Today’s edition of "Betta" is later than usual because honestly, it was hard to go back and decipher what was the best portion of last night’s program. That’s not because anything was all-time great. It’s because it was difficult to remember it all as a result of a RAW episode that just kind of…happened. So here’s the mental process that led me to today’s installment…
Matches took place, three of which were pretty strong, a few others that had good finishes or afterbirths, but nothing there stood out to be something that needed to be improved. Ziggler and Barrett, as expected, clicked in a big way and had an excellent television match, which would have been a great semifinal bout in truth. Paige and Alicia Fox had a great effort together and told a nice story and managed to get over at least to a moderate extent because of the quality of the work they did with one another. Swagger and Sheamus ended up strong even though it was a little lethargic, but again, it was a wrestling match, nothing more, nothing less.
Paul Heyman cut a solid promo for Brock Lesnar and in my favorite choice of the night, brought out Cesaro to no music. Some will have a big problem with this, but for me personally, I’ve been hoping for someone to do it again for years, as the last time (and correct me if I’m wrong) I remember it being done was with the Brainbusters during their tenure with Vince in 1989 and 1990. It was great then. It’s great now. It’s unique and because Heyman can talk before and after, the crowd reaction makes it work.
Rusev in these short squashes is good, just like he was in NXT. The longer the match goes, the more issues arise. His music is great. Lana is…well, she’s Lana and that’s effin outstanding. He’s a guy who could come to the ring in darkness with a supremely bright spotlight circle on him that would make his entrance really cool to watch and separate it just a bit more. It’s when he has to go ten or more that the weaknesses may magnify. He had a relatively long match with Dolph on NXT around eight months ago and it fell apart late, although Ziggler wouldn’t let it completely fail.
Stephanie McMahon’s work in the back with Kane was a work of art. She’s so good at what she’s doing right now that it’s hard to remember how bad she was in 1999. That said, Kane vs. Daniel Bryan to main event (or god forbid, SEMI-main event Extreme Rules) certainly isn’t a big first defense for the new Champion. It feels like the wedding and honeymoon meant that DB could coast through for a month and maybe a better build could begin in May, but that’s just one man’s opinion.
John Cena’s comedy hour was an abject disaster and represents the second time where the company’s top draw was mocking and belittling a group that is still finding a foothold and still trying to prove themselves to a large portion of the audience. The photo above was the global reaction to the photoshopping by anyone over the age of six. Bray and company can be beaten. We’ve seen that. It remains a huge mistake that Cena didn’t hit Wyatt with the chair at Mania and lose via disqualification. THAT was the right call. How that hurts John Cena I have no idea. But to not go that route and then to pin Bray after dealing with Harper and Rowan first, that really hurt the Wyatt mystique. In reality, the Wyatts talk and they’re scary and there’s a sheep mask, but they don’t win a whole lot of big matches, at least not any with John Cena. That’s a mistake this early in their run. They aren’t the Horsemen.
So what was the best portion of the program last night that I could begin to chisel away at and find ways to improve upon it? By default, it was probably the final segment, so let’s dissect it and tweak it.
11 on 3 certainly stacked the deck, but in no way does 3MB being involved make it look threatening, so first and foremost, keep those guys in the back. Replace them or just leave it 8 on 3. Can you believe there was a day where Drew McIntyre was Vince’s baby and a guy he saw being the WWE Champion? I bought it then. What happened? Oh…he just couldn’t get over.
Second, even though he wasn’t touched unless I overlooked it, Alexander Rusev shouldn’t have been in there, because he’s squashing guys in three minute matches and shouldn’t have been linked up with a bunch of guys who quite frankly are either filler or are second tier players, no offense past the facts to any of them. There’s also the issue where Rusev seems to almost be separate from everybody else because he’s never seen with anybody other than Lana, which by the way, who the hell could blame him for that? But if so, he just ends up with B and C team workers in just his second week. Usually that would be okay, but not with the way it appears the company wants his initial push to be viewed.
Third, JBL could have avoided sounding like the most absurd heel announcer in history as he found nothing at all wrong with what ended up being a 14 on 3 situation and comparing it to 3 on 1. There’s a way to be an antagonist announcer without straining all credibility and logic, especially when Layfield was known and is known for financial advice and investment intelligence. Instead, he sounded like he should have been petting Mad Cat and plotting doom for Inspector Gadget, Penny, and Brain.
What WWE couldn’t have improved upon is the Shield, who killed it when they did the run-in early and were awesome all the way to the final shot of a knocked out Dean Ambrose in the corner. Those guys are pure gold every single time.
But if you want the biggest possible misstep last night other than Cena's hideous promo and Rybaxel's music on a very ordinary show, look no further than attempting to run angles while juxtaposing a Warrior tribute. It would have been perfectly understandable to do a full-on tribute with basic matches and no major angles, or it would have been fine for everyone to wear black armbands (with tassels) and do the ten bell and not do much else and build to something special on the Network. But because the company kept doing little snippets of Warrior and somber announce work and opened the way they did but then still advanced angles, it felt like the fans never knew how to react, and as a result, it came across like a very flat show and one featuring a confused audience.
Or was that because it was just a forgettable show?
It wasn’t terrible. It was just a show that happened that was on television that is now over.
I’m not even sure if the segment I picked was the best part of the show…I really have no idea.