WWE Great Balls of Fire: Jerry Lee Missed Out - by Big Vin Vader

WWE Great Balls of Fire: Jerry Lee Missed Out - follow @bigvinvader

I thought Money in the Bank was a pretty bad show, the most recent example of bad booking and missed opportunities in WWE.  The mere fact that RAW’s follow-up show was named Great Balls of Fire seemed like a major warning that it would be another let-down.  Imagine my shock when the PPV turned out to be a blast from start to finish, unexceptional in most aspects, but completely solid and entertaining with few of the frustrating choices that have marred WWE’s booking lately.  The name was announced months back, and seemingly failed to get a single vote of fan approval.  What followed were about a dozen different logos, speculation regarding the name selection, and involvement from Jerry Lee Lewis’ legal team.  It was about as bizarre as wrestling gets.

But then the build started to get really good, the matches looked promising, and it seemed like there was a chance for GBOF to actually deliver. Not only was the promise of an Iron Man tag match between the Hardys and Sheamus/Cesaro a perfect blow-off to their long-running feud, but the Women’s title match between Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks was a fresh match in an era of repeats.  Much as they have their detractors, Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman have had several very good matches with one another, and the ambulance stipulation promised some brutal finality.  Best of all, Samoa Joe was presented as a legitimate, threatening challenger to Brock Lesnar’s Universal Title.  The build up to that championship match was one of the most successful things WWE has done in some time, making Joe seem the hardass, main event-level player he has deserved to be for his entire run in the company.  Even with the seeming certainty of Lesnar’s victory, the lead-up was so successfully executed that it seemed a sure-shot crowd pleaser.  Come the night of the show, nearly every match delivered on those initial promises, and even the lesser bouts on the card proved to be far more than satisfactory.

Initially, I was disappointed to see the Cruiserweight match between Neville and Akira Tozawa shunted to the preshow, but quickly regained interest when I realized just how into it the crowd was.  For a division that’s been long-suffering as far as fan interest goes (and certainly hurting from the abrupt release of Austin Aries), this was definitely a welcome sight.  Things didn’t advance much beyond a preshow-caliber level, but it was still a very capable contest from the two incredible cruiserweights.

Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt was a bit of a head scratcher, with the feud itself seeming to come about out of nowhere, but in the capable hands of those two wrestlers it was a solid if unexceptional match.  It was great, however, to see Bray pick up a clean win on PPV after the rocky year he’s had.

Enzo Amore vs. Big Cass was about as exciting in-ring as you’d expect from two such limited performers.  That said, they made the right call in keeping it brief and putting Cass over, and in finally splitting the two up for that matter.

Easily the match of the night was the Tag Team Iron Man Match, with both teams impressing in a hard-fought, genuinely unpredictable contest.  They made great use of the stipulation, with a number of shocking falls, including one for the odd couple in the first twenty seconds of the match.  From there it was hard-hitting action, with several memorable high spots, all leading up to some of the most exciting final moments seen on PPV in some time.  Matt got busted open bad after a dual dive with Jeff, and that hardway blood really contributed to the drama and excitement of the finish.  It was a perfect example of how blood, even accidental, can add to the sport.  Things seemed to be going the Hardys’ way until Cesaro scored a tiebreaker fall in the last thirty seconds.  Jeff caught a quick reversal and went for a desperation pin at the two-second mark and came up just short.  It was gripping stuff, and stole the show.

My personal favorite match, if not the outright best, was the Women’s Title showdown between Sahsa Banks and Alexa Bliss.  More on that one in a minute.

The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose for the IC title was an unexciting prospect, especially given how many times that exact match has been done.  It wasn’t bad, but it was one of the low points of the show, and I struggled to hold interest.  The Miz going over with some interference from his corner was the right call, however, and his reign looks to continue as successfully as it deserves to.

Reigns vs. Strowman had pretty much everything I wanted to see in their blow-off match, and it even came with some surprises.  The strikes looked stiff, and there was a ruthlessness in both men’s offense that took things up another level.  They wasted no time in making their way up the ramp to the titular vehicle and from there the intensity of the brawl only mounted.  Reigns lost the match for himself with a missed spear right into the ambulance, and what followed was some of the most insane, hilarious, and perplexing use of PPV time I’ve seen.  After escaping and subduing Braun into the ambulance himself, Reigns drove off to the backstage area and backed the vehicle into a semi-trailer before fleeing.  After about ten minutes of worked panic, Braun stumbled out (freed by the Dallas fire department and the Jaws of Life) bloodied, and limped off after Reigns.  Even if that was the evilest, most heelish thing Roman could do, he still seems to be a total face somehow.  Interesting.

Lesnar vs. Joe delivered on its promise, and of course offered up nothing in the way of surprises.  Joe looked like an absolute killer, jumping Brock before the bell and slamming him through the Spanish announce table before even a minute had passed.  From there, he dominated, locking in the Coqina Clutch several times and forcing Brock to nearly pass out.  There were some hard strike exchanges, a number of German suplexes, and even more surprising displays of agility from Lesnar.  Sadly, the whole thing only lasted six-and-a-half minutes before Lesnar broke another Clutch to hit a desperation F-5 and retain the Universal Title.  As much as they made Joe look great and cemented his main event status, this one could have gone on longer, if for no other reason than to cast to unpredictability over the seemingly-obvious finish.  Still, it was Brock’s best match this year, and a good showing for Joe in his first one-on-one main event.

 

The RAW Women’s Title match between Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks was my favorite match of the night, and my pick for best following the Iron Man Tag match.  It was one of the best paced matched on the card, and delivered hard-hitting, impressive action for its entirety.  Alexa is one of my favorite wrestlers in either brand’s women’s division, and her ring work continues to improve with each match.  Beyond that, her heel character is one of the most successful and fully-realized regardless of brand or division.  Sasha is a fantastic wrestler and never fails to put on an impressive showing in the ring, but her face character does very little for me (and her trash-talk in the ring is groan-inducing).  Put together to fight for RAW’s top prize, it seemed certain that they’d put on a quality contest.  They definitely delivered, up until the weak count-out finish, and it was a great example of the match quality in the current women’s division.  That all said, I couldn’t help come away with some complaints.

GBOF had seven matches total, eight with the pre-show Cruiserweight Title match, and all but this one were men’s matches.  I realize that the men’s division is still the primary focus for most fans and that’s incredibly clear from the presentation and booking of the product.  The trouble is, as much as the company touts their progressive attitude and reminds us how far women’s wrestling has come in the last decade, things still have a lot of catching up to do.  And don’t forget, just as WWE’s changes come as a result of the attitudes towards women’s wrestling that they helped create years back, so too does the complete change of policy lie in their hands.  While they’re talking about the good they’ve done for women’s wrestling, they still fail to book more than one women’s match for every six men’s matches on a major show.  Occasionally, if we’re lucky, we’ll get two.  Are we to expect that we’ll never reach the day when PPV cards are evenly split between the sexes?

There’s a deep talent pool for each division in the company, and obviously not everyone can get extensive TV time or even deserves to be pushed to the top or upper-middle of the card.  But there’s no reason at all that the entire women’s midcard should be relegated to SmackDown and RAW while there are plenty of men’s filler matches slipped onto every PPV show.  Even before the brand split last year, the women’s division has been built around a few select women, namely Sahsa Banks, Charlotte, and Bayley (Becky Lynch fell to the wayside very quickly, unfortunately).  Since the brand split, others such as Alexa Bliss and Naomi have been given chances to shine and win titles.  But the problem is that there hasn’t been a whole hell of a lot of opportunity for the rest of the division.  There are occasional flirtations with main event status (as long as we remember that such status for the women falls behind even the men’s midcard status) for some of the others in the division, but they never seem to last.

There are so many great athletes in each brand’s division, and they can’t be said to be anything other than held back.  Whatever happened to Emma’s triumphant return?  Remember when Natalya’s heel turn seemed like a big deal?  What the hell have they been doing with Becky Lynch since she lost the title?  And how often do we see them in anything other than watered down, commercial-interrupted television matches?  Even if the matches were high-quality things would be different, as they’re all capable of putting on impressive showings, but the visibility and chances for advancement just don’t seem to be existent.  We aren’t going to see many serious contenders or plausible storylines until more time is given over to the women’s division.  Of course, this is no easy feat with five hours of regular cable television already feeling overstuffed with filler.  That doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for either the athletes themselves, creative, or even the fans to get invested in matters.

But it’s still possible, as the final RAW, SmackDown, and NXT episodes of June revealed.  A women’s number one contender gauntlet match headlined RAW, the rematch of the beyond-frustrating women’s MITB match did the same on SmackDown, and Nikki Cross challenged Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship in a Last Man Standing match on that program’s main event.  It was the first time that the women’s division had headlined all three shows in the same week, and of course WWE took every opportunity to announce that fact and gain press attention.  Why not just let that become a regular thing and not have to trumpet your own booking?  And why wasn’t there more backlash asking why it took so long when it seemed a pretty simple decision to make?  Regardless of all that, it was good to see this finally happen, and the matches themselves naturally were no slouches.  The NXT title match in particular was one of the best television matches I’ve seen in months, even topping most of the recent PPVs in terms of sheer excitement and quality.  So nobody should have any doubt that the women should be presented as stars and performers every bit the equal of the males on the roster, it’s just that the big event feel of this occurrence makes it seem like just an exception to the rule.

That being said, there are some positives to look forward to.  First and Foremost is the Mae Young Classic set to air this summer.  Pulling talent from a diverse range of indie promotions, similar to last year’s Cruiserweight Classic and this January’s UK Championship Tournament, the all-female event has generated a great deal of buzz already.  Given the overwhelming success of those two events, from both critical and artistic perspectives, the MYC looks to be a surefire winner, and at the very least will give a few dozen deserving wrestlers better exposure.  Not to continue with the negativity, since I’m really excited for the tournament, have been since it was first mentioned as a possibility last year, but there’s still the issue of exposure.  The CWC was one of the best-received programs on the WWE Network last year, and the UK tournament/division have produced some of the company’s best matches of 2017.  Despite all of that, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t feel the cruiserweights have been mishandled in the months since.  205 Live is a forgotten B-show, and the in-ring aspect that wowed fans previously has been severely watered down on the main roster.  And the UK division is simply a side function of NXT, leaving those great workers even less exposure within their respective division than either SD or RAW’s women’s divisions.

There’s no question that participating in the tournament will boost the stock of nearly every female wrestler who participates in it, but what after that?  Will there be a sub-women’s division centered around the trophy/belt or whatever prize is reserved for the victor?  Or will the upper-tier participants be inserted into the already-underrepresented women’s divisions on the main roster and NXT?  These questions will certainly be answered before long, and it really shouldn’t be anything other than exciting as more details of the tournament emerge.  It just seems like we’ll have to wait and see where things go, which is unfortunately what’s been happening all along.

Big Vin Vader covers WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow on twitter @bigvinvader

WWE Money In the Bank: The Ladders Only Lead Down - by Big Vin Vader

Money In the Bank: The Ladders Only Lead Down   follow@bigvinvader

 I was excited for Money in the Bank this year, I really was.  In theory, it sounded like the most promising line-up in years for the titular ladder match.  AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Shinsuke Nakamura are obviously some of the best workers in the world, let alone WWE, regardless of brand.  On top of that, Dolph Ziggler may be lost in the current product’s shuffle, but is still a hell of a wrestler when motivated, and Baron Corbin may not be much beyond a brutal monster heel, but he plays that part very well.  Beyond that, the fact that SmackDown Live would be hosting the first-ever women’s MITB ladder match was a huge deal.  The SD women’s division has been outshining RAW’s own ever since the initial brand split, and the addition of Charlotte and Tamina after the shake-up only added to the incredible promise of the match itself.  The historic aspect alone should have made this something to remember, and given the talent of the women involved (Charlotte, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Tamina, and Carmella), the match itself should have easily delivered on that initial promise.  On top of that, the show was only scheduled for five matches—all of the non-ladder matches being for titles—theoretically leaving all of the filler by the wayside, and possibly even allowing things to wrap up early.  Boy, did they fuck things up.

 

Let’s take a quick look at each match’s finish, and maybe the problems will make themselves plain:

 

-James Ellsworth won the women’s ladder match by retrieving the briefcase for Carmella

-The Usos retained the SD Tag Titles by getting themselves counted out

-Naomi forced Lana to submit after Carmella entered and teased cashing in her MITB briefcase

-Jinder Mahal pinned Randy Orton after Orton spent an eternity fighting off the Singh Bros. on the floor (yet not getting counted out)

-Breezango pinned the Ascension in an unannounced, sub-four-minute match

-Baron Corbin snuck into the ring to take out Nakamura and Styles before claiming the briefcase

 

Now I can’t be the only one to think that’s way too many bullshit endings on a relatively sparse card.  The women’s MITB ladder match is my biggest point of contention, so let’s just jump right in.

The participants made their way to the ring and only then did WWE decide to show a video on the history of women’s wrestling within their own promotion.  It was a good video, although susceptible as always to their selectively-remembered, revisionist history (Wendi Richter was there, but no mention of the Original Screwjob).  Also, very strange to do this with the women waiting in the ring to begin their match.  But as we all know, WWE never misses an opportunity to trumpet their progressive attitudes and champion the strides they’ve made in presenting women as serious athletes and wrestlers.  And the ladder match should have been the perfect opportunity to demonstrate those steps forward.  Just think: this is a dangerous, hard-hitting, fast-paced match with huge stakes, the sorts of things that WWE and the rest of the (American) wrestling world confined to the male portion of the roster.  But they couldn’t just let the talented wrestlers spread that message on their own.  Of course not.

Just deciding to kick the show off with this match spoke volumes, and it led me to believe that it was going to be the exact sort of hot opener that the show needed, as well as the perfect spot on the card to give the women the exposure they deserve.  Tamina set a fast pace by dominating every other participant, but before long the match filled up with way too much dead space.  And that led directly into one of my biggest problems with the whole thing: just because there had never been a women’s MITB ladder match prior to this, most of the wrestlers were booked to look like they had no idea what to do.  Some of the best female wrestlers in the world were made to look like clueless undercard workers.  I don’t know how many times somebody was alone in the ring, or the last person left standing, only to look around confusedly or simply stare at the hanging briefcase as though they didn’t have any idea how to get it.  This was especially true of Natalya, who was made to kneel while gazing upward several times throughout the match.  More than that, when she did get ready to climb, she had to adjust the ladder’s placement slowly a number of times in order to make sure it was right.  I understand that this could have been legit in order to ensure her safety during such a high-risk bout, but the lethargic pace at which she moved makes me think that somebody laying out the match wanted her to look like an inexperienced kid rather than the excellent wrestler she is.  Charlotte and Tamina showed the surest footing throughout, dominating the others, and actually looking like they knew how to climb a ladder.  Sure, it makes sense to give an edge to certain performers, but it was disheartening to see so many great athletes made to look like fools.  None of the men showed any of that sort of hesitation in their match, not even those new to MITB matches.

Still, the action was pretty good when things were going, and the crowd was incredibly supportive and into everything as it happened.  Of course, that came back to bite everyone in the ass, as I’ll discuss in a minute.  At one point, Becky Lynch seemed bound to win, quickly climbing the ladder after putting Carmella away.  That would have been a fantastic moment, since Becky is still one of SmackDown’s most popular wrestlers, despite being given very few major opportunities since dropping the Women’s Title to Alexa Bliss last year.  Instead of that crowd-pleasing finish, however, we got James Ellsworth running in and tipping Becky off the ladder.  Then, after realizing that Carmella was still knocked out, he climbed the ladder himself and grabbed the briefcase for her.  So the best finish, somebody decided, to the first-ever women’s MITB match (and remember just how many times they touted that historic fact) was to have one of the participants’ (storyline) boyfriend interfere and win it when she and all of the others proved unable to do so.  That was not only the stupidest possible finish to the match, but also the most offensive decision WWE has made in quite some time.  Then again, I can’t even lay all of my frustration on the company itself, since there was an enormous positive reaction from the crowd encouraging Ellsworth to climb the ladder.  What the fuck, guys?

I understand that Carmella is a heel and is meant to attract heat, but I don’t buy that for an instant in this particular case.  The SmackDown women’s division is loaded with incredible athletes, any of whom deserved the briefcase on their own merits, but instead the best way to get the job done is to have a man win the match.  Yeah, they like controversy and everything, and this sure as hell got people talking, but that stands in opposition to everything the “Women’s Revolution” stands for.  Even as a one-off joke or storyline initiator, that move was seen by millions of people, and basically told them that a man is still the best choice and has the best odds at winning a major ladder match, even if he’s not a participant.  That type of hypocrisy reeks of just as much bullshit as WWE aligning themselves with Be a Star while allowing JBL to taunt Mauro Ranallo and trigger a depressive incident, leading to the former’s resignation.

But all of that aside, what this really stands as is the company making a mockery of its own women’s division and all of the great athletes within it.  The latest news is that Daniel Bryan stripped Carmella of the briefcase and scheduled a rematch.  That bodes well for the long-term, but it fails to change the fact that it was still booked as the original finish.  Or that James Ellsworth is a comedy character who should have nothing to do with major storylines (see: Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles).  And not to discredit her, but Carmella is the least-experienced and (theoretically) least-deserving wrestler in the match.  The whole thing just left a bad impression, and the rumors that the women on both RAW and SmackDown are legitimately pissed off only furthers the impact of this stupid decision.  The bottom line is that it becomes increasingly harder to take these sorts of moments as seriously as the company throws such offensive nonsense into supposedly-important matches like they did here.  The Ellsworth finish still goes down on the books as the original ending, and the change of plans is either a reaction to backlash, or was the plan from the start.  That sort of back-and-forth booking and outright manipulation is still pretty hard to take.

In between the ladder matches came all three title matches, and they delivered about as much as you’d expect B-level midcard matches to do.  Then again, this was MITB, so the marquee matches are, by definition, not the title bouts.  The New day and the Usos put on a decent match for the SD tag titles.  It really does seem like the New Day work their hardest when they don’t have the complacency a title provides them with, and this was one of their best outings in recent memory.  Then the Usos rolled out of the ring to get themselves counted out and ended a good match far too short.  Well, that feud will continue.

Naomi vs. Lana for the Women’s Title was passable, especially given Lana’s lack of experience wrestling.  Carmella distracted them both by teasing a cash-in, but thankfully that didn’t happen and Naomi retained.  Just think how amazing a Charlotte/Becky/Natalya vs. Naomi title match could have been.  Apparently, we’ll have to wait to see that.

Randy Orton fell to Jinder Mahal in his hometown, continuing that curse, as well as the Jinder experiment.  The match was fine, and as displeased as everyone else is, you really can’t say that they’re putting on the worst match each time they wrestle.  The appearance of STL wrestling legends was a nice touch, but ultimately meaningless when they were dragged into the match yet made no impact on the inevitable loss for Orton.

The men’s MITB ladder match was the star of the show, but even that one was kind of a disappointment as far as my initial expectations.  The reason why is pretty easy to pick out, as Shinsuke Nakamura got jumped by Baron Corbin during his entrance, which kept him out of the match for all but the last ten minutes.  It’s hard to argue that Shinsuke, along with AJ Styles, is the most exciting, dynamic wrestler in the company, and the thought of him squaring off in a no-DQ environment against the likes of Kevin Owens, Styles, and Sami Zayn was a big part of the match’s appeal.  Granted, he’s still somewhat protected in only succumbing to a sneak attack, and didn’t have to worry about selling or looking weak to the other wrestlers’ offenses in the match itself.  That still doesn’t change the fact that he ought to have won the whole thing over Corbin after a hard-fought battle.

What I can say, though, is that the time he did spend in the ring was fantastic.  Making a not-so-surprise, long-overdue return for the final third of the action, Shinsuke cleaned house, delivering a Kinshasa (sometimes several) to every other participant in the match.  And then he and AJ went at it one-on-one.  And it was the best part of the entire PPV, despite only lasting less than five minutes.  In fact, the brevity of their exchange was a big contributor to its success.  The two set aside the ladder, wanting to settle matters between them rather than rush to win the briefcase.  That’s setting up a future match for sure, and given the quality of matches they’ve had in Japan, there’s a great chance that their next could be the best WWE match of the last few years.  But the company is being smart, and letting things play their course out naturally.  For once they aren’t rushing to deliver a big match, and it looks like that patience will pay off very well.  Styles still looks to be feuding with Kevin Owens over the US Championship, and Shinsuke seems locked in to take on Baron Corbin after the pre-match beatdown.  Hopefully Corbin, who got the win after dumping Shinsuke and AJ off the ladder, won’t be rushed to cashing in his title shot, and that storyline will be given some time to grow as well.

Beyond all of that, the action in the match itself was pretty good, and there were the expected number of high-risk spots provided by the ladder.  Sami Zayn’s sunset-flip powerbomb on Dolph Ziggler from the top is probably the most notable of all, and Zayn himself was the quiet MVP of the entire match in my opinion.  So hopefully he gets put into a decent program soon, because he deserves it, and the crowd is still totally behind him.  

On a whole, the show was pretty close to abysmal, and I’m still pretty pissed off about the conclusion to the women’s match, but at least there were a few positives to take away.  I’ve turned my opinion around a little bit since Sunday night, when I was nearly willing to write the entire show off as a failure.  Still, considering that MITB is one of WWE’s bigger B-level shows, and especially when reminded that it came on the tails of the absolutely incredible New Japan Dominion show, you would think that they would at least put more of an effort out.  It was disappointing, that’s for sure, but not bad enough to give up on the product entirely.

Up next we have the hideously misnamed Great Balls of Fire RAW PPV, which sounds somewhat promising at this point.  The main attraction is of course the Universal Title match between Brock Lesnar and Samoa Joe.  That match-up is incredible, and should at least deliver some hard-hitting action and hopefully make Brock look like he has to work for his position at the top.  Unfortunately, given rumors of a planned Reigns-Lesnar match for the belt at WrestleMania next year, it’s almost certain that Joe will be losing the contest.  That said, there’s still hope for an impressive match, given the fact that Joe is one of the few men at Brock’s exact height and weight.  More than that, he incorporates hard MMA-style offense into his repertoire, and has legitimate combat experience.  So even with him going under, Joe has the credibility and experience to at least be booked as a threat to Brock.  Plus, the entire build-up to the match has been very well-executed and engaging, so there’s definite evidence that WWE won’t just drop the ball with this one, predictable outcome or not.

Archives: I Cried When Lebron Left, Predicted His Return, and Wrote His Speech. by Colin Gawel

It's only 68 minutes until tip off of the Cavs v Warriors round 3. My son Owen is shooting hoops in the driveway wearing a Kyrie shirt under a Lebron jersey while listening to Ice Cube. I'm typing this. Please excuse typos and bad headline. My mind is elsewhere. But...

If you want a timely article story about the 2017 Finals I strongly suggest Pencilstorm's own NBA beat writer Ben Galli and his preview by clicking here. 

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One Opinion on New WWE Champion Jinder Mahal - by Big Vin Vader

                               One Opinion on New WWE Champion Jinder  Mahal

                                                   follow @bigvinvader

 Backlash was a very mixed bag of a show, with few notable matches or moments of worth.  That said, this is one PPV that will be talked about for quite some time to come, solely for the outcome of the main event match.  In a somewhat surprise (more on that to come) upset, former enhancement talent Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton to become the WWE Champion.  There’s really no way to explain that any further, so I’ll just get right down to it.

 The match itself actually wasn’t that bad, which was the only expectation going in.  Sure, it was far from good, but also nowhere near the worst PPV match this year.  On top of that, there was a surprisingly vocal contingent of the audience supporting Jinder, which was refreshing after the nonstop negativity leading up to this match.  I didn’t have a chance to watch much of the PPV the night it aired, but even for the little bit I did catch (Owens vs. Styles), I had a strange feeling that Jinder would be coming out on top.  The pin was very abrupt, but came at the end of a nice sequence where Orton knocked the hell out of the Singh Brothers and laid both out with a dual rope-hung DDT.  Jinder, of course snuck in for the finishing touch, and after the three count the result was final.  Call me contrarian, but there was something so refreshing, so enjoyable about that kind of a surprise, unpopular finish that worked for me.  After my initial shock died down, there was a lot to enjoy in the way the cameras sought out scores of distraught, disgusted fans.  That was a great reaction to a heel victory for the championship, and it’s not the sort of thing you get to see very often any longer.  In its own way, it was a great moment.

 If I can make a long-reaching comparison, the Hulk Hogan of the 1980s was every bit as limited a performer as Jinder, and his rise and continued status at the top of WWE clearly played into the rampant patriotism of the time.  Moving past that so-called Golden Era, it’s time that the company acknowledge their global audience and stop playing to the stereotypes they’ve dealt in for decades.  This is certainly a business-oriented move, but it clearly reflects the fact that white males are no longer (and have not been for quite some time) the core of their worldwide fan base.  That Jinder remains a heel while WWE attempts global expansion is another matter altogether.  Also of note is the fact that the Singh Brothers, formerly the Bollywood Boyz, are cast as his flunkies, denying their talents as impressive cruiserweight performers.  However, and this is very important to consider, there’s little to no indication that these performers’ ethnicities are the reason they catch such tremendous heel heat from crowds.  Rather, it’s the abrupt nature of Jinder’s push that seems to raise the ire of his most vocal detractors, and that totally makes sense.  There’s no indication beyond appealing to their Indian audience/market that Jinder is ready for this sort of a position at the top of the card (it isn’t my place to discuss whether he deserves it or not).  And with my reference to Hogan, I’m not trying to begin to compare them beyond wrestling ability.  Hogan could work a crowd like nobody else before or after, and how over he was unparalleled at the time.  What I’m saying is that this is a post-Triple H, Roman Reigns world.  That the company’s top choice will be at odds with the majority of their audience is almost a given anymore.  And let’s not forget that the majority of that vocal audience is composed of white American males.

 Face it, the Great Khali was the last attempt at an Indian crossover, and Jinder is nowhere near his level of awfulness in the ring.  Plus, at least he shows more personality than the giant former champion.  More importantly, this is a company who in its fifty-plus year existence has had only one African-American wrestler (that would be The Rock) hold its top title (the WWE Championship), and just a handful of minorities win that same prize.  That’s something you don’t hear mentioned too often, and it's very important not to forget that.  The fact that WWE is playing to a more global audience is a very good thing, particularly given the fact that most foreign and ethnic performers have been saddled with hugely offensive gimmicks, even in recent years.  Come on, Shinsuke Nakamura is the first major Asian performer on the main roster not to be saddled with an over-the-top gimmick emphasizing his race.  And I’m not saying that Jinder’s current Maharajah gimmick is without problems.  And I certainly can’t deny that the appeal to Indian crowds feels like little more than a cynical, exploitative cash-grab.  But I’m willing to sit back and watch how things are handled, and I want to see Jinder succeed in his role, because there could be a very interesting change of pace in store if this is pulled off successfully.  There are more important things, both within and especially outside of wrestling, than seeing somebody that the majority approve of.  Seeing the same bland, muscular white men in the top role ought to be a thing of the past, and opportunities need to be given to wider variety of stars from the company’s deep talent pool.  I’d be lying if I didn’t say I expected WWE to fail and fall back on their offensive, old ways.  But I don’t want that, and hopefully there are more people who agree that it’s time for a change, and if nothing else, Jinder’s ascent is certainly unprecedented.

Big Vin Vader covers professional wrestling for Pencilstorm. follow@bigvinvader

WWE Payback - Not that Kind of Horrible by Big Vin Vader

WWE Payback    -    Not that Kind of Horrible   follow @Bigvinvader

This is gonna be a different sort of write-up, and I’m going to take the unpopular opinion and spend most of my space praising Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton’s controversial House of Horrors match.  But before all of that, a few notes on Payback as a whole.
    The show had a lot of promise going in, despite its clearly transitional nature.  The fact that several of the competitors were to immediately be split between brands the following day looked to bring several long-running storylines to satisfying conclusions.  Beyond that, all but two of the matches promised to be very solid affairs, and Owens/Jericho, Rollins/Samoa Joe, and Aries/Neville looked to be very good.  Only the House of Horrors match and Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman held little promise, and both of those actually exceeded my expectations.
    In execution, the show delivered on many of its promises, and there were even a number of positive surprises along the way that served to spice things up a bit as well.  Overall, Payback was one of the better WWE PPV’s this year, with a number of very good matches, some very stiff and believable ring work, and some very crowd-pleasing conclusions and twists.  No match was truly bad (at least in my opinion), and even the midcard and less-anticipated bouts proved worth their time on the show.  The finishes left a lot to be desired at times, but I’ll get into that later.
    Now on to the meat of this column…

Bray’s House


The House of Horrors match raised so, so many questions, and seemed destined to be an enormous failure.  The fact that nobody had any clue as to what such a stipulation would entail until the week of the show did it no favors, nor did the ultimate news that the match was to be partially pre-taped.  People have soured on the Randy Orton-Bray Wyatt feud, but it’s stayed interesting to me.  This is the first time that Randy Orton has actually captured my attention as a wrestling fan, and the story has been building since last fall which is impressive in this day and age.  Things took an undeniably ridiculous turn with the desecration of Sister Abigail’s ashes, but that absurdity is part and parcel of wrestling.  Hell, I even liked the insect projections at WrestleMania.
    But even I was skeptical going into the House of Horrors.  I shouldn’t have been, given my love of horror and wrestling, and as the video package unreeled before the match, I realized that there was potential for the HOH to be legitimately creepy, something that would easily hold my interest.  In fact, just like a good horror movie, going into this one knowing nothing about the match, save the background storyline, proved to be a huge help.  Flat out, I thought that the pre-taped portion of the match was a fun, unique, and somewhat startling exercise in atmosphere.  Sure, it was ridiculous, and a little cheesy, but there were some undeniable touches of legitimately disturbing effects, and the flat-out brawling style the two wrestlers adopted perfectly suited the stipulation.  
    Things got off to a strange, nearly disheartening start, as Orton showed up to Bray’s rural shack in a limo.  I was expecting more of a Gothic mansion, not a ramshackle farmhouse (on the outside, at least).  Then, in one of a few missteps, a tractor started up and drove itself, unmanned, in front of Randy.  This really bugged me the first time I watched the match, since it was so stupid in effect, and the only supernatural element in the match.  Second time around, I was more insulted and confused by the fact that the tractor was driving itself backwards.  Still not sure why that’s where my feelings stand.  Regardless, it was all uphill from there.
    Despite the exterior looking like an Ohio farmhouse, the interior of Bray’s house was a bit more contemporary.  What we got was a fully-furnished house with some undeniably subtle touches of squalor, which, for the most part, were not the hackneyed attempts at horror movie scenery I expected.  Instead there were cobwebs in the corners of rooms, lamps with tilted shades casting queasy yellow light, and couches and chairs covered in white shrouds like they hadn’t been used in months.  Of course, there were shots of hooks and sickles and such things, but they really could have been anywhere in the house.  The overall impression at this point was of a semi-rural crank house.  Somewhere people lived and did hard drugs in semi-squalor while still functioning enough to prevent things from falling into complete disrepair.  But there was still the sense that things had gone very poorly, that there was a definite turn to something darker, more sinister and violent.  Hence the ensuing brawl.
    It gave not only an insight into Bray’s world, but also peeled back the curtain to reveal some vulnerability.  What if he isn’t a supernatural cult leader, but a delusional, paranoid, drugged-out freak living in the recesses of middle America and casting his influence over similarly-afflicted individuals?  Hell, even take the drugs out of the equation and you still have a compelling, if unlikely, character profile.  The attention to detail, and I mean beyond the hokey mutilated dolls, painted symbols and stick effigies, really drove the overall atmospheric effect home.  The house itself was well-enough maintained, but certain things were off.  The cobwebs in the corners, the drywall ripped away to reveal brick in the hallway, the exposed wires in the walls, the streaks and stains marking the wallpaper in the kitchen and doll room.  In the kitchen, there was an outlet stripped of its faceplate, and a sink full of dirty dishes.  The fridge was smeared with a greasy, charcoal-like substance, bizarre messages written on its surface.  There was dust and grime on the tacky linoleum floor tiles, and the oven had an honest-to-god streak of grease dripping down its door.  That was real work put in, and the whole thing added up to a uniquely unsettling atmosphere that has rarely been touched upon in the world of pro wrestling.
    The whole thing was so undeniably grimy and real, a visceral recreation of actual squalor and the sorts of conditions that can drive someone to violence, or at least the backdrop that it can play out against.  Bray and Randy looked like they were legitimately fighting for their lives, using everything at hand—a lamp, a frying pan, even (ridiculously) the refrigerator—to ensure they made it out alive.  In this way, the whole thing touched more closely on the real-world horrors of violence and crime than Bray’s usual supernatural shenanigans. There was no chance that the in-ring portion of the match could hold a candle to this in my mind as soon as the segment was over.  It really was nothing but a brawl, almost entirely in Bray’s favor, as the home field advantage would suggest.  If you showed this match to anyone unfamiliar with the storyline, and especially anyone who hates wrestling, it would look like two sweaty, heavily-tattooed men desperately beating the hell out of each other in a filthy house.  
    The audio was the only major mistake, after the tractor, in my opinion, since the whole thing was scored with a soundtrack giving the intimation that this was meant to be scary.  It was the sort of cheap horror movie trick that the match itself stepped above.  Also, in the doll room (which of course was way too over-the-top to be taken seriously), we got overdone crying and giggling noises from some sound library.  Way too cheesy.
    There was talk of this being a pale imitation of Delete or Decay, but I was reminded more of the first Boiler Room Brawl between Mankind and the Undertaker at SummerSlam 1996.  Mankind was still a legitimately deranged, threatening heel, helping to revitalize the Undertaker’s career.  He squeaked and squealed like a pig going to slaughter while he fought, and the match itself made perfect use of the squalid, dark and dusty boiler room as well as every dangerous object it contained.  It wasn’t good wrestling, but it was a disturbing brawl that felt like two transients assaulting one another in a battle to the death.  It’s still disturbing if you watch it now, removing the storyline and just letting the on-camera action take you away.  At its best, this is what the HOH match did for me, and even on rewatch, it still has an undeniable power that could very well appeal to me alone.
So maybe this all has nothing to do with wrestling, or at the least, very little, but it was one of my favorite parts of the show, hands-down.  And yes, I do realize that I could very well be the only person on Earth praising this match.  I can live with that.  It was WrestleCrap, for sure, but of the most entertaining variety, the sort that steps beyond wrestling itself into a bizarre world of its own.  Either way, that’s enough over-analysis for today.

The Real World (Of Wrestling)

As I mentioned earlier, nearly every match was above average, and a few were pretty good.  None were flat-out great however, and one of the biggest issues, one that’s been far too prevalent as of late, was the finishes in several of the bouts.  So, instead of a breakdown of every match’s action, let’s focus on the finishes and see how those played out in terms of overall effectiveness.
    First up was Jericho vs. Owens in a very good, very physical blow-off match.  Well, it was supposed to be the blow-off.  Jericho is touring with his band, Fozzy, starting this week, so it seemed a lock for KO to retain and end their feud.  And it looked to be the case, with a repeat of the finger-on-the-ropes spot from WM 34.  That is, until Jericho started to target his hand and fingers, crushing them between the ring and steel steps.  Owens tapped to the Walls of Jericho when his finger was too weak to catch the rope.  This one took me by surprise, even with the last-minute rumors that Jericho would win back the United States title.  Regardless of my disappointment, the match was very engaging, and by the crowd’s massive response, having Jericho get one more major win in before his hiatus was the right call.  And Owens won back the title on Tuesday night’s SmackDown, settling matters once and for all.
    Neville vs. Austin Aries, in a rematch for the CruiserWeight championship had what was likely the most controversial finish of the evening.  Their WM 34 match was fantastic but didn’t deserve the pre-show treatment.  Given time on the main card, the two proved that they could absolutely deliver and engage the crowd, and in my opinion, Austin Aries was the MVP of the night for his fantastic ring work at Payback.  They were given the right amount of time to work, and every move looked crisp and believable, with Aries maintaining the upper hand for most of the match.  The problematic finish came with Aries locking in the Last Chancery, and Neville, desperate to retain his title, pulling the ref’s shirt.  So it all ended with a very anticlimactic, inconclusive disqualification finish.  People were pissed, but I was actually fine with this one, mainly because it should lead to another fantastic rematch, and as good as Aries was, it still isn’t time to strip Neville of the championship.

In terms of solid matches, The Hardys vs. Sheamus & Cesaro was a very good, very stiff tag team match with few surprises.  At least regarding the finish.  Both teams looked good and had chemistry in the ring, and both S&C’s beat down and the Hardys’ eventual comeback were exciting.  During the course of the match, Jeff actually lost a tooth, and Matt was busted open over his eye, which started noticeably swelling.  Of course, Matt and Jeff scored the win to huge applause, and the European odd couple shook their hands mid-ring.  This was followed by another savage attack on the Hardys, a heel turn for Cesaro that was rumored in the days leading up to the PPV.  Hopefully this new ruthless streak works as well for the Swiss performer as Neville’s own heel work has for him.  Regardless, one of the better RAW tag title matches in some time.
Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley delivered on its promise of a very solid match, which was given just enough time to stretch out and go somewhere.  I had no issue with the finish again, especially since Alexa captured the RAW Women’s Championship, making her the only person to have held both brand’s titles.  She deserves the position at the top of the card, and is one of the best heels on either brand at the moment.  The unpopular aspect of the finish came with Bayley losing in her hometown of San Jose, much like Sasha Banks losing to Charlotte at Hell in a Cell last year.  It was controversial and unpopular, sure, but not unprecedented, and gives Bayley something to motivate her even harder in the coming weeks.
Following the House of Horrors was Seth Rollins vs. Samoa Joe, in what looked to be a fantastic grudge match given the very personal nature of their story.  While their match at Payback was indeed solid, it fell short of my expectations, and there was yet another unsatisfactory finish hurting things even further.  Both are world-class wrestlers, and Joe looked incredible in the ring as always, moving like someone half his size and age.  Rollins managed to get a surprise win by reversing Joe’s Coqina Clutch into a sudden pinfall, which was certainly problematic.  Joe is still fresh on the main roster and needs to look like a crushing, dominant heel.  He was presented successfully up until this point, and frankly, Rollins’ babyface act is floundering.  Joe should have won and destroyed Seth, establishing himself as one of RAW’s top heels.  Hopefully this loss settles their issues and each man can move on.
I have very little to say on the finish to the in-ring portion of the House of Horrors match.  Randy Orton looked to have it won when the Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal ran in and beat him down.  After a fantastic-looking powerslam from Jinder took Orton out, Bray scored the win.  It was good to see that and all, but they really phoned that one in.  At least Bray can move on now.
Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns put on a very respectable match that exceeded expectations.  Both are relatively limited in-ring, but they do have some chemistry together.  Best part of the match was how Roman got thrown around, looking far more like an underdog than the top dog.  Braun winning was expected, and the right call, and the post-match assault which left Reigns (falsely) bloodied was a good way to build his eventual triumph.  Not bad at all, although the fan reaction after the match really irritated me.  Chants of “Thank you, Strowman!” were almost deafening.  I’ve made my feelings clear on Reigns plenty of times here, and he sure as hell doesn’t deserve that.  From a purely storyline standpoint, the crowd was cheering a man who beat Roman down after destroying him during the match.  A man who smashed the already-injured Reigns with the ring steps to the point that he was coughing up blood.  Again, that was all merely for the sake of the storyline, but you really get the sense that some of the more malicious basement-dwelling fans wouldn’t mind seeing that for real.  It was kind of disturbing, like wondering what would happen when ECW’s bloodshed wouldn’t be enough for crowds.
Then again, this is coming from the guy who praised a wildly unpopular match for capturing the atmosphere of a fight to the death within a lookalike drug den.  Wrestling is weird like that.

Overall

This was a really good show, very consistent and entertaining, especially from my own particular viewpoint.  As I see it, none of the matches were bad, and several exceeded all expectations.  Even with WWE continuing to screw up the finishes of major matches, they can’t take away the very compelling first portions of those contests.  The talent on the roster is undeniable, and the storylines have been very compelling for the most part.  On a whole, Payback was a very solid show, one of the company’s best of the year thus far.
    I just want to fit in one more thing here regarding Kevin Owens’ position in the company.  Last week there was news that Vince McMahon is fed up with Owens’ physique and wants him to wrestle in a full dress suit.  This sounds more than a bit absurd, and looked to (hopefully) be false as Owens came out in his usual ring attire, albeit with longer gym shorts.  Ditto for SmackDown the following Tuesday.  Regardless, Vince’s prejudice towards the out-of-shape is well-documented, and I wouldn’t doubt that the rumored sentiments are true.  I realize that wrestling is a very different world than any other, but this would certainly constitute harassment, if not discrimination in any other profession.  Not to mention that Kevin Owens is an incredible all-around performer who can do more incredible things in the ring than Vince McMahon ever could in his days wrestling.  Which, of course, came in his fifties.  So that’s just one thing that got on my nerves this week.

Big Vin Vader covers wrestling for Pencilstorm. follow @bigvinvader