The Royal Rumble is on the Way

Finally, we have started 2019, and the Royal Rumble is right around the corner. 30 superstars will enter the ring in the men’s and women’s matches with only one crowned the winner and given the opportunity for a title shot at Wrestlemania. The fun starts here folks and then storylines will start falling into place for the remainder of the year.

I’ll Start with the Women

2018 was a big year for making women more main event status worthy. The Man became arguably thewomens division most popular WWE superstar because of her in-ring and social media antics. It feels like the blue brand might have bigger opportunities for its female talent. Becky will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in 2019 and will regain a title belt pretty soon. Asuka and Charlotte will be a speed bump in that journey, and the three will provide great matches for the fans. Hopefully, we’ll also see a reunion of the 4 Horsewomen of the WWE to take on the ladies of the same name from UFC. Let’s keep the momentum going with the women’s evolution all of the way into 2020. Will we see a tag team division also formed in the women’s division? It seems like that would be the next move to make since so much female talent has been recruited and continue to be brought into the spotlight. We also need to see Paige in a new role that gives her tv time since we can no longer watch her perform in the wrestling ring. Women need to continue to have some front and center camera time.

 

Now on to the Men

While I’m keeping my fingers crossed to see Roman Reigns back in action in 2019, the show must go on without him until then.Seth Rollins We should see Mr. Monday Night get a substantial push because he is in fact so good on the mic and in the ring. Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe and several others in the division need to stay at the forefront as well. While I am happy to have Daniel Bryan come back to the ring I haven’t been all that impressed by this recent change in character and hope that something clicks for him in the near future. Also, let’s see Shinsuke’s talent shine instead of the ridiculous low blow antics they have been using recently. The new Dean Ambrose dynamic is good, and I hope that they continue to build on this throughout the year. The men’s division is already loaded with so many great characters that I hope WWE doesn’t do the same old thing and get stuck only using the same guys over and over every week.

Last But not Least

The tag team division has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and yet we continue to see the same faces again and again. Let’s have some fun with the tag team division….maybe actually let The New Day start commentating all tag team matches to build some heat between all of the tag teams. I don’t understand putting the titles on a tag team one week and having them drop it again the next, and then they disappear from view for months at a time. riott squadAnd finally, let’s have a women’s tag team division. The teams that we have now are great, and feelers have been put out to form more if needed. These women go out and work just as hard every day as the men do and they deserve the same opportunities. Just imagine seeing belts on the Riot Squad or the Iconics and the great matches that could come from that.

2019 could be a banner year for WWE in all divisions if they keep things headed in the wrong direction. While it’s great to see some of the “old talent” pop in now and then the current and new talent deserve a real push. If you really appreciate the WWE Universe as much as you like to make out then listen to what we are saying.

 

 

 

Survivors Series–and the Week After

Who watched and enjoyed Survivor Series? At our house we decided there was only one great match and the rest were a pretty big snore fest. Followed by a Raw that was okay and a very forgettable Smackdown…. Is all of this because The Man wasn’t present on Sunday or Tuesday?

The Best Match

Watching Charlotte attach Ronda Rousey was the best match of the night. Of course, we Charlotte attacks Rousey at Survivor Seriesknew that WWE wasn’t going to let Rousey lose in the ring this early on, but I’m not sure anyone could’ve predicted the outcome of the match. While we all wanted to see, The Man cause a ruckus in the ring with Rousey because of a broken face that didn’t happen on Sunday. The outcome of missing Becky wrestle was that Charlotte went out in style by attacking Rousey and not stopping. By far the best match of the night and the week showing us what could happen if we see the two women meet again at Wrestlemania.

Monday Night Raw

On Monday night we saw Baron Corbin throw his weight around as the place-filler GM again…WWE we aren’t stupid, find someone else who is a much better fit for this position and doesn’t play into the Authorities pocket again. We want to see guys like Finn Balor, Elias, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose fight.Elias and Finn Balor How many people want to continue to see Corbin yapping in the ring and talking about how great he is on a weekly basis? I understand you want to portray him as a bad guy but seriously let’s find a way to see more talented men wrestle. Then we go to Ronda with an open challenge, and the result is sending out the oldest female wrestler on the brand. Not that Mickey James isn’t great, but again there are more talented athletes she could be facing. When will we get to see more of Ember Moon? There is some young talent that needs to be featured. The Seth and Dean segment might have been the most exciting part of the night.

Smackdown

We start with Charlotte and the night seems to go downhill rapidly. Charlotte and Paige in the ring together is a welcome sight. We always need more Paige since she can no longer wrestle we will watch her any way we can. While Smackdown didn’t win Survivors Series, it wasn’t a prominent factor on Tuesday night which seems to be a little strange.new day thanksgiving match They did keep seem to keep Charlotte’s momentum going by having her take out both of the Iconics (always a good thing.) The rest of the night kind of drug by like Raw did with The New Day as the only other high spot of the night. I know that Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio was supposed to be a highlight while I do love watching Rey compete I am not a fan of Orton and don’t like the way he is often pushed while others take a backseat.

 

This week was a rather lackluster week for WWE. We heard the same thing from Rousey again, and the only build was Charlotte’s character. Dean and Seth will continue to go on far beyond TLC, and I’m okay with that. New storylines need to be built and completely flipping Daniel Bryan’s character around probably isn’t the right foot to start on. Come on WWE you pay people to write, and they can do much better than this so give them the opportunities.

 

 

This Week… How The Shield was Wronged

Did everyone watch? What in the world is happening on Monday Night Raw? The greatest faction in the WWE is back and someone decides to call the police and have them carted away.

They’re Back….

the shield

Finally all of The Shield is back together and it’s just like old times…. except what is the angle that is being worked… Why have all of the other Superstars turn on them? Shouldn’t those same guys be turning on Ziggler, McIntyre and Strowman since they think they are going to teach everyone what a true working wrestler looks like? Shouldn’t the WWE be playing up The Shield as the hero’s in the this storyline? Making them the unifying factor with the guys backstage to prove who the real work horses of the show are?

It’s time for the Roman Empire

Wouldn’t now be the best time to build The Shield up and let them become the Roman Empire? Maybe add a cruiser weight or two and a few women to the dynamic and let them run havoc all over Raw or the entire WWE. Let Roman carry the belt around for a while and let the Empire take out anyone who decides to get in their way. You could even add a few stars like Finn Balor and Sami Zahn when he returns to give it a variety of superstars that are just good guys. Let them show us all what working every show everyday does to build up a superstar and give them more screen time and better matches. Let the Empire be there to help out the working guys and to unite the good against the bad.

Don’t Turn Them Against Each Other

taking down the shield

Let’s not replay the angle of having one of them turning on the other? Even if they aren’t together for ever let them always have each others backs. They are good guys. Put the Universal Title on Roman, the tag belts on Seth and Dean, the Intercontinental Title on Finn and let them form the Empire from there. Eventually you could break them all apart but only because they solve the problems backstage not because they decide to turn on one another. Let this be the beginning of the best story line WWE could offer to us in recent years and while building for the future. These guys all have a tremendous amount to offer and this could be the beginning of more screen time for guys who have worked hard and really deserve it.

WWE please build a great storyline for these guys and give them time to work it start to finish before breaking them up. Fans can really get behind The Shield and each of its members if you work this from the right angle.