Other Options For Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins joining Evolution doesn’t make much sense.  24 hours before he was the turning point for the Shield in their match versus Evolution.  Yet, his out of nowhere heel turn shocked everyone.  I guess everybody has a price, but I’m not buying this turn and I think maybe WWE could still save the swerve.

Rollins turn was dramatic, but in the course of the storyline lacks logic.  Sure everybody has a price, but after seeing Batista quit Rollins had to know the Shield had won the war.  The actual turn was quite refreshing as the WWE seems too rarely due shock heel turns anymore.  A good example is the incredibly slow and boring turn of Cody Rhodes.

I’m not going to argue the merits of the turn because it has value, but I find that the logic of it bothering me.  Why would he turn?  So he could be the big star?  Money?  Tired of fighting the authority?  All boring reasons and nothing he could say using those as excuses is going to breathe any life into this rivalry beyond what it is.

I instead suggest the WWE do something with this that could really send the company into a better direction and breathe some life into what has become a pretty stale product as of late.  It’s my opinion that the slow moving Authority angle needs to be put to bed.  Stephanie and HHH need to disappear off TV as they have worn out their welcome.

I think the audience needs something really fresh.  What I would do is move have Rollins turn on Evolution and join Paul Heyman.  I would do it like this.  First I have Heyman open the next Raw with Cesaro.  Heyman is upset about his treatment since Brock conquered the streak.  He’s not getting enough respect.

Heyman feels like his talents are being underutilized and he needs to expand his horizons.  He could cut a scathing promo on Steph and HHH.  This causes Steph to come out and confront Heyman.  They exchange jabs leading to a challenge.  Rollins and Orton versus Cesaro and a partner of Heyman’s choosing.

Heyman spends the rest of the show plotting who the new partner could be.  We get to the end of the show and Heyman announces the new partner.  Many at this point might feel that Rollins will turn, but instead Big E comes to the ring.  Here’s a guy who needs Heyman and is basically doing nothing in the company. 

Rollins and Orton with HHH in their corner are taken aback.  The crowd really focuses in on what will happen next.  I think everyone falls asleep to their being any other swerves.  Orton starts the match out.  He battles on for a while, but when he goes to tag Rollins in a key spot Rollins jumps him.  The three guys stamp out Orton with a major beat down.  HHH is taken aback and scurries back up the ramp while Heyman and crew wipe out Orton.

At this point they injury him enough to get him off TV for awhile.  Let’s face it Orton needs some time away.  He needs to be brought back fresh.  The WWE has really damaged him the last few years.  He needs a complete overhaul. 

HHH retreats to the top of the stage to see Heyman and his crew celebrating their move.  HHH's limited heat moves to the Heyman stable and he can slowly be phased out for another time.

Rollins can explain the following week that he needed to be with winners.  He needed to be Heyman guy.  The Shield was over and Evolution was a thing of the past.  He was motivated by Lesnar beating the Undertaker and Heyman’s success with CM Punk and his long title run.

The story writes itself from there, and the focus comes off HHH and Steph who have gone stale and swings to Heyman who just seems to be the hot mic guy and manager in the company.  WWE can now also start getting more value from the Undertaker loss.  Maybe it spring boards everything to a Taker Lesnar rematch.  It gains a lot of steam if the Heyman guys are hot.

To me it makes more sense than Rollins withering away under HHH who has a small amount of heat and it gives the company a fresh stable lead by a guy who knows how to cut promo’s and tell stories.  In the Heyman stable you would have four guys who can work in the ring.  Lots of possibilities with Cena, Bryan and perhaps some other fresh faces over the next few months.

Just Some Cesc Talk

Is Cesc a problem for Barcelona?  I think he has been the last two season, but going forward he will not be.

I believe Cesc was brought in to replace an aging Xavi, but Xavi just refused to get old.  I can't blame, Pep, Tito, and Tata for continuing to use Xavi as their best MF option.  He's played at a high level for all three.

With Inesta in his prime it was difficult to start Cesc in the MF where he is best used.  The first season in Barcelona this wasn't a big problem because he was often hurt or one of the other two were.  The last two seasons it has been a problem.

It seems liked when Cesc started seeing the pine too much immediate media links had him very unhappy with his place in the team.  Under Tito Cesc began to be used as a forward and even down the middle when Messi was out of the team for rest.

This strategy worked in the first part of the 2012-13 season where Barca didn't lose a match.  I think it worked as long as the side Barca played was soft or slow.  Issues with this lineup style appeared when Barca got smoked in a first leg tie against AC Milan in the Champions League.  Cesc just didn't have the pace to cause Milan problems which allowed them to squeeze Messi and press Barca high up the pitch.

Leg 2 Cesc was benched and Barca pulled off a come back winning 4-0.

Again this lineup reared it's ugly head when Barca decided to roll with it against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey Semifinal leg 2.  Same type of results, but it was too late to bring David Villa on and Cesc off as the tie was already over.

Over the summer rumors abounded about Cesc wanting to leave.  He committed to the club, but I think not after some promises were made.  In the early part of the season Cesc played well in the MF and the team rotated very often with Xavi and Inesta.

Barca seemed to be at their best when Alexis, Messi, and Neymar started upfront.  Then for some reason in key ties down the stretch Barca used Cesc upfront.  They even moved Neymar to the right where he hasn't been good, and benched Alexis and Pedro.

I thought the lesson should have been learned in the first leg tie against Atletico in the Champions League.  With Cesc in the front line Barca trailed, but when he was subbed off and Neymar was moved to the left the team came alive.  It was so apparent, but in the following match he repeated the same front three.

Totally baffling when this lineup was again used against Real Madrid in the Copa Del Rey final.  Every match saw Cesc subbed off in favor of an attacking option.

Did Tata start Cesc because the powers at be at Barca forced him too?  I wonder if that is why he has put up little fight to keep his job and why he seems disinterested in being the coach.

Barca whipped Osasuna 7-0 just weeks before the seaosn fell apart starting Pedro Messi and Alexis upfront.  They seemed so dangerous playing with three true attackers, but abandoned this thought when it came to the key matches down the stretch.  It's just puzzling.

I believe Tata can't manage the ego of Cesc and feels obligated to play him in the big matches.  I also feel he does get pressure from key members of the Barca front office to play him because they want to keep him in the club going forward.

It's the only explanation for the horrible decision to use that lineup when the past showed it didn't work.  Xavi is likely to need to rest more in the coming year.  Cesc fits nicely in the MF and that's where he should stay.  Should he leave the club?  No, but the Barca attack must always have three true attacking threats upfront to work, or they will struggle to keep space as they have more recently.

WWE Fix'em Ups

We all want to run down the WWE at the first signs of failure.  Some want to drop it all on HHH as the ego maniac making bad decisions behind the scenes and abusing his influence with Vince.  Yet, we don't know any of that for sure.  We do know that the product has stunk lately.  Instead of pointing the finger at someone or something the WWE just needs to address certain problems and move on.  I find they are just way too easy to fix if you really think about it.

End the Authority Angle...quick!

The Authority angle started with a ton of promise.  HHH finally fulfilling the desire of every internet fan who dreads him by coming out as a corporate heel against the wrestling machine Daniel Bryan.  Probably something that should have happened in 2011 with CM Punk, but better late than never.

The only problem is the follow up with the angle has been a mess.  The Authority, HHH and Stephanie have muddy the waters on who they are as faces or heels.  HHH and Stephanie have been reluctant to fully embrace the turn from Summerslam and the night after and it's left fans feeling confused and drained the heat out of the angle.  I thought after Survivor Series they could have saved the angle, but this thing is on life support.  Just a few weeks ago HHH was doing the YES chant, but followed it up by running down Daniel Bryan the next week.  I'm not sure how that helps anything WWE is trying to do.

The WWE needs to keep Stephanie and HHH off TV after Wrestlemania.   Usually post WM is a time for the good guys anyway.  I vote for a commissioner run for Mick Foley leading up to Summerslam before pushing another big time heel angle within the company.  I don't think HHH and Stephanie are flops, far from it. I just think they are uncertain of what would be "best for business right now."  They are clear cut top evil heels, but because they chose to not embrace that fact the angle has flopped and we need to end it quickly before the damage their on screen persona's any further.

Start Valuing Winning and Losing Again

No Superstar is going to get over if he keeps taking loads of losses.  Look at the case of Damien Sandow.  He gets weeks worth of vignettes before his debut, but weeks after debuting he's the butt of a joke for DX on the Raw 1000 show.  Did anyone bother to ask how that would help his career?

He won the Money in the Bank and you thought now he can finally live up to the hype, but he continues to lose matches and has to jump in a river to save his money in the bank briefcase.  Now fast forward to the RAW after Hell in the Cell.  Sandow comes to the ring to confront the newly crowned Champion John Cena who is fresh off his return from injury.  Sandow cuts a great promo and then attacks Cena before cashing in.

It makes total sense that Sandow will beat Cena claim the title and rematch at Survivor Series, right?  Nope instead after executing a really good promo and prematch attack Sandow loses to a one armed John Cena.  Talk about a career killing moment.  He becomes one of the few guys not to win a title with their cash in and loses to a guy with one arm.  All on free TV.  Why not just drag it out on into the PPV?  We didn't need to see the Del Rio Cena rematch they feed us at Survivor Series.

Sandow is just one of many guys who takes too many losses, but you constantly hear the backstage rumors about how these guys disappoint and underachieve.  Look at the case of Dolph Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio.  All guys who lose way too many matches, but then are asked to draw in the top spot.  You can't get by on the mic skills alone.  Superstars have to win a majority of their matches in order to keep relevant with the fanbase.

It's also worth noting that Randy Orton is not immune to this situation as well.  As champion he has lost to Kofi Kingston, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and Christian.  The list goes on and on.  This is all during his most recent title run.  How is that supposed to make him look good and gain heat?

To me it's simple.  Look at College football.  As long as a team stays unbeaten or one lose they are relevant and fans stay interested, but put two or three loses on a team and nobody cares about them any more except their loyal fans.  Then when you have two unbeaten teams clash the ratings go through the roof.  Records matter and winning matters.

Stars that are being pushed need to win a majority of their matches especially the ones on free tv.  This creates situations where the fans truly don't know who's going to win when top stars meet, which drives interest and creates heat.  It also makes people care.  Does anyone really believe that Alberto Del Rio will beat Batista at the next PPV?  Del Rio has lost to the likes of Sin Cara (Hunico) in recent weeks, but now he's going to take on a returning Batista?  Imagine if Del Rio had been unbeaten for a while then maybe it becomes a bigger deal, but the entire angle has been like going through the motions because Del Rio has been such a loss machine for WWE the last year.

WWE needs to separate it's roster better.  The guys being pushed and the guys making those guys look good.  The product would improve vastly and top stars would finally start drawing money for the company and get the WWE over it's dependence on a few top guys and part time stars to draw ratings and buyrates.

For those thinking that guys need to use the mic to get over are mistaken as well.  You can't get over just by working the mic.  Fans change the channel on guys who lose all the time cutting promo's.  Why listen to the Miz he hardly beats anybody, so who cares what he has to say.  The bottom line is winning matters.

Be More Straight Forward

The WWE's angle execution has become let's be tricky for the sake of being tricky.  They lead you down the road and have you believing the angle will end a certain way, but then at the last second do something that you would not expect to have it be a surprise, but it comes off poorly.

My best recent example of this is the John Cena and Randy Orton's TLC match.  Orton scored a clean win over Cena with no help from the Authority.  Post match the Authority came to the ring and clapped for Orton.  As stated earlier the Authority have since gone sour on Orton.  The angle and the match made zero sense as did the follow up.  I really felt like the Creative team was sitting in a room and someone said what is the least likely ending people would expect and someone said an Orton clean win.

Because it was clean it didn't help gain more heat for the Authority angle and it didn't push the Authority to new heights.  Instead it hurt Cena's perception with the fans.  It improved Orton's perception until he started taking losses to everyone including Cena and then looking like a child when fighting with the Authority.  So nothing was really gained and more lose from this outcome that at best was surprising.

All that needed to happen here was HHH runs down as Cena gets to the top of the ladder and yanks the rope that Cena is tied too.  Orton wins and we hate him more.  The Authority is for sure heel and we hate them more.  Cena gets some empathy from the fans because he got screwed and we are all pretty much happy with the outcome.  Straight foward and just what we need.

The mustard was off the hot dog for Daniel Bryan when the WWE decided at Night of Champions that Bryan would get the win clean over Orton.  So just one month removed from starting an angle that deserved a slow burn Bryan gets the payoff.  Orton takes the clean loss and for 24 hours we all have that feeling they are going to strip Bryan, which they do in a really poor manner.  So now Bryan has lost steam, Orton has lost more steam, and we are all really annoyed with the WWE.

So when the WWE brass says Bryan can't draw I'm forced to wonder how did they ever expect him to off that.  The whole point of a slow burn angle is the big pay off in the end.  We got a mock pay off, which didn't serve any valuable purpose to the heat on this angle.

If WWE would have just done the straight forward thing and screwed Bryan then we would have all been better for it.  Better yet keeping Bryan away from Orton would have been better for both stars in the long run.  Bryan wins the rumble and wins the title at WM30.  Straight forward yes, but exactly what we all wanted in the end.  Sometimes theses things are just that simple.

Overall the WWE needs to go back to older simpler formulas.  They are trying too hard to give people something new when maybe we all just want the same old thing with a different packaging.