WWE Payback Analysis and Predictions

April 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

The first Pay Per View after WrestleMania 32 is being billed as “The first pay-per-view of a New Era”.  I suppose they want us to think that a lot of things have changed lately and that is why this is a new era.  On one hand, we have a lot of new faces on Raw over the past few weeks and months, and that is a positive development.  On the other, we still have Roman Reigns being force fed to us as the babyface hero, and there is nothing new and exciting about that.

A month after WrestleMania 32 and it seems as though most of the show existed in a one-night vacuum. Consider:

  • The stipulation of the Undertaker/Shane McMahon match was that if Shane won, he’d gain control of Raw and The Undertaker would be done. So, Undertaker won the match, Shane took over control of Raw the next night anyway, and we haven’t seen the Undertaker.  You have to wonder if this was always the plan, or if the WWE was telling the truth when they said that the overwhelming response to Shane on social media was why he was running Raw.
  • Zach Ryder had a surprise WrestleMania moment by winning the Intercontinental title in a ladder match. The crowd went wild, he celebrated in the ring with his dad, and the feel-good story came to a crashing halt the next night when he jobbed to The Miz and lost his championship in about 24 hours.  The guy didn’t even make it to the next pay-per-view as champ!
  • Triple H hasn’t been seen on TV since he lost the title in the main event at WrestleMania. Shouldn’t he have at least shown up and talked some smack?
  • AJ Styles lost in a critically derided match to Chris Jericho, and somehow he became the #1 contender for the WWE title at Payback shortly thereafter.

Of course, as a wrestling fan, you are supposed to suspend reality, logic, and reasoning and become immersed in the show and just let it happen.  But, wouldn’t a little bit of continuity in the storylines kill the WWE creative team?  Some of these things are just head-scratchers.

Either way, if this truly is a new era, we have a chance to see how it all plays out in a new pay-per-view.  The names on the card certainly very different than the names on pay-per-views this time last year, so at the very least, we have something different to watch.  Here is my expert analysis and picks for each meaningful match.

The Miz (c) (with Maryse) vs. Cesaro in a Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

As much of a fan of The Miz as I am, I never enjoy when a guy who can stand on his own is paired with his real-life wife in a storyline.  He doesn’t need help drawing heat from the crowd, he is a natural heel that is easy to hate.  This pairing with the returning Maryese isn’t going to make him look any better than he already does.

The fan favorite Cesaro returned to Raw the night after WrestleMania to a hero’s welcome after a lengthy absence due to a nasty shoulder injury.  Maybe I’m forgetting something, but I can’t remember anything he really did to distinguish himself before he got hurt, and I can’t figure out why the crowd is so behind him.  It’s like the WWE fans want him to be the next Daniel Bryan for some reason that I can’t decipher.

I don’t have very high hopes for this match, Cesaro isn’t a technical master and often blows spots.  Maryese is certainly going to interject herself into the match in an annoying way, and nobody is going to come out of it looking very good at all.

Prediction: Winner and still Intercontinental Champion, The Miz

Dean Ambrose vs. Chris Jericho

Both of these guys are coming off of a very disappointing WrestleMania.  Jericho won a snoozefest against AJ Styles in the second match of the night, nearly putting the 101,000 fans in the audience to sleep in the process.  Ambrose was given a chance to make a career-defining statement against Brock Lesnar in a street fight.  He produced a match that was short and uninteresting, and it generated very little chatter.  It was not much of a career-defining statement for Mr. Ambrose.

These two were hastily thrown into a program via an argument over who got to host a talk show.  This is certainly the type of angle that lends itself nicely to a grudge match.  It remains to be seen if any of the heat that these two are carrying into the match is going to translate into something interesting to watch.  Jericho is about ten years past his prime and hasn’t put on a decent match since his latest return.  Ambrose has shown flashes of brilliance (his WrestleMania match against Lesnar notwithstanding), but he doesn’t have much to work with against a decrepit Chris Jericho.

Prediction: Winner, Chris Jericho

Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair) vs. Natalya (with Bret Hart) in a Singles match for the WWE Women’s Championship

The WWE thankfully dropped the term “Diva” for good and that is the best thing that’s happened to women’s wrestling in recent memory.  Unfortunately, the quality of the women’s matches is still going to be awful.  The one bright spot we have to look forward to is the return to TV by Bret Hart for the first time since he announced that he was suffering from prostate cancer.  Let’s hope The Hitman is recovering well and looks good when we see him.

Prediction: This match is going to suck.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. The Vaudevillains in a Tag team match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Tag Team Championship

For the masses of fans who chant “N-X-T! N-X-T!” at live events, this match is for you.  Both of these teams have made a splash on the main roster, both of them making their first appearances on WWE TV after WrestleMania, and then making it to the finals of the #1 contender tournament for the WWE Tag Team Championship.

The Vaudevillains are working some sort of retro gimmick, with an overly-produced ring entrance, and an authentic Vaudeville-esque attire.  They haven’t had too much of a chance to show much personality yet, and it is hard to tell if they are heels or babyfaces.

Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady are working a classic gimmick of an “opposite” tag team.  They look nothing alike but manage to jell together as a team.  They built up such an avid following in NXT that the crowd chanted along with their cadence during their ring entrance during their Raw debut.  Anchored by Bergen County, New Jersey’s own Enzo Amore, this team is already a charismatic presence on the WWE main stage.

No telling what this match is going to be like, but these two teams are young and hungry and will certainly going to try to make a good first impression on a WWE pay-per-view and set themselves up for a championship run in the near future.

Prediction: Winners, Enzo Amore and Colin Casssady

Dolph Ziggler vs. Baron Corbin

The WWE went for a surprise moment when Baron Corbin won the André The Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania.  Corbin wasn’t even announced for the match; he was a surprise entrant representing the NXT brand.  He eliminated Kane and captured the trophy for himself.  It’s hard to imagine a better WWE debut moment.  Corbin rode his momentum to the next night at Raw and cut a great heel promo, totally turning the fans off to him.

Corbin is being fed Dolph Ziggler in his singles pay-per-view debut.  This is a good chance for him to show what he can do in a one-on-one match.  Ziggler is an experienced hand who oversells his opponent’s offense and will likely make Corbin look strong in victory.

Prediction: Winner, Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

This has potential to be the match of the night.  In fact, it is the only match on the card that has me genuinely excited.  The storyline behind their feud is based on their actual real-life history together as friends and travel companions on the independent circuit.  The angle was built as a slow burn beginning in NXT last year and it has finally resulted in a match between the two on a pay-per-view.  In a way it is a shame this match wasn’t on the WrestleMania card.

Sami Zayn immediately got over with the fans as a babyface.  I don’t see the attraction, but the crowd has taken to his hokey entrance music and strut.  Kevin Owens is a natural heel and an innovator in the ring.  He is so good at his job that the crowds have no choice but to cheer him anyway.  He has performed at a very high level over the course of the last year he has been on the main roster.

This match should tell a fascinating and dramatic story.  Owens and Zayn have been in the ring together for years and should have a good chemistry with each other.  Expect lots of dramatic moments and near-falls.  This will be a classic good guy vs. bad guy grudge match.  Hopefully it won’t be the last matchup between the two.

Prediction: Winner, Kevin Owens

Vince McMahon to announce his decision regarding Shane McMahon running Raw

Like I said earlier, this storyline doesn’t make much sense.  By way of his loss at WrestleMania to The Undertaker, Shane is supposed to be gone.  It’s somewhat intriguing that he’s stayed on WWE TV for so long.  It was initially believed that he was brought back to the WWE just as an emergency fill-in to give The Undertaker a credible opponent at WrestleMania, and that he was going to return to his day job after the match was done.  Not much is known about exactly why Shane left WWE seven years ago, but he certainly did branch out on his own and it is not publicly known if he plans to resume his career, or stay with the WWE on a more permanent basis.

This announcement will probably turn into some kind of angle, likely with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, possibly even leading up to a match at the next pay-per-view.  Maybe the next match will have another useless stipulation attached to it.

Roman Reigns (c) vs. AJ Styles in a Singles match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

If this match is representative of “The New Era” in the WWE, please somebody take me back to The Attitude Era!  There are a lot of things wrong with this match, it’s almost hard to decide where to begin.  Let me give it a shot:

  • AJ Styles is clearly a babyface. Why did they book Roman Reigns against a babyface when he is supposed to be a babyface himself?  Wouldn’t they be doing Reigns a favor by booking him against a heel instead?
  • How did AJ Styles suddenly get booked in a main event? He just got to the WWE in January, now he’s a main-eventer?
  • Why should I care about a guy who couldn’t even beat Chris Jericho at WrestleMania?
  • Whatever WWE writer that came up with Roman’s new “I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a good guy, I’m just the guy” catch phrase needs to be fired and blackballed from the professional wrestling industry.
  • Roman even gave up his somewhat cool ring entrance through the crowd that originated during his days with The Shield and now comes down the ramp. Yet, he still wears that stupid flak jacket.

I could go on all day, but I am not impressed with either of the two and I’m not sure who to even care about in this match.  There will likely be some sort of involvement from Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows in this match as they are working an angle that leads us to believe they are about to swerve their friend, AJ Styles.

If anything, maybe we all get lucky and something interesting does happen.  Like AJ Styles does a heel turn and wins the match due to outside interference from Gallows and Anderson.  Or Reigns does a heel turn by joining forces by Gallows and Anderson and gains an underhanded victory.

No matter what happens, don’t expect the wrestling to be any good.  Roman Reigns has yet to look good in a singles match in a main event.  His match against Triple H at WrestleMania was average at best, and that was because he was in the ring with one of the all-time greats.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns

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WrestleMania 32 Postscript

April 4, 2016 by Leave a Comment

I’ve always felt that a hallmark of a great story is suspense and unpredictability.  WrestleMania 32 is in the books and gave us a long and entertaining evening last night.  The matches were mostly good and there were several fun segments throughout the show that made it look and feel like a special event.  Unfortunately, it completely lacked in the suspense and unpredictability category as we got a final result that the WWE fans have seen coming for the past two years.  Roman Reigns defeated Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.  The guy we didn’t want to see win it all just did and now we are stuck with him.

Overall, I’d give the show an above average rating of 3 stars on a 1 to 5 scale.  It was an unexpectedly long 7 hours total (the pre-show began at 5 PM EST, WrestleMania itself ran from 7 to almost 12 PM EST) so there was a lot to take in.  It is a tall order to ask every single minute of a show that long to be breathtaking, but there were enough cool moments to give you your $9.99 WWE Network subscription fee’s worth.

One highlight of the show for me was when Lita pronounced the Diva’s title dead in favor of the WWE Women’s Championship.  The women’s wrestling and promos are still going to be awful, but the annoying term “Diva” has been stricken from the WWE lexicon for good.

There were a lot of ups and downs for the various performers on the show and there are clearly some winners and losers coming out of WrestleMania 32.

Winners

  • The League of Nations: The international foursome was floundering on the show after each had shown promise as individual competitors in the past. This was a big win for them and hopefully it propels them forward.
  • Zach Ryder: The veteran had never competed in a match of this magnitude in his WWE career. He wasn’t even supposed to be in the match, having been inserted at the last minute due to an injury to Neville.  His win of the Intercontinental Championship was, by far, the biggest moment of the guy’s career, if not his life.  Let’s see if he is a one-and-done champion or hangs on to the belt for a while.
  • Baron Corbin: The NXT star wasn’t even advertised for WrestleMania and he still won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Hopefully for him, the trophy actually gets someone over this year.
  • Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Cactus Jack: Yes, they looked old and were a shadow of their former selves, but it was still a trip down memory lane to see the three of them appear in a WWE ring at WrestleMania and entertain an excited crowd.
  • Shaquille O’Neal: The big man of NBA fame lived every single wrestling fan’s dream when he entered a match at WrestleMania. He even towered over The Big Show!
  • John Cena: Hard to say exactly what kind of shape he is in, but he did make it back into the ring for a few bumps and a WrestleMania moment, even if it’s not a high-profile match like we are used to seeing from him.

Losers

  • Triple H: This was probably the last we’ve seen of him ever wearing a WWE Championship belt.
  • AJ Styles: I knew nothing about the guy prior to two months ago when he entered the Royal Rumble. He was well received by the fans, skipped NXT altogether, and got a singles match in his first WrestleMania.  Forgetting the fact that he lost his WrestleMania match, more importantly he hasn’t done anything to live up to the “Phenomenal” moniker.
  • The Wyatt Family: Unless the WWE does something with them soon (and I mean soon), like giving them a championship or a high-profile win, I give up. All they do is talk nonsense and do jobs and it’s getting old and boring.  There is wasted potential across the board with all of these guys and their unique gimmick.
  • Ryback: The Big Guy was relegated to a singles match in front of a nearly-empty AT&T Stadium on the pre-show which he lost. Too bad, he has shown more potential as of late.
  • The WWE Fans: No, Vince McMahon does not care what we think. Roman Reigns is going to be our babyface champion whether we like it or not!

Things start over again tonight on Raw.  Not sure what to expect but hopefully the injury bug gets swatted and a few of our favorites return to the ring soon.  Maybe we get some meaningful NXT call ups to the main roster.  And maybe, just maybe, Reigns does a heel turn or drops the title quickly!

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WrestleMania 32 Analysis and Predictions (part 2 of 3)

April 1, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Part two of this three-part series about WrestleMania 31 will feature the matches in the mid-card.  You never know what you are going to get from the mid-card at WrestleMania, but you can be assured that the performers are going to give 100% in an attempt to forge an unforgettable “WrestleMania moment” of their own.  Sometimes you get a standout match like The Ultimate Warrior vs. Macho King Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII, or Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania X that go down in history as one of the all-time greats.  Other times, you get bowling shoe-ugly showcases such as Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Rick Martel in a blindfold match at WrestleMania VII, or what is widely considered the worst WrestleMania match ever, Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole at WrestleMania XVII.

The eternal WrestleMania mark in myself is hoping for something that fits in the former category, not the latter at WrestleMania 32.  Interestingly enough, since I published part one about the pre-show, the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was moved up from the pre-show to the main card.  It’s hard to say exactly why this happened, but it’s likely going to compress the rest of the matches for time as there are now eight matches to squeeze into a four-hour time frame.  Those matches don’t include other features such as an appearance by The Rock, the Hall of Fame introductions, and whatever other skits they have planned between matches.

Hopefully this time crunch doesn’t take too much away from any of the matches and the performers don’t try too hard to rush a “this is awesome” spot, and instead focus on the story telling of in-ring psychology.  At the very least, hopefully the Diva’s match is kept to about 1:15 so this doesn’t become too much of an issue.

As I said in part one, I predict that Braun Strowman is going to win the André trophy.  My analysis and picks for the rest of the mid-card matches are as follows.

Kevin Owens (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara vs. The Miz vs. Stardust in a 7-man Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

This will be the 10th ladder match in WrestleMania history and the third time that it will be used to decide the winner of the Intercontinental Championship.  This match is also a repeat of last year when the opening match of WrestleMania 31 when Daniel Bryan won the IC belt in a 7-man ladder match to start the show.  This year, Kevin Owens enters the match as the champion and has a mostly different cast of characters to compete against.

Kevin Owens is coming off of a strong rookie year in 2015 when he defeated John Cena in his first match on the main card, instantly giving him credibility with the fans.  Following a few high-profile rematches against Cena, Owens’ push was slowed down a bit.  He did, however, manage to win the IC title on Raw and is in a high-profile match at WrestleMania so he is in a good spot.  Owens is a rarity on the Raw roster today as his target audience is mainly adults, and there is nothing kid-friendly about him.  He is a perfect wrestling heel, he is obnoxious, cowardly, and cheats to win.

Sami Zayn is one of the higher-profile NXT call-ups as of late.  He didn’t have much luck in his first go-around on the main roster. During his ring entrance for his debut match, he raised his arms in the air and managed to break his shoulder, costing him over eight months of his career.  Anyway, he rehabilitated his injury and now is in the biggest match of his life to date.  Although he appears to be somewhat of a standard white-meat-babyface, the WWE fans have taken to his ring entrance and his character.  I am not convinced; I need to see a few good matches out of him before I make a judgement call on his abilities.

Dolph Ziggler has performed well in ladder matches, having won the Intercontinental championship in a standout ladder match against Luke Harper in 2014 at TLC.  Ziggler has plateaued in his career and no longer really shows any main-event promise.  He is a solid worker but he oversells for his opponents and is playing out of position as a babyface.  This is the right match for him to be in and he will certainly perform at the best of his abilities on the WrestleMania stage.

Zach Ryder is the lucky winner in this match.  He is filling in for Neville who badly broke his ankle and leg just two weeks ago on Raw.  Ryder was the low man on the totem pole in the WWE before went into business for himself by filming his own YouTube show.  Fans took notice and started chanting for him at live events.  A quick push disappeared as fast as it started and he has been languishing in NXT for quite some time.  This is an opportunity for him to showcase his abilities on the grandest stage of them all and he should be very highly motivated in this match.

Sin Cara doesn’t have much going on for himself right now as he has been outshined by his tag team partner, Kalisto.  He does not display any character and is mostly voiceless.  We don’t know much about him other than that he is a Luchador-style high spot worker.  I would expect him to try some sort of death-defying bump during this match just to get himself noticed.

The Miz continues to be under-utilized on the WWE main roster.  He was once the top heel in the company, having defeated John Cena in the main event at WrestleMania XVII with an assist from The Rock.  That was the highlight of his career as he has been booked in the mid-card at best ever since.  A ladder match doesn’t seem like it plays to his strengths as a performer.  Overall, it doesn’t make much sense for him to be in this match and it probably won’t advance his career very much.

Stardust is among the most talented performers in this match.  As the son of The American Dream Dusty Rhodes, he was born and bred to be in the professional wrestling business.  He has earned critical praise for being all-in to his Stardust character and plays a very convincing character.  He is yet another under-utilized talent on the crowded WWE roster.  He certainly is deserving of a premier spot on the card and hopefully is featured prominently in this match.

These seven-man ladder matches are a tough proposition for wrestlers these days.  We have seen too many of them. The wrestlers are starting to run out of ways to use ladders as weapons, or fall off of ladders through tables.  They constantly struggle to find new and interesting ways to take death-defying bumps to wow the crowd.  Timing is also key in a match like this as quite often one or more of them need to either disappear for large swaths of time, or be standing in the right place at the right time to take their bumps properly.  Like I said at the top of this blog, it could either be a standout classic, or very ugly to watch.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion, Kevin Owens

The New Day vs. The League of Nations in a 4-on-3 Handicap match

The New Day has enjoyed a very solid run as the top heel faction in the WWE over the past year.  They have been so good at it, they have slowly turned into a babyface trio as the crowd can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous things they say and do.  Their hard work and dedication to their gimmick has paid off as they have held the WWE Tag Team Championship using the Freebird Rule since the summer.  They are likely going to do an extensive comedy skit before the match as part of their entrance.  Let’s hope for everybody’s sake that they bring their best material as their skits can be hit-or-miss.

The League of Nations is a group of guys who make you scratch your head and ask yourself “how did he go so wrong?”  Sheamus actually held the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for a few weeks last year, not that anybody would remember.  King Barrett was on top of the world with his “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news” catch phrase, only to have inexplicably lost his momentum after winning King of the Ring in 2015.  Alberto Del Rio used to have one of the greatest ring entrances of all time, driving to the ring in ultra-expensive luxury cars while his personal ring announcer introduced him to the crowd in Spanish.  Since his return to the WWE, he beat John Cena in a match and quickly got pushed down the card.  The most depressing case out of all of them is Rusev.  He was the best monster heel the WWE has seen in years headed into WrestleMania 31.  That day was the turning point in his career as he started a losing streak that he still hasn’t recovered from.  The low point was when he permanently lost all credibility as a bad guy when he was entangled in a bizarre storyline about a love triangle with Summer Rae, Dolph Ziggler, and Lana.

What we have here are two factions headed in different directions.  The New Day has a lot of upside potential for the rest of 2016 and beyond.  It wouldn’t surprise me if most or all of the members of The League of Nations aren’t even on the WWE roster by the time WrestleMania 33 rolls around.  That will be a shame, as they are all very talented and deserve better than what WWE creative has handed them.

This should actually be a decent match as there is a good combination of size, strength, speed, and agility across the board.  I have a strong feeling that this match will play out in such a way that The New Day come out of it as babyfaces and stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Prediction: Winners, The New Day

Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair) vs. Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Divas Championship

Not even Ric Flair himself can save this train wreck of a match from being awful.  All I can hope for is that it is very short.  If we are really lucky, the show will be running long and it will get bumped because there is not enough time to have it.

Prediction: This match is going to suck

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho is about eight years past his prime.  He looks chubby, slow, and old in the ring.  He has left and returned so many times that it is no longer shocking or interesting when he shows up in the WWE from out of nowhere.  Despite all of this, if there is only one thing that he is still good at, it is his ability to cut a great heel promo.  His diatribe towards the crowd at WWE Roadblock two weeks ago was simply brilliant and has the fans solidly rooting against him.

AJ Styles was well received by the WWE faithful following his surprise entrance at The Royal Rumble in January.  In somewhat of an unusual step, a WWE outsider was brought in to the main roster without having to stop off in NXT developmental for a stay.  Styles is apparently a well know performer from TNA and NJPW, but as a WWE-only fan, I don’t know anything about him other than what I’ve seen these past three months.  So far he has shown flashes of impressive wrestling offense, but he is rather dull on the microphone.  This is a very good spot for Styles to be in, having gone from relative obscurity to a singles match at WrestleMania in a short period of time.

This is a repeat match that we’ve seen twice already.  The two were enemies, friends, and enemies again in just a matter of weeks.  They already have a pretty decent rapport and familiarity with each other, with Styles proving that he can carry the older and slower Chris Jericho through a match. I’ve always felt that wrestling is at its best when two performers square off in a one-on-one grudge match with no distracting stipulations.  This match fits that category and could be very entertaining.

Prediction: Winner, Chris Jericho

Thanks for reading part two.  Part three is coming soon and will feature the three main events on the card.

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WWE FastLane Analysis and Predictions

February 20, 2016 by Leave a Comment

WrestleMania season should be the best time of year to be a WWE fan.  I haven’t found myself to be this underwhelmed by the road to WrestleMania in years.  Due to a roster that has been decimated by injuries, an ill-advised monster push of a mediocre talent in Roman Reigns, and the inability of the WWE to build any new main-event-level stars in years, there hasn’t been much to look forward to lately.

The biggest problem I have is that I can see the ending coming from a mile away.  Roman Reigns is going to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32.  Not only does it suck knowing the ending of a story before it has been told, but it is an ending I don’t want to see.  We are going to have to suffer through weeks of promos on Raw between FastLane and WrestleMania that are going to highlight Reigns’ inability to put two sentences together or wrestle a coherent match.  Every single flaw of his is going to be highlighted on his way to headlining his second WrestleMania in a row.  As a lifetime fan, I just don’t get it.

The rest of the card doesn’t excite me very much.  We have not one, but two Divas matches to sit through.  The rest of the matches were hastily thrown together and it is not clear if any of them are going to set up something for WrestleMania.  There is a chance we get a surprise visit from a returning star that we know will be at WrestleMania (Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker) or a surprise return of a former big star such as Goldberg or Shawn Michaels.  Maybe even a NXT rookie gets the call and jumps into the mix.  Failing that, there is not much to look forward to on this card.

With any luck, we will get a few surprises and get something exciting to look forward to at WrestleMania 32.  If not, I might be asleep by the time the main event comes along.  Let’s take a look at the card.

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho

The WWE decided to bring Chris Jericho out of mothballs and throw him into the WrestleMania mix.  This is about his 10th surprise return and it is just about as unimportant as the last nine.  His timing is a step behind both in the ring and on the mic.  He looks old and in poor shape and he can’t seem to decide if he is a babyface or a heel.  If they had to find a legend to bring back to generate some excitement, it’s hard to understand why it was Jericho, unless he really needed the cash and Vince McMahon felt bad for him.

AJ Styles is an interesting watch.  As a WWE-only fan, I have never seen him wrestle in the past but the fans seemed to be excited to see him, as he was a well-known name in the lesser professional wrestling promotions in the past.  The WWE clearly thinks very highly of him as they sent him to the main roster right away without having him spend some time learning the ropes in NXT.  This is a good opportunity for him to show the WWE audience what he is capable of, and if he is lucky, he will get a prominent spot on the WrestleMania card.

If this match is going to be any good, AJ Styles is going to have to carry it.  Jericho clearly is having a hard time moving around and doesn’t look like he is capable of carrying a match on his own.  I wouldn’t expect too many high spots or extreme moments, and would instead think that we are going to get a technical showcase.

Prediction: Winner, AJ Styles

Kevin Owens (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler in a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Kevin Owens had one of the hottest rookie starts we have seen in a while since he hit the main roster in 2015 with a big feud against John Cena.  Since that time, he has been a victim of 50/50 booking in the WWE that so many talents have had to endure.  The win one week, lose the next.  There is never any consistency and it is hard to expect anything from them headed into big matches.  This is a big mistake; Owens has the potential to be the biggest heel in the promotions.  He is a natural jerk and an innovative wrestler.  The fans (especially in the adult demographic) have already connected with him and he can go places if he is used properly.

It is good to see that he is the IC champ once more, but I don’t like that the title was switched on a Raw episode.  The IC title should mean something and it seems like he won it in a throwaway match.  Hopefully he can hang on to the title for quite some time and emerge as a main-event level talent through the course of his run.

Dolph Ziggler is in the “what you see is what you get” phase of his career.  He isn’t getting any better, he isn’t getting any younger.  He is a natural heel working a babyface gimmick.  He over-sells for his opponents and hasn’t had a memorable match in almost a year.  He is a decent hand to have around if the WWE needs to make someone else look good.  Hopefully he does that for Kevin Owens.

This match has potential to be one of the better ones of the evening as I would expect the unexpected from Kevin Owens.  His matches are fast-paced and have a lot of false finishes and tense moments.  Ziggler is one of the best on the card right now that can match that style.

Prediction: Winner and still WWE Intercontinental Champion, Kevin Owens.

Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks vs. Team B.A.D. (Naomi and Tamina) in a tag team match

The first of two awful Divas matches on the card.

Prediction: This match is going to suck.

Charlotte (c) (with Ric Flair) vs. Brie Bella in a singles match for the WWE Divas Championship

Not even ‘Naich himself can save this match.  Charlotte is the best female competitor on the roster these days but that’s not saying very much.  Brie Bella can’t retire fast enough for me.  Watching her attempt to emote during her promos makes me uncomfortable.

Prediction: This match is going to suck, probably just slightly less than the Team B.A.D match.  Either way, don’t watch it.

Ryback, Big Show, and Kane vs. The Wyatt Family (Luke Harper, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman) (with Bray Wyatt) in a six-man tag team match

The odd pairing of Ryback, Big Show, and Kane was hastily thrown together to give the Wyatts a chance to compete on the card.  It is unfortunate that Kane has slid back into a minimized role after a great run as the evil COO of The Authority.  Kane is one of the most underrated talents of the past 20 years in the WWE and he is capable of playing much more than this bit part.  Same goes for The Big Show, the way he is booked doesn’t give much integrity to his character.  Ryback can hold his own in a big match, but he is mainly a one-trick-pony with his “feed me more” chant that really has to change.

The Wyatt Family continues to be an enigma in the WWE.  They have one of the most unique gimmicks we have seen in quite some time but there never seems to be any payoff to any of their storylines.  They never win championships (save for a brief IC title run for Luke Harper when the family had temporarily broken up), and never have big WrestleMania moments.  We never really know why they pick fights with others, and every feud they have just seems to die out with them losing.  It is a shame that they can’t get some sort of momentum behind this group, they can all wrestle and cut good promos.

There is probably something more at play with the Wyatts at FastLane than just this match.  Expect some sort of interaction or run-in that sets up one or more matches for them at WrestleMania 32, particularly with Wyatt and Strowman.

This match can be either really good, or bowling-shoe-ugly.  Everyone competitor in this match is among the most talented in-ring performers the WWE has to offer right now (yes, that includes the Big Show), but individual contributions may be lost in the shuffle in a six-man tag match.  If the Wyatts are going to have any momentum headed into WrestleMania, they are going to have to look strong in this match.

Prediction: Winners, The Wyatt Family

Dean Ambrose vs. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) in a Triple threat match to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 32

As I eluded to in the opening of this blog post, the outcome of this match seems obvious to any fan of the WWE right now.  Roman Reigns is going to wrestle a poor match, yet come away with a win and head to WrestleMania to challenge Triple H for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Dean Ambrose has proved time and time again that he can be counted on to handle himself in a main event at a pay-per-view.  Brock Lesnar is the best in-ring performer on the WWE main roster right now.  Roman Reigns is in way over his head in this match and has little chance of looking like he deserves the push to the top that he is currently riding.  I would expect him to be booed very loudly as during his entrance, and even louder when he wins the match.

Hard to say exactly what might happen in this match but I have a few theories:

  1. Dean Ambrose does a heel turn and turns on Reigns during this match. This would be especially satisfying if he somehow won while he was at it.
  2. Brock Lesnar is about to win the match, the Wyatts interrupt just as Lesnar goes for the pin and cost him the match. This sets up a clash between one of the Wyatts (Bray Wyatt or Braun Strowman) to wrestle Lesnar at WrestleMania.
  3. Reigns wins the match cleanly (boring!).
  4. Triple H somehow interferes and attempts to screw Reigns, but his plans backfire and Reigns wins the match anyway.

Prediction: Winner and new #1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Roman Reigns

I sure hope I am wrong with that last prediction, and I also hope that that FastLane exceeds my low expectations.  I think the biggest thing that could save the show is a surprise return, one that we didn’t see coming.

 

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