Fallout from the Money in the Bank Pay-Per-View

Last night was the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event. Two ladder matches were contested; one to determine the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, the other to determine the contract holder for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship title shot any time in the next year.

Newly-minted Authority poster boy Seth Rollins captured the Money in the Bank briefcase, thanks to some well-timed interference by Kane. The screw-job finish turned some fans against what was a great match.

Superhero John Cena won the the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in an eight-man ladder match that featured few high-profile spots. Kane was taken out by Sheamus and Roman Reigns. Orton was left bloodied and requiring 12 staples in his scalp, thanks to an unfortunately placed ladder shot. The match ended with Cena sitting atop the ladder, the crowd peppered with more boos than cheers, and the Authority at ringside with looks of disapproval on their faces. More on this in a moment...

In other news, the Usos maintained their Tag Team championship reign. I fully believe the Wyatt Family should've won the titles, but WWE Creative doesn't exactly listen to me these days...or ever, for that matter. More on this in a moment...

Paige maintained the Divas Championship. She defeated Naomi in a well-fought match that might actually have been the best match of the night. More on this in a moment...

So...let's consider this a moment...

Paige , the Divas Division, and the Divas Championship

The "anti-diva" has been the exact opposite of that since being called up to the main roster. I blame Creative. They had an absolute gem in the persona Paige had crafted in NXT. Her run as the NXT Women's Champion was fantastic. But the moment she came to the main roster, Creative changed her into a weakened, sniveling babyface.

If I had been booking it, Paige would've won the Divas Title (an excuse to write AJ Lee out for a while) and the next episode of Raw she would've tossed the Divas Title into a trash can and instead used the NXT Women's Championship. She would've been a fighting champion, taking on anyone and everyone. But Creative decided she needed to be the female version of John Cena. Her moveset was limited and she became the babyface that gets the ever-loving crap beaten out of her for the first 95% of the match, only to storm back from the brink of death itself and win.

It seems that Creative would rather focus on the impending split of the Funkadactyls, Naomi and Cameron. For those not deigning to care, Cameron is in a somewhat-slow-but-no-one-cares heel turn. Tonight on Raw, Cameron and Naomi were forced into a handicap match against Nikki Bella. Naomi tagged herself in and quickly finished off Bella, but this angered Cameron. Instead of letting the two fake cheerleaders fight, referee Charles "Little Naitch" Robinson stepped between them and stopped them. Cameron callously waved-off her partner and stormed out.

That's the state of the Divas Division right now...

***And of course, as I'm writing this, AJ Lee comes back, goads Paige into a title match, and defeats Paige to reclaim the Divas Championship.***

Tag Teams Titles and the Teams That Deserve Them

The Usos have been Tag Team Champions since March 3rd. That's nearly 4 months as champions. I know WWE is trying to maintain longer title reigns to recoup some of the lost prestige the midcard titles have undergone, but the Usos don't need the titles to be over. The Wyatt Family doesn't either, but if the Wyatts took the titles off the Usos and engaged in a decent feud for the belts, it would add just as much prestige as a long title run.

The Wyatt Family has been shifted by Creative to actually care about titles, so it's logical they eventually win. With the Usos retaining the titles, the list of possible contenders to them starts to grow thin. Ryback and Curtis Axel still stand as possible contenders. Goldust and Stardust, the now fully-eccentric Cody Rhodes, stand as possible competitors, though the Dust Bros. are babyface. And given that the Dust BRos. just knocked off Rybaxel in about 35 seconds, I can't imagine Rybaxel getting a title shot anytime soon. If the Wyatts were to win the titles, the potential feuds are much greater in number.

New and Exciting Feuds

It was announced that a former WWE champion was returning. That superstar proved to be The Miz, returning after a four month absence to film The Marine 4. As Miz was berating the fans (...and let me say I'm glad he returned as a heel. Being a heel fits him better. And see, WWE, it is possible to have someone who does so much ambassador and charity work be a bad guy on camera *coughJohnCenacough*) a music not heard in a long while hit and Y2J himself, Chris Jericho, came to the ring. Jericho hit a Codebreaker on Miz and grabbed a mic. As he was saying "Raw is Jericho" the Wyatt Family's music hit, the arena went black, and when the lights came up the Wyatts had Jericho surrounded.

A beat down and a Sister Abigail later, Wyatt knelt over a vanquished Jericho. And I have to say...I like this. Jericho has a tendency to come in for a while and put over a rising star. And God knows Bray Wyatt needs a bump, as his career has stalled a bit thanks to a loss in the ladder match last night and suffering through Creative deciding that John Cena needed to win their feud. A Bray Wyatt - Chris Jericho feud, and the mic work that will accompany it, will tear the house down.

Seth Rollins and a Guaranteed Title Shot

The contract ladder match was definitely the better of the two ladder matches at Money in the Bank, even with the screw job finish. Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose obviously took up much of the story. I really figured that WWE would have Ziggler win, since he's a known commodity. Having Rollins capture the briefcase, though, will work out very well.

As Rollins celebrated a victory over Rob Van Dam, he was interrupted by Dean Ambrose, who told Rollins that he would never get to cash in. Every time Rollins drew close to cashing in, Ambrose would be there to see to it that the briefcase "blew up in [Seth's] face."

Yeah, it's a bit of a rehash of the storyline where John Cena kept stopping Dolph Ziggler from cashing in, but this is a rehash I think the fans will be more invested in.



John Cena and the Need For WWE To Keep Letting Him Win

I'm pretty sure I recently wrote that John Cena was the safe bet for the titles. And yeah, Cena is a sure fire draw. He has legions of toddler fans who are capable of guilt-tripping their parents into buying tons of neon-colored bullcrap merchandise. He can use toilet humor and poop jokes better than anyone else on the roster. And he can leech off the popularity of other wrestlers like no one else...notice that every interview and promo Cena does, he mentions Daniel Bryan, or some other popular wrestler from that city.

He can keep the titles warm, but the endgame here is interesting. It's been announced that Cena will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a Fatal Four Way match at Battleground against Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, and Kane. Cena obviously leaves that match as champion. There's no way Cena has an Attitude Era type run of just one month. He'll retain at Battleground. Then it's a question of who he faces at SummerSlam. Early reports are that Brock Lesnar is in line for a title shot at SummerSlam. There's also Seth Rollins carrying a gold briefcase... Just something to think about...

Money in the Bank PPV Preview & Predictions

We're closing in on the next big pay-per-view event for the WWE, and this one has rapidly become one of the more popular events on the calendar. Money in the Bank is a big time event, not just for the fans, but for the writers, as well. The writers can use this event to set up future storylines built around rising young talent. Or they can use it to further a story by heaping even more heel heat on someone. Look at the last few MITB briefcase holders.

Damien Sandow is the story of Creative not knowing what to do with the guy who they had decided to put the briefcase on, especially in light of the fact that the champion at the time was golden boy John Cena. Sandow met Cena in the ring after Cena had returned early from elbow surgery and had somehow magically won the World Heavyweight Championship. Sandow viciously beat Cena with the briefcase and decied to cash in. Cena, with only one working arm, proceeded to defeat Sandow to retain the championship. Sandow has since gone on an ugly losing streak. Cena remains near the top of the WWE's pecking order.

Randy Orton won the briefcase for the WWE Championship in 2013 and cashed in at SummerSlam. Daniel Bryan had won the WWE championship from the ailing John Cena. As Bryan and Triple H celebrated his victory in the ring, Orton stalked into view. Triple H kicked Bryan in the gut and pedigreed him, allowing Orton to cash in and win the title.

Dolph Ziggler had my all-time favorite cash in. Just watch.

Winning the briefcase is almost a guaranteed push, unless your name is Damien Sandow. So with the upcoming event primed to make someone's career, let's examine the matches and determine who we think will win.

PREDICTIONS
The matches below are not necessarily listed in the order they will appear on the PPV itself.

Tradition Championship Contract MITB Ladder Match
Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, Rob Van Dam, Jack Swagger, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins

Bad News Barrett was supposed to be in this match, but he appears to be injured, so that changes things. The key storyline here is Rollins vs Ambrose, and it will likely look to come down to those two. Ambrose's lunatic fringe gimmick is a thing of beauty. Rollins has played the smarmy heel very well. His connection to Triple H is apparent, though it also seems to not be as overt as Orton's connection to The Game. With Ambrose and Rollins likely taking so much of the story in this match, I'll be honest that I don't see them either winning. The former members of the Shield have enough story to fill out several weeks of TV time, so neither needs to chase a title right now. Therefore...
Winner: Dolph Ziggler
Why? He's over with every audience. He's a proven commodity when holding the briefcase and he can make anyone look good. Seeing Ziggler challenge any one of the championship ladder match competitors is no stretch.

Tag Team Championship Match
The Wyatt Family vs The Usos

The Wyatt Family looks like the next logical progression of tag team in the WWE. The Usos have been champions for a long while and have taken down all challengers, but the Wyatts are as over as anyone in the WWE right now, so putting the belts on them seems a smart move.

Winner: Wyatt Family

Why? The Usos have had a good run, but it's time to put the belts on someone else and potentially freshen up the tag team scene. The Tag Team Division is in dire need of being revitalized.


Divas Championship Match
Naomi vs Paige (c) 
Paige has been lackluster in her reign as champion, but it's hardly her fault. The booking has been poor and WWE is more concerned with having models in their Divas Division than actual wrestlers.
Winner: Paige
Why? Taking the belt off Paige doesn't seem a good move right now. Paige hasn't been portrayed as the dominant anti-diva she was in NXT, for some reason...

Tag Team Match
RybAxel vs Goldust & Stardust (or GoldStar) (or The Dust Bros.)
Cody Rhodes is no more. He has been replaced by the eccentric Stardust. Painted and dressed similarly to brother Goldust, Cody has changed his character and is actually over with the fans. Otherwise, this is a filler match.
Winner: Goldust & Stardust
Why? This match goes one of two ways. The Dust Bros. win if WWE intends to move them forward toward potential tag team gold. Cody's character change to Stardust is interesting, to say the least. If WWE's intent is for the Dust Bros. to feud heading into SummerSlam, then RybAxel might win here.

Singles Match
Rusev vs Big E
This will be the longest match of Rusev's career, but it will still take you longer to read this description than the match will actually last.
Winner: Rusev
Why? Why not?

Singles Match
Layla vs Summer Rae (Special Referee: Fandango)
Another filler match, meant to blow off the feud between Summer Rae and Fandango...but at this point no one really cares.. I mean, the selling point of this feud so far is that Summer Rae poured milk on Layla. Yeah, thrilling TV, guys...
Winner: Summer Rae
Why? Why not?



WWE World Heavyweight Championship Ladder Match
John Cena, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Cesaro, Bray Wyatt, Roman Reigns, Kane
Adding Kane doesn't really make this match better. Cena and Orton are old news when it comes to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture, but they're also the safest picks. Del Rio and Sheamus are among the most stale characters ever in WWE. Cesaro is a babyface turn away from main eventing for the company. Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns may main event WrestleMania together at some point, but neither is ready for the top tier championship run. Reigns is slated to face Triple H at SummerSlam, so he won't win. Cena looks to be the best bet, especially given that Daniel Bryan will be back at some point...and there's the guy we haven't heard from in a long time: Brock Lesnar.

Winner: John Cena

Why? He's the safe pick and the guy most likely to keep the title warm until Daniel Bryan gets back. The other option is to split the title by having one guy grab the WWE Championship and someone else grabs the World Heavyweight Championship. It would allow Creative to make separate storylines, but that's not really their style.

Anatomy of a Heel Turn

In March I wrote an article examining the fine art of a “babyface turn.” That article, in particular, dealt with the Shield turning from the heel stable they'd debuted as, to the babyface stable that would stand against the Wyatt Family and the Authority. Of course, all good things have to end...

In wrestling, for every good guy there has to be a bad guy. For every babyface turn somewhere down the line there is a heel turn. Last Monday, The Shield, as we'd always known them, ceased to be. Seth Rollins delivered the finishing blow; siding with Authority leader Triple H and Evolution.

Heel turns are, arguably, more important that babyface turns. Most people will give you the benefit of the doubt. It’s not common to dislike or hate someone the very first time you see them, unless they deliver a bad first impression. A heel turn, then, must give the audience reason to “boo” a wrestler. To do so, in this day and age of “smarks” and the IWC, requires an action so despicable that those who cheered you on can no longer bring themselves to do it.

Let’s examine a few of the more notable heel turns to see how things were done:

The Third Man

In the late 1990s wrestling fans bore witness to the famed “Monday Night Wars,” as WWF/WWE and WCW battled for ratings supremacy. Wrestlers jumped from one promotion to the other. Cutthroat tactics became the order of the day. That is, until WCW landed what might’ve been the deathblow to WWF, had the booking gone better.

In May 1996, Scott Hall (formerly WWF’s Razor Ramon) showed up on Monday Nitro. Shortly thereafter, Hall’s friend Kevin Nash (formerly WWF’s Diesel), made his debut on Nitro. The two quickly took on the team name of “The Outsiders.” The appearance of Hall and Nash resulted in a lawsuit by WWF, claiming WCW was using WWF characters; intellectual property. The case went nowhere.

Hall and Nash terrorized WCW for a while, and then began claiming that the “third member” of their party would soon be joining them. At Bash at the Beach 1996 (7 July 1996), Hall and Nash met the team of Sting, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage. The Outsiders repeatedly said that the “third man” was in the building.

The match was a brawl. Sting landed a Stinger Splash on Kevin Nash, but Luger was trapped in the corner behind him, and the move hurt Luger worse than Nash. Luger was taken to the back, evening the numbers game. The fight wore on…

Hall and Nash took control of the match up until the moment that perennial good guy Hulk Hogan ambled to ring side (I use that term appropriately. This was the first clue that Hogan was the “third man,” seeing has he merely trotted down to the ring). Hall and Nash abandoned the ring, leaving Hogan staring them down and a prone Randy Savage lying on the mat behind him. Referee Nick Patrick gave Hogan an incredulous look and held up three fingers in question. Hogan pushed him out of the way and delivered a monster leg drop to Savage.

In the aftermath, as “Mean” Gene Okerlund got in the ring to interview the trio, fans littered the ring and the ring side area with trash. Hogan gave a sterling, though scathing, promo insulting the fans and pointing out himself and the Outsiders as the “new world order of professional wrestling.” The moniker stuck, though it was obviously nowhere near has spontaneous as the naming of the Four Horsemen.

This was a textbook heel turn. Hogan would later express regret over having been a babyface for so long. It was now time for him to look out for himself. Gone was Hulkamania and the Hulkster. In was Hollywood Hogan. He changed his attire from the red and yellow he’d worn for years to a black and white motif that matched the nWo.

This turn also revitalized wrestling, giving WCW an undisputed lead in the Monday Night Wars. But, as I said earlier, the booking failed. Initially, the nWo was one of the best things to happen to pro wrestling in years. But because of WCW’s structure, in which several of the big-name wrestlers had incredible creative control over their characters, the entire company began to flounder. In an effort to save things, WCW brought in Vince Russo.

WCW was eventually purchased by Vince McMahon, but the failure of WCW is not the fault of Hulk Hogan turning heel.

Stone Cold is Shaking Hands with the Devil himself

Ask any WWE fan to list the greatest WrestleMania events in history and each one of them (most likely) will have WrestleMania 17 (or WrestleMania X-7) very high on that list. It remains my all time favorite installment of WWE’s marquee show.

The build-up to WrestleMania 17 was great, as everyone prepared for the Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Championship. It wasn’t often that the WWF gave fans a babyface vs babyface main event at WrestleMania. It also happened to be the top two superstars of the day. The Rock carried the WWF Championship into Houston for the event. Austin won a title shot by winning the 2001 Royal Rumble.

The match became a “No Disqualification” match, thanks to a last minute announcement. As with Hogan’s entrance, this was a clue very few picked up on at the time. The match was back and forth, with both men kicking out of each other’s finishing moves. During the excitement, an exhausted Vince McMahon, fresh off a Street Fight loss to his son, Shane, made his way to ring side.

McMahon pulled the Rock away from a pin-fall opportunity. The distraction allowed Austin to hit a Rock Bottom on his opponent. After another Stunner, the Rock was still able to kick out at two. This led an angered Vince to hand Austin a chair. Sixteen chair shots later, Austin and McMahon, longtime rivals, were celebrating together in the ring. This was a shocker. No one expected Austin to turn heel (even though he’d always been a tweener), much less to see Austin align with McMahon.

The next night on Raw, things went from bad to worse for the rest of the roster. In a steel cage rematch, Austin took on the Rock. Triple H rushed to the ring, seemingly to take out his old nemesis, Austin. However, The Game proceeded to lay out the Rock with a sledgehammer. The rock was subsequently written out of programming as part of a suspension angle. Austin and Triple H stormed ahead as the newly renamed “Two-Man Power Trip.”

Triple H would completely tear his quadriceps muscle a few weeks later, causing him to miss the entirety of the Invasion angle, as the newly purchased WCW was folded into the WWF. Some people consider that fortuitous, seeing as the booking really failed the company during that angle.

But on April 1, 1002, fans nationwide were left struggling for and answer as to why Austin did what he did. As Jim Ross proclaimed from ringside that night “Stone Cold is shaking hands with the Devil himself!”

The Beginning of the Slow-Burn Turn of CM Punk

A slow-burn heel turn is one in which a wrestler doesn't go fully heel. He'll drift into tweener territory for a while, letting individual actions build up a profile of a truly dastardly heel.

Enter CM Punk.

Punk was WWE Champion entering the special 1000th episode of Raw. On that same episode, the returning, and very much part-time wrestler, the Rock, announced that he had been granted a WWE Championship match at the 2013 Royal Rumble. Punk was also in line to defend the WWE Championship against John Cena, who was cashing in the Money in the Bank contract he'd won just two weeks earlier.

Punk's match with Cena wore on until the Big Show interfered. Show knocked out Cena and Punk reluctantly covered the fallen challenger. Cena, in typical Cena fashion, kicked out. Children everywhere squealed with glee.

Punk tried to land a GTS on Cena, but Cena countered and caught Punk in the STF submission hold. Big Show once again interfered, causing a disqualification and leaving the title on Punk. Show continued his assault on Cena as Punk walked away. Ever the consummate actor, Punk displayed reluctance and regret over leaving. Until the Rock came running in to make the save. Rock knocked Big Show to the ground and was about to deliver the People's Elbow when CM Punk returned and clotheslined Rock. As the Rock lay on the mat writhing from the attack, Punk picked him up and delivered an staggering GTS, leaving Rock knocked out.

This would be the start of a fairly slow burn heel turn, in which CM Punk still got solid fan reaction and support, but every day saw him drift closer to full heel territory, culminating in him joining forces with Paul Heyman and roping in the Shield to do his dirty work.

CM Punk is one of those wrestler that can work well as a heel or a babyface. Personally, I enjoy his heel work better, as it gives him more freedom than being a babyface allows.

There’s Always a “Plan B”

Another shocker of a heel turn took place just last Monday night, when Seth Rollins threw in his lot with Triple H and Evolution, leaving The Shield crumpled in the ring after a series of vicious chair shots.

But a heel turn takes more than just one wrestler turning on another, or turning on the fans...a heel turn takes reactions from all parties. Dean Ambrose delivered the perfect reaction to the Rollins turn. Reigns wasn't really able to react, as he was the first one taken out.

While Triple H and Randy Orton stood a ringside, Rollins did what no one else had been able to effectively do: He took out the Shield. Sure, the Wyatt Family had beaten the shield before, but no one had ever taken them out the way Rollins did. It was a classic heel turn. No one saw it coming. And it just might elevate everyone's careers.

And let's face it, that's what a good heel turn, or babyface turn, should do. Everyone involved should come out better on the other side...so long as John Cena's not involved (but that's another story for another day).

Character Changes and Months-Long Sabbaticals

Character Changes

Sheamus. Where do we even begin? He’s the poor-man’s John Cena. Just another superhero babyface that WWE refuses to change. His character is so stale it’s sickening. His best work, undoubtedly, came when he was a newly arrived heel who had no trouble running over anyone and everyone in his path.

But somewhere along the line things changed. Sheamus picked up a goofy grin and started yelling “FELLA!” after everything he did. He made a series of utterly awful vignettes for his help-line, 1-800-FELLA, where he went around town wearing only his wrestling singlet and kicked down trees to rescue cats for old ladies. It was terrible.

1-800-FELLA - For those moments when you need a
pasty-skinned Irishman to kick your cat out of a tree

Recently Sheamus won a battle royal for the United States Championship. Because this battle royal was put together by Triple H in an effort to extract vengeance on The Shield, and because Sheamus won by last eliminating then-champion Dean Ambrose, it was expected that fans would realize that Sheamus was turning heel. Of course, no one noticed it. It’s hard to pull off a heel turn in a battle royal. Then news broke of Daniel Bryan’s neck surgery and his impending absence, and WWE seemingly put Sheamus’s heel turn on hold, arguing that they needed another top-tier babyface.

Sheamus’s lack of character development is representative of a problem plaguing modern day WWE. It’s the same reason John Cena is playing the exact same character he was in 2005. WWE has become deathly afraid of pulling the trigger on a heel turn because they don’t want to make sacrifices. In Sheamus’s case, they don’t want to give up the corny-as-all-crap K-Mart commercials he does. In Cena’s case, they don’t want to give up the buying power of soccer moms and John Cena’s Toddler Fan Base. So instead of letting talent determine the course, WWE would rather let merchandise sales tell them what to do.

This was an excuse they used momentarily in holding back Daniel Bryan. They claimed he didn’t sell enough merchandise, yet they refused to acknowledge that his merchandise was among the worst designed and ugliest things the WWE Store had to offer.

Every day I grow more convinced that the Hulk Hogan heel turn in 1996, setting off the now and revolutionizing the wrestling industry, could not happen in today’s WWE. Five years later, at WrestleMania X-7, Stone Cold Steve Austin turned heel by joining forces with Vince McMahon. I don’ believe this would happen today, either. WWE is too afraid that toddlers won’t understand. And yet, they had no problem turning Seth Rollins heel by letting him attack his teammates.

Why force a character change on a guy who was part of the hottest, freshest group in the industry…especially when you’re leaving the two stalest guys on the roster, Cena and Sheamus, the same way they’ve been for the last several years?

CM Punk, the McMahons, and Sabbaticals

If you follow WWE you realized in the immediate aftermath of the Royal Rumble that CM Punk disappeared. For lack of a better phrase, he took his ball and went home. Why?

That one’s quite simple. Reports are that Punk was incredibly unhappy with the way things were being done. It was obvious to everyone that Daniel Bryan was the most over guy on the roster. Punk knew something about being over, as he was pretty over himself. So the Royal Rumble rolls around, and wrestler after wrestler fills the ring. The time comes for the final entrant, and the arena goes nuts, chanting Daniel Bryan’s name. The timer counts down to zero and out comes…Rey Mysterio.

The arena went from adulation to anger in less time than it takes to blink. Everyone’s hero wasn’t even in the Rumble. Instead, we’d been force-fed the returning Batista, who was apparently promised the moon by Triple H. Punk himself was eliminated by a wrestler that had already been eliminated, although Punk did suffer a concussion during the Rumble. The final two competitors were the “babyface” Batista and the “heel” Roman Reigns, who had set the record for Rumble eliminations. Even though Reigns (and the Shield) were still technically heels at the time, the arena went crazy cheering for Roman Reigns. It was evident to anyone with a brain stem that the fans did not want Batista. At this point, the fans would’ve taken Santino over Batista. But Batista won the most predictable Rumble in recent memory…

So after the Royal Rumble, this was the landscape facing the WWE, and more specifically, CM Punk… The WWE World Heavyweight Champion was the Authority’s hand-picked title-holder, Randy Orton. The #1 Contender for the WWE WHC, as a result of winning the Rumble, was Batista. Daniel Bryan was left being told he would have “a spot on the card” at WrestleMania and CM Punk, who had basically been primed for a WrestleMania main event slot, was left to face Triple H in a meaningless singles match.

Punk recognized the way the wind was blowing. It was obvious that Daniel Bryan would have to ascend the ladder at some point. The fact that management was so obdurate in letting it happen seemed to reveal one of WWE’s key problems. The truth is, until CM Punk came along, any wrestler from the “indys” (independent circuits) who joined WWE would never rise above mid-card ranks. Even CM Punk, during his 434-day reign as champion, rarely main evented PPV events. That honor often went to John Cena, the company’s golden boy.

So Punk quit. He threw up his hands in disgust and walked out. Even though he had broken the “indy” glass ceiling, and paved the way for guys like Daniel Bryan and Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, Punk realized that WWE was always going to give the preference to their own “homegrown” talent than to someone good from the indys.

Don't hug him, AJ...
the Authority will make you lose!

And now the word is out that Stephanie McMahon “hates” CM Punk for what he did. I’m of two opinions on the matter. One, Punk did not fulfill his contract, which means he did let the company down. But, two, the company was already letting down not just Punk, but Bryan and others. It was evident, until CM Punk’s “sabbatical” threw a monkey-wrench into the plans, that WWE was not going to give Bryan a shot for a long while.

Unfortunately, the fallout from Punk’s departure affected others. Punk’s girlfriend, AJ Lee, who was Divas Champion, went on a lengthy losing streak, winning just enough to keep the title on her until NXT “rookie” Paige could be called up to take the belt off her. Sadly, it looks like there may be a lot of personal animosity pouring into the product.

Fallout from the Fallout from Payback (Recap of Raw, 2 June)

In my last post here at KO@2 I said that having the Shield clean-sweep Evolution was not the best way to blow off a feud. I was right, in that the feud was not yet over. To open Monday Night Raw, Evolution hobbled to the ring. Only Randy Orton was in wrestling gear. Triple H took the mic and began to spew venom at the Shield.

Evolution, Then

Batista interrupted him, saying that he was tired of fighting the Shield and was ready for what he had earned and what was promised him: a 1-on-1 shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (hereafter sometimes referred to as WWE WHC). Triple H reminded him that the current champion, Daniel Bryan, was in no shape to fight.

(Sidebar: it’s interesting to note that Triple H had no problem denying Batista a championship match because Daniel Bryan is injured, yet Triple H’s wife, Stephanie, is simultaneously pushing for Bryan to relinquish the titles so the WWE can have a “fighting” champion.)

Triple H went on to say that no one (in Evolution) was getting anything until the Shield was eliminated. Batista said he understood The Game’s point…then promptly quit and walked out. Triple H and Randy Orton stood bewildered in the ring as their partner left. The move makes sense. Batista is going to be gone for a while promoting his new movie. Having him leave after a beating might’ve weakened him too much in the eyes of the crowd. Instead, walking out on his own volition allows WWE to play a CM-Punk-esque story here.

Later in the episode, Stephanie came to the ring to once again discuss the situation with the WWE WHC. She brought up the events of Payback, in which Brie Bella quit the WWE, taking away Stephanie’s leverage in making Bryan hand over the titles. To force the champion into doing what she wants, Stephanie said that Bryan would face Kane at Money in the Bank, in a stretcher match (which is about the worst gimmick match they could’ve done). If Bryan is unable to compete, Stephanie continued, then the Money in the Bank ladder match, which is normally for a guaranteed title shot, would instead be for the vacated WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

Upon her saying those words, John Cena ran to the ring so fast it was sickening. I’m not kidding. Stephanie barely got the words out of her mouth and Cena’s music hit. Because that’s what we need, John Cena once again in the title picture. Cena, though, chose to get some cheap pops by standing up for Daniel Bryan. Knowing that better than half the crowd would boo him, Cena kept name-dropping in the hopes that it would look like he was being cheered. He gave Stephanie a very poor performance review in a segment that really just petered out…before Stephanie set Kane against Cena.

The match was nothing special, with Kane getting himself disqualified. He beat down Cena for a while, but in typical superman fashion Cena rose up (again) and overcame the odds (again) and walked away from the battle on top (again)…and WWE wonders why the adult fan base is so sick of this guy.

Bray Wyatt, the latest victim of John Cena’s unyielding need to always win, wasn’t at Raw. His followers, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, were. They had a match with the Usos that was probably the best match of the night. Harper got some mic time, which was great. His mic work is really undervalued by the WWE. The highest praise of the night, though, came from JBL on commentary, when he compared the tag team of Harper and Rowan to Bruiser Brody and Stan Hansen. The Wyatt Family picked up the win, likely setting themselves up for a tag team title match in the near future.

The biggest spot of the night, though, came in the last few minutes of the broadcast. The Shield made their way to the ring to gloat about once again defeating Evolution. Each Shield member had their turn, leading to Roman Reigns calling Randy Orton out for their scheduled main event match.

Orton appeared on the stage, with Triple H right beside him. HHH was carrying his trusty sledgehammer. Seth Rollins moved quickly to grab a chair, in an attempt to even the score. Triple H and Orton stopped short of the ring. With mic in hand, Triple H said that beating the Shield at Payback was Plan A. Since that failed, he had to go to Plan B.

As Reigns and Ambrose exchanged questioning glances, Rollins laid out Reigns with the chair. Ambrose’s look of shock told a great story. He turned to attack Rollins, but he was also taken out by the chair. Rollins beat Ambrose down with the chair, doing just enough to keep Reigns from getting back up. Rollins left the ring to stand beside Triple H, handing the chair to Orton, who took his turn demolishing Reigns.

It was one of the more shocking heel turns in recent memory. I truly expected Reigns to be the one to go heel and join Evolution. Personally, I like Reigns, but I’m not sure he’s ready for a singles push just yet. Having him in Evolution would’ve masked some of his shortcomings while he learned from arguably two of the best in the industry. Now, Rollins gets that chance.

Evolution, Now

Rollins has, lately, been compared to Shawn Michaels. It makes a degree of sense that he would join forces with Triple H. The turn absolutely came out of nowhere, leaving loads of fans trying to sort out what it all means. The ball is now firmly in the court of Seth Rollins. The next time we see him, he’ll be explaining why he turned. If his explanation is weak, then this heel turn may not work. Deliver a solid promo, though, and he’s set for a while.

Fallout from Payback

WWE featured their Payback pay-per-view last night. For the first time in a long while, there was no WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. With Daniel Bryan on the sidelines recovering from neck surgery, the creative team did a reasonable job keeping his storyline feud with the Authority going, making Stephanie McMahon an even bigger heel, and making sure the title was still recognized, all without physical confrontation on the part of the champion.

To offset the absence of a title match, the main event portion of the card featured two huge matches. The first was Bray Wyatt versus John Cena in a Last Man Standing match. The second, and true main event, was the Shield versus Evolution in a No Holds Barred Elimination match.

Let’s talk about the second match first, because I feel the need to unload on the Wyatt-Cena feud and it wouldn’t do it justice if I switched gears afterwards.

Evolution met the Shield in a brutal match. Evolution’s time, as they are currently composed, is running out. Batista is set to leave for a while after tonight’s episode of Raw, so he can promote his new movie Guardians of the Galaxy. So Evolution will be lacking a member. In my PPV prediction column, I predicted that Sheamus would join Evolution. It’s a well-publicized fact that Sheamus and Triple H are friends. Add to that the fact that Sheamus’s character is insanely stale and in need of a new direction, and all the ingredients are in place for a heel turn by the Irishman.

But lately WWE has been increasingly hesitant to pull the trigger on changing certain characters. Sheamus was already boring during his “FELLA!” run last year before his injury. It was the hope of most adult fans that he would return as a heel and at least be different in character. Then, at Royal Rumble, he returned as the same old laughable buffoon of a wrestler. He received some change to his character in defeating Dean Ambrose for the US Title, and the early reports were that everyone should’ve realized Sheamus winning a battle royal for the title was his heel turn. However, since that time he’s battled heels and teamed with babyfaces. WWE’s hesitancy bares its ugly head.

But in the match at Payback, The Shield and Evolution really beat the tar out of each other. The match was staged as an elimination match, meaning that whenever someone was pinned or tapped out, they just had to leave ringside and the match continued. This format works well if you’re going to alternate eliminations and create some drama. It doesn’t work that well if one side dominates (just ask the Nexus how that worked when Superman John Cena defeated them a few years ago). The Shield dominated the eliminations last night. The match was evenly and closely fought…until just a few minutes remained in the show. Then the Shield took out all three members of Evolution in short order.

I might be old-school, but that’s not the best way to blow off a feud. But this is indicative of a problem that WWE just cannot shake. They’ve made their babyfaces too powerful, so the heels can never overcome them. Look back at the storied Attitude Era and you’ll see that, even with supernatural characters like Undertaker and Kane, there was still parity between the sides. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that, in wrestling, the babyface chasing the heel sells more tickets than the babyface constantly winning and never being threatened.

Which brings me to the other main event level match of the night: Cena vs Wyatt.

Let me begin the breakdown of Cena/Wyatt with a recap of the final few seconds of Shield/Evolution. Triple H, the last member standing of Evolution, held the center of the ring, clutching his trademark sledgehammer. He was defeated, and he knew, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. In the end, “The Game” to a flying knee from Seth Rollins and a spear from Roman Reigns to end the match. The Shield stood victorious of the vanquished COO. That’s right, Triple H, the man often vilified for burying talent, laid down to three guys who are, undoubtedly, the future of the business.

John Cena, in typical Cena Superman fashion, refused to put over a guy who has monster heel written all over him. The fans, at least those over the age of 10 and in possession of a Y chromosome, support Bray Wyatt. Many of them actually like his character. I, for one, think he’s the best thing to happen to WWE in a long time. Others, while supporting Wyatt, are doing so just to see a changing of the guard. They’re doing so because they’re tired of seeing John Cena at the top of the mountain.

The booking for John Cena is getting ridiculous. He’s never forced to change. He’s never really threatened. The last time he lost a true main event match cleanly was at SummerSlam (August of 2013), and that was only because he had an injury that was set to keep him out for several months. Cena is booked as this unstoppable Superman. No odds are too great for him to overcome. No challenge is too tough. That’s great, if you’re a comic book superhero. In the world of WWE, though, those attributes only work well with one group of people: young children. It just so happens, the majority of Cena’s fan base is incredibly young.

So, when it came time for Cena and Wyatt to square off Sunday night at Payback, the outcome might as well have been written in the stars. Cena was going to win. I actually wouldn’t have minded Cena winning, if he’s resorted to some underhanded tricks to do so. But Cena pretty much never even got his hands dirty. He ran through his standard issue five moves of doom several times over, hitting a few Fireman’s Carries…I mean, Attitude Adjustments (this is one of the dumbest finishing moves around…at least Wyatt’s finisher has a flair of violence to it…).

They battled through the crowd. They battled up the ramp. Cena threw the steel ringside steps at Wyatt. The Usos got involved, tangling with Harper and Rowan. Cena and Wyatt battled toward the sound equipment, with Cena delivering a final AA, dropping Wyatt into a crate. Cena then proceeded to quite literally “bury” Bray Wyatt under a bunch of equipment, so that the Eater of Worlds could not get to his feet.

And so here we stand. Cena and Wyatt have wrapped up a months-long feud and no one has gained ground. Cena is still the self-professed “measuring stick” of the WWE. Instead of allowing monster heel to be truly recognized, the WWE Creative team once again handed a win to John Cena. God forbid Cena’s toddler fan base ever thinks that good guys can lose.

John Cena after winning the Money in the Bank briefcase,
which guaranatees a WWE Title shot... Like Cena needs
written permission for any title shot...

WWE has a problem. It’s a problem that will eventually cost them. They’re not seizing the opportunity to build new stars. They cling to their old ways. Part of it, I think, is Vince McMahon. Arguably the two most popular wrestlers on the roster at the moment are Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt. Neither of these men matches Vince McMahon’s prototypical body type for a WWE superstar. Vince seems beholden to this notion that superstars have to look like Hulk Hogan circa 1987. If Triple H were fully in control I kind of feel like things would be different, as he understands the modern business seemingly better than Vince. But, that’s not the case. Vince is still the final Authority on everything. And so long as he is, I have a feeling we’ll keep seeing John Cena win using the same five moves. We’ll keep seeing John Cena making the same old goofy promos, insulting his competition through the time-honored execution of poop jokes.

So long as Vince is in control, we’ll keep seeing greater emphasis on the guys who sell the most merchandise instead of the guys who are the most talented. And that might be the greatest injustice of all to a true wrestling fan.