The curious case of brock lesnar

Brock Lesnar is a special attraction in professional wrestling. He is chiseled out of granite, he is a legit bad ass and his performances have a big event feel. Lesnar came on the scene destroying guys left and right throwing around massive men with cat like quickness. His meteoric rise within the ranks of wwe was that of no other man. Brock had the ncaa championship pedigree with Goliath like strength and a George Nada kick ass attitude.
He was clearly the next big thing in professional wrestling. Until, he decided not to be. Lesnar was not suited for road life with all of its ups and downs tempting all of its "demons". So, he quit. Lesnar gave his notice going into a huge match with Bill goldberg, who was also finishing up wwe, at wrestlemania 20. Goldberg versus lesnar was the irresistable force taking on the immovable object but the crowd, knowing both men were leaving, never gave the match a chance and the epic battle that could have been became an infamous gaff at wrestlemania.

Lesnar tried football not playing since high school and was the final cut player of the Minnesota Vikings. He wrestled in Japan with limited motivation and won the iwgp title mainly because of his look and reputation but wasn't long for trips to japan. Then brock lesnar found ufc and even with a debut loss people were pretty certain this guy would find some success inside of the octagon. Lesnar decimated heath hearring, overwhelmed randy couture, destroyed frank mir and withstood Shane carwin.  Brock was chiseled out of granite could seemingly take people down controlling them at will and becoming one of ufc's most marketable stars. Unfortunately, a contest against Cain Velazquez and a very dangerous life threatening battle with diverticulitis ended his mma career. Immediately after brock announced his retirement after a loss to Alistair overeem the buzz began about a wwe return.

Lesnar made a triumphant return to wwe Monday night raw after wrestlemania 29 and has become a destroyer ever since.  He has left superstars like John cena, triple h, the Undertaker,  Roman Reigns and most recently randy Orton in a heap as lesnar stood victorious. In a typical brock lesnar match the crowd goes bananas for the spectacle that is the beast incarnate welcoming his prey to suplex city. Lesnar brings a real feel to each of his matches as was proven when he cut randy Orton wide open, hard way, with a stiff elbow shot. Lesnar, who tried his best to protect Orton left a gash in Randy's head that needed 10 staples to close up. However, the reaction I saw after the summerslam match was a need for something new from brock lesnar. It seemed like people are beginning to sour on the prototypical brock match of suplex, suplex, suplex, suplex, suplex, suplex, suplex, suplex and f5 for the win. Randy Orton is a top star representing one half of the newly separated brands and he got almost no offense what so ever and was made to look like a meager bum against raw's beast. Plus, lesnar then f5'ed the commissioner of the smackdown brand leaving raw to look far superior to the smackdown brand, which needs to appear strong. The question has to be asked is brock lesnar's shelf life coming to an end? If the answer is yes then wwe has to use lesnar's next big time challenge (wrestlemania) as a means to create a new major star. Lesnar had to be signed by wwe with the intention to build a new big time guy, lesnar has been booked starting at wrestlemania when broke the streak to build a new big time guy and a win over lesnar would certainly build a new big time guy. Everyone has a suggestion as to who should receive the big win and I am no different. Seth Rollins is an established top guy, Roman Reigns is an established top guy and with Kevin owens just winning the universal championship he will quickly become an established top guy. I believe the win should be given to someone who can gain the most; a guy who has the experience to handle the big win but is also unestablished to the wwe universe while also being believable and real so that the wwe universe will accept as a legitimate entity. Samoa joe is the best and most deserving challenger to defeat brock lesnar. A motivated joe can be credible, big enough and agile enough to match up with brock making it an epic battle. Samoa joe has the ability to handle the physicality of brock and believability to topple the conqueror. Samoa joe will step directly into the new monster role creating fresh match ups in the wwe with guys joe has already had high profile matches with on the independent and international level. Brock Lesnar does have a shelf life and I believe with his ped usage found in the ufc, the info of his special treatment being discovered as well as his act in wwe reaching a plateau the time to pull the trigger on a lesnar loss catapulting a challenger to the top of the card. Samoa joe is the guy, the time and venue is wrestlemania. The match would be a huge spectacle and the result would help change the landscape of the wwe for the future allowing samoa joe to end his career where he belongs: a top spot on the biggest professional wrestling promotion in the world; but, that's  just this mark's remarks.

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The curious case of John Cena / raw review

 Last night was the "season premiere" of wwe's Monday night raw, which means nothing since the program is a year long episodic show. But, calling this episode the season premiere attempts to build a buzz since last night was the first NFL Monday night of the season, so the competition on Monday nights just got a lot stronger. So how does a wrestling juggernaut contend with football? How about a cage match featuring a top crowd pleasing babyface in Chris Jericho against the future top star and maniacal bray Wyatt? Good move wwe! How about a summerslam rematch against proven villain the viper Randy Orton versus the next big star the uber-aggressive roman reigns? Well played wwe, that will keep the audience glued to its TV. How about a contrived, poorly acted, poorly executed Bella sister segment being mediated by jerry springer? When is kick off?

 When chucking ideas at the story board whomever opted for a Bella twin springer show segment on the first raw against the NFL and two weeks away from a pay per view should fear for his job performance evaluation. But he won't, probably because wwe loves this bellas spectacle that gets worse and worse as the weeks go by, which was only created because total divas the "reality show" wanted a storyline for the newest season.

Yes, that's correct, a reality show is asking wwe to create a storyline so they can then script reality around it. And wrestling fans lived happily ever after. The worst part of this angle with the Bella sisters, and there are many bad things, is that it is going to lead to a match that at its best will be lousy.  With Nikki Bella in a three way match for the diva's championship I think we can all assume that Brie Bella will cause her a loss of some kind and this feud will continue leading to an eventual match for the ages. 
Bray Wyatt and Chris Jericho started off Raw with an entertaining cage match.  It was a well put together match that showcased the steal cage as a weapon at times and concluded with Wyatt walking out of the cage door after Y2J leaped from the top of the cage and in the process hurt his knee.  The Wyatt Family patriarch then took Jericho back into the cage delivering "sister Abagail" to further injury "the ayatollah of rock and rollah" and essentially end the feud between the two
.  I ended up liking this program between Jericho and Wyatt but I am not sure it was as good as the two highly talented performers wanted it to be, I also do not know where Bray Wyatt goes from here.  I feel that a young Bray Wyatt is one of those characters that, initially, always needs feuds to be involved in so his character can continue to evolve.

Randy Orton battled Roman Reigns in the main event of Raw and they had every Orton v Reigns match you've already seen.  This version saw Orton in trouble at the end and he summoned Kane and Seth Rollins to help him.  This featured Seth Rollins propelling himself off the top of the steal cage that was somehow lowered.  Rollins then delivered his curb stomp finisher to Reigns on a steal chair.  So, it seems that Roman Reigns will fight Seth Rollins at Night of Champions where I full expect the authority to involve themselves and Dean Ambrose to appear to throw himself into the main event mix.  Which will help to refresh this Roman Reigns feud because he continues to stall to me and maybe with the infusion of the lunatic fringe Reigns can unload some of the main stage pressure to Ambrose and Roman can continue to improve to get ready for the big match stages. 

 The best thing on Raw last night was the segment involving Paul Heyman, the advocate for Brock Lesnar, and John Cena.  Heyman invited Cena to become more ruthless and leave the fans behind in order to better himself.  Paul Heyman suggested that John Cena cannot beat Brock Lesnar until he he conquers his own demons; most notably the anti-Cena fan base that is so vocal in booing the leader of Cenation. 

Finally, Cena couldn't take anymore talk from Heyman and he delivered another emotionally charged impassioned promo on how Cena believes in himself and believes in the fans that cheer him.  His most rewarding moments are when the kids use him as a moral compass, how he inspires them to do their best, give their all and most importantly he loves the fact that when people (wounded soldiers in this example) who are down and out find motivation from John Cena's mantra of never give up.  This promo, while he did use make-a-wish kids and wounded military member to pull on the heart strings, was a very powerfully executed promo and worked to turn some of the John Cena haters into at least respecters.
John Cena will go down in history as one of the most successful wrestlers of all time.  His run on top out lasts anyone in the modern era of sports entertainment and he boasts gaudy numbers when it comes to the tangible stats that would gauge wrestling success.  His merchandise sales are huge, his headlined buy rates are big for large events, he is a money earner at the box office and most importantly he has given his life up to become the number one top babyface in all of professional wrestling.  The ladder of those attributes is the one that few before him can say they have done like John Cena has done.  In a time in pro wrestling where the workers performer a lighter schedule than 20 years previous John Cena out works everyone on the roster and has a schedule busier than most of those before him. 

Be it granting wishes for seriously ill children, visiting hospitals of wounded soldiers, being parade marshals, pregame coin tosser, bowl game predictor, talk show host guest, red carpet appear-er, charity spokesmen, or wwe brand ambassador John Cena does it and he does most of it when the other superstars are having days off.  This is the biggest reason John Cena will not turn bad.  This is the reason wwe doesn't want to turn John Cena bad.  No matter how loudly the vocal minority of fans jeer against him Cena is too much of a commodity to be anything other than a hero.  On top of his character Cena is also a pretty good wrestler in the ring.  Cena does a lot of the same stuff but that is because he does what people want to see, when needed Cena can work with most everyone and has rarely had a bad match on pay per view.   He is also willing to perform hurt and even injured when asked of him so to entertain the fans.  John Cena is wrestling's top hero for a number of reasons but there is one major reason currently.

 There is no one ready to take John Cena's spot as top guy.  Daniel Bryan couldn't sell the merchandise that Cena can.  Roman Reigns can't deliver the promo that Cena can (not does he perform as well).  Dean Ambrose is not as PG as Cena can be.  And no one is willing to give up their entire lives to be the face of the wwe the way John Cena has.  Until someone is capable of being those things and accepts the challenge of top spot and delivers John Cena isn't going anywhere.  When that spot is eventually taken from Cena, then and only then, John Cena will turn heel and probably make a fortune.  A fortune he will have earned and he probably won't have to make all of those appearances but the fans may finally stop booing him.  That is just this marks remarks.   

raw is wary / cautious handling of John Cena

This edition of Monday night raw was the last episode before the return of NFL football, it also fell on labor day. Wwe raw was cautious to make any big moves creatively because labor day raw typically doesn't have the viewership of other raw television shows, because of this, wwe gave its fans a program that didn't offer much and fell short most of the show.  The show at its best times was flat and really poor at its worst but there was something to be noticed on this Raw that speaks volumes to me as a fan.  WWE has its largest crop of potential stars in probably 12 years right now.  Be it on Raw weekly, nxt on the wwe network or preparing at the performance center there are proven talents with the ability to work at a high level.  However, wwe will not pull the trigger on any of them to catapult someone to the top tier and continues to push old reliable.

John Cena has been the top guy in wwe for the last nine years after being drafted to Raw from Smackdown in the summer of 2005.  He was champion before that but I feel moving to the flagship show was the move that determined him the face of the wwe.  To put nine years as the top babyface in perspective Hulk Hogan's initial run in the wwf was from 1984 to 1990, six years, when wwe opted to put the title on the Ultimate Warrior.  Hogan was champion again in 1991 after beating Sgt. Slaughter at wrestlemania 7 but was out of WWF for good by 1993. (until his nWo return 10 years later) So, even if you include when WWF tried to use a new top babyface in the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan was the top guy in the company for nine years and really during that time Hogan was not always the focus of the wwe.
Would anyone put John Cena on the same level as Hulk Hogan from a character stand point?  John Cena has earned his credibility as top babyface superhero by doing everything and then some that wwe has asked him be it make a wish, personal appearance, wrestling injured, you name it and the guy has done it to maintain his spot and perform for the fans; but during that nine years there was never anyone that got close to replacing John Cena.  No matter how you feel about John Cena it is a pretty remarkable run on top.
Now, it seems that wwe is ready to crown a new face of the empire.  There just seems to be something inside of John Cena that makes you feel he is ready to step down a notch and let someone else take the major bumps and bruises on the top of the card, Cena has a number of nagging injuries including his neck and he is approaching the age where wrestlers start to slow down.  Cena has also started to put other guys over more than he ever has with feuds like he had with Bray Wyatt, which really helped elevate Wyatt, giving the rub to the Uso Brothers, and using his shine to try to raise Roman Reigns stock.  All the signs are there for a new "superstar" to step up and take charge.

WWE, however, seems very reluctant to pass the reigns to the next chosen one just yet.  The obvious selection from wwe is Roman Reigns.  WWE has been grooming him since the shield was together and there is no question why, Reigns has everything wwe looks for in a top star; he has size, athleticism, the look but the only thing he lacks is experience.  Roman Reigns is not gaining experience fast enough and he is not improving at the pace he will need to in order to be the top guy.  I would assume his time line is wrestlemania, and his opponent is Brock Lesnar.  WWE has done everything right with Lesnar by giving him the streak, dominating Cena and becoming an unstoppable beast so if Reigns beats him on the grandest stage it would be a huge deal. 

However, if the fans don't buy it then it won't be nearly as big as it could be.  In my opinion, if the fans don't buy it then wwe should call an audible for that main event.  The problem is that audible would have to be called by Royal Rumble since the main event and crowning of a new face of the wwe would have to be a wwe world heavyweight championship match.  Ultimately that means Roman Reigns has 4 months to prove he is the right guy for the job. Unfortunately, on Raw last night when Roman Reigns announced he was adding his name to the title mix the crowd was very underwhelmed.  WWE had to hoping that when Reigns delivered that line, which he delivered awkwardly, the crowd would erupt in support and it just did not happen.  I do not believe Roman Reigns will be ready to be the top guy in the company in less than a year.
The biggest problem with Reigns not being ready by wrestlemania is that is squanders the amazing opportunity to have Brock Lesnar put him over.  The guy that beat the streak, dominated Cena and has become an attraction losing makes that person an instant mega star and wwe can't afford to miss that chance.  So, who, if not Reigns, can step up to be handed the torch?

 The long shot pick is Daniel Bryan.  Why it is a long shot is because no one knows his health status.  His second surgery has been postponed for more tests and the expected return, from what I understand is 3 months, which puts him close to the Royal Rumble.  It is an easy story for Bryan to win the Rumble and go on to wrestlemania to challenge Brock Lesnar as the unrelenting underdog who conquers the bully.  The issues are two fold, first, the comeback is uncertain because of the health and second, I don't believe wwe wants to have Daniel Bryan as their long term face of the company and beating Lesnar can't be a hot shot move to push a guy, it needs to be the dawning of the new top guy.

 My pick, and not likely choice, is Cesaro.  Cesaro is a technically spectacular wrestler with, what appears to be, superhuman strength.  He also has a presence in the ring and natural charisma.  He certainly doesn't have John Cena type charisma or natural charm but I believe he could get over with all demographics as well as do the appearance and be a respectable ambassador for sports entertainment.  Most importantly, he would have an international appeal that could bring more exposure from an audience that sees wrestling as a more legitimate form of sports and entertainment.  I don't know if wwe is ready or will be ready to put the hype train behind Cesaro so I do not see him being the selected top guy but he has a lot of tangible and intangible allure for that spot.

 The real top contender for the next big time babyface should be Dean Ambrose!  Ambrose and his never say die mentality and approach to wrestling would lend itself perfectly to challenging Brock Lesnar.  The lunatic fringe toppling the beast would surely elevate Ambrose and the crowd would completely rally behind him and his character.  If you could turn back time and remember the story that developed after Stone Cold Steve Austin won his first title from Shawn Michaels and Vince McMahon tried to mold the texas rattlesnake into a corporate puppet; this story could be almost completely redone using Triple H and Dean Ambrose and it would work. 

Now, I am not saying Dean Ambrose is Steve Austin, he is Austin-like, and the closest thing to having the ability to catch fire with the crowd and they could live vicariously through him against the authority.  An added bonus to Ambrose becoming the top guy, and champion, is that Seth Rollins has the money in the bank briefcase so there is a ready made championship feud waiting for the next top heel and babyface.  This run would allow them to get comfortable with their new spots while putting on tremendous matches with each other.  Dean Ambrose can completely pull off the blue collar hero while Rollins is a completely believable sell out the corporation would get behind. 

Making Ambrose the face of the company, a kin to Austin, would begin the youth movement (which wwe is totally ready for, see nxt), shift the focus of the product back to a faster more athletic style and still offer compelling stories.  This move would also allow Roman Reigns to hone his skills and become the number two face in the company, which worked out well for Reigns cousin The Rock.
The style of wrestling pushed to the forefront buy Ambrose and Rollins being the two top guys is tailor made for the future roster wwe will boast with guys like ziggler, barrett, cesaro, sheamus, big e, kofi, sami zayne, tyler breeze, bo dallas, neville, kenta, prince devitt, kevin steen and daniel bryan.  This roster is so stacked with talent on the cusp of breaking out that if wwe pushed a wrestling style fit for all of the young talent they are stock piling sports entertainment would become a lot more sports and a lot more entertainment.

 I believe that wwe will make Roman Reigns "the guy" but if they ran an audible and made the leap of faith putting Dean Ambrose in that role wwe could domino into a really special time in professional wrestling and no one would suffer from it.  The next four months will be very telling as to who can handle the top spot and who may not be ready for the spotlight, either direction will be interesting and should be worth watching; something Monday Night Raw on labor day really wasn't.  That is just this marks remarks.

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WWE fantasy booking towards the new year

 WWE's product has been peaking my interest recently by turning out some intriguing story lines, developing the future talent and putting on quality shows.  Unfortunately, I am the type of fan that isn't going to leave the product; I have lived through way worse in wrestling and will probably live through it again.  However, WWE has progressively lost viewership in the millions since the boom period 15 years ago (holy cow 15 years ago?) and the ratings have seemed to plateau to about 4 million per week.  That number is half of what it was during the attitude era and the Monday night wars.  Which means WWE needs to figure out how to do something to rekindle the fire for over 4 million jaded wrestling fans in order to create another wrestling boom time.  The first question one has to ask is, can wrestling create another boom time and can it be done without direct competition?  If you believe it can, what needs to happen to bring the pseudo-casual fans back to sports entertainment?

I, for one, believe wrestling can have another boom period and I think it can happen now.  I believe there are enough key players on the wwe roster and being developed on the roster to appeal to everything wrestling needs catch fire.  I believe that this boom period and take place without any major competition to the wwe reign over sports entertainment.  WCW and Monday Nitro played a huge role in lighting the fuse for the wrestling explosion with the creation of the nWo.  However, wwe maintained its popularity when wcw was taken over by wwe for a period of time.  I also believe that this boom period can take place with the current product the way it is being presented currently; meaning the "pg style" that raw is being delivered.  Everyone loved the attitude era but i don't believe it was because of the blood and guts style of wrestling, profane language or racy stories; those things may have not hurt but they were not the catalyst of the rise in popularity.  WWE struck gold by pushing a blue collar tough guy giving his boss the treatment every blue collar guy wishes he could, fresh hip characters, compelling story and athletic wrestling matches.  Steve Austin led the way of a roster that included The Rock, Undertaker, Triple H, Chris Jericho, Mick Foley, Kurt Angle, Hardy's, Dudley's, Edge, Christian, Eddy Guerrero, and a myriad of secondary talent that made up a very talented roster of talent.  All the while, The McMahon family played super villains and were able to turn the wrestling world upside down.

 So, what needs to happen now to relight that fuse?  Can the wwe recreate an atmosphere that didn't allow its universe of fans to miss an episode of Raw?  I believe that they can, but it is going to take some risks being taken to build that one defining moment that will get current fans talking and catch the eye of the fans that have left the wrestling world.  Below is my fantasy booking, I do not expect it to happen, that may be some direction that would bring fans interest to wrestling back.

 I fully expect Brock Lesnar to beat John Cena at night of champions, not like the manner he did at SummerSlam, but I still think Lesnar will win.  I think that after Cena loses to Lesnar for a second straight time he should be off television for awhile, do a little soul searching before he makes another return.  I also believe that this is the last pay per view that Lesnar will be on for a few months because wwe believes that the Hell in a Cell match can sell the next show and a title match is not necessary.  So let's say at Hell in a Cell the main event resembles something like Seth Rollins and Randy Orton versus Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns in a Hell in a Cell match.  It is an extreme battle that Reigns and Ambrose begin to get the advantage in and this leads to the Authority and Kane coming down to the ring and inserting themselves into the match.  Kane, Orton and Rollins begin to get the advantage and they eliminate Ambrose from the match leaving a three on one situation with Reigns.  As all three men have him cornered John Cena's music would hit and Cena triumphantly returns to help Reigns out and take out the bad guys.  Cena and Reigns stand in the middle of the ring, back to back, challenging the Authority to attack.  At which point Triple H would stand up on the apron and give his famous thumbs down motion and John Cena would turn around and lay out Roman Reigns with an attitude adjustment. 

 Cue the jaws dropping and the authority would pounce on Roman Reigns leaving him laying while Triple H stands tall raising the hands of Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Kane and John Cena!  No one would believe that wwe was finally going to turn Cena bad and that moment would create a "wrestling moment" that would have the wrestling world a buzz.  This would also create another gauntlet of wrestlers Roman Reigns would have to go through before getting to his new target of John Cena, allowing Reigns to hone his skills before he gets to the biggest stage of them all, wrestlemania.  Cena could go on Raw and deliver a promo about how he wrestled for the people and they all turned on him now he is wrestling for himself and for the money.  He could be arm in arm with his girlfriend Nikki Bella who is already with the Authority. 
 He essentially would become Hollywood Hogan and could revitalize his career as a heel and he would become the top heel immediately.  Dean Ambrose would still have his feud with Seth Rollins going that could lead them into the royal rumble and while he doesn't have to team with Roman Reigns they would have common enemies.  I think after Ambrose has finished with Rollins he could set his sights on The Authority as a whole because he is so anti establishment and the rivalry he has with the Authority might look very similar to an Austin versus McMahon feud with Ambrose ultimately going after Triple H, who would hold him down because of his instability and non-corporate attitude.  Triple H would clearly not think Dean Ambrose is best for business. 

 Survivor Series would lead to the perfect set up of Authority versus Reigns, Ambrose, and say, the Uso's in a traditional Survivor Series elimination match where after Ambrose and Rollins eliminated themselves it would come down to John Cena versus Roman Reigns as the last two men where John Cena would simply walk away, like a coward.  This would cement him as the top heel in the business and would only make the fans want to see Roman Reigns get his hands on John Cena even more.  While this is going on I would pair Brock Lesnar up against someone like Sheamus, who can afford to get the tar beat out of him and still make Lesnar look like a beast. 

The storyline going into royal rumble would be that the Authority is going to set up the match so that John Cena wins the rumble match so that he can recapture the wwe world heavyweight title at Wrestlemania with the help of the Authority, because John Cena can beat Lesnar if he is with the Authority and become the corporate champion.  Fast forward to the end of the Royal Rumble match itself; final four men could be Randy Orton, John Cena, Roman Reigns and Cesaro and Triple H finds his way to ringside.  Like every year the four men stand in separate corners as the match resets, Orton and Cena are clearly working together toward the same goal until the sheep mask appears and the lights go out.  Lights return on and the Wyatt family appears in the ring and they attack Randy Orton.  As the three Wyatts are beating on Orton; Cena, Reigns and Cesaro attack each other.  Triple H is livid at ringside because he doesn't know why the Wyatt's appeared and what is going on and he gets attacked from out of no where by Dean Ambrose.  The Wyatt's could eliminate Orton totally screwing up the plans of the Authority which gives Roman Reigns the opportunity to eliminate John Cena from the rumble.  The crowd would go nuts for the elimination and certainly think Reigns is going on to wrestlemania to win the title he is being groomed to win.  However, after a major Cena distraction Cesaro eliminates Roman Reigns and achieves the ability to challenge the champion at wrestlemania. 
Cesaro winning would get a huge reaction for two reasons, first, it would be a huge royal rumble upset and second, the crowd can easily get behind Cesaro; but most importantly, Paul Heyman would be shocked because Cesaro was a "Heyman Guy" so why would he want to challenge another "Heyman guy" for the championship.  Paul Heyman will have the ability to make Cesaro a huge babyface with his promos and Cesaro could do some spectacular power moves against someone the size of Brock Lesnar.

 The top of my Wrestlemania card would look something like this:

Brock Lesnar (champion) vs. Cesaro

Roman Reigns vs. John Cena

Dean Ambrose vs. Triple H

Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton or Wyatt Family vs. Orton, Rollins and Kane

In these four matches you would be creating a new and refreshing world heavyweight champion in Cesaro who would get a huge rub from beating the unbeatable Brock Lesnar.  Roman Reigns is made as top star of the company when he defeats the dastardly John Cena.  Dean Ambrose becomes "the peoples champion" as he challenges the head of the Authority and his boss Triple H.  The Wyatt family is officially turned good, which I believe is what wwe wants, but officially going after the Authority.  So coming out of wrestlemania you have established four major babyfaces of wwe for the foreseeable future and still maintain three top heels (i don't count Kane).  

While all these main story lines are taking place I am building the next tier ready to propel into the main events.  I would focus on the wrestling talent of a lot of these guys to help get them over.  I would turn Dolph Ziggler back to being a bad guy and utilize the return of Daniel Bryan to solidify this switch and simply have them feud over who is the best wrestler in the business.  Continue to showcase the tag team division wwe is so afraid to focus on and allow the middle of the card guys to position themselves.  Mix that in with the expected Undertaker return and a few other surprises my wrestlemania looks pretty good and really features the next wave of wwe and could build a real boom period in wrestling using the extremely talented roster of personalities they have.  My full wrestlemania card, as of now would be:

John Cena of the Authority vs. Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar vs. Cesaro

Triple H vs. Dean Ambrose

Wyatt Family vs. The Authority

The Undertaker vs. Sting

Rusev vs. Hulk Hogan (or Kurt Angle)

Dolph Ziggler vs. Daniel Bryan

The Uso's vs. Big E and Kofi Kingston

Sheamus vs. Bad News Barrett

Rhodes Brothers vs. Big Show & Mark Henry vs. Rybaxel 

Paige vs. Natalya

some match involving nxt.

 At least in my opinion, this is a pretty effective card and could bring fans back to a product on the verge of breaking out.  I don't expect any of this stuff to happen but I think it could work, fortunately, I believe there are many ways wwe can bring the fans back in droves, ways wwe may actual do.  But for now the fans can only wait patiently, and blog their opinions, until wwe plans the next direction of its product and where they take the fans next.  Based on the current product I think all fans should be optimistic about the future and prepare for wwe's next boom period.  That is just this marks remarks.
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raw review / wrong guy wrong time

Another Monday night raw has come and gone and while I thought it was a decent show two things really stood out to me and neither were positive for the show.

 Raw started with a "hall of fame" panel of Ric flair, hulk hogan and Shawn Michaels where they debated if john cena could beat the beast Brock lesnar. Flair and Michaels agreed he couldn't while hogan believed in cena. The brief discussion brought a much more stoic john cena came out to ringside. Stoic in the sense that he barely waived his "never give up" towel and when he saluted the camera man he was smiling like a goofball. The promo he cut, however, was stoic and serious. The promo had to be serious after the match he had with lesnar and cena kept it short but said all the right things delivered the right way.

 The john cena promo was rebutted later in the show by a taped sit down interview from Brock lesnar and Paul heyman. This video package was excellent, not surprising, but was predominantly lesnar talking, which is surprising and lesnar was great. Brock lesnar has the presence, body language and attitude of the unbeatable bully. He has really found his stride in this part time role with heyman doing most of the talking and with wwe protecting him he is succeeding.

 The uso's are quickly becoming a great tag team and if wwe allowed the tag division to build it would guarantee at least one very entertaining match per night per show. With the uso's, rhodes', Wyatt's, rybaxel and even Los matadores the wwe has some pretty polished teams and building teams with less utilized guys like Kofi Kingston and big E could potentially turn their careers around. Tag team matches are so easy to watch and always offer entertainment value for a solid 10 minutes it seems like it would be a no brainer to put some spotlight on the tag division but wwe continues the stop/start focus on tag team wrestling. It is a shame because there is a lot of talented teams out there who seem content being successful tag teams.

 Nikki Bella proved last night that it is not necessarily Stephanie McMahon making brie Bella appear below average as an actor but it really is just brie Bella being below average. I thought Nikki Bella did pretty good in the family reconciliation segment on raw; however, I just don't care about the story or its players (aside from Stephanie), the segment was given too much time and it is way too much "wwe theatrics" for me. It will sooner rather than later have "change the channel" heat for me.

 But, that was not one of the raw disappointments for me those are as follows.  Roman reigns interrupted a good effort of cementing Seth Rollins as a top heel last night and it led to a handicap match between reigns versus Rollins and Kane. Roman reigns has already become stale to me. He does the same four moves in every match, like a lot of wrestlers use the same signature moves, but reigns doesn't do any other moves. None! I understand that he has the look, the size and he lineage but what he doesn't have is psychology or wrestling moves to fill the time he is not doing signature moves. Reigns is approaching a level where he will have to work longer matches and this is only going to expose him. I watched his match from raw and instead of being interested or excited I just got the feeling that it was another quick roman reigns match where the whole idea is to position guys for his punches, jumping foot, superman punch and spear. There was really nothing else and it was disappointing.

The worst part of raw was the main event. John cena taking on bray Wyatt with the Wyatt family. In an effort to make john cena, the most over and recognized star in the wwe, look more ferocious than ever wwe chose to have him destroy bray Wyatt. Bray Wyatt currently has the most upside of any young superstar in wwe, has gotten over with the wwe universe and is the most unique character wwe has developed since mankind or the undertaker. Wyatt is on the ascent to being a, or the, top star.  Wwe chose to have him get absolutely destroyed at the hands of john cena getting zero offense and being beaten to a pulp while the Wyatt family watches on. The demonstration, al be it short, did nothing but make bray Wyatt, a major part of their future, look like a bum. Wyatt looked weak in a way a wrestler can't afford to look weak.

But, you say, the same thing happened to john cena at summerslam? John cena is the only wrestler on the roster that could allow a defeat like that with no lasting negative effects. John cena is the established top guy in wwe and has been for the last 10 plus years, cena has made a career out of rising above and coming back with his super strength. Cena preaches never quit, don't back down and is a role model to kids; he can afford a beating like he took from lesnar and bounce back because of his spirit and it can make him stronger. Beating up cena like took place two weeks ago st summerslam gives him credibility when he comes back to fight another day.

 Bray Wyatt is a brain washing lunatic who leads his followers while getting in the heads of his victims with his words and his mind games. He has a mythical element to his character the way he can appear out if thin air. He is also just coming into his own as a potential top superstar, with a failed character already under his belt, and he still benefits from rivalries with established competitors. Beating the tar out of bray Wyatt the way he was on raw doesn't set him up for any kind of redemption and only makes him weak and vulnerable, things bray Wyatt shouldn't look like. Raw saw john cena humanize bray Wyatt when he destroyed him in a lopsided main event. Humanizing bray Wyatt is the worst thing wwe can possible do, why make the unique become regular? John cena beat up the wrong guy in the wrong time last night and it won't effect john cena in anyway. But, it will effect the guy that could potentially be the top star as a heel or a face going into the next 10 years and I don't believe bray Wyatt can afford that right now and wwe should not have done it. That is just this marks remarks.