TWC Report #3 – 04/25/2016

Hello there, it’s The Wrestling Classic here. If you’re reading this, and you haven’t checked out my most recent IG posts, you might be wondering where I have been. Where is the random spam, of current and classic content. Well, I decided to take a short week break from Instagram. However, I’m still around and if you listened to me when I said keep checking out The Wrestling Classic website for new content, you’ll be more than happy to know I’m here with another TWC report. Dig it?!

Image via WWE.com

Looking back at the past three weeks of Raw, Triple H and Stephanie free but with Shane McMahon “in charge”, I realized something. It’s almost as if the WWE is in a rebuilding stage when it comes to their product. It was something they needed to do. With the Authority off screen and their biggest star John Cena on the sidelines longer than usual, and coming right off of Wrestlemania season, for the first time in a while that the WWE has the opportunity to build new stars and new stories. Tuning into Raw since Wrestlemania, the vibe of the show doesn’t seem familiar and for many fans its hard for them to get used to right away. Superstars who are new or weren’t considered top stars before are now getting more time to get themselves over. Raw has been built around stars such as AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose. New superstars are being called up from NXT such as Enzo, Big Cass, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews. Every episode of Raw seems fresh with new stars moving up the ranks and different people getting opportunities that we wouldn’t initially thought would have. It’s a phase the company has gone through in the past when transitioning from one era to another, such as in 1997, 2002, 2008 and 2012. For the first time in a long time, the WWE feels different.
In the past when things were in the midst of change, you still had the cash cow Cena to rely on being the top and main attraction. In my opinion, whether Punk was dropping pipe bombs or Daniel Bryan was starting a movement, one thing remained intact and that was John Cena was still the man running the house. However, in this new temporarily Cena-less era, that the WWE is trying to build around Roman Reigns, new stars have been appearing on the main roster and other ones are stepping up and standing out, thus making it feel like a whole new company going in a whole new direction. The face of the company for the past 11 years isn’t there to make it seem like the same old show.  Also, for the past 5 years, we’ve had the Authority in charge. Most of our WWE Title storylines had the Authority’s involvement and frankly, fans were getting tired of the evil Authority storyline. Therefore, with them off TV and Shane McMahon in charge, it feels like we’re no longer living in the era of the evil empire. It might feel odd right now, but thats because its different and a non Authority or Cena formula is something we need to get used to.
The real question now is, does this feeling of fresh start or sense of change disappear when Cena or the Authority return? Cena’s return has been announced for Memorial Day. Thus, allowing us to find out if the return of Cena will cause everything to stop and have everything fall back into place taking away the revolution feel. However, we’ve learnt over the past few years, that when Cena is not involved in the WWE Title picture, he’s actually not that bad. On the other hand, the Authority is bound to return to regain control from Shane O Mac. It will initially be a fun storyline but could lead to things going back to normal with Triple H and Stephanie in charge. If the Authority overcomes and wins the war, are we just going backwards? Only time will tell, but if you ask me, Ill take this fresh odd feeling we get watching Raw in recent weeks. It feels like we’re on the verge of a new era and I can dig that.

Image via WWE.com

Its about damn time. Samoa Joe is the new NXT World Champion, after defeating Finn Balor at a live event in Lowell, Massachusetts. I am a fan of Balor, but his reign as champion has been awfully boring. Balor is the longest reigning NXT Champion, being the holder and defender of the title for 292 days. It was a long 292 days. Its great to see Joe finally win the belt after chasing it for months and not being able to be victorious in his two Takeover matches for the belt. It did surprise me this happened at a live event, but thats exactly why I think they did it. It was a surprise, and it gives the impression that NXT live events are can’t miss events. I do see rematch between the two at the upcoming Takeover or on an episode of NXT.
I hope this loss will help Balor re-invent himself as a character in the WWE, because excluding his Demon persona, Balor’s character really lacks depth. I have total faith that when Balor does turn heel, thats when were going to see Finn at his best. This also leaves us fans wondering if this means Finn will be debuting on the main roster soon. Ive read before that Vince McMahon has been interested on calling Balor up for some time now, but Triple H insisted on waiting. I’d think The Game would want to wait for the opportune moment. I couldn’t think of a more opportune moment than now, when the WWE feels like it’s building on a new era and Balor’s former Bullet Club comrades Gallows and Anderson on the main roster. Imagine Balor debuting alongside his former brothers in arms after they turn on AJ Styles, leading to a dream AJ Styles vs. Finn Balor feud for Summerslam? I can totally dig that. I would expect this to happen after rematch against Joe of course.
As for Joe, who has done nothing but kept NXT relevant during Balor’s reign and when so many major stars from the NXT Roster were called up, deserved this run as NXT Champion. Joe is one of the most talented big men in wrestling today, and in the past ten years. There are so many matches we are looking forward to now with Joe as champion. Imagine the brutality between Joe vs. Nakamura or Joe vs. Itami? What if Bobby Roode does officially sign to NXT, and we got Joe vs. Roode or an episode of NXT where Joe would defend against Aries. Talk about a TNA throwback. Joe is the real deal, and has been for years. Its about time the fans of NXT and WWE who never watched him before get to find that out. Now, on the other hand, this leaves me wondering if Joe is ever going to be called up to the main roster and if so, when?

Image via WWE.com

I can’t be the only one concerned about how they’re going to have so many talented women on the roster, but not enough time to produce legitimate feuds and rivalries for all of them. There were at least 13 divas featured on this years Wrestlemania card, that was not including Nikki Bella or Amanda, which would make 15. Also, even though all of them may not make it to the main roster, there is a plethora of women wrestlers on the NXT roster, or just being signed to development. I know many of you don’t agree with this theory, but with all these women wrestlers and just one title in their division, it just isn’t fair to the women’s division that is going under a renovation right now. Having these many talented women on the roster and just one championship title, just doesn’t cut it. If they’re giving the Women’s division a facelift, how about introducing the Women’s tag team titles, going into Summerslam.
It would save us from multi Women tag matches anytime they want to give everyone something to do on a show. Also, the women who aren’t contending for the title at the time, would have something to do creative wise, rather than just having random matches with no goals or story. For instance, they could be having a tag team tournament for the Women’s tag title going on right now, while Natalya feuds with Charlotte. Think about it? While Natalya and Charlotte feud, what are all the other women on the roster doing?
Women teams such as Team BAD could benefit from tag titles. Imagine Eva debuted with Nia Jax and they dominated the tag team scene with great heat. Woman who having nothing going on creatively such as Becky, Paige, Sasha, Summer Rae, Lana and Emma could all form short term teams trying to win these new titles. Imagine Sasha and Becky winning the tag titles, it would be reminiscent to when Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit were tag team champions on Smackdown. I don’t see where the harm in trying this concept out is, as it only bothers those fans who don’t care for women’s wrestling at all, and miss the days of Bra and Panties matches. However, anyone that does care about women’s wrestling knows this idea has potential. Let it be a thing, as long as it can, even if it’s short-term period. I think it would be pretty damn cool.

Image via WWE.com

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen great chemistry between awesome heel Kevin Owens and the current man in charge Shane McMahon. Its always questionable how long a babyface authority figure can stay over with the fans, because they usually avoid controversy, but getting involved with the wrestlers can easily keep Shane fresh during his run in charge. Mr. Entertainment Kevin Owens, being the one to whine and complain about being mistreated is the perfect opponent to make Shane stay relevant as an Authority figure. Shane makes decision based on giving the fans what they want to see and giving opportunties to everyone, where Owen’s lives by the fact that he doesn’t care what the fans think and that he deserves every opportunity. It’s a great story already. We’ve had Owens confront Shane on the last two weeks of Raw. The first time lead to Owens being escorted out of the building so he wouldn’t get involved in Zayn’s match and the next week to complain about being mistreated. Owen’s in the past has also mentioned that the COO Triple H is very fond of him, during a conversation with Stephanie. Therefore, we know which Authority figures Owen’s appreciated more.
I think this back and fourth banter and confrontations between the two could lead to a rivalry between the two. I would expect it to take place after a series of Zayn vs. Owen’s matches where Shane continues to get under Owen’s skin. For example, Owen’s wins the final match between Zayn and himself but Zayn gets a WWE Title or IC Title shot. Maybe Shane referees the rubber match between the two and Zayn wins. Maybe it’s a normal match between the two but Zayn just wins, which pisses Owen’s off and Shane won’t agree to his request for rematch. Regardless, how it happens, Owen’s brutally attacks Shane. Thus starting a feud between the two, that leads to a match at the following PPV.
Shane isn’t the most technically sound wrestler, however he is really entertaining and will put his body on the line for a great show. Owen’s is a great brawler and also doesn’t mind getting hardcore. I would book the match between the two as Street Fight. Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens in a Street Fight equals money, in my mind. Look back at Owen’s independent matches when they went hardcore. Look back at Shane’s matches against Kurt Angle and his dad when the street fight stipulation was in place. I think it would one entertaining match and it could be followed by the Authority or Vince finally returning to confront Shane about the whole feud Owens, and thus leading thus giving opposition to his decisions. Therefore, not making Shane’s run as the Authority figure get stale and making use of the on air chemistry Shane McMahon and Kevin Owen’s have.

•  I think it’s amazing that the WWE could go on this long European tour and have just a couple of days off before going live for Raw again. Its stuff like that schedule that makes your respect everyone that works for that company even more.
•  When are they going to turn Roman Reigns heel?
•  AJ Styles storyline with Gallows and Anderson is the most intriguing storyline on WWE television right now. I think its because I actually know the history between them. I think it would be a smart idea if the WWE put some video packages or have the team of Gallows and Anderson sit down for an interview to explain their relationship with AJ Styles for those who don’t know their history.
• I was showing my girlfriend some of my favourite moments from Wrestlemania 32 yesterday and I noticed they fixed the camera angle for Sasha’s frog splash on the WWE Network version of Wrestlemania. If you watch it now, it is edited to where you actually see Sasha executing the frog splash rather than her just flying into the picture. Thank god, the WWE has multiple cameras recording at once. It was one of my favourite Wrestlemania moments.
•  I really enjoyed the I Quit match between Jeff and Matt Hardy on TNA. I am not that big of a Hardy fan, so for me to say that its wroth going out of your way to watch is a big deal.
•  Sami Zayn is still on fire, putting on great matches week after week.
• I don’t think I was paying full attention to the storyline because I was excited for the feud, but are Jericho and Ambrose feuding over a talk show segment on WWE Television? They couldn’t have come up with anything better for two of their top talents?
•  If you haven’t heard, the Bella twins are getting their own “Total Divas” spin-off show called “Total Bellas” which will feature their entire family. Im looking forward to it. The Bella’s will remain on Total Divas for now, but Renee Young, Lana and Maryse will be joining the cast. I guess we’ll be seeing more Ambrose, Rusev and Miz on the show as well then.
• There were rumours that Adam Cole worked a show with the WWE, when a picture of him with Balor made surfaced over social media. Whether the picture was an old one or new, or if this was nothing more but a glorified rumour, its pretty damn intriguing. Adam Cole deserves to be in the WWE and I strongly believe he will be someday.

---

Start a discussion below in the comments section, by leaving your comments, feedback and thoughts on some of these topics. Also, if you have any suggestions on what you want me to focus on or elaborate more on for the next TWC Report, comment below.