WWE Year in Review - Best and Worst - by Big Vin Vader

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2017 was a hell of a year for pro wrestling, with some of the best matches in the sport's history taking place seemingly every month.  Sadly, WWE didn't quite live up to the same global standard that New Japan and smaller independent promotions established, but they did have a rollercoaster year that was amazing, frustrating, heartbreaking and hilarious at various turns.  There were times I had to take a step away from WWE programming and couldn't find a thing to write about, whereas other shows and matches gave me more to think about than anything in the past.  There were things I never expected to see: Bray Wyatt winning the WWE championship, a women's Money in the Bank ladder match (more on that one later), a pre-filmed, horror-themed match between Wyatt and Randy Orton, Kevin Owens bloodily headbutting Vince McMahon, and two flat-out great matches featuring a 50-year-old Shane McMahon.  Coupled with all of that, however, were some of the absolute worst lows you could expect to see, with several PPVs only a single match from being total throwaways.  Also, there's the whole Jinder Mahal debacle, a failed championship run that exemplified the company’s cynical agenda.  I wasn't as harsh on that particular development as some, and the whole thing was a few steps off from being a total disaster, but it was still far from encouraging. 

NXT continued its tradition of absolutely obliterating the big four main roster PPVs with world-class Takeover specials every quarter, and also displayed legitimate forward-thinking in signing major independent talents and booking them expertly.  The women's revolution is still in swing, with the company hosting the Mae Young Classic, an all-female tournament in the mold of the Cruiserweight Classic.  While the MYC fell somewhat short of its predecessor in terms of match quality, it did lead to the signings of several world-class female talents, who are already providing some much-needed depth to the company's women's divisions.  As a result, we also have the company's very first women's Royal Rumble match around the corner, something I'm looking forward to even more than the men's match that same night.  Also bringing some diversity to the company's talent pool are the English signees who made an impact with the UK Championship Tournament last January.  Wrestlers like Pete Dunne, Mark Andrews and Tyler Bate are younger than I am, and capable of outwrestling nearly every other performer in the company.  Here's hoping 2018 provides them with greater exposure.

All of these things, if not fully realized in terms of their full potential, point to an encouraging future for the company and its product.  Even the accepted creative blunders such as Jinder's stint as champion had ultimately favorable outcomes, such as restoring AJ Styles' rightful place at the top of the SmackDown brand.  As much as the first part of his year was a mess, Kevin Owens put on some fantastic matches, and was rightfully kept near the top of the card for much of the year.  On top of that all, I got a photo with Abdullah the Butcher.  Here are my picks for the best and worst moments of the year in WWE.

THE BEST

Royal Rumble


The first major PPV of the year may have been WWE's best all-around show.  Although the titular match was full of some pretty awful decisions, two of the matches on the card were among the year’s best, and the rest of the card was solid top-to-bottom.  Charlotte and Bayley delivered a decent, if underwhelming Women's Championship match, and Rich Swann dropped the Cruiserweight title to Neville in a very strong match.  The real attractions were Kevin Owens versus Roman Reigns for the Universal Title, and AJ Styles against John Cena for the WWE Championship.  The former match was stuffed-to-the-gills with innovative brutality and hard-hitting action that almost single-handedly made me a Roman Reigns fan.  Over the course of twenty-three minutes, both men beat the absolute hell out of each other, with Reigns eating a frog splash through a table, and Owens falling through a pyramid he himself had constructed from seven ringside chairs.  That one in particular was horrifying to watch, and it's still incredible that KO managed to leave the match uninjured.  Throughout the whole thing, Chris Jericho was suspended in a shark cage above the ring, preventing him from interfering on Owens' behalf as he had in every other title defense.  Even with the resultant shenanigans (Jericho tossed his best friend some brass knuckles), there seemed a legitimate threat that Reigns would walk away with the title given the company's constant efforts to push him as the top guy.  Braun Strowman came out and destroyed Reigns, starting their long feud, and allowing Owens to escape with a win.  It was a great booking decision, and a hell of a match to start the year off.

On the other hand, Styles vs. Cena was pretty much a sure match of the night bet before the show even started.  The two had other great matches in the past, particularly their showdown at SummerSlam 2016, and there was all the pressure in the world to top that encounter here.  Also a big deal going in, and unfortunately foreshadowing the matches disagreeable conclusion, was the commentators' insistence that Cena would tie Ric Flair's record sixteen world title reigns were he to win.  Well, he did, but only after twenty-five minutes of every trick in either wrestler's playbook.  They traded power moves, finishers, and in the most gripping part of the match, submissions for a few minutes, something that shockingly worked given how terrible Cena's holds typically look.  Throughout it all, Cena looked deranged in his determination, not believing AJ was able to kick out of his attacks, and seeming to want to put him away at any cost.  Cena looked like he was losing his grip just because AJ was so good, and not that Styles needs to be put over by John Cena, but that certainly happened in his defeat.  The story was tremendous and the match itself was world-class.


Nikki Cross/Asuka--NXT 399

One of the company's very best women's matches was almost buried on an episode of NXT.  This was the first Last Woman Standing match I can think of, and it offered up the sort of hard-brawling action and insane spots you would expect from that stipulation, easily holding its own against similar men's matches such as Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose at the 2016 Rumble.  Asuka's pedigree as the single best female performer in the company (thankfully now on the main roster) is unquestionable, and nearly every one of her NXT title defenses were excellent.  Nikki Cross is hugely underrated in the division, and she perfectly fits the Sanity stable's bizarre unpredictability.  For their match, they were given twenty full minutes to close out an episode of NXT, and not a second was wasted as the two women shared hard strikes, brutal weapon shots, and even some painful submissions.  Foreign objects from under the ring, like chairs, kendo sticks, tables, and ladders all came into play.  There were some nasty bumps on the entrance ramp, as well as the ring apron.  Asuka winning to retain seemed like a foregone conclusion, but the fact that she suplexed Cross off a tall ladder and through the main announce table was a major surprise, and one of the most shocking spots on WWE television last year.  An incredible, underrated match.


WarGames

People were fairly skeptical when WWE unveiled their plans to bring back the beloved War Games match at the NXT Takeover prior to Survivor Series, and there was great reason to be.  First of all, it smacked of the same sort of watered-down nostalgia that the company always tries to promise yet fails to deliver.  Moreover, War Games was intended as the blow-off to major, heated feuds, somewhere you couldn't escape and were forced to fight it out with your worst enemies.  And that meant blood, something that is a total no-go in today's PG WWE.  To cap it all off (or not), Triple H announced that the cage surrounding the two rings would not have a roof above it, but to escape over the top meant an entire team's disqualification.  All of those things seemed to ensure that the match would just be a little screwy, but then encouraging signs started to emerge: the three teams would be The Authors of Pain with Roderick Strong, the male members of Sanity, and the Undisputed Era.  The latter team is one of the best things currently about NXT, with Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly standing out as top-notch technicians, and Adam Cole not too far behind, but with some of the best mic and character work of any former Ring of Honor star.  Sanity, then Tag Team champs, are a great stable, and Eric Young, Killian Dain, and Alexander Wolfe are all very strong in-ring competitors.  Authors of Pain are credible powerhouses, and pairing them with Strong not only tied the story back to Undisputed Era's ROH days, but also put a credible technician on their side.

The match itself was pure bedlam, absolute carnage mixing the high-speed workrate of today's wrestling with the sort of old-school brutality the War Games stipulation necessitates.  This was not a glorified cage match as many expected it to be, nor was it the blood-soaked War Games match of old.  Instead, it was a modern update on a classic format, realized to its fullest potential as a savage, collaborative car crash that thrilled me more than any other WWE match this year.  There was hard-hitting brawling, frenzied and desperate submission work, some surprise high flying, and more weaponry scattered about the ring than any other match I've seen in the last few years.  A few things in particular stood out.  First, and least consequential, was just how vicious this match was, with numerous instances of hardway blood, the most startling example coming after Wolfe suplexed the Authors through two tables and caught his head on the way down.  There were puddles of blood all over the ring, and yet he kept going.  Second, was the fact that Adam Cole is clearly and rightfully being set up for great success in NXT.  He perfectly played the role of cocksure, weaselly heel here, with the knowing understanding that he could back himself up if it truly came to that.  Put in the face of danger several times, he narrowly escaped with his skin, and even scored the winning pinfall on Young.  Finally, Killian Dain is one of the most underrated big men on any roster today.  The last man into the match, he introduced a boatload of weapons, swallowed the key to the cage, and absolutely decimated the competition once he hit the ring.  He's shocking agile for a 300-plus pound man, and he works like a monster heel waiting to be made.  Unquestionably the MVP in a match full of break-out stars.

House of Horrors Match

I seriously may be the only wrestling fan in the world to include this on their best-of list.  That aside, there was far too much weird stuff going on with the booking of this match, as well as its content for me to pass it up in this space.  I don't think anyone in the world would have guessed that Bray Wyatt would spend the early part of 2017 as WWE Champion, and his win at Elimination Chamber (in a great match) was a huge surprise early in the year.  His queasy alliance with Randy Orton was bound to fail, especially once Orton won the Royal Rumble guaranteeing him a title shot in the "main event" of WrestleMania (their match was the seventh of ten on the card).  There was also a strange little period where it seemed possible that Bray Wyatt versus Luke Harper would headline 'Mania.  That didn't happen, and Wyatt-Orton was kind of a mess, with the big standout being the projections of worms and maggots Bray "conjured" to mess with Randy's head.  He still lost.

So at Payback, there was to be a House of Horrors match, further taking Orton into his former leader's world, and it was kind of incredible.  Instead of some backwater swamp shack like you would expect, Bray's house was a rundown rural house that looked like a crank den on the inside.  It was full of cobwebs and mildewed furniture, with weird statues and dolls hanging from the ceilings.  The best part was the kitchen, which had dirty dishes and grease-smeared appliances.  There was just something so great about that disgusting, believable attention to detail, and the over-the-top hokiness at their attempt to be creepy that I loved.  The match was nothing special, just a pre-taped brawl around the house, but the environment itself made it seem like a desperate, drug-addled fight to the death.  Most people thought it was the worst thing WWE did all year (at least until Jinder won the title), but I still think it was a pretty wild, ridiculous way to take this feud, and at least it was something totally different.

 

There’s so many more things I could list here: Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens’ Festival of Friendship segment on RAW, which was the best television segment all year; the build to KO and Shane McMahon’s Hell in a Cell match, where Owens headbutted and beat down Vince McMahon, drawing legit blood from the boss; Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate’s incredible technical display for the UK Title at NXT TakeOver: Chicago; Finn Balor vs. AJ Styles at TLC; AJ Styles vs. Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series.  There are a ton more, and I wish I had the space and time to get into them all here.

THE WORST
 

Goldberg vs. Kevin Owens—Fastlane

The outcome of this one was hardly a surprise given the monster push Goldberg was guaranteed upon returning to the company.  There was also no chance in hell that then-Universal champion Kevin Owens was going to beat the man who destroyed Brock Lesnar at the 2016 Survivor Series.  That Owens would have to be squashed in their title match was a sure thing, especially to keep Lesnar looking strong for his final match with Goldberg at WrestleMania.  The problem was, that match didn’t need the Universal Title on the line to generate interest; it was already a huge rematch fifteen years in the making, and the way Goldberg returned in 2016 to take down Lesnar was already booked perfectly.  This match should never have happened, and say what you will about KO’s Universal Title reign, but there was no reason it needed to end with Jericho distracting him and Goldberg taking him down in twenty seconds.  Pure discouragement all around, and the total predictability of the situation made it a classic WWE move.


Women’s Money in the Bank Match

I was really excited for the first-ever women’s MITB match when it was first announced.  This was the exact sort of stride the division needed to level the playing field, and also acted as an opportunity for more of the women on SmackDown to get PPV exposure.  It also allowed the wrestlers involved to show that they are capable of putting on the same sort of high-risk, dangerous and thrilling stunt shows that only the men on the roster have been permitted to take part in.  Plus, the match featured Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Natalya, three of the surest hands in the women’s division.  Also present were Tamina, who filled out the role of powerhouse nicely, and Carmella, who has still yet to put on anything close to a captivating match as far as I’m concerned.  Some of the problems here were fairly typical of the company’s handling of the division: the action itself was fine, with the former three really shining in the ring together, but the whole match was given thirteen minutes before being shut down.  The men’s MITB match got thirty minutes.  Come on, WWE.  But the biggest issue, and one of the most bullshit decisions of the entire year, was James Ellsworth assisting Carmella in winning the match.  Yes, despite the fact that there were five capable women in the match out to prove their talents and get much-deserved time in the big match spotlight, a man with no place on the roster save acting as Carmella’s boyfriend/flunky interfered for the win.  A man won the first women’s MITB match by knocking Becky Lynch off the ladder and climbing it on Carmella’s behalf to retrieve the briefcase.  In WWE’s world, it takes a man to win a high stakes match, and cut that thing short to the approval of nobody at all.  It wasn’t even good heel heat, it was just a stupid, insulting move that ruined a major PPV’s historic moment.  And the fact that they re-contested the match on SmackDown to the same effect (that time Carmella won cleanly) was just as big of a slap in the face to the division.

Big Cass vs. The Big Show—SummerSlam

Get it?  Both Big Cass and the Big Show are seven-foot-tall.  They also are equally limited in the ring, with twenty years separating them in age.  Basically, nobody at all asked for this match, and the fact that it made it to the main card of SummerSlam as opposed to the pre-show is pretty much a crime.  It’s possible this wasn’t the worst match of the year, it’s just the one I hated the most.  I was never a fan of Enzo & Cass, and the storyline that saw them fracturing was one of my least favorite this past year.  This match had the twist of putting Enzo in a shark cage above the ring, but at one point he greased himself up and slipped between the bars, only to have Big Show knock him out.  I made none of that up.  A pointless mess.

Jinder Mahal: WWE Champion

I’ve made it clear multiple times that I don’t hate Jinder Mahal, and I don’t feel he’s even close to the worst wrestler on the main roster.  But in no way did he deserve his six-month reign with the company’s main title, and that decision reflected WWE’s cynical cash-grabbing attitude almost as well as Stephanie McMahon’s tweet stating that philanthropy was the future of marketing.  Speaking of Steph, in the midst of Jinder’s reign she actually had the gall to declare in an interview that “We’re taking feedback in real time…Our audience tells us what they love, what they don’t like, and—worst—what they don’t care about.”  Part of that is true, but she fails to acknowledge the fact that every audience he performed before expressed their total disapproval of Jinder.  That didn’t matter at the time, however, as the company were set to tour India shortly, and unquestionably felt that this Canadian man of Indian descent was the ticket to drive up business in that major market.

At the time, I wrote a piece discussing the way WWE handled race problematically in the past, and just how sparse the representation of people of color in positive, prominent positions was.  All of that rings true, but I guess some of what I was arguing was naïve optimism in the face of the company’s Jinder campaign.  He was never booked respectably, always occupying the role of the outdated foreign heel and playing up the stereotypes WWE associated with his ethnicity.  Also, one of the biggest sour notes in his run was his feud with Shinsuke Nakamura, somebody ten times the wrestler that Jinder is.  Not only did Shinsuke get sacrificed to his opponent’s push, but a decent portion of their feud involved Mahal using flagrant Asian stereotypes to demean Nakamura on national television.  Yes, in 2017, a man of Indian descent used racist remarks, almost certainly written by a room full of white male writers, against a Japanese man.  There are almost no words for this shit.  

Also unforgiveable is WWE bringing back not only the Punjabi Prison match, but also the Great Khali himself in order to aid Jinder in his umpteenth match against Randy Orton.  Again, I don’t hate Jinder Mahal, but this was just insulting to my intelligence as a wrestling fan.

Bobby Heenan’s Passing

There were a lot of tragic pro wrestling deaths this year, but none hit me quite like this one.  I loved Bobby Heenan.  As a manager, as a host, as an announcer, he was a world class talent who made me crack up every time he was onscreen.  His years-long battle with cancer was no secret, but despite it all he managed to stick it out and fight for so long.  Even for fans such as myself born years after the company’s mid-80s golden era, it was impossible not to be aware of Heenan’s legacy and his contributions to so many major moments during that period.  He was so amazing at what he did, that even minor interview segments and commentary opposite Gorilla Monsoon on Saturday Night’s Main Event stand as perfect moments of wrestling mic work.  Nobody in the business has ever been wittier, nor better suited to the role of heel manager.  Take, for example, the fact that back in the kayfabe days of the 1970s, audience members were so enraged by Heenan’s actions that he was attacked with hammers, knives, and once was even shot at.  That’s the sort of edge of your seat, outlaw environment that wrestling once catered to, and the fact that he not only survived those attempts, but also thrived in one of the biggest boom periods in wrestling history speaks to his multifaceted talents and understanding of the business.  It still seems strange that he’s gone, even without his having appeared on television for so long.  It isn’t quite the same without Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and his passing stands as the sort of truly tragic low point that none of my petty takes on bad matches and moments can truly stand up against.  RIP, Brain.

BEST SHOWS

Royal Rumble

NXT TakeOver: Chicago

NXT: WarGames

 

WORST SHOWS

Battleground

Money in the Bank

No Mercy


 

TV Party Tonight! Season Two: Andy Kaufman vs Jerry Lawler - by Colin Gawel

Welcome to season two of TV Party Tonight! Just to get you up to speed, TV Party Tonight is us folks at Pencilstorm sharing the Youtube rabbit holes we are diving into to kill time during the boring Ohio winter. John Lennon didn't live in the Midwest, but if he did, he might have written a song called, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night". or whatever. Also, I'm writing this in real time. Grammar may be dicey. Just imagine we are in a bar together and i'm jamming my phone in your face screaming "Watch This!"

Anyway, I'm going to kick off season two with clips of Andy Kaufman and his feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler. I recently read the book Lost in the Funhouse: The Life and Mind of Andy Kaufman by Bill Zehme. The thing I enjoyed most about this book was....

"WAIT!! Did you see Man on the Moon? Did you see Jim & Andy? Or the documentary I'm From Hollywood?  Did you read the Bob Zumuda Book? Did you? DID YOU?? huh? HUH? HUHHHH?"

The answer is no. I just read the one book. And then starting surfing Youtube for wrestling clips. And typing this. 

I'm sure I will catch up on all that stuff eventually, but Andy Kaufman is sort of like Muhammad Ali in that no actor can do the real person justice. Andy had been wrestling women at his standup shows and on Saturday NIght Live. People HATED this bit. It pretty much ruined his career. Still, being a performance artist and pro-wrestling fan, Andy had the idea to take this act directly to the people. He proposed the idea to WWE CEO Vince McMahon but he passed. Just too much heat having Latka from Taxi do the heel turn against women. 

However, in Memphis, a budding young promoter and wrestler himself, Jerry Lawler,  jumped at the chance of having a huge celebrity become part of his local wrestling program. The two agreed to start a video feud with Andy promising to  eventually show up in Memphis .... Below are the highlights of that feud. I'm so excited for you to watch this. 

Here's something I've been meaning to put up for a while now. Its Andy Kaufman versus Jerry Lawler from '82 and '83. Some of this stuff you'll have seen before but some you may not have. I used a variety of sources to pull this together.

This shove prompts a Hollywood lawsuit. 

Here's a clip from the great movie I'm From Hollywood. Kaufman's challenge is accepted by a large local woman named Foxy. The match isn't really shown but the post match antics between Kaufman and Lawler are here.

Clips of this have been seen everywhere but here's the full segment from Memphis television. Lawler announces he's received a deposition and a video tape from Andy Kaufman. Kaufman and "lawyer" Bob Zmuda sit poolside in Hollywood announcing they're suing the King over the shove after the Foxy match.

Andy sends in a tape accepting Lawler's challenge. He also wrestles a woman named Susan to show how tough he is. Kaufman is tremendous in this video.

So this leads to the infamous Andy Kaufman / Jerry Lawler appearance on the David Letterman show. I watched this live as a kid while on vacation with my family in Ocean City Maryland. It blew my mind wide open. I had no idea what was happening. It made me a Letterman fan for life. A couple of thoughts before watching this..

- Lawler was every bit the performance artist as Andy. 

-The two were supposed to make up on air. Just before going on, Andy told Lawler, "you have to hit me". Jerry responded, "I'm just this hick from Memphis, these cops will arrest me." Just before break, Lawler went for it. Nobody on Letterman knew it was coming. There was a 22 minute commercial break while security sorted out the melee.

- Letterman handled it all beautifully. 

ENJOY

Kaufman and Lawler on Late Night with Dave Letterman

Even though it was over on the national scene, the feud kept going on local Memphis TV. Andy was not doing this for the money. He loved it. The crowd hated him!!

July 9, 1983 at WMC-TV in Memphis. Andy Kaufman makes his in studio debut. Like I said before, this isn't every segment in the feud but its everything I have in my collection. Andy and Jimmy have taken on Jerry Lawler in a handicap match. It didn't go well.

Can it get better? Yes, Kaufman goes face and humbly asks for Lawler's help.

July 16, 1983 from Memphis TV. This segment opens with Jimmy Hart vs Andy Kaufman from the Mid-South Coliseum on July 11, 1983. Hart's First Family jumps Andy during the match. Kaufman says he wants revenge on Hart and attempts to recruit arch-enemy Jerry Lawler to be his partner against the Mouth of the South.

Big mistake Lawler!! Kaufman and intellectual equal Jimmy Hart pull ultimate heel turn.

July 23, 1983 from Memphis TV. In the words of Brian Alvarez..shenanigans! Andy Kaufman and Jimmy Hart, along with the Assassins, celebrate their big swerve of the King. The July 18, 1983 match with Kaufman and Lawler vs. the Assassin and Hart is shown. Note, these are not the same Assassins from Georgia and Mid Atlantic.

And then, cementing his greatness, upon learning of Andy Kaufman's death, Jerry Lawler doesn't break character. He does it the right way. Andy would have been proud.

From the 1984 Season available now at www.70s-tv.com.

As time passed, Jerry has come clean about his and Andy Kaufman's relationship. Listen here. 

Colin Gawel writes for Pencilstorm and is going to Wrestlemania this year. 

Vince McMahon and XFL Blow Second Chance for Heel Turn - by Colin Gawel

Colin's Coffee was abuzz with excitement when news broke that Vince McMahon was going to reboot and relaunch the formerly doomed XFL football league. Sure, we all mocked the previous incarnation with He Hate Me, gratuitous cheerleader-cleavage shots and overall lousy action, but after watching the recent 30 for 30 about the league I had an epiphany: The XFL failed because it was ahead of it's time. People just needed more time to "dumb-down" (or would it be "dumb-up"?) and it could be a gold mine. I think in the year 2018 the populace is now sufficiently stupid enough to embrace the new XFL.

Including yours truly. 

Picture this: The California Commies go on the road to face the Alabama Klan in Mobile. Fans erupt as the Commies, led by League MVP Colin Kapernick perform their traditional pre-game flag-burning during the National Anthem. "You'll pay for this Commies!!!" screams Klan color analyst Roy Moore. 

Meanwhile, top draft pick Johnny "Football" Manziel's squad, the Reno Pimps take on the Charleston Steeples led by "Saint" Timmy Tebow. 

Needless to say, both Tebow and Manziel would have a camera crew on them full-time for a weekly reality show covering their off the field exploits. Johnny spends off days "working" at the Mustang Ranch while Tim volunteers his time working with orphans on ponies. And reading the Bible to orphan ponies.  All of this would be available through the XFL app for just $9.99 a month. 

See where I'm going? THIS is the XFL Model I was hoping that Mr. McMahon would unveil at his press conference. And I'll admit, I was secretly hoping the LA KISS (formerly owned by Paul Stanley & Gene Simmons) would be given a spot in the league, too. I loved the show 4th and Loud. I mean, watching Paul Stanley address a football team is the reason reality TV exists in the first place. Let's think big: Fans calling plays on twitter; Injured players being left on the field until their team scores; Instead of just time outs, teams get one smoke screen or oil slick each half. Stuff like that. 

ALAS, the "new" XFL promises NONE of that. What's worse is there aren't even any heels allowed. You can't even have a DUI and get in the league. I'm not sure if Mr. McMahon knows exactly who plays the game of professional football but somebody better give him a copy of Pros and Cons to leaf through on his private jet ride home. It would be tough to field a respectable defensive line with a clean criminal record, let alone an entire league. 

And, Vince McMahon knows better than anybody the power of the heel. They generate the heat. The cheap heat gets you the ratings. He himself is one of the best heels of all time. Could you imagine WWE with only John Cenas and no Bray Wyatts? BORING.

Vince leads us to believe the selling point of the XFL is that the games are going to be punctual (just two hours), played clean, and with everybody standing at attention for the National Anthem. 

YAWN. Count me out. I suppose a master such as Vince McMahon could just be setting up us suckers for a master heel-turn when he clocks Tim Tebow over the head with a chair before the XFL Super Extreme Bowl, but it seems unlikely. My day just got a little less fun. 

Colin Gawel watches WWE Monday Night Raw instead of Monday Night Football but is a fan of the Cleveland Browns so there is never a conflict. He wrote this at Colin's Coffee while ignoring customers.  

 

Clash of Champions: Full of Surprises, One of them Good - by Big Vin Vader

                                                       follow @bigvinvader

It's been hard to get excited about WWE for a while now.  Jinder Mahal's world title reign was interminable, sacrificing Shinsuke Nakamura and delivering the exact same title match every PPV.  They brought back the Punjabi Prison match, for God's sake, not to mention the Great Khali himself.  Those were just a few bad moments over a six-month run, and these things can really wear you down as a fan.  Even with quality matches on most of this year's PPVs, the late-season shows just seemed to pass by, with little that happened after SummerSlam feeling exciting or worthwhile.  It’s been an open secret all year that SmackDown was the superior program, but having Jinder in the top role for so long showed blatant disregard for the fan base and really hurt the product.  Things were so bad that even having AJ Styles beat Jinder and regain the world title didn't quite solve the problem.  And that brings us to Clash of Champions.

This is strictly a B-level show, and there wasn’t much to get excited over, even with the "every title on the line" theme of the PPV.  There never seems to be a real risk of any titles actually changing hands, and that was true for all but the US title.  Instead, the show's undercard looked to deliver the most quality-wise.  As always, Kevin Owens looked to be the MVP of the night, partnering with Sami Zayn to take on Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura.  The stakes were high, with Owens and Zayn risking being "fired" from the company if they lost, continuing the Owens/Shane McMahon feud.  Even more interesting was the opportunity to further develop the storyline, as both Shane and Daniel Bryan acted as special referees, and there seemed to be a divide brewing between the two.  Unfortunately, that match kind of sucked, with Bryan and Shane hogging the attention and leaving us with a mess.  That match, on paper potentially the most entertaining, was the only truly bad thing on the show.  Clash on a whole was just another case of WWE underperforming, delivering a handful of matches that were just fine, nothing more.  Only the US title match really delivered anything in terms of above-average quality, and that would hardly have stood out on a more stacked card.  Keeping things brief with only six matches on the show was a good call, even if several overstayed their welcomes, but it was hard to take much offense at the way the majority of things played out.  Overall, it was a quiet, not-too unsatisfying end to WWE's overstuffed PPV calendar.

One plus on WWE shows this year is that they generally started off on a strong note.  The US title match between Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, and Bobby Roode was a great opener, all the more exciting because it looked so bland going into the show.  Ziggler has stumbled around for most of the year, having no chance to show the fire he did during last year's career-saving feud with the Miz.  Instead, he's been floundering as a heel, mocking other wrestlers' entrances, and feuding with Roode since the summer, which is a shame because is such a well-rounded worker who really knows how to get the fans invested.  Corbin's year has been rocky as well, being stripped of his MITB briefcase shortly after winning it as punishment for a backstage incident.  He regained some of the company's faith, winning the US Title in a very solid match at Hell in a Cell.  Roode has always been a solid in-ring performer, but has done little of note since his call-up from NXT, and his matches with Ziggler delivered middling to fair results.  In theory, this was the same as that series: full of potential but likely to be bogged down due to poor match planning and layout.  Instead, the three delivered an action-heavy, fast-paced match with a compelling story and which built on the existing rivalries between each man.  Roode wrestles like it's still 1986, methodical, NWA-styled work, pulls it off against the high-speed modern WWE product. Corbin is a decent, but unexceptional powerhouse, and Ziggler brings an exciting athletic style to the mix, which has failed to mesh well with Roode's style in the past.  This time around, everything clicked and the match delivered the sort of action that's been missing from all of their work for quite some time.  Definitely the highlight of the show, and even more notable for Ziggler hitting a double Zig Zag to steal the title from under Corbin.  Oddly enough, on the SmackDown following the show, Dolph seemed to vacate the title and possibly quit the company, so who knows what’s going on.  Still, it was a great moment of surprise to see him win since he was the dark horse of the match by a long stretch.

Some of WWE's best matches of the year have been tag team contests, and a number of those were part of the New Day/Usos feud.  The Usos are some of the most convincing heels on the roster currently, and their newfound ruthlessness has put them at the top of SmackDown’s tag division.  The New Day are always to be over with fans, and this feud has brought their in-ring work up several notches, showing their all-around potential.  All three members are putting in some of their best performances in a long while, and their natural chemistry with the Usos has kept the rivalry fresh far longer than expected.  That said, their great match at HIAC should have put an end to the feud, and it would have felt stale to offer that same pairing yet again.  Of course, a four-team match for the titles isn't the solution I would have personally suggested.  Having that many bodies in and around the ring at one time is distracting and confusing, and half of the time I wonder where I should be focusing.  It was also puzzling to include two teams who are pretty much cobbled together in the other two corners, and at no point did it really seem like the Usos were at risk of losing their titles.  Rusev is one of WWE's most underrated wrestlers, and he was my pick for MVP in the match, showing off his surprising athleticism and begging for another singles title run.  It's funny how pairing him with the obnoxious Aiden English has practically turned Rusev face for the crowd.  Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin are both amazing wrestlers, but are both somewhat lacking on the mic.  They clearly were paired with one another for those similarities, and also because creative has no other plans for them at the moment.  Much as I enjoy watching them work, they never seemed like credible threats to the Usos, and did nothing extraordinary in this match.  The whole thing was about as exciting and predictable as I've made it sound, and there were no surprises, especially when it came to the Usos retaining.  Again, this wasn't a bad match, and the wrestling itself was very solid and dependable.  Something was just missing though, and it was hard to get too excited when it seemed like WWE was treading water.

Up there with the let-down of the Owens/Zayn match, another big disappointment was the underwhelming Women's Title Lumberjack Match between Charlotte and Natalya.  Lumberjack matches are kind of useless, and I don't think I've seen one I truly enjoyed.  In the end, you know that the competitors are going to try and get their opponent out of the ring and waste match time by having them beat down by the lumberjacks.  Charlotte and Natty can flat-out go in the ring when they're given the opportunity, and they have all the potential in the world to deliver a technical classic.  They've done it on a number of occasions in the past.  This particular iteration of their rivalry, however, has been anything but a success, and I really miss the days when smiling babyface Natalya tried and failed to best ruthless heel Charlotte.  Their last PPV match at HIAC was a mess, a one-sided beatdown that saw Natty get herself disqualified after several unsatisfying minutes.  For some reason, each of the lumberjacks got their own entrance, which ate up even more unnecessary time.  As expected, it seemed like more than half of the match had either of the wrestlers being tossed out of the ring and getting stomped on the floor by the crowd of lumberjacks.  All of that stop-and-start action kept them from putting on any sort of cohesive clinic in the ring, and the focus seemed to be on the lumberjacks as much as the two in the match itself.  Probably the weirdest point was when Naomi, one of the lumberjacks, hit a flying cross body to break up a scuffle.  I didn't know lumberjacks were allowed to hit high flying moves.  In the end, after maybe five total minutes in-ring, Natty tapped to the figure eight and Charlotte retained the title.  That was the right call, Charlotte is the sort of wrestler who adds to the prestige of a championship while she holds it, and she was definitely in worse shape the majority of this year when she didn’t have a title around her waist.  If only they would turn her heel once again, and let her put on serious matches unfettered by ridiculous stipulations, she could easily return to her former place as the best female wrestler in the company (Asuka's booking will determine if she can claim that spot).
The squash match between Breezango and the Bludgeon Brothers was everything it needed to be: a quick, decisive win for the newest incarnation of Luke Harper and Erick Rowan, allowing them to look dominant.  Luke Harper is even more underrated than Rusev, a big man who can move fast and keep pace with nearly anyone on the roster.  His year has been very up-and-down, barely appearing in the earliest and middle months, while also looking like a serious potential challenger for Bray Wyatt's world title at WrestleMania.  This current repackaging is hardly flattering, and the name is pretty godawful, but he and Rowan seem to be getting a somewhat decent push as monster heels, so I can't complain as far as that goes.  No sub-two- minute match is going to be a classic, and this was no exception, but it was perfectly to the point.  Breezango lost nothing in their defeat, especially since they're one of the few exceptions who actually thrive more as entertainers than athletes, and they have their roles down.  There wasn't a whole lot of substance to this match, and that's fine.  It accomplished what it needed to and didn't overstay its welcome.

Instead of a fast-paced classic, the Zayn/Owens vs. Orton/Nakamura "firing" match was a sprawling twenty-minute mess bogged down by stupid antics from special refs Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan.  Given the talent of the wrestlers involved (it's not a bad thing when Randy Orton is the weakest link in a match), this one should have been the easy match-of-the-night winner.  Instead, it was on the lesser end of the spectrum by far, grouped in with the women's title match because its goofy stipulation got in the way of telling a satisfying story in the ring.  Owens and Zayn are the best heels on the SmackDown roster, the perfect team to spit in the face of SmackDown's establishment and shake the brand up.  Nakamura has been terribly mishandled since debuting, wasted in weak feuds and sacrificed to the Jinder Mahal experiment.  That said, he’s still the most uniquely charismatic star on the roster, and the crowd has taken to him like nobody else, so he can still be salvaged.  Beyond that, he and Zayn had a barn-burner of a match last year in NXT, and Owens showed himself to be equally as compatible with Shinsuke on last week’s SmackDown Live.  Given all of that, the action that took place in the ring was perfectly fine, smooth and professional with a number of pleasing spots and exchanges.  But it was all touch and go, and Shane and Bryan kept getting in the way as they teased out their tense relationship.  McMahon was firmly against Owens and Zayn, and Bryan was reluctantly in their corner for the sake of fairness.  They argued constantly and got in the competitors’ ways as they bickered over whether something really was a three count and complained about one another’s calls.  The finish was the low point, as Shane refused to count a pin from Zayn beyond two, so Bryan took it upon himself to fast count it an instant later.  A cheap ending that had nothing to do with the people actually wrestling the match, and made everything that came before it feel like a major waste of time.

Jinder Mahal winning the title was as terrible a moment as AJ Styles finally beating him for it was a great one.  Thing is, as ill-advised as the whole Jinder experiment turned out to be, it wasn't necessarily a creative train wreck as far as the wrestling itself went.  Sure, there were racist promos against Shinsuke, and way too many Singh brothers interference spots, but for a former enhancement talent Jinder did fine.  Not world champion fine, but none of his matches have been outright duds (save maybe his SummerSlam match with Shinsuke).  They've just been plodding, overlong, and uninteresting contests, repeating the same formula time and again, making the predictable outcome even more frustrating each time.  As amazing as he may be, AJ Styles does not share Bret Hart's gift of being able to carry far lesser workers to great matches, or at least not in Jinder's case he doesn't.  I don't really have much to say about this match, other than it felt incredibly long, and was worse to watch live than it actually was when considered as a whole.  The Singh brothers interfered, dispelling the notion that Jinder had severed ties with them, and AJ took them out quickly.  Styles was pretty much flawless, as he always is, but that was all his own doing, and even such sterling work couldn't turn this into anything memorable.  The only positive thing I can really say is that they gave AJ the win and kept the world title on him.  Hopefully this marks the end of the Jinder experiment and he finds himself shunted back down to the undercard.

Frankly, Clash of Champions was kind of a mirror of Jinder's world title reign itself: seemingly a lot on the line, but no real risks posed to anyone.  Even more reflective, it was neither good nor horribly bad, just underwhelming and fine.  It was just kind of there, unassuming and inoffensive.  It really wasn't a bad end to the PPV year, especially considering the Royal Rumble was one of the stronger shows at the very top of the year.  The quality was consistent throughout 2017, although there were a number of depressing lows that really made me question why I was watching.  Nothing on Clash was quite that bad, although large portions of the women's and Zayn/Owens match had me scratching my head.  Maybe I'm just burned out by so much content this year, and 2018's reduced PPV calendar is the solution I need.  I’m excited for the Royal Rumble, if nothing else.

Big Vin Vader cover WWE for Pencilstorm. Follow @bigvinvader


 

Who's Behind Center Against the Badgers? Baver Answers Colin's Questions

Colin: Do the Buckeyes beat Michigan without Haskins subbing in for the injured Barrett?

Baver: Yes, but what a performance by Dwayne Haskins. Everyone always knew that he had a cannon that JT lacked, but who knew Haskins would play with the poise he did in that kind of game. It also helps when the Buckeye coaches suddenly remember that they have big-time tailbacks after JT goes down. So many similarities to 2014, it’s scary.

Colin: Speaking of the QB’s, who plays against the Badgers? JT had surgery Sunday and Urban tells us he will play Saturday? Really?

Baver: I know; I am not buying it either. Arthroscopic knee surgery can be minor, but Urban seems to be begging people to believe that JT will be behind center Saturday night. As of 48 hours before the B10 title game, I am expecting it to be Dwayne Haskins running the show. We shall see; I could be wrong.

Colin: In other news, JT is first team all Big Ten again. Ho-hum. Thoughts on who were honored (or not) by the media and coaches...

Baver: JT deserved it, no doubt. And it appears that about 80 guys from the Badgers were chosen, and most deserved it. I’m told that this is the first year since 1989 that OSU didn’t have an LB selected 1st or 2nd tm. The Bucks didn’t have any LBs picked 3rd tm either. Honestly? No Buckeye ‘backer deserved it. Guess the Bucks are missing Raekwon and former LB coach Luke Fickell more than I thought they would. Current LB coach Bill Davis’ seat is warming.

Colin: Seems like Bucky Badger vs Buckeyes in a dome is a bad match for them but people said the same thing about Sparty versus OSU a couple years back and they pulled the upset. What do you see happening in this game?

Baver: I realize Wisconsin hasn’t played anybody, but all they can do is beat up on the teams they have on their schedule, and that they’ve done. The Badgers lead the nation in multiple defensive stats, and they pound the ball with Jonathan Taylor, behind an O-line where only the center is shorter than 6’6”, with no linemen weighing less than 315 lbs.

If it’s JT behind center, he needs to have some success through the air. If it’s Haskins, he’s going to have to avoid INTs. With Haskins’ big arm, he has no fear of throwing into coverage, and that’s a double-edged sword. Regardless of who the Bucks go with, the OSU coaches have to trust their tailbacks. It’s a crime that they have kept a leash on Dobbins. Wisconsin is not going to make many mistakes and they are going to test the Buckeye linebackers in the short passing game.

I think the Buckeyes are the safer bet (to win), but I think it’s a toss up. I’ve got it Ohio State 31 Wisconsin 27, but little would surprise me in this one. The 5½ pt spread is a bit high, especially if OSU is without JT. I think Ohio State can win or lose this game with either QB.

Colin: Let's say the Buckeyes win the game convincingly; do you, in your heart think this squad deserves a spot in the playoff?

Baver: Not sure it’s fair to look at Ohio St (by themselves) and ask, “Are they deserving?” If Oklahoma and Ohio St win, then I’d probably give the nod to Bama for the 4th slot, despite the Tide’s lack of quality wins, and them not having a conference title. If TCU beats Oklahoma and Ohio St beats Wisconsin, then yes, I think Ohio St would be more deserving than the other school in consideration.

Colin: Related, Alabama has a really weak resume and the SEC has 5 head coaching positions to replace. Is this really the year to have two teams from the same conference?

Baver: Again, I think the real question is….is someone else more deserving? But if the SEC is part of the debate, I see Sagarin has the SEC West as the top division in CFB again this year....like any other year.

Colin: How do you see the major games playing out this weekend and who makes the big dance when the dust settles?

Baver: I think Georgia wins the rematch against Auburn. I see TCU playing much better in their rematch with Oklahoma, but coming up just short. It’s tough to beat good teams twice, so I think OU and Auburn are in for battles. I like Clemson to advance, but like the Canes to cover the 9½. So against the spread, I like the dogs in those title gms. If OSU and OU win, then it’s a toss-up with Ohio St and Bama for the 4th playoff spot. Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Bama are my playoff picks.

Colin: Bonus question: Do you feel four teams is the right amount for the college football playoff or what do you think would be a better system? I'll give my answer: I like four. The regular season really matters which is more than what other sports can say. 

Baver: I am with you; love the 4-team format and the fact that every Saturday means something. I dread the day they expand to 8 teams, and you and I both know that day will come.