My thoughts: today’s product of WWE since after Wrestlemania 32

While Wrestlemania 32 gave us some fantastic moments, I think most would agree the ending left us feeling underwhelmed and disappointed, a sour note in an otherwise very solid show. I for one had went to sleep that night feeling very deflated, and quite frankly pissed off that they would so blatantly ignore the fans wishes, just to get the title on the good looking, muscular, Samoan dude. Everything was going to remain the same, Raw was going to kick off with a 20 minute Authority promo, and conclude with Reigns beating every member of the League Of Nations while Cole screams, “Roman Reigns has overcome all the odds tonight!” It felt like WWE had no plans on changing the product, being content with their current stagnant state, despite the outcry of smarks and casuals alike, for change.

Until… Well, the next night.. 

The Raw after Wrestlemania felt fresh, the focus on young stars was a welcome change of pace, and something just felt different, it didn’t feel like an average Raw, it started with Shane being put in charge and ended with AJ Styles becoming the Number 1 Contender in an incredible Fatal Four Way, with 4 of the best workers in the business. However, I still wasn’t convinced, Shane’s tenure in charge seemed like a one-week thing, and this focus on the younger and more ‘IWC friendly’ guys may just have been to please the crowd the night after Mania, who they knew, if they gave them the same old stuff, would crap all over it, their fear of which was apparent through the commentators’ “boo the people they normally cheer” shtick. My skepticism seemed warranted given what we’d seen in the past. 

Boy was I wrong! 

The weeks that followed have kept with this theme of intriguing storyline development, new stars being built in the likes of Apollo Crews, Baron Corbin, Enzo and Cass etc, and overall simply a better product. The card for Payback looks amazing, I’m looking forward to pretty much every match, the build has been fantastic, every match has been given meaning, purpose, and most importantly air time to build organically, little to none of it seems shoe-horned in, and there are two major plots which could give us a massive indication on the companies direction for the foreseeable future . The introduction of Anderson and Gallows has made for some compelling television, and an aura of mystic surrounds their inevitable eligance. Though it seems set up for Balor to join forces with Gallows and Anderson to turn on AJ, they could just as easily throw us a curve-ball, which hasn’t been felt in a very long time. Vince’s decision on Sunday, will shape the company for the next while at least, I can’t see it being as cut and dry as him picking one or the other, the possibilities are endless, which is very exciting.

Ratings…DO NOT PANIC! 

Yes, the ratings have been fairly poor, but that should be expected, the new talent needs to be given time to settle in and get over with the casual audience. These guys are mostly unknown to casual fans, so when the guys they’ve known to be the stars aren’t on the show, they won’t tune in for a while, which is exactly why this opportunity needs to be taken, while a lot of your money and ratings draws are out, to enhance the new guys, and give them time to establish themselves with a new audience. Don’t go rushing back to the old guys in a panic because the ratings have dropped, it would completely derail all the good things that have been done since Wrestlemania. 

Potential For Change: 

I refer back to the title, the sense of change is looming, the opportunity to usher in a new era in WWE is very much in the companies hands, this Sunday, is a huge night for the WWE and professional wrestling in general, you can give back to us fans, and make us once again proud to call ourselves wrestling fans, the feeling of unpredictability once so synonymous with professional wrestling, feels like it’s slowly creeping it’s way back. The potential for two, company altering swerves, is here, my skepticism though not fully gone, is fading, don’t disappoint WWE. 

Julian’s Thoughts: Where are the tag teams?

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Remember when the Dudleys were tag team champions in the WWE and were putting their opponents through tables each week?
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Remember when the Hardys were jumping off of turnbuckles, ladders, stages, cages and probably other things to keep their tag titles? Remember when Edge and Christian were mocking their opponents and somehow found a way to keep the tag belts around their waists? Remember the Hart Foundation? The Outlaws? DX? Rock ‘N’ Sock Connection? (Many other great tag teams?) Don’t you miss when tag team matches/feuds used to be meaningful and entertaining? The tag team division has been in shambles for a while. There have been some decent teams lately but it seems like they don’t last. 

I bring this up because it seems like they are setting up for a fatal four way tag match for the titles at Summerslam. They always seem to do this at Summerslam and Wrestlemania now. They do this so everyone can be on the show. Some of those teams definitely shouldn’t be on the show though. Los Matadores haven’t been relevant in a while. The Lucha Dragons are promising but they haven’t been used that much in stories or on PPV’s. The Prime Time Players are champs and are decent. I like Titus. They haven’t been overly impressive since taking the belts, but they haven’t been bad either. The New Day is hot. They have made a major turnaround since their debut as a team. Really though, the match at Summerslam should be the Prime Time Players vs. New Day. Less is more sometimes. Let those two teams finish this feud. Adding more teams doesn’t make it more exciting at all, especially since two of the teams haven’t been pushed in a while. If the Usos were in the match instead of the Matadores, then that would be better…but who knows when they will be back… 

Wrestlemania 29 was the last time the tag belts weren’t defended in a fatal four way tag match at either Summerslam or Wrestlemania. (Or not defended at all) Now really, that’s only four PPV’s, but still that’s four PPV’s where WWE is just adding teams to try and make it more meaningful or to let people be on the show. If the crowd doesn’t react to them on a Monday Night Raw then why would they react to them at Summerslam or Wrestlemania? I didn’t really care about any of those matches. The teams in them are not teams that anyone cares about.

There have been decent teams since WM 29, but it seems like they never quite get a chance. Plus, once a team loses the titles it seems like they just get tossed aside. Team Hell No successfully defended their titles at Wrestlemania 29. They held the belts for 245 days. The Usos first reign was 202 days. Since the Usos had the belts, Goldust & Stardust had the titles for 63 days, Miz and Mizdow for 36 days, the Usos again, Kidd and Cesaro for 63 days, New Day for 49 days, and now the PTP. There’s no stability or dominant team at the moment. The Usos when healthy are the top team they have in the company. New Day is #2. PTP are currently third. As much as I like those three teams, it’s kind of sad that these are the top teams. They don’t stack up to top teams of the past and the depth of tag teams definitely doesn’t stack up to teams from previous years. 

When I watch old segments on the network, sometimes a tag team faces top guys in the company. The Hardys had segments with Triple H and Stone Cold (Who were also a team for a while). Sure, New Day beat Orton and Reigns a few months ago but that was a one night thing. The Hardys/ HHH & Stone Cold thing lasted more than a week. Sure, the tag titles used to change hands frequently in the past. (Specifically the Attitude Era) But look at the teams from that era who won them. The Outlaws, Hardys, APA, Under taker had the titles with different partners, so did Kane, The Rock and Mankind, Edge & Christian, The Dudleys…that’s only part of them. Some of these teams won multiple times too, the teams now seem to be one and done. 

So I guess it’s not official that there will be a fatal four way tag match at Summerslam, and hopefully there won’t be one. There’s not enough depth in the division to have one….plus…it has been done a lot lately. Don’t put teams on the show just because. If someone doesn’t get a reaction, then they probably shouldn’t be on the 2nd biggest show of the year. Tag team wrestling used to be a big deal but now it’s an afterthought. I almost wish WWE would bring back the Dudleys. It would be cool to see them again. It’s an upgrade from many teams that we’ve seen lately. New Day is the best on the show at the moment. The PTP are the champs so they should be at Summerslam, but those are the only two teams that should be on the card at Summerslam.

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