I said I might try to do another of these on Friday. Guess what. I didn’t. Oh well. No time like the present. Here are the 411 answers so you can marvel at how much smarter I am. Just kidding, guys. Sort of.
1. WWE made the right decision to move forward with the Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar match at WrestleMania 31.
Hard to say. I’ve gone on and on about the Daniel Bryan comeback story and personally I’d much rather see that, but I have a feeling that somehow, Reigns vs. Lesnar isn’t going to suck nearly as badly as everyone thinks it will. Are they selling me Mania based on that match if there was no network and I had to pay full price? Fuck no. But a match I don’t want to watch can still be a good match. Plus there are a few directions things could go, so it’s got that going for it. the question is which one WWE takes. Everybody expects Reigns to win, but what if he doesn’t? Or what if he does and then Seth shows up with his briefcase? Those factors make the night itself interesting, but WWE, at least so far, hasn’t done a very good job of selling the importance of it. That doesn’t mean it’ll end up being a wrong decision in the end, but right now it kinda seems like one.
2. The Bray Wyatt vs. Undertaker match at WrestleMania will end up better than last year’s Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar match.
If you mean technically, there’s a good chance. I imagine it’s pretty hard to wrestle when you’ve been knocked silly and end up suffering a serious injury like happened to Undertaker last year. But from a drama and emotional standpoint, I’m going to go out on a limb and say absolutely not. Say what you will about how good Lesnar Taker was or wasn’t, but there was something on the line. This year there’s no streak, no title, no nothing. Last year would have been a perfect time for Taker to quietly retire. He has nothing left to fight for anymore aside from maybe personal pride, but I’m not sure that’s the story we’re going to get. I feel like this match, enjoyable though it may be, is a no win situation. If Undertaker wins then you bury a guy who’s going to be around hopefully for years to come, but if he loses, what does it really mean? the Mania streak is already dead and we know Undertaker is old, so Bray is just beating up a shell of what once was. Granted it’s a pretty legendary shell, but still.
3. WWE Fastlane was another below average PPV offering from WWE.
Anyone who thinks Fast Lane was below average mustn’t have caught TLC. Aside from one match, that show sucked. Here we got a decent Tag Title Match, the return of Randy Orton which even I liked, the first step in the story of the Dusts if they choose to tell the rest of it, a pretty enjoyable Cena vs. Rusev match, the start of Triple H and Sting for Mania and the Bryan Reigns main event which, as I said last time, could hardly have gone better. It was not at all a legendary show, but it did what it needed to do and mostly did it well. It was a victim of an absolutely awful crowd, but that’s not its fault.
4. The booking of the WWE Intercontinental Title has made the title and who ever is the champion a complete joke.
Duh. The thing’s been pretty much useless since 1998. I hate saying that since it has such a history, but it’s true. It gets passed around more than…something that gets passed around too much. Sorry. Couldn’t come up with anything. I blame the time change. And this thing WWE has for booking champions to lose to absolutely everyone isn’t helping. They’ve done it for years, but this Wade Barrett run it’s been even more noticeable than usual. Has that poor bastard won more than 2 matches since he got it back? If they plan on keeping the belt around, this ladder match they’re planning for Mania had better be something else, as had better be whatever happens in the months and years that follow.
5. Much like the AJ Styles situation, TNA losing Samoa Joe will work out well for both TNA and Samoa Joe.
Wait…things work out for TNA? Seriously though, to the extent it can, yeah. I’m sure Joe is going to make a killing on the independents and internationally and the change of scenery will be a very much needed fresh start for him. I don’t know how you ruin a talent as special as Samoa Joe, but Vince Russo does. For TNA there was no undoing that much creative stupidity and it’s just not sensible to keep paying Joe what he’s worth anymore. The company gets to save some money and Joe will almost certainly be better off. Everybody wins.
6. What is your current excitement level for WrestleMania 31?
Aside from the anticipation that comes each year from it just being Wrestlemania season, I’m not at all excited yet. You have work to do, WWE. Lots of work.
And another one down. These are fun.
