Hopefully you will understand my title as it relates to Matt Striker’s massive cock up from this past Sunday at Survivor Series. As John Cena made the three count which ended his career within the WWE (maybe if I force myself to believe long enough it might actually become true!?) Matt Striker shouted “HE’S FREE!” only for Michael Cole to instantly respond in monotone “He’s Fired.” Striker’s response of “Oh” was classic.
This past Sunday’s Survivor Series was about as predictable as expected, but at least we had a little bit of action on RAW. The first half of the Survivor Series card was interesting but it sadly lacked as we grew closer to Cena’s apparent demise.
Kaval and Ziggler put on a solid match whom I think stole the show and I was glad that Bryan also got a match.
With that being said there were consequences. DiBiase got buried on both shows by tapping out and WWE decided to put its trust behind John Morrison with his win over Sheamus and his King of the Ring qualifier on RAW.
With the King of the Ring being announced I believe WWE will now give Morrison his push within 2 weeks. He beats a former WWE Champion clean in Sheamus and gains the King of the Ring crown, no build up just Bang! He’s supposed to be one of the big guys now. That’s how WWE pushes guys these days and that’s how I see them playing their cards.
I’m not sure what they are doing with DiBiase. They put him in his fathers shoes, didn’t really do much, they gave him Virgil and it grew old, they put Maryse on his arm and they haven’t done anything and they changed his music to something god awful and wasted the opportunity to have more solid matches with Goldust. In total, he’s being wasted.
DiBiase last week on RAW made a statement to his Father which sounded like sink or swim when he stated he wanted real gold like the US title and then attacked Bryan. I felt the match at Survivor Series was really done well but making him tap out at the finish killed the contest too decisively for me. Couldn’t DiBiase have lost through some neat roll up or one big move? I know they used the roll up finish with Kaval and Ziggler but it saves face for the loser making it look like they just got caught rather than humiliated. DiBiase would have still looked like a contender if he only just lost out to Bryan but instead they make him look like he shouldn’t even be in consideration for that championship.
Then to make matters worse they do exactly the same thing again on RAW. As soon as the match was announced I thought great, he should make the score 1-1 for a rubber match at the next PPV. Sadly WWE decided to well and truly bury him.
DiBiase has skills and he has the look, it’s a shame he’s not got anything to work with and I would rather see him on the card than off it.
The Edge and Kane finish at Survivor Series would work if both competitors have been killing themselves and it’s appropriate to have a draw. Cast your mind back to No Way Out in 2001 when Stone Cold faced Triple H in a 2 out of 3 falls match, remember? It ended when both competitors hit each other with weapons at exactly the same time and Triple H fell on top of Austin by pure coincidence. Austin was beat fairly but it appeared unlucky. Triple H had got his label of beating Austin two straight falls in the same night and Austin kept his credibility.
Kane however, lost out on Sunday. His demonic character appeared weak in the build up with Paul Bearer and even weaker with the finish. Edge can have losses and it won’t change too many things but when you have a man you’re pushing as a monster you cannot have a build up and match like that, it seemed to fall flat.
As for Survivor Series in whole, it’s a case of another PPV comes and goes where nothing really changes. I was originally going to state that I’m glad that both champions retained as I feel its been a long time since both World champions have held a title for over 3 months, it provides stability. Unfortunately that stability was shattered when Miz cashed in his empty briefcase on RAW.
This is also another case of just passing one PPV onto another; we all know Kane will end up facing Edge again at the next PPV, which is the common theme within WWE. And how can it not be with the amount of PPV’s it’s spewing out on its calendar year?
The only way WWE can get any kind of rivalry together is by making the guys face each other 3-4 PPV’s on the trot. And the worse part about it is the fact that these 3-4 PPV’s can go by within 6 weeks. I don’t look forward to half of the main events WWE churn out now because they have either been done too much or they have been decided a week before the actual PPV takes place. That doesn’t entice me to buy it, it makes me think that you’re arrogant and expect me to pay out more and more money WHILST you put in less and less effort, it’s crazy. And all because the main demographic WWE has are children. Easy to please and easy to rip off. WWE is claiming to cater to all audiences when in fact, we the adults are not even considered. Is it really fun for the whole family? Couldn’t changes be made to suit all ages? I’m not asking for much but surely a few in-jokes and a bit of realistic writing wouldn’t breach any PG standings or annoy parents?
With the way the world is these days it’s not even attracting older youths. My 12 year old nephew is picking faults with the product and thinks it’s too young for him now. He’ll now disappear to play Call of Duty online and murder terrorists instead. Wrestling isn’t evolving like any other industry or product, it’s staying put and playing the easiest options. Largely because it doesn’t have any direct competition and because it’s a safe way of running your organisation in a recession hit world.
There are only so many T-Shirts you can sell of John Cena’s and Rey Mysterio’s before these kids grow up and find something ‘cooler’ and more realistic to put their imagination into.
WWE being the way they are will continue down this road until parents have been bled dry by their kids and before ratings drop off the bottom of the chart.
Sure we got a “shock” moment with Miz becoming champion, but did we really? really? (See what I did there?)
The money in the bank concept has been an easy way to provide a few shocks in the past but I truly believed that this time round they would make Miz lose when he cashed in. Instead we got the usual cheap way to being champion. The concept was good for a while but we now have a list of wrestlers who all took cheap shots to become champion for the first time. Sure it’s slightly shocking but for how long have we expected Miz to run out and cash it in? People have expected it at every PPV since Miz won.
Everyone I spoke to before the Survivor Series said that Cena would in some way help Miz to cash in the title whether it be screw Orton and then attack Barrett or just attack Barrett anyway. So what did WWE do? They listened to this, took it off the PPV and delayed it for 24 hours. That isn’t smart booking that’s just a way of pulling the wool over your eyes.
A more realistic approach would have been to sit down and think what could we do that’s slightly different? Is everyone expecting Miz to cash it in, is everyone expecting him to win if he does cash in? Could we develop him as a serious threat if he loses or will it completely kill him as a championship contender? These are questions that I’m wondering whether WWE have even asked during the decision process.
As for now, I would rather take interest in watching up and coming wrestlers such as Daniel Bryan, Kaval, John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler battle it out for the US and Intercontinental Championships to see some good wrestling action between those ropes.
John Cena’s farewell address to the WWE Universe was done quite well and thought it was a neat idea to have him get the *BEEP* treatment, it made his exit feel less scripted and he performed it well.
I have to admit that CM Punk was a class act on RAW and is further proof that intelligence can prevail. Look at his “under the influence” comment he threw at Alex Riley. Adults in knowledge of wrestling would have laughed and kids would have been none the wiser. A perfect example of how to use the PG rating to suit all demographics. Maybe somebody needs to keep Punk injured as he keeps Cole in check on the headset for quite some time to come.
Email me your thoughts at beansontoastuk@msn.com and follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beansontoastuk.
Martyn.
P.S. The little girls face when Miz won the title was hilarious! Sulk of the decade! 5 Stars!
