Big Boss Man with Bret Hart & Road Warrior Hawk

Clash of Champions thoughts + more

I know I'm a bit late on this, but I've got a few thoughts regarding Clash of Champions. I mostly want to cover a few major points.


Tag Team Title Match. Once again, New Day managed to retain the titles. This time, Xavier had to use a trombone to help the team win. I seriously expect heels to do stuff like this, but a face team? When I see a face team struggle to keep their titles like this, it really makes them look desperate. I think it would look better if a team like Anderson & Gallows to just get the win, forcing New Day to chase the titles.

I'm seriously bored with New Day as champions. I mentioned this previously and it's worth repeating. I realize WWE is hyping New Day with a record breaking title reign. Trust me, I get it. I'm just not thrilled with how WWE is building this record. If they want to build New Day up as such a dominate team, don't make them into such a joke.

When Demolition was building their record, they were allowed to actually kick ass. I can't remember if they were faces or heels at that time. Not sure if that's relevant to this point. They didn't have to be ridiculous. Even as faces, they were allowed to be ass kickers.

New Day, during most of the groups history, has been a bunch of goof offs. I know that's normal, but most goof offs typically don't have long title reigns. That's usually because they're used as comedians and not serious wrestlers. To me, this makes the titles look weak when comedian wrestlers are allowed to be champions too long.

They're capable of doing more then just being comedians. Allow them to show what they're capable of doing without goofing off so much. Even wrestlers like Edge & Christian were allowed to develop into serious wrestlers.

Anderson & Gallows would be a serious change of pace as tag team champions.

This brings me to another concern. What the hell was the point of a best-of-seven series between Cesaro and Sheamus if it's going to end up tied? I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, logic would be used. The first point that would've been obvious would've been book a rematch, only this time we must have a winner. It could've involved a cage match. Could've been a Last Man Standing match. Book a Submission match, as far as I'm concerned. A match could've been booked where one of these guys had to fucking win.

Nope. Couldn't get that. A suitable 2nd choice would've been a triple threat match for the Universal title. If booked right, this would've been acceptable. It could've been booked as simply as Foley or Stephanie telling Sheamus & Cesaro that they're being viewed as equals because of how badly they've been beating each other up. Since they're viewed as equals, they both get a shot at the Universal title.


Nope, couldn't get that.

What do we get instead? WWE uses the crap of "we promised they'd get A title shot, but didn't state which title they'd challenge for" bullshit. Since we didn't specify what title you'd challenge for, we're going to make arch rivals team up to challenge for the tag team titles, but only if they seriously want their title shot.

Yeah, like that hasn't been beaten to death over the years. Sadly, this is how I expect New Day to drop the titles. Make them drop the titles to a mix & match team where both wrestlers hate each others' guts. Then, just to make a point, they'll somehow keep the titles a few months, forcing them to work together for awhile.

Next.....I'm cool with Charlotte being the champion. Basic logic seems to apply here. Her challengers look strong going into the title matches. When the big match happens, she finds a way of retaining the title. They manage to do so while still allowing Charlotte to look credible. WWE seems to have the Charlotte booked in a fashion where she cheats, but still allow her to show off her talents. Nice balance, so far, IMO.

I also have to ask why Roman Reigns was allowed to leave Clash of Champions as new United States Champion. Considering how he's been booked, I thought it would've made sense for Rusev to remain champion, even if it was through hook & crook. When a face dominates this much going into a major title match, it makes sense to have the heel somehow leave as champion. Allow for the heel champ to pull off a few big matches where he squirms out as the champion, only for the face to finally get his ultimate revenge.

Perhaps WWE will surprise me. I hope so. I doubt it, but I'm hoping they manage to find a way of surprising me.

Looks like WWE is serious about having Roman as a midcarder for awhile, which I'll happily live with. When fans are ready to accept him as a main eventer, then push him back to the top. WWE has more room for top stars with a roster split. Roman will have his shot at the main event again, with the right grooming.


Finally, it doesn't surprise me that Kevin Owens is still Universal Champion. I was expecting Triple H to interfere at one point. Then again, Jericho's interference wasn't a surprise either. From what I caught on Raw, earlier, I think a Jericho/Owens feud will be inevitable. We've seen this before. Two close "buddies", one of which is a champion. The wrestler without the title becomes jealous. Jericho did make the comment along the lines "we're the champ"....something along those lines.

I suspect this will build into Jericho being jealous. Maybe Owens becomes ticked off with Jericho trying to steal his thunder. We'll likely see things involving Jericho believing he's really the champ and whatnot. There are several options WWE could probably go with.

If a feud eventually happens like I suspect, this could be entertaining. Jericho & Owens are both entertaining wrestlers. I feel they could put on a great series of matches, if allowed to.

Thoughts? Comments?

Clash of Champions predictions

With Clash of Champions happening on Sunday, I'm going to try and predict the winners.



Pre-Show:
Nia Jax defeats Alicia Fox easily in a short match.

Main Card:
Sami Zayn defeats Chris Jericho

Cruiserweight Title Match: T.J. Perkins(c) retains against Brian Kendrick

Cesaro defeats Sheamus.

Raw Tag Team Title Match: Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson defeat The New Day(c) to become new champions.

Raw Women's Title Match/Triple Threat: Bayley defeats Sasha Banks and Charlotte(c) by pinning Sasha to become the new champion.

United States Title Match: Rusev(c) defeats Roman Reigns to retain the title.

Universal Title Match: Kevin Owens(c) defeats Seth Rollins to retain the title, likely with help from Triple H.

thoughts on current WWE product

Over the last couple of years, I've been making an attempt to get back into wrestling. Since I don't have access to TNA on TV anymore, I'm going to limit myself to WWE at the moment. When I  get the odd indy show coming to town, I'll make sure to be excited about that.

Until then, here's how I'm feeling about a variety of topics.

The New Day:
I've generally become bored of the trio, as of late. Nothing against them. The group has made me give a shit about Big E. Xavier & Kofi can usually have good matches, as far as I'm concerned. Where I'm having problems is that their routine has become stale. It's the same stuff day in and day out.

Not really keen on their bumpin' & grindin' when they mention that they're WWE World Tag Team Champions. When Xavier states that, it's really the equivalent of nails on a chalkboard for me.

Plus, no matter how many "threats" come their way, New Day keeps coming back time after time. It's as though they've become the John Cena of the tag team division. Every team they've faced, as of late, inevitably turns into a joke. Hopefully now with Gallows & Anderson taking them on, that will change.

I understand WWE is building up New Days' record breaking title reign. I just ask they make some of the opponents a bit more threatening to the group.

I'm still trying to figure out the bit with the unicorn horns. Damned things look like dildos. Seriously, whenever I see New Day wearing the unicorn horns, it looks more like dildos then horns.

KEVIN OWENS:
I have to admit that I'm happy about WWE putting the Universal Title on Owens. I was surprised that he became the champion as I was expecting it to go on Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns, the latter I'll discuss later. Putting the strap on Owens was inevitable. It was simply a matter of time before he'd get a main event title (WWE or Universal titles).

How long this reign lasts will depend on a few key factors, usually the obvious points like merch sales, TV ratings and whatnot. With football season upon us, the ratings are going to take a hit for awhile. Hope this doesn't get WWE to cut Owens' reign short.

Then again, I can't imagine WWE cutting his reign short quite yet. It would make his build up a huge waste of time.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:
A recent trend I've been noticing is that WWE is bringing up a wrestlers success from outside WWE, as of late. Currently, it's small tidbits here and there, usually whenever someone is coming onto the main roster. I noticed it with Styles, Anderson & Gallows originally with their time in Japan.

I can't recall, off-hand, the other wrestlers they've done this for. It's usually quick little bits of information, usually involving the Indies that are no threat to WWE. Perhaps this trend will continue. After all, most wrestling fans are capable of looking this information up anyway.

Bo Dallas has gotten a few tweaks to his character, lately. Since I don't watch WWE every week, I mainly noticed this after he got into shit a few weeks back while drunk. Bo's showing a more aggressive streak. The goofiness he had previously was holding him back. Perhaps this new mean streak will mean a serious push for Bo.

Nice to have a cruiserweight division again. If this goes well, perhaps WWE will expand on it by adding a cruiserweight division for Smackdown. Depending on this works out, a separate 1-hour show on the Network could be an option.

We'll see.

While we're on the topic of divisions, it's about time WWE is taking the tag team division seriously again. They've been building on their tag team ranks quite a bit over the last several months. I'd have to go back several years to remember the last time WWE had such a healthy tag team roster.

The women's division is easily at it's best, right now. I'd have to go back to my childhood when I can remember women wrestlers being treated as serious competitors. Even then, I don't recall the women's division getting as much attention as it is now. When you have women like Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and so many others kicking ass, I can't help but feel happy.

Finally rid of the "divas" who have to win ridiculous contests, just to  get a contract and have sloppy matches. While I'm at it, I don't miss the "She-Ra Princess of Power" Belt. Seriously, that thing was atrocious.

Nice change having jobbers brought back to WWE. It was stupid to have your main roster battle it out week in & week out, making one guy look great at the expense of another performer. You need to make a wrestler look good? Don't do it at the expense of someone else's push.  Makes all their past accomplishments meaningless if they've been turned into over glorified curtain jerkers.

Couple weeks back, the Usos had a much needed heel turn. About damned time, I must say. They had been stale for a long time, through no fault of their own. If we could only get a heel turn with John Cena, I would have an easier time watching his matches again.

WWE seems to have realized that fans just weren't that interested in Roman Reigns. As of late, he's been depushed. Granted, he's being used more in a midcard/upper midcard capacity, but his push has been lessened. Nothing against the man, but WWE was trying too damned hard to push him down everyone's throats. One way or another, they were determined to get people behind him.

Maybe by taking it slower, WWE will have a better job getting fans behind Reigns. Maybe his feud with Rusev will also help build Rusev's character, which I wouldn't mind seeing.

The two bright spots for me, as of late, are AJ Styles and Miz. Miz has been more entertaining, as of late, then he's been previously. I think this started around the time Maryse first returned. Unfortunately, it didn't do Zach Ryder any favors. At least Ryder's managing to recover from that by teaming with Mojo Rawley, but I digress.

Miz has been nailing it out of the park, as of late. I'm of the opinion that once he had the worked shoot with Daniel Bryan, a few weeks back, Miz has truly found his niche. I want this to continue. The Intercontinental Championship hasn't looked this important in a long time. With Miz as champion, it may be awhile before we see him drop the belt.

I would like nothing better then Miz breaking Honky Tonk Man's record. I feel it could be truly epic, if WWE tried this.

Final thought for the day is AJ Styles as WWE Champion. That's something I never thought was possible until recently. Even when he finally joined WWE, I didn't want to get hopes up too high. Surprisingly, WWE had AJ win the title after a short time in the company.

He hasn't even been with WWE a full year and he's already the WWE Champion. That's not too shabby for a guy that started off with a few appearances in WCW, early on. Perhaps this is WWE's way of saying AJ's proven himself. I hope so. I want to see him go far in WWE.

That's all for me for right now. Please feel free to leave your comments.

intros

Hello. I'm JD Storm. This is my second attempt at a wrestling blog. I generally wasn't happy with the last one I had, so I'm starting over. My intentions with this blog is to discuss wrestling related topics, post a few pics, and whatnot.

Hope this goes better this time around.