was ugly. Brock continued to scream, at least a little bit more manically and animalistic like throughout the match. What I love about Brock is that even with this scream becoming a meme, Brock would continue to scream in this high-pitched fashion. Instead of never doing it again, he just kept it going and at least worked on it over the years. It created some unintentionally hilarious moments but at least Brock didn’t give it up on it!

Brock taunted as Triple H told him to bring it, so Brock just stomped him out in the corner. Triple H fired back but Brock knocked him back down with a clothesline. Much more co-ordination here then the clotheslines from the first match. They seemed to be a bit more on the same page with some spots.  Brock did another bely to bell suplex in the ring, followed up with a German suplex.  I think they learned their lesson with the continued working on the arm. Instead of just constant Kimura locks, Brock just dominated and threw Triple H around which made the match seem more dangerous. With more dangerous it was, the more suspense it had which added to the drama.

Triple H fired back with punches but got Irish Whipped over the top turnbuckle. Brock would stalk Shawn on the outside but Triple H did take advantage one time with a clothesline. Triple H followed up with a second clothesline over to the time-keeper’s area. Triple H grabbed a chair and whacked Brock on the back with it.

Brock hit a German suplex with somewhat of a snap suplex. Brock, at least nowadays, does a lot more of a throw than a snap suplex. This was more reminiscent to a Kenny Omega snap suplex than a Brock suplex!  Brock eventually got his hands on Shawn by clotheslining him off the apron. Triple H got a spinebuster in. Shawn tried a Sweet Chin Music on Brock but Brock caught it and hit the F5 on Shawn. Triple H took advantage and hit a pedigree. It appeared Brock wasn’t ready at first but they recovered fine and hit the pedigree anyway.

Triple H grabbed the sledgehammer and tried to use it, but Brock ducked and hit an F5 for a two count.  What bothers me about this is that Brock’s not won the match yet in his return WWE run (at this point) with an F5 in his first three matches. Every time he’s hit the move, Cena and Triple H both kicked out. I know at this time WWE had a lot of finisher kickout spots for big matches but this was ridiculous. At least try to protect Brock’s big moves.

Brock grabbed a chair of his own and hit Triple H. He then threw Triple H into the steel steps. Brock seemed way better at getting the heat as he just beat on Triple H and stalked him after each move. He seemed far more threatening. He hit Triple H with the steel steps and then threw them into the ring. It was the bottom half of the steps and this was somewhat a callback to Brock’s first match back in the company when the steps where important to that match. Lighting stuck twice with these steel steps which we’ll get to later.

Brock used these steps and hit Triple H with them, which got a 2 count.  Brock yelled at Triple H to retire and Triple H slapped him in defiance. Brock countered a pedigree into a Kimura Lock for the first time in the match. I swear some fans chanted “break his arm”. It wasn’t very loud but it appeared that’s what it was as soon as Brock locked on the move. Then some others you could hear chant it. Some fans really hated Triple H at this time period, and I didn’t realise how much until now. They booed him during his big retirement tease at SummerSlam and they booed him during a potential career-ending match.

Brock sat on the top turnbuckle and locked on the hold but Triple H lifted him up and transitioned it into a spinebuster of some kind. Triple H did the “suck it” pose and suckered Brock in for a low blow. At least this was a callback to the first match where Brock did a low blow, so it was somewhat justified Triple H returning the favour.

Triple H hit Brock with the chair in the arm as Michael Cole even mentioned he was “returning the favour” as Brock basically worked on Triple H’s arm for the whole feud! Triple H did his own Kimura lock on the former UFC Heavyweight Champion as the fans actually got into this as Brock teased the tap. Paul Heyman got in with the chair to try and save him but Shawn Michaels was ready to deliver Sweet Chin Music to Paul.

The fans chanted tap and I think a lot of fans thought Brock was going to tap and Brock teased this extremely well. Brock was awesome with these teases but he then powered up like the Terminator and then carried Triple H over to the steel steps while locked in the move and slammed him. Triple H however woke up and locked on the hold again (again a callback to the first match) but Brock slammed him one more time . Triple H tried a third time and Brock again, teased tapping out but didn’t. Brock got him up but this time, Triple H counted it into a DDT and slammed him into the steel steps. This was an awesome exchange where a part of you really believed that Triple H was going to tap out Brock in the ultimate irony.

Triple H grabbed the sledgehammer and hit Brock. Triple H hit the pedigree on the steel steps to score the win and Triple H’s career remained intact.

Match Rating: ***1/2

I will say, despite Brock being beaten a second time, this was a very poetic match. Call backs to previous matches, Brock losing in the same way he lost to Cena on the steel steps and just a natural conclusion for the feud (at least we thought it was the conclusion). It was very chaotic, there was a lot of action and a sense of danger. I thought this was a huge improvement to their first match and it felt like the finish to a story so I felt this match was a success. Nowhere near the level of the likes of Punk vs Taker on this show but this was a good match.

With that being said, while this was a very good story being told, this had nothing to do with Brock Lesnar. This was essentially a Triple H story. The COO of WWE had his arm broken by an uncontrollable monster. He had to fight when things became personal but ultimately got humbled in their first match. The monster returned and after he made it personal with his father-in-law, Triple H had a reason to comeback and be “the ass kicker” again to get revenge. Even with his career on the line, he beat the monster at his own game and slayed him to keep his career alive.

They even told a very similar story for WrestleMania 35 where Batista attacked Ric Flair to make things personal with Triple H heading into a match where Triple H’s career was over if he lost. It’s very similar but the big difference is that Batista, as big of a star as he is, was not the same as Brock Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar was the UFC Heavyweight Champion. He came in and he battered John Cena in the first match. He lost a match where Cena was the one that had to dig down deep to beat this monster. Then his next feud was against Triple H but he was just the big monster that Triple H had to beat to essentially re-vitalise his career. That was the story. The story was about Triple H, not about Brock.

Therefore, Brock had just became like every other big heel monster that WWE had. He’d be in there with two of WWE’s most protected guys and he lost to both of them clean. For a guy who is a one-of-a-kind freak of nature, he should never be in this role. As guys like Edge would say publicly, Brock shouldn’t have lost to John Cena and Triple H. He should have beaten everybody en route to a big match where the “next big thing” or the next big babyface beats him and becomes the new guy. Instead, he’s basically there to give notches to the belts of already-established stars like Triple H and John Cena.

Even in his feud with CM Punk (which we’ll get to later in the series), the storyline was about CM Punk and Paul Heyman. Brock was just a guy in a heel monster position and this likely the reason why Brock ended the WrestleMania streak of Undertaker. Without that big win to show that Brock was not like any other star, he was reduced to just being another main-event heel. He should be completely different to everyone else and this match didn’t do him any favours.

Also, Triple H’s career really didn’t need to continue after this point. Yeah, Triple H would win the title again, main-event WrestleMania and win a Royal Rumble match in 2016 but he was in that position because they didn’t have anyone else. It wasn’t essential for his career to continue and it even ended in 2019 shortly after the Batista match. There was no good reason for his career, at least from a business standpoint, to continue other than WWE felt the need to keep him around. Maybe it was a Triple H call but they booked themselves into a corner by having Triple H’s career being on the line. Brock had to lose so Triple H’s career to continue, even though Brock was the more valuable asset.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

However, hindsight is also 2020 and Brock’s career ended up being fine so Triple H gets a pass for now. This match was better than their first match. I’ve read reviews saying it was worse than the first match but this felt more dynamic, it felt like there was more of a story and you were rewarded if you paid attention to previous matches. It didn’t have the ring psychology of the first match but it made up for it with a much heightened sense of danger that the first match like.

Coming up next is the third match in this trilogy between Brock Lesnar and Triple H where we finally end the feud for good with the score being 1-1 heading into the rubber match inside of a steel cage…

Brock Lesnar Match Reading Order

• #1 – Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Extreme Rules 2012)
• #2 – Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H (SummerSlam 2012)

Total Divas Season One Review – The Main Cast

Total Divas debuted in 2013 on E!, capitalising on a more realistic age for WWE in terms of social relevance and mainstream media. This was their take on reality television, featuring the top divas from WWE. Your favourites divas from the Bellas to Natalya had their personal lives brought to our television screens.

There were a fair amount of wrestling fans (including wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler) who were against the reality show with the show focusing a lot more on the entertainment than the sports in sports entertainment. It was soap opera storylines that never seemed to sit right with hardcore wrestling fans.

For female viewers however, it was completely new territory. Coming after the Kardashians on E!, they could seize an opportunity to attract casual viewers on E! to their main WWE product. Whether it worked is still up for debate, considering RAW ratings are at their all-time lowest. And no, I’m not blaming Total Divas for the reasons RAW ratings have went down!

I’m just saying that the chances of many E! viewers suddenly becoming interested in RAW and SmackDown! after watching this are extremely unlikely when looking at the numbers.

With that being said, the show is still on the air as of 2017 and even a Total Bellas spin-off has been premiered. So it seems E! are happy with the ratings of this show!

Reality shows aren’t really something I’d ever watch and I’d been hugely disappointed by the reality shows I’ve seen before this. However, could this female-tailored reality show about the women of wrestling turn me around?

I’ve finished watching the full first season of this show and will provide a follow-up in-depth review of the season after this article. In the mean time, I wanted to produce a blog post basically looking at the characters of the show.

There were seven divas cast as the leads for this series – Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Natalya, Naomi, Cameron, Eva Marie and JoJo. One by one, we will break down each female’s involvement on the show, their likeability factor and whether they are actually good television characters for this show. SPOILERS for season 1 of Total Divas are to be expected…

Nikki Bella

The “star” of the show as well as the then-boyfriend to John Cena. Most of Nikki’s storylines revolve around John Cena as well as certain episodes where she fights with Brie and, to an extent, Eva Marie. Nikki is the centre of the majority of episodes, with the Bella hoping to take things with John to the next level. It’s very easy for me to see how a character like this would be interesting to a female viewer, with typical soap-opera storylines about love and marriage. Everyone has a storyline like this on the show but Nikki’s relationship with John is the biggest.

I, as a man, personally do not connect with Nikki’s storyline. It comes off as an extreme negative with Nikki’s almost dead-pan delivery of subjects that your average dude is not going to be interested in. Visually, she comes off appealing to men which I guess is a fine way to garner some interest from that audience. The issue overall with Nikki is the superficial nature of her character that makes her seem just like any other E! reality show lead like Kim Kardashian. I could see why an E! viewer may find that attractive but from a narrative standpoint, it puts her in a tough writer’s block with her character. Are we just going to keep to doing the same storyline with her and Cena going into the 2018 episodes where Cena actually proposes?

 

Brie Bella 

I personally really like Brie Bella. Maybe it’s down to Daniel Bryan’s affect on her or how bad Nikki looks in comparison but this is the type of girl that, if I met in real life, I could see myself having a positive conversation with her. Brie is one of the more mature women on the show, even in her “Brie Mode” state. In one particular episode, she has a heart-to-heart with Natalya when they’re all drinking in Vegas and Brie comes off extremely composed.

In the rare times that she comes off unlikable, it mostly feels extremely forced like with Natalya (which I’ll get to later) and therefore, doesn’t strike me as real. I’d like to think that Brie on this show is exactly like Brie would be in real life. Maybe that’s me giving the show the benefit of the doubt but whatever… as long as I have characters that I can find likeable!

 

Natalya

I mentioned that some of the unlikablity factors on this show feels extremely forced upon. Natalya is the biggest victim of this. Natalya never struck me as an unlikable person whenever I’ve seen her on RAW, SmackDown! or in any other setting, prior to watching this show. Watching this show however, Natalya strikes me as having more “bitchy” storylines than anyone else.

She constantly complains about other women taking her spot on television, not getting enough attention for her husband TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) and the work of other women in general. She comes off as irrational in a lot of cases, like when she sees TJ working with Eva Marie and then decides to feel up Fandango to get TJ jealous. TJ and Eva act all professional just training while Natalya overreacts.

Again, it’s hard to believe that Natalya is actually this awful in real life which is an issue. In this show, Natalya is the “veteran” out of everyone and you’d think would be the voice of wisdom to the younger talent. Instead, she outright complains about them. We hardly get to she her in an advisory role which would make for better storylines, particularly for the newbies.

 

Trinity (Naomi) 

Naomi doesn’t particular strike me as interesting character but at least she comes off somewhat as a fun character. Naomi basically buckles down and works hard, trying to work her way onto television the old fashion way. She is a witness to her partner’s shenanigans on the road while in a relationship with Jonathan Fatu (Jimmy Uso).

Naomi’s specific storylines however are pretty hard to enjoy especially when it’s regarding her relationship with Jon. Naomi has to put up with a demanding boyfriend in Jon, who himself is irrational in a lot of different scenarios. He’s upset that Naomi is not wearing her engagement ring, upset when Naomi allows her dad to stay with them for a little bit and upset that Naomi is set to be in a romantic angle on television. Naomi having to put up with this nonsense rubs off badly on her storylines as you mostly want her in a background role more than having her own storylines with Jon. I guess her stuff with Cameron is somewhat tolerable but there’s not too many storylines of the Funkadactyls actually working together.

 

Ariane (Cameron)

The Cameron character on Total Divas is a very much welcome part of season one of Total Divas. Why’s that? Well Cameron is the only character on the show who actually strikes me as unique. In professional wrestling itself, you need a wide variety of characters that make people stand out and be recognised. On television, this is even more important. All the other girls are almost interchangeable and similar in terms of their storylines which really kills interest in them.

While Cameron does have similar storylines, her mannerisms on the show are a one-on-a-kind. It’s a person that you’d never believe would actually exist in the real world and that’s what reality television shows should be about. Her casual drops of catchphrases like “thebomb.com” and “girl bye” as well as the outlandish ideas she has for the likes of her boyfriend Vinny just makes her “must-see” TV. She’s so crazy that it’s a change in pace from everyone else and she’s one of those people that you look at and would honestly want to hang out with for a day to see the world from their eyes. She’s tremendous!

 

Eva Marie

The most hated woman on this show for many viewers but NOT as unlikable as you’d think. In fact, there’s actually not a lot wrong that Eva does. Her most “unlikable” traits are just being stupid… that’s it. I don’t know if Eva is actually like this in real life and I’d like to think that she isn’t but her unlikeness comes from just the plain ignorance and laziness she portrays on this show.

Things like pretending to be an experienced dancer so she can be on television and not being able to pronounce future WWE World Champion Jinder Mahal’s name (she, in fact, called him “Ginger Mahal”) doesn’t strike me as things I want to see but I guess, as a rookie, Eva needs to do these things from a narrative standpoint. A “learn from your mistakes” character if you will. Other than that, she actually doesn’t do anything wrong to other people. She does brag a lot about several opportunities but it mostly leads to characters like JoJo getting all jealous and it’s really not Eva’s fault that they get jealous of it. If you consider being an idiot the same as being unlikable, then Eva probably wouldn’t sit well. Otherwise, not TOO much wrong with Eva at this point.

 

JoJo Offerman

JoJo was clearly a character they gave up on in the middle of the season or possibly early on during the production of the series. JoJo wasn’t particular an interesting character and her particular storyline is mostly an extension’s of Eva’s. They’re both the rookies so either JoJo is watching Eva during these shenanigans or she becomes jealous of Eva’s success. JoJo’s deadpan reactions to Eva’s success with the likes of Maxim does not make JoJo come off well. In fact, she comes off WORSE than Eva in a lot of these episodes.

JoJo seems like a girl that treats these issues by stropping around like a teenager (which she technically is during this season… she was 19) and not being mature enough around the adults. JoJo is essentially every young girl that wanted to hang out with her older sister’s friends but was told she wasn’t old enough. Even during the Vegas episode, she clearly just seemed more of a burden to Eva in particular while being unable to drink. With all this in mind, it’s pretty clear why she would be dropped from the main cast in the next season.

Overall, the casting of women for the show is somewhat disappointing. There’s nothing particularly wrong with these women but there’s not lot of interest for the actual character’s unless you’re REALLY into the Nikki Bella storyline with John Cena for example. If you are, more power to you. These girls don’t really stand out as fun and interesting, giving you hardly any interest in them in the sense that you’re not going to bend over backwards to find out what happens to them next. Cameron is the only character so unique and out-of-this-world that gives you that feeling.

The show’s attempt to make the girls bicker constantly about petty things don’t really strike me as massive selling points for the show, which makes one refuse to rally behind a character like Natalya as she complains about the work of the other women. The Bellas seem the most INTO the show in terms of their “performances” but Nikki’s constant troubles over John Cena and Brie being witness to this isn’t a particular healthy relationship from a narrative storyline. Why should I care about Brie if the show is just to be centred around her sister? Brie’s engagement to Daniel Bryan was suddenly into an arc in the season finale where Nikki wants Cena to marry her.

Then there’s the newbies, who are a little hit and miss in a lot of ways. Eva, I guess, is the closest to Cameron in terms of having a unique character… not a likeable one, but still unique. JoJo, on the other hand, became more of a burden on the show in terms of scrambling to put together storylines for her. This, of course, leads to her removal from the show all together. Nice try JoJo, but it didn’t seem to work.

If you’re watching this show, I guess it’s mostly not for the individual character’s themselves. The writers’ biggest issue is making each of these women stand out in their own right. Each of them have similar storylines with their men, their work in the ring and with each other as spats spill out between the girls. I guess each of them provide at least something to meet all three of those things but it’s gonna take a lot more for me to personal be invested into the storylines of them individually.

Stay tuned to the Armbar Express as a I give you the full review of season one of Total Divas.

Cody Rhodes/Stardust Asks For His WWE Release

How’s it going everybody? Thomas Robinson here with the Armbar Express. I’m here to discuss the Twitter announcement from Cody Rhodes a.k.a. Stardust, who revealed that he has asked for his release from WWE. Coming off the recent releases and MANY rumours of futures departures from the company, this one is quite a big one.

Cody tweeted the news yesterday on his personal account.

https://twitter.com/PrinceCGR/status/734074764042600448

https://twitter.com/PrinceCGR/status/734074814038704129

Just like Wade Barrett and Damien Sandow, Cody Rhodes had the potential to become a true main-event star. He’s got the blood of a wrestling legend in Dusty Rhodes. He was one of the best workers in the roster, being able to use an old-school in-ring style and adapt it to a vastly different and high-paced style. He has charisma and was dedicated to getting the most out of himself and his character, no matter how badly he had it. He’s got the look of a marketable pretty boy and to my knowledge, had been anything but a pain backstage. I’ve rarely seen stories about backstage heat on Cody Rhodes or any issues he’s had with fellow wrestlers. He’s the ultimate workhorse, even with the last name of Rhodes.

You know, it’s very easy to look at a guy and say: “he deserved to be champion.” We’ve said that about Mr Perfect. We’ve said that about William Regal. We’ve said that about a lot of people. I Googled the term deserve and the definition I got was: “do something or have or show qualities worthy of (a reaction which rewards or punishes as appropriate).” Every one of the qualities I mentioned above describes Cody Rhodes and his actions certainly were more deserving of rewards rather than punishment. Even so, I don’t even think Cody Rhodes has even been given a single world championship program in his entire WWE career.

Now he’s been in pretty big storylines while with WWE. He was a member of Legacy, with Legacy’s leader Randy Orton being the biggest part of WWE storylines in 2009. He was the one that re-introduced the classic Intercontinental Championship as part of a great run as Intercontinental Champion from August 2011 until WrestleMania 28. He was a key part in a tremendous program with the Rhodes Family taking on the Shield, leading to a classic tag team match at Battlerground 2013. He had the “Stardust” gimmick and still did his very best to make the most out of his character. Even so, he was never considered for a big main event push. After nearly a decade of blood, sweat and tears, Cody Rhodes was never given the main event opportunity.

Being deserving of something and being entitled to something are two completely different things. I may go on Twitter or write something, suggesting that “this guy deserves a push.” There are so many guys that have been lost in the shuffle for many years now, which is detrimental to the product. I don’t want those guys to be wasted, as those guys have qualities that is worthy of a reward. That’s being deserving. I will, however, never say that someone is entitled to anything. Nobody has the right to have x amount of title runs. Nobody has the right to be in x amount of WrestleMania main events. Despite that, Cody Rhodes was as close as a wrestler can be to being entitled to much more than he was getting. What more could Cody do to be “given the ball?”

Cody has the genetics of a champion. Cody has the charisma of the champion. Cody has the wrestling ability of a champion. What more was there for Cody to have in order for WWE to give him a championship run or even a title shot? I don’t understand.

I’m sure there’s a lot of people already speculating that this is a grand work but I highly doubt that. I know there’s been examples of wrestlers that have tweeted their departure on Facebook or Twitter, only for it to have been a big swerve. A memorable example to me was when Devon tweeted that he was quitting TNA but was back for the 2012 Bound For Glory pay-per-view. However, I don’t think so. I mentioned this during my post about the initial WWE releases. There was just more to come from this and unfortunately, this is it. Brooklyn Brawler’s release was announced shortly after this, with a few more being speculated as well. Cody’s deal is just one of them and he chose to tweet it first himself.

There have been several more tweets of support for Cody. There’s been tweets from Arrow star Stephen Amell and Cody’s wife Brandi Rhodes a.k.a. Eden both tweeted.

Thinking of my good friend @PrinceCGR today. Whatever's next, he will excel. Cody: Thanks for taking me on a grand adventure!

— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) May 21, 2016

Could not be any prouder or more supportive. 💛

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) May 21, 2016

It’s a shame because of what I mentioned before. Of course, Cody could easily come back some time down the road. I don’t think that relations between WWE and Cody are terrible or anything, so of course the possibility is there for a return.

Have any favourite memories or thoughts about the release of Cody Rhodes/Stardust? Tweet me @TomRobinson5199 and @ArmbarExpress and give us your thoughts, or leave a comment.

Wrestling Flashback – The Aces And Eights

“When you ride with Aces and Eights, you never walk alone!”

Many groups have came and gone in TNA but none of them were as consistently utilised and pushed for than the group of motorcyclists known as the Aces And Eights.

The group first made their way to TNA when they attacked Sting on Impact following his match with Bobby Roode at Slammiversary 2012. This was their way of asserting themselves in TNA by taking out the biggest dog in the yard and putting the rest of TNA on notice.

These attacks would continue on TNA talent as the TNA World Champion Austin Aries and General Manager Hulk Hogan were also targeted in these attacks. The big question was who was behind the attacks from these thugs and the first suspect that was mentioned was James Storm. The Aces and Eights started a pattern of attacking every member of the TNA locker room with one notable exception. Storm denied his involvement with the group and the group basically confirmed Storm’s innocence by attacking him on Impact.

Aries’ arm was attacked by the group and Aries wanted revenge. After taking an Aces and Eights member hostage (Yeah, this actually happened) Aries and Hogan tortured the poor fella for answers about who was running the deal. A deal was eventually made with TNA and Aces And Eights agreeing to a fight at No Surrender between Austin Aries and the “Arm Breaker” of Aces and Eights. Aries won the fight but the group made their mark that night by taking out Jeff Hardy. This led to Hogan locking out the Aces and Eights to prevent these attacks once and for all.

However, this didn’t stop the group of bikers. They captured Joseph Park and eventually Hogan and Sting too, bringing them to their clubhouse. The leader of the group then began negotiations with Hogan and Sting for Joseph Park. The leader proposed a two on two match at Bound For Glory with two Aces and Eights members going up against Sting and a partner of his choosing. If the Aces and Eights won, they earned access to the Impact Zone. If they lost, they’d be gone for good. After the match, Park would be let go. Hogan agreed to the stipulation and the match was set.

What’s funny about this segment is that the leader’s voice was messed with by an audio mixer to prevent his identity from being revealed to the viewers. However, someone on YouTube actually messed with the audio of the segment to work out who was actually playing the leader in that segment. In this audio clip, it appeared that Eric Bischoff was actually playing the leader in this segment. However, a segment just a few months later would “reveal” Devon as the one that was taking to Hogan and Sting. It’s funny. Were TNA considering revealing Bischoff as the leader? I believe he was still signed to the company at the plan and it would have made sense because Hulk Hogan and Sting were the reasons why Bischoff was away from TNA in the storyline. I guess we’ll never know.

Bully Ray volunteered himself to be Sting’s partner at Bound for Glory but Hogan was very sceptical. He didn’t trust Bully but Sting was all for Bully taking part. Hogan agreed to have Bully team with Sting, telling him that he was fighting for TNA. The tag team match saw Park break free and fight the Aces and Eights alongside Bully and Sting. Another member of the group put Bully through a table, giving the group the important win. An angry Hogan helped Sting and Bully take down and unmask the member that took out Bully. However, it was quite the shocker. The man was revealed to be Bully’s long time former tag team partner Devon.

It was a genuine shocker as Devon “revealed” on Twitter that he had left the company and he even vacated the TNA Television title. To see Devon was quite a stunner but it was a interesting plot twist considering Bully’s involvement in the fight against the group.

With full access, the group fought with the Impact roster more frequently and more members would soon be unmasked. D.O.C. (a.k.a. Luke Gallows) was the second man unmasked from Aces and Eights and took out Sting with a hammer to save his position within the club. Knux (a.k.a. Knux) was also revealed when Sting returned following the attack from D.O.C. Mr Anderson was also recruited to the club after they pointed out TNA’s negligence towards Anderson when the group took him out. Tazz was revealed as a member of the group during Bully Ray and Brooke Hogan’s wedding. Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff, two men that had been mentored by Kurt Angle, were also revealed to be associated with the group when they took out Kurt in a steel cage. The vice president of the Aces and Eights was revealed to be D-Lo Brown after he kicked Kurt Angle in the nuts. This left one member of the Aces and Eights still unmasked and one question left unanswered… just who was the leader? At Lockdown 2013, we got an answer.

During Bully Ray’s TNA World title match against the champion Jeff Hardy, Aces and Eights found their way into the steel cage. Devon was armed with a hammer which he simply tossed to Bully. When Jeff’s back was turned, Bully smacked Jeff in the head with it. Bully pinned Jeff to become the TNA World Heavyweight Champion and he revealed himself as the president of Aces and Eights.

This was the culmination of a nine-month plan by Bully to become the TNA World Champion and it was actually one of the rare instances where TNA followed through with their long term planning. The reveals of each member was clearly well thought of by the writers with the big end game being Bully Ray winning the TNA World title. They had a plan and they stuck with it. A lot of the Aces and Eights stuff leading up to Lockdown was hard to deal with, I must admit. However, there weren’t a lot of plot holes with the story. Bully Ray addressed a lot of the plot holes fans might have pointed out over the course of the storyline in a great segment on Impact a few weeks later, when Bully revealed the whole plan.

One of the biggest plot holes I can remember up until Lockdown was Kurt unmasking the vice president in a backstage segment (in a camera angle where the viewers couldn’t see who Kurt unmasked) and not saying a word about it until the next week when he did his segment with D-Lo. Right, because Kurt just kept this important information to himself for a week? It could have possibly been covered up with Kurt giving D-Lo a chance to reveal himself but this was never mentioned by any of the commentators.

The Aces and Eights were riding high with Bully being the TNA World champion, Devon being the TV champion again and the rest of the group working their way through the roster. Bully ended up retaining against Jeff in a Full Metal Mayhem match and a No Holds Barred match with Sting, with the latter never getting another TNA title shot if he lost. D-Lo was also kicked out of the group during this time for losing a I Quit match to Kurt and a number of other botches which cost the group as well.

There was more dissension within the group as D.O.C. and Mr Anderson argued over who should replace D-Lo as the Vice President. This led to an all Aces and Eights battle royal which saw D.O.C. refuse to go over the top rope and let Mr Anderson win. Anderson was also elected Vice President but the storyline was never really followed up on, as D.O.C. was eventually released from the company.

Bully feuded with Chris Sabin, who had cashed in his X-Division title for a shot at the TNA World title. Sabin beat Bully for the TNA World title at Destination X but would drop the belt back to Bully in a cage match due to interference from the newest member of the group… Tito Ortiz.

Yes, the MMA legend Tito Ortiz became a member of the group as part of TNA’s working relationship with Bellator MMA. It was really a cheap version of Mike Tyson joining DX which really put a sour taste in a lot of TNA fans’ mouths. Miss Tessmacher also became a member of the group as Bully’s new squeeze. These two new additions to the group was questioned by Anderson, but Bully just told Anderson off for doing so. In order to cause further dissension in the group, Hulk Hogan claimed that one of the members of Aces and Eights would get the title shot. Anderson was revealed as the number one contender and effectively left the group by costing Bully a match with Sting. However, Anderson was unable to capture the gold and Bully rolled onto Bound For Glory and a title defence against AJ Styles.

In case you were wondering, the whole Tito Ortiz/Aces and Eights deal came to close in just a few weeks when Bellator told TNA that they didn’t want MMA fighters appearing in TNA segments any more. Wes was also kicked out of the group by Bully Ray for losing a match and Devon was exiled from TNA after getting pinned in a five on five tag team match against the Main Event Mafia. It seemed that with a lot of the members leaving, the group was going to be finished real soon.

After Bully lost the title, Anderson returned for revenge on Bully for taking him out. Anderson also tried to cause further dissension from within the group but the group stayed united. In the end, Anderson beat Bully on November 21st 2013 to officially put an end to the group and this storyline.

Overall, the Aces and Eights storyline was not a bad storyline. It was at least a storyline that the TNA writers stuck with and some of the long term planning paid off after Bully Ray was revealed as the president of the club. It seemed that it all the months of planning and swerves eventually came together. Like a lot of past stables in wrestling history, the biggest issue was the last few months for the group. It just seemed that there wasn’t any particular long term plans for the finish of the program, which really hurt it in the end. The suggestion that this was one of the worst stables in wrestling history is just absurd. There were far worse stables like the Corre and the New Blood that were treat far worse than these group of bikers. In the end it made Bully Ray a main event star, featured as much of the TNA roster as possible and did put TNA on the right track in terms of its storylines after the whole deal with Immortal. Here’s to you Aces and Eights. May you ride your mopeds to the shores of Valhalla…

Do Triple H And Stephanie McMahon As Heels Make Sense?

I love a good old heel dictatorship being in charge. It gives the heroes an authority to rebel against. For every ying, there’s a yang. For every hero, there’s a villain. Stacking the deck against the good guys is supposed to help the careers of those put against the bad guys. Every win for the good guy is meaningful and every win is a win for the fans. However, does the Authority truly make sense as a heel faction and have they actually hindered the rise of babyfaces more than it’s helped?

The whole dynamic of Triple H and Stephanie as heels is very confusing in itself. Sometimes, this leads to the Authority being more balanced in it’s decisions therefore damaging the image of them as a evil dictatorship. When Randy Orton and Seth Rollins were both the hand-picked champions of the Authority, little was done to actually help them remain champion. The only time Triple H ever got physically involved to try and help Randy was at Wrestlemania 30 and he failed. Triple H and Stephanie never did anything to help Seth Rollins, even when he was against Sting who they clearly didn’t want as champion… or did they?

That’s the whole issue. On the night after Summerslam when Sting returned to WWE to challenge Rollins, Triple H was very angry over it. He was so mad that he gave Sting a WWE World title shot. As amazing as it sounds, that’s not the big thing as this could be passed off as Triple H making the decision in the heat of the moment. However, Hunter and Steph don’t seem to lift a finger to help Seth in his fight against Sting. In fact, they actually helped the good guy Sting at Night of Champions by putting their chosen champion Seth in a second match that night with somebody else!

The Seth Rollins stuff is sort of passable if you want to go with the storyline that Triple H was just testing Seth the whole time. However, look at Seth’s opponents when he was champion. Randy Orton betrayed the Authority’s trust and attacked their golden child Seth several times. Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns have been constant enemies of the Authority since they attacked Triple H on the night after Wrestlemania 30. Brock Lesnar defied the Authority several times and violated Stephanie’s orders when he attacked EVERYONE on the night after Wrestlemania 31. John Cena helped to get the Authority out of power! Sting played a pivotal role in getting the Authority out of power as well and has feuded with Triple H. Kane was trying to work the Authority and Seth Rollins with the split personality deal. Everyone of these men would give the Authority reasons to help Seth, but neither Triple H or Stephanie made any effort to do so. It just creates a lot of plot-holes as the Authority shouldn’t want any of these men to be champion.

The reason for that is Triple H and Stephanie are trying to portray a two-faced authority figure that plays a corporate good guy but are heels deep down. That balancing act is detrimental to their character and the product itself. For example, on RAW the Authority teased a WWE World title match. They swerved the paying crowd by saying they’re going to get that match, but not that night. Lance Storm made a great point on Wrestling Observer when he pointed out that when the Authority teases the crowd for not getting more than they paid for, they go home disappointed. It’s almost like a giant middle finger to the paying audience that made the effort to come to your television show and it’s telling them to save up their money and go to bigger shows in the future where they might get more then they paid for. That’s detrimental to your live television show ticket sales as it turns a live audience off from ever coming back.

A lot of you might be thinking “But Tom, they only say that to get some heat from the audience.” However, Triple H and Stephanie are both very active in making public appearances. They have to go to schools, conferences and sporting events and these promotional events are important in keeping up the image of the company. They are on the RAW segments talking about Susan G. Komen and talking about inspirational fans which is also confusing. Alright, I understand that there are certain times when the fans are supposed to tell the difference between kayfabe and reality. However, if these fans that you’ve told no to in kayfabe are the same people you have to encourage to donate to charity, it’s just going to send off the wrong message.

In the public eye, Triple H and Stephanie are well received and have a good reputation. On RAW, they are both going out of their way in segments to convince wrestling fans that they are assholes. However, in order to portray the two-faced gimmick mentioned earlier they still stack the deck against the heels. All of this makes their characters very difficult to understand. One week, they are mocking the fans and their favourites like Daniel Bryan. The next week, they are putting heels like Seth Rollins in tough situations. It’s almost like a guessing game every week over whether they’re faces or heels, which is not what they should be doing.

That’s not even the worst part of Triple H and Stephanie acting as “heel” authority figures. The reason Vince McMahon worked so well as the foil for Stone Cold Steve Austin is because in the end, you knew Stone Cold was going to win. He was the ultimate hero that rebelled against the tyrant Vince McMahon and Austin would always win. The fans knew that either Austin was going to get his hands on or outsmart the evil boss that everyone hates.

On the other hand, the Authority doesn’t work as strongly as Vince did because they rarely actually lose. When the Authority has been in a feud, how many times have they won the war? Who has actually flat out won a feud with the Authority? Daniel Bryan? Sure, he beat the Authority at Wrestlemania 30 to win the WWE World title. However at the end of the day, Daniel got hurt and the Authority got what they wanted. Dolph Ziggler and the rest of Team Cena at Survivor Series? Nope. A month later, the Authority was brought back into power making those victories seem meaningless. He who laughs last laugh the loudest.

It’s detrimental as you’ll struggle to make stars out of these babyfaces because you’re sending the message out to the fans that these good guys will never beat the Authority. You wonder why the WWE’s top three babyfaces right now are Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Kane? You wonder why the top three babyfaces are two men that have never won a world championship and a 20 year veteran? You wonder why it’s three babyfaces that have already lost feuds with the Authority? Because the good guys hardly ever win against the bad guys. Good promoters shouldn’t be beating the good guys that are making money for them through merchandise.

What’s weird about all of this is that this whole issue could be easily dealt with if they were babyfaces. That way, Triple H and Stephanie can be promoted as strong as they are and it wouldn’t hurt the product as they are making the popular decisions for the fans. It’d make it easier for Triple H and Stephanie to cut these promos on how great Be A Star and Susan G. Koeman are as they’re the good guys. They can give fans more than they bargained for and it’d make sense. They can stack the deck against the heel champions and it’d make sense. I’d prefer Triple H and Stephanie McMahon as heels I believe they are better in that role, but it’d make a lot more sense if they are babyfaces considering how obsessive WWE are at maintaining their image. It’s just interesting when you look at it.

The Problem With Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger In 2015

I was very excited when I saw Alberto Del Rio return to WWE. In a past article for SLTD Wrestling, I mentioned that he’d be much better continuing on with Lucha Underground and AAA rather than continuing on with WWE. However, I’m still think it’s great that he’s with WWE and so far, he’s been booked well. He beat John Cena clean on his first night and is the WWE United States Champion. However, there are a few parts of his booking which I have a problem with. The partnership with Del Rio and Zeb Colter is one thing but it’s the possibility of Del Rio’s first challenger being Jack Swagger.

Here’s the deal. Alberto Del Rio won the WWE United States Championship by beating John Cena of all people, clean. That’s huge. The idea that the United States Champion and AAA Mega Champion goes from John Cena to Jack Swagger in the space of a few weeks seems a bit absurd and it’s all to do with how Jack Swagger has been treated since the start of the year, when he lost a feud against Rusev. Ironically enough, that feud was over the United States Championship.

What has Jack Swagger done since then? How many pay-per-views has Jack Swagger been a part of in 2015? Two. That’s right… two. Both of these matches were battle royal matches, the Royal Rumble and the Andre The Giant battle royal. He was part of multi-man matches and basically used to fill up the numbers. He’s rarely appeared on RAW and all of a sudden, Swagger is back on RAW television. It’s not a slow build for Swagger no. He’s been entered into a feud with the United States Champion Alberto Del Rio.

What has Jack Swagger done to earn a United States Championship match? Has he won a number one contendership match? No. Did he win a tournament? No, he’s just started having trouble with Del Rio which will most likely lead to a US title match at Survivor Series. That alone is not going to make Swagger a legitimate challenge to Del Rio. Actually let’s talk about Del Rio. Alberto Del Rio has actually appeared on less PPVs this year then Swagger (obviously, Del Rio only returned recently) and yet somehow, Swagger looks like nothing compared to him. Why? Because Del Rio beat the best upon his arrival and has legitimate WWE credentials. He’s a three time world champion in WWE, won Money In The Bank and won the only 40 man rumble in history. WWE wouldn’t recognise this but he is still currently a world champion in his own right, being the AAA Mega Champion. It’s not like he’s not wrestled at all since he was fired last year. He’s got an MMA background. Getting him back and noticed wasn’t exactly hard. For Swagger, it’s difficult because WWE have allowed it to be difficult.

If WWE knew that Jack Swagger was going to compete for the United States Championship soon, surely Swagger be put on RAW a lot more frequently. The Del Rio signing was a bit sudden so it’s not like WWE have been planning this. However, if you’re building up a contender it helps to build him up a little. Nobody is going to care that Jack Swagger is winning on house shows or Main Event or SmackDown! RAW is the flagship show for a reason. He needs wins on RAW and he needs to look credible and not just be among the crowd, especially if you’re first feud in a year for him is him going up against a man that just beat John Cena.

What’s disappointing about the negative aspect of this feud is that on paper, it’s actually a decent feud. These two have feuded before with Alberto Del Rio beating Swagger for the World title at Wrestlemania 29 and again a month later. Swagger’s never gotten a big win over Del Rio and must prove it to himself that he cane beat the man. That on paper is great and is all you really need to get this feud running. You don’t really need Zeb Colter at all, although his involvement does add a bit to it. The point is that it’s got the ingredients for a great feud. All you need is for Jack to look credible enough to validate him going up against Del Rio. With that along with the storyline mentioned earlier, people can get behind Swagger and you can get him over. You don’t need Michael Cole to sit there on commentary and say “Man, these two have had quite the rivalry in the past few years,” or “Man, this rivalry has gotten personal” or anything like that.

Give Swagger a lot more motivation to go up against Del Rio over rather than having Zeb Colter being the focal point. Del Rio and Swagger have actually had good matches in the past so you can actually have a decent feud with Swagger proving himself being the focal point instead. It takes away people’s interest in Swagger if you make the match about Colter.

If all of this business with Del Rio and Swagger is filler until John Cena returns, fine. Whatever. However, you can still make Swagger and Del Rio good coming out of it except Swagger’s not looked good going into it. There’s no real reason for the audience to believe that a man that’s not done anything note worthy in the last year despite being active is going to be on par with a man that holds the second most important title in the company and has beaten the best to win it.

EXTREME WARFARE REVENGE: TNA 2010 PART 8 – BOUND FOR GLORY

Many great promotions have came and went. Promotions that have been innovative with their products. Promotions that put on the matches that we didn’t think was possible. Promotions that have helped mould professional wrestling into what it is today. In the midst of all these promotions lay a company formed in Nashville, Tennessee by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett.

This promotion had the talent but lacked the funds to really take themselves to the next level. In stepped Dixie Carter, who became the company’s president. Dixie had her own ideas on how to truly take this promotion to the next level and she thought that there was only one person that could have helped. That person was Hulk Hogan.

In 2010, a completely new-look promotion emerged. Talents from old promotions started to take the places of the stars that had built the promotion from the ground up. However, these stars couldn’t help TNA to that next level. If anything, they helped it sink further into oblivion.

That does ask the question, what could have been changed that year to help TNA for the better? This year, I decided to try may hand at booking this company with a booking simulator called Extreme Warfare Revenge.

Now though, this particular series is back. Having taken a back seat to other series’ on this blog included the WCW EWR series, TNA is now going to step back into the spotlight. Welcome to TNA EWR!

Previously on TNA EWR…

AJ Styles was our reigning TNA World Heavyweight Champion with Christopher Daniels stepping up to take down his friend. Daniels is being given one last chance in the main event of Bound For Glory. Can the Fallen Angel rise to stardom at TNA’s biggest show of the year? Sting and Jeff Hardy will finally settle their score in a Last Man Standing match as part of a major show for the return of TNA EWR.

Let’s get to it!

Pre-Show – TAKA Michinoku (c) wins a 10 man X-Division battle royal to retain the TNA X-Division Championship

Entrants: Taka Michinoku, El Generico, Tyler Black, Austin Aries, Sean Waltman, Kaz, Homicide, Brian Kendrick,
Ultimo Dragon and Stevie Richards

I really wasn’t sure what to do with the pre-show so I just shot in the most over X-Division stars into a battle royal for the X-Division title and TAKA ended up going over. TAKA’s the most over man in this match so he should still be champion. I was expecting a higher grade but it is a battle royal, which struggles to do good ratings on this game.

Match 1 – “Motor City Machine Guns” Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley def. Jerry Lynn and Brother Devon in a tables match

Very thrilled with the 93% rating for this feud-ending match. I’m surprised with all of the clashing styles that this feud succeeded as well as it did. Devon and Lynn are able to work well with the fast-paced Sabin and Shelley which is a positive. If a lot of these old stars that we’ve still got are working well with the younglings and are helping to get them over, then they’ve got a lot of value. The WCW old stars are the same in the WCW series. For TNA it seems to work well.

Match 2 – Matt Morgan def. Samoa Joe

Think about this for a minute. Matt Morgan vs Samoa Joe got a 88% rating! That’s pretty darn incredible considering one of the men in this match is Matt Morgan. Actually, I probably shouldn’t be surprised. Morgan has actually gotten really over since I started pushing him, which was the main reason for why he won again at Bound For Glory. It just goes to show you guys, you don’t have to be a great worker to get good ratings!

Match 3 – “Deadly Sin” Raven (c) and Rhino (c) def. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship

To be perfectly honest, there wasn’t really a strong possibility of Lethal and Jarrett ever winning the belts. The whole thing about this feud was really to keep pushing Jay Lethal in that tag team scenario with Jeff and the Deadly Sin. It worked great as it scored a 93% rating but it just wouldn’t have worked for Lethal. As a match, it did score high and nobody lost overness so it was a fine outcome with a great rating.

Match 4 – Kurt Angle def. Mr Anderson

Kurt gets the victory here after Anderson won at No Surrender. Another rating in the 90s. An incredible first half to the show (minus the pre-show) and the good ratings don’t stop there…

Match 5 – Bobby Lashley and Abyss def. Bobby Roode and James Storm in a hardcore tag team match

It was very hard to pick a winning team for this. Beer Money really should get the win but I still see a lot of success with Lashley and Abyss. They get the win here in a 92% rated match.

Match 6 – Jeff Hardy def. Sting in a Last Man Standing

This was the lowest rated match in the main show but by no means a failure. Sting lost overness from the match but 85% is a good rating. Sting has just become a non-wrestler in my game, meaning he’s limited to how much he can wrestle. Therefore, I think it works for the best that Jeff won the feud. Sting might not be on the show for a great deal now as it’s about pushing the main roster but I’m going to try and find a way to work him into the storyline as a non-wrestler. Maybe he could become a heel authority figure, I don’t know. We’ll see.

Match 7 – AJ Styles (c) def. Christopher Daniels in a Falls Count Anywhere Match to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship

I feel kind of bad for building up Daniels for this big feud only to beat him at Bound For Glory. However, I felt AJ had to remain champion for now. However, these two gave us a stunner of a match. With a 98% overall, Daniels didn’t lose a great deal from this feud. Maybe they’ll be a time for Daniels to reign as champion but I feel it was important for AJ to retain. AJ wins after Kaz does a botched interference. It also works well for his next feud. Speaking of….

Segment 1 – Post-Match Angle

AJ Styles is celebrating in the ring after beating Daniels. Daniels and Kaz are arguing to the back as AJ is alone in the ring. But then the lights go out. A spotlight suddenly hits the top of the ramp as AJ seems confused. The words “My Time Is Now” appear on the titantron as the newest signing to TNA appears on the entrance ramp…

…. AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA!

By the way…. that’s no joke.

John Cena appears in the Impact Zone to confront the TNA World Heavyweight Champion AJ. AJ shoves the belt in Cena’s face but Cena hits the FU and holds up the title himself.

Trust me. I didn’t mess with the game in the file editor or anything! I was legitimately able to sign John Cena from WWE. Well technically it wasn’t from WWE. What happened was that Cena’s contract was running out and I guess WWE just let it expire. It appears that this happened because Cena suddenly appeared on the free agents list. I seized the moment and signed him up to a two year contract. Money well spent!

So John Cena was the newest signing which I was referring to on Twitter a few days ago. He’s no doubt going to be a huge part of the show in the next few months and I can’t wait to see where this goes. It’s been great to bring back this series. It’s awesome that with my first TNA PPV back, I was able to beat my own personal best for highest rated show! I’m pretty sure that’s the highest rating I’ve ever gotten in EWR! I don’t recall WCW ever getting a higher rating! We got a 93% which was incredible as we had a 71% pre-show match! Cena’s segment being 99% and Styles vs Daniels being 98% both did help but there was a lot of great matches on the show as well. I can’t wait to see where this series goes and I’ll be sure to see you soon with Turning Point!