Go2Sleep

This is all part of too much airtime. If the matches get cut in half, what fills that extra time? The "floor spot -> (Insert wrestler) is rolling! -> commercial" thing has to be one of the more annoying tropes in WWE, though.

There were a bunch of guys who are alright (all those late 2000s guys), but did they have anyone who would've been a top 5 worker in any year from 2012-2014? Del Rio maybe? Again, seriously who was the best worker? Raw was no great shakes 4 months ago, but going from Rollins as the primary double-duty match guy to Roman and losing a reliable decent 10-minute match guy like Cesaro is still going to have a noticeable negative effect on the show.

Sheamus and New Day dancing was easily the best part of this show. The women's stuff was at least moving in a good direction. They haven't messed with Sasha yet (well other than saddling her with Naomi and Tamina but what's done is done), and Becky finally got to do something. The whole Dunn/McMahon "all women are bitches" booking reared its ugly head, but a 4-way ladder match with Charlotte, Paige, Becky, and Sasha would be something I legitimately want to see. This is what WWE looks like with no star power and no talent. Seriously who was the best worker on this show?

First half WCW is terrible, but every WCW ppv from June-December of 96 falls somewhere between good and all-time great. WWF wasn't great overall, but most of their shows were only 2 hours so it's not too hard to get through. Plus Shawn, Foley, and Taker were all working their asses off that year if nothing else. Hopefully you enjoy WWF attitude era shows, otherwise you might die when you have to watch WCW from 98-01.

It helped them get their feet in the door, and to some extent, I'm sure the small percentage of hardcores constantly chanting for them gave them a little boost with the rest of the audience. Still, I doubt more than 5% of WWE fans saw any of Bryan or Punk's work in ROH. Bryan was definitely their most recent star, but it took them forever to figure out how to use him, then he got hurt right after so... I also think Rollins has a subtle star quality about him. He's at least at that Edge level where he's a reliable main eventer if nothing else. He could easily be a huge deal when he comes back, but I think we're all through giving WWE the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making things like that happen. On the other two questions, I think everyone agrees overexposure is a huge problem and has been for some time. Even HHH hates the 3-hour Raw model, and Smackdown is useless at this point. It's only going to get worse the thinner the roster gets too. I don't think the quantity of promos are as much a problem as the quality. Sure, sometimes that opening segment gets into serious overkill territory (which leads to the trickle down effect of a commercial break in every match), but the attitude era had lots of well-remembered long promo segments. Overscripting is another issue people have been harping on forever and it definitely has merit. It's a big reason why just about everyone feels the same, because their words are all coming from the same person. They could probably stand to mix in more backstage interviews and taped interviews instead of everything being an in-ring monologue, but without guys getting more creative license, changing the scenery won't do much.

The main roster is having some atrocious luck with injuries right now, but it's been pretty uninspired all year. I only watch ppvs or whatever they're called now live, I usually watch Raw in less than an hour on DVR, and I can't remember the last time I actually watched any SD. The storylines haven't been interesting at all, and the match quality is the worst it's been in several years. If you took away NXT matches, the MOTY list would be embarrassing right now. That said, overall it's probably better right now than it was at this time in 2013 or 2010.

Not too surprising about Crowe. He was getting lost in the shuffle bad, and with the rumored new names coming in, and it wouldn't appear he was getting out any time soon.

I guess Raw is more watchable now than it was at this time in 2013. The problem is that the only person on the horizon that can inject any life into the product is John Cena, which dampens my hopes for an early 2014-esque rennaissance heading into Mania.

Can't go wrong with watching everything on the network, but honestly, if you want the GREAT NXT you're used to today, start with R-Evolution.

I always thought the WWE injury rate was just a function of how many matches they have. I could be wrong, but don't indy guys do maybe 2 shows a week at most, and in Japan they're doing month on/month off, whereas WWE does 2-3 tv shows a week plus multiple house shows throughout the year? In addition to the general wear and tear with no recovery time, the chances of a fluke injury are higher just as a matter of volume. You look at guy like Seth Rollins working that schedule plus being Mr. Double Duty on Raw for like 2 years straight, and you have to consider him insanely lucky he lasted as long as he did. Bryan was Mr. Double Duty before Rollins and while he racked some notable injuries on the indies, he didn't seem to get the "injury prone" label until he was working the WWE schedule with a higher volume of less strenuous matches.

Yes I'm sure this will result in loud heat for Sheamus as well as loud pops for Roman from now on and not dead silence, or worse yet, "boring" chants.

They finally got Roman the biggest face pop of his life when he speared HHH, then proceeded to give Sheamus the title and end the show with Roman crying in confetti to silence. Good work.

My non-Roman prediction is Ambrose wins it all, and they test Roman's moral resolve as he has another "close but not quite" moment and his best friend passes him by.

The biggest problem with the main event promo was how poorly written it was. Having Charlotte talk about Reid at length telegraphed the whole thing to the point where Paige would've looked stupid for not calling it out. The whole thing was so meandering and aimless until the end, it felt like they were just looking for anything to wrap it up while making people forget how little sense the rest made. You just have Charlotte talk about her talented family that never gives up and how she's gonna carry on the legacy by beating Paige this Sunday, then Paige comes back with Ric giving up on his marraiges/dignity, David giving up on his talentless career, then the Reid-bomb. Takes half the time, no back-and-forth just one promo each, and still gets mega heat.

The WCW themed ppv sets ruled. Just the right level of cheese, and there would always be some kind of garbage match that would roll through and make use of the unique props while Dusty went nuts on commentary. The biggest problem problem with WWE's look is that it hasn't significantly changed since like 97, and even moreso since the mid 2000s. Outside of permissible content and the requistite personnel turnover, shows from 2002 look identical to the ones today.

You know what else was cool on this show I forgot to mention? Dawson bringing back the Nagata Lock. I always liked that move.

Just another great episode of NXT. Liked that run-in by Crews to start the show. It was way over and Crews got to show more range than "happy to be here." I think he's definitely in line to be the next face champ. The mixed tag was a prime example of why NXT is the best. Out of those 6 people, I cared about maybe 1.5 of them going in, but together they all produced a really strong match that made everyone look more important at the end. I really liked the booking of Bayley as the #1 person in the entire match. Hitting the B2B on Murphy is a good subtle build to her being able to hang with Nia. Nia Jax is looking more comfortable each week, and the Eva angle is intriguing. I also liked the backstage segment with Bayley and Alexa where Nia handled the dominant tweener role perfectly. The tag title match was fine. I really like Dash and Dawson. They're an ideal straight-man team for all the other wacky charismatic teams around them. Them vs. Jordan/Gable is money. Joe's promo was good at the end, as was using Drake to set up the choke. I hope Joe gets a run with the strap. I'd love to see matches with him against Crews and Hideo (and Zayn of course if he comes back to NXT instead of the main roster).

The Yeti might work if he was going to do a d-bag jock heel gimmick. DVDVR is not an accurate representation of the amount of current fans who remember the WCW Yeti. Also, I didn't watch Tough Enough. Is ZZ kind of slow, or is he just always kayfabing the backwoods gimmick?

Kayfabe wise, it's because he's definitely in the top 16 and why would he turn down a title opportunity where he doesn't have to use the case? Edge competed in the gold rush tournament when he held the first MITB too.

MITB is still good as long as it's on the right person. It helped Seth Rollins immensely as recently as last year. It's the most-protected and credible prop WWE has. You could make a pretty good case that means more than all the belts except the main one and the Rumble. Nothing says "this guy is now a big deal" like holding that briefcase. It's basically what the Rumble meant until the mid 2000s, and the rise of MITB in the same timeframe is no coincidence. I know Sheamus holding the case is terrible, but that's a problem with him, not the concept of MITB itself. The list of successes with the case is a lot longer than the list of failures.

They need to hurry up and build that giant stadium in LA so Mania can go somewhere decent again. Dallas and Minneapolis back to back, wtf? That said, I'll still be making the trip. I know some people there, plus it's close so I know a lot more people from home are going this year. With NXT blowing up over the last year, there will be even more good wrestling so I won't have to worry about finding too many other things to do in Dallas. No way ROH runs a show at the same time as NXT this year.

If there's one flaw in the NXT training process, it's that someone there is telling people to do way too many reps of their entrance pose. Still, I like Finn's jacket. It's a good, simple prop when he's not in demon mode.

Good thing sports medicine has improved to the point where Rollins should make a full recovery. The injury looks/sounds bad, but professional athletes have come back from similarly ugly knee injuries in the last few years. Even if he wasn't booked the best, he really seemed like he tried to make the most of everything he was given, including having consistently solid matches. The time off could be beneficial to his character, though. He could come back in any number of ways and seem like a big deal. In the short term, I think now's just the time to pull the trigger on Roman. He's been sitting in that "next in line" spot for months, and well, everyone ahead of him is now out of the way. He really is the highest ranked full-timer at the moment, so it would look bad if someone else bypassed him out of the blue. Give Roman the strap and use him to give the rubs to guys like Owens, Ambrose, etc. Bray Wyatt would be the best heel option, but the problem with that is Roman is still the top face, and those two just got out of a 4-month program. There's still a lot of fresh heel options outside of Bray to go through Roman if he has the strap. It should be noted that the "fresh heel options" do not include Sheamus, who should be fed to Roman the following night on Raw in a competitive tv match. I suppose a surprise-cash-in-fail is on the table, but I think that comes across as too forced and there's really no reason to completely kill off Sheamus who can still contribute in the tag division.

Eva's new finisher... Woof. I wish NXT had a richer tag team history so someone other than the Ascension could be used for a rub. I liked the main until the finish. It was basically two CAWs with maxed out attributes trading moves, which is kinda how both guys (especially Crews) are built up. Felt like a NJ juniors match at times, in a good way. The ending angle doesn't seem like it'll make a ton of sense. Why is Corbin going to be content to let Joe get the title shot while he dicks around with Crews for nothing (maybe a #1 contender spot if he's lucky)? There's probably better ways to get there, but heel Joe vs. Finn Balor is money. Fox Studios, but close http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822832/?ref_=nv_sr_2