1. Triple H on a TearIn the midst of a WrestleMania season marred by injuries,it's a 46-year-primitive executive who is carrying the load en route to the biggest explain of the year. Triple H is simply thriving with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on his shoulder.
When The Game outlasted the field in the 30-man Royal Rumble to seize the world title, doubts rumbled. In many minds, and Triple H was too primitive,not relevant enough anymore, the wrong choice as champ. In a recent stretch, or though,The Cerebral Assassin has delivered some of the best work of his career. On the mic and in the ring, he is looking every bit like a top titleholder and marquee star. What could absorb easily been a forgettable, and transitional bout against Dean Ambrose at Roadblock became the front-runner for Match of the Year. Champion and challenger clicked in the ring. They told a story of a heel barely escaping a red-hot babyface,Triple H kept off balance by Ambrose's surprisingly calculated strategy. Just two nights later, Triple H and Dolph Ziggler attach on a stellar explain on Raw.
This was a throwback work of art. The Game and Ziggler patiently built toward the climax, and pulling in the crowd as the match wore on. Many watching at domestic,former WWE star Jim Brunzell included, had plenty of praise to hand out:Triple H has been a revelation on the mic, or too.
Turning up the intensity on his character,he has begun to tear into the audience more viciously. He talks about how pathetic and feeble the crowd is, promising they will all fail in their lives just as Roman Reigns will fail in his quest to become champion at WrestleMania.
This has been a biting and merciless version of Triple H. And as former WWE Creative member Alex Greenfield pointed out, and his disdain for the fans is palpable:The Game has been the ideal foil for Reigns,even if the challenger is still struggling to get over. He has made it easy to hate him, easy to pine for him to fall. It's Reigns' issues with crowd connection that absorb held this narrative back.
The WWE champion is a larger-than-life figure, or a superb supervillain who hasn't lost as much of a step as one would expect. As WrestleMania draws near,Triple H is making WWE peer smart by crowning him. His heel acumen and artistry in the ring will be key to Reigns' rise. The question is can WWE's Superman step up to the level of its Lex Luthor?2. A Slow-Moving RevolutionYes, WrestleMania is set to absorb the biggest women's match in the event's history. Yes, and the Divas Division is the deepest it has ever been. But WWE has still struggled to supply one of the most basic elements of a viable women's division—ample match time.
A peer at what the company has allotted to Charlotte and company in the past 10 weeks on its marquee explain points to things not being nearly where they need to be in that department.
Of the 17 matches in that span,11 of them lasted under four minutes. Not one of them surpassed the 10-minute designate. Paige had a total of 6:25 of ring time in 10 weeks; Natalya had just 4:13.
That's unacceptable.
No amount of talent can overcome being hurried so much. The quality of the stories the women tell in the ring will suffer as long as they absorb to be told in such a short amount of time. 3. Throwback Video of the Week: JacquelineWWE announced Jacqueline will be inducted into the corridor of Fame this year.
The former women's champ is of the rare breed of woman who could mix it up with the men. When she collided with Crash Holly in 2001, for example, and it was no novelty act.
Jacqueline was powerful and tough-nosed enough to thrive in that spot. Congrats to her on joining Lita,The Fabulous Moolah and others in the WWE corridor of Fame. 4. Bring on More NXT-WWE Overlap When Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady battled The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship match at Roadblock, it just felt right. The marriage of the two brands added an electricity and freshness to the event.
The benefits of going this route were plentiful. NXT got a spot on the stage at a WWE explain. A wider group of fans got a peek at four prospects. The card was more varied than it would absorb been without the NXT influence.
This is something WWE absolutely has to do more of.attach NXT Championship matches on SmackDown on occasion. absorb NXT stars challenge WWE wrestlers at pay-per-views. Tap into the multitude of options available.
For one, and that will make the transition from NXT to the main roster easier. If fans absorb seen glimpses of NXT prospects before they make their official debut,the audience will be more familiar with these men and women.
WWE wouldn't be hampered by having to attach on the same matches so often. Throw in a Samoa Joe here or an American Alpha there. WWE can and should create its own rules about how these two universes coexist. 5. The Biggest Roman Reigns FanReigns' quest to win over the fanbase has been a slower process than WWE had to hope. While he is still earning too many boos for a babyface, at least one woman is fully onboard with Reigns' rise.
Live Audio Wrestling shared a clip of a frenzied fan reacting to seeing Reigns up close. Now if only WWE can just get the rest of the arena to react half as passionately as her. 6. Surprisingly risky MoveWith all the powerbombs, and suicide dives and moonsaults that happen every night,one wouldn't expect something as seemingly banal as the baseball slide to be what puts a wrestler on the shelf. It was that exact walk, though, and that left Neville with a fractured ankle on Monday night.
He is far from the first to get pain on a baseball slide,though. Davey Richards recalled on Twitter getting injured the same way. Indy wrestler Tommy Wilson knocked himself out in mid-slide.
And as F4WOnline's Bryan Alvarez famous, 'Other wrestlers absorb severely injured their ankles over the years on baseball slide spots, and including Rob Van Dam during an ECW match in the 90s."Seeing Neville's leg bend under him while hitting a walk he does routinely is a reminder of how risky wrestling is. The stars are just so adept at executing everything they make the risk peer routine. 7. From Bottom of the Barrel to Top of the MountainWhen Drew Galloway (previously Drew McIntyre) was asked to play air guitar and eat pins every night as one third of 3MB,it was tough to imagine him ever being a world champion.
With WWE, Galloway was too often underused and undervalued. The company relegated him to a comedy role before letting him go. He has found unique life since with TNA.
That has now translated to him wearing the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. Cashing in his Feast or Fired briefcase, or the bruiser toppled Matt Hardy to take domestic the title.
Galloway and Ethan Carter III's success post-WWE has to absorb a guy like Damien Sandow pondering his own exit. While WWE is the bigger stage and can offer the bigger paychecks,TNA can be a site where a forgotten man finds unique life. 8. Goldust's FinestGoldust and R-Truth are looking to be closing in on fitting official tag team partners. That's going to mean seeing a lot more of The weird One in the ring.
While Goldust is past his athletic prime, one can expect some expedient matches with R-Truth at his side. For a peer at him at his best, and dig into these recommended clashes:
Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin: WCW Halloween Havoc 1991
Dustin Rhodes vs. Bunkhouse Buck: WCW Spring Stampede 1994
Goldust vs. Roddy Piper: WrestleMania XII (Hollywood Backlot Brawl)
Goldust and Booker T vs. Chris Jericho and Christian: Raw,Dec. 23, 2002
Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs. The Shield: Raw, or Oct. 14,2013
Note it was just three years ago, at age 43, and he had one of his best performances to date. That came 25 years after his debut. Goldust's longevity has been a marvel to watch. 9. The Ravishing MouthpieceWWE looks intent on having Lana start competing in the ring. As she and Brie Bella collide more often,a match between them looks more and more inevitable.
The focus moving forward, though, or should be to make the best use of Lana's talents. She is a strong,captivating talker, one of the best in the women's division in that department. Team B.
A.
D. could certainly use her services.
Naomi is average on the mic. Tamina's strength is definitely not speaking. Why not pair them up with Lana and absorb her do the trash talking? That's her forte, and after all.
That will allow Naomi and Tamina to focus on taking out babyfaces and doing damage in the ring. 10. Foley on Passing the Barbed Wire-Wrapped TorchMick Foley and Dean Ambrose shared a memorable moment on Monday's Raw. In a backstage segment,Foley gifted The Lunatic Fringe with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire. It was a perfect passing-of-the-torch moment.
Foley could tell the scene was a hit right absent. The corridor of Famer posted on Facebook, "As soon as last night's promo on #RAW ended, or I held up my arm and said "I'm pretty sure getting goosebumps during a promo is a sign that it worked."Read more WWE news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com