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.

Fall of the King

HHH’s Promotion is What All Haters Should Want

It was recently announced that HHH was officially put in charge of WWE Creative along with Talent Relations.  Many hardcore fans have felt he has been influencing both departments to his benefit for many years, but now this officially anoints him as the man.  It also means he will likely be the guy to replace Vince when he finally steps away, or let’s face it, and not be harsh, passes away.  Many fans who follow the sport closely might view this as a bad thing, but I think in the end this is “Best for Business.”

Once HHH was found to be dating Stephanie McMahon his career was always going to be questioned.  It’s hard for a guy to date the daughter of the boss and not take heat from fans about getting things pushed his way.  The early part of his career seemed to indicate that he was getting a little favoritism.  If the WWE didn’t give him special treatment then their writing certainly didn’t do his perception with the fans any favors.

HHH took a loss to the Undertaker at WM17.  This is right around when the streak starting gathering legs.  He joined forces with a recently turned heel Stone Cold Steve Austin post Mania and formed the two man power trip.  They were the top heels in the company, but HHH was largely perceived to be second fiddle.  At that point I viewed HHH’s major run as over.  I just didn’t think he could create a compelling face or heel character after what he had previously been through and I largely thought he had run his course as a top guy in the company.

He had Steve Austin nearly killed by a car, so how much more hated can you make yourself?  That view seems small minded now as character runs have lasted a lot longer and stars often reinvent themselves as things progress.  HHH was then injured and missed major time.  What I didn’t expect was for the WWE to book HHH as a face and crown him the Undisputed Champion at WM18.  I think it justified it as a reward for his work during the attitude era.

Sure the crowd seemed behind it at the time and his return was well received, but hey anytime anyone comes back they get a great pop.  We love the long awaited comeback return.  Yet, HHH was turned back heel not to long after.  Why, because he couldn’t draw as a face.   

This would begin an era where HHH was often one of the two major champions.  It also started bothering me that it seemed he was after Ric Flair’s record of most titles held.  That’s not a distinction a guy with HHH’s backstage position should seek considering his marriage to Stephanie at this point.  Remember he was once given the title by Eric Bischoff on Raw.  Yes, he was given the title, no tournament, or #1 contender match.  That incident coupled with him being pushed over and over started to wear thin on me as the 2000’s pressed on. 

Many have pointed to HHH appeared to sabotage the careers of many rising stars.  Randy Orton who seemed cut out to be one of the biggest Superstars of all time has had HHH intersect with him three times where it really hasn’t benefited damaged the Orton character.  After Orton upset Chris Benoit for his first title HHH turned on him and quickly won the title away from him.  Yet, Orton wasn’t given the angle where he battles to get his belt back and eventually does with a big payoff.  He was beaten and relegated to the side.

Orton took time to recover and rebuilt himself into an angle where he was attacking members of the McMahon family including HHH’s wife Stephanie.  It was the build up to WM25.  Orton became the ultimate heel attacking old people and women.  He had a track record of concussing many major super stars with his punt.  He was squarely positioned to take the mantle as top heel in the company.

The only problem was that Orton was strapless going into WM25 and he won the Royal Rumble.  The tradition is for the major heel to gain the title and heat around Survivor Series and then lose the strap at Mania to his major foil.  It almost looked like the 25^th anniversary of the company’s biggest event was going to see them crown a heel champion who attacked the owner and his daughter.

I can’t blame the WWE for not wanting that to be the end of their centerpiece event, but what they did do was far worse in the end.  HHH injected himself into the angle, but the only way Orton would take him on at WM25 was if he was the champion, so WWE booked HHH to pick up the strap at elimination chamber the month before.  Now remember HHH had not been around as much going into this, so he had very little heat or fanfare other than he was facing the top heel and his wife had been attacked.

HHH took on Orton in what was one of the worst WM mains of all time.  The match had such a poor ending I think many in attendance missed what happened.  Orton was climbing back into the ring and HHH gave him a punt.  He poorly executed that.  He grabbed the sledgehammer with the referee down and attacked Orton with it.  Because that’s what faces do they use Sledgehammers to beat guys they are twice the size of.  Then a slow sequence occurs where HHH lands some punches while the referee recovers.  Suddenly HHH lands the pedigree and Orton is covered for the 1-2-3. 

You couldn’t have booked it worse.  I think the sudden ending shocked everyone.  Orton’s moment in the sun was gone and the WWE was left with HHH who was at best a lukewarm face as their champion.  So a month later they had HHH drop the belt in a six man tag to Orton.  Yes that’s right a six man tag.  It didn’t make sense to me either.  Why not just give Orton the belt at WM25 and drive home a huge push.

Orton hasn’t recovered since despite the fact that he had the belt after that and the other World title a bunch of times.  It was a major blow to his career of when he should have been really over.  It took until just recently when WWE created a crafty way to flip HHH and Orton heel at Summerslam.  It would have appeared that WWE had revived Orton once again and he would be the heel face of the company for the next few months.

Yet, they were able to botch that too with the confusing relationship between HHH and him.  His loses to Daniel Bryan and his new found desire to whine all the time.  I’m not sure Orton can recover from the damage that has been done to him at this point.  Although HHH ruined the 2011 run of CM Punk for no apparent reason I view the toppling of Orton has his career highlight for sabotaging another talents run.  You could probably point to the damage he is doing to Daniel Bryan as career threatening as well.

Can you fully blame HHH for the Orton situation?  I would say he deserves a blunt of the blame and here’s why.  If HHH does have influence with Vince McMahon then he probably can convince Vince of things that probably aren’t good for other guys.  After the mid 2000’s and the back to back WM losses to John Cena and Batista, HHH could and should have become more of a part time.  Injecting him into a massive storyline angle with Orton where he holds the belt was going to do very little for WWE.  The WM25 didn’t create a hallmark moment for HHH or the company.  HHH being a student of the business had to know that it was bad business.  In the new age of wrestling with smarter more informed fans it’s very difficult to build heat.  Orton had massive heat on him three times and all three times HHH has been the on screen character to choke it away.

What benefit has that brought the WWE?  Little if none.  The Authority angle is a failure right now because WWE is constantly shifting the focus to HHH and Stephanie, as they quickly brushed aside Bryan and Big Show.  CM Punk has finally entered the angle, which seems a perfect fit for him, but the initial promo with him and Stephanie was awful and if WWE plans to draw out an angle with him and the Shield they are way off target on hoping this will work out well.

HHH and Stephanie have major influence over the Authority angle.  If they can’t see why it’s failing then they are more to blame then the superstars they are blaming for the bad ratings.  The angle could have worked in many different ways.  First Orton has to appear to be dominant.  He can’t take loses or be made to look foolish.  WWE has done plenty of that.  Second Daniel Bryan can’t get over by making Orton look bad.  The WWE needed to focus on keeping the two apart for as long as possible.  The roadblocks should have been the shield and then maybe Big Show. 

The angle was so easy to write, but WWE got too creative making the Superstars look bad and having the Authority deflect any fault doesn’t work.  Then having the locker room out on the stage week after week to be embarrassed didn’t help the situation as well.  What value did that serve the ratings?  Remember when HHH gave his state of the Union the night after Summerslam?  A few months later the Locker Room finally stood up to the Authority regime for the biggest pop the company hasn’t gotten in a while.

The next week HHH and Stephanie came out to say that they were no longer going to be nice.  Wait wasn’t that what they were expounding to everyone the night after Summerslam?  The logic took major heat off of them and frankly they have simply just been annoying ever since.  What’s worse was the promo HHH cut on Paul Heyman at a PPV a few weeks back.  I don’t know how HHH could have thought him pandering to the crowd and making Heyman look bad helped anything.  Heyman already has heat with CM Punk.  He didn’t need HHH to interject, but maybe a good rule to follow is the massive heel of the company should never be seeking fan approval during his run in that spot.  This was so poorly contrived and confused to the audience.  Wait aren’t we supposed to hate this guy worse they manager Paul Heyman?

It’s a major gaff by HHH and yet another demonstration of how Paul Heyman is the best character in the company these days.  Heyman manages 2 or 3 talents for the company, one who makes periodic appearances.  He has not stroke, he lost control of the Shield, but the crowd eats him up and he continues to be can’t miss TV.  HHH needs to take a lesson from Heyman it’s all about telling great story.

Yet, HHH has always been telling bad story.  Remember when HHH challenged the Undertaker before WM27?  It appeared that HHH was concerned that in order to make people believe that he could finally be the guy to beat Taker he would have to kind of forget a key detail about the past.  He cut a promo where the fact that HHH had lost to the Undertaker at WM17 was kind of glossed over.  He presented it as if they had never met before.  Huh?  How could you do that?  Well that’s HHH for you.  He also could have played the role heel, but decided to stay face.  Probably because Shawn Michaels chose to do it the same way the previous two WM’s and he needed to prove he could do that too.  It didn’t really seem to work out when he went for a sledgehammer during the match because that’s what a face does right?

It was a terrible match with many low points and the next night after losing HHH cut a promo as if he had won.   This was a terribly misbooked match and could have been done so much better.  First just have HHH out for revenge for his friend Shawn Michaels and his previous loss at WM17.  Have HHH go full heel, a role that suits him best, and attack Taker in the weeks leading up to the match.  Also, have HHH put the idea out there that the Taker is slowing down.  People would eat that up and start to maybe believe it was time to lose.  It makes interjecting the sledgehammer ok, but no that didn’t happen.  Shawn Michaels made a mistake by coming right back for a rematch.  HHH was smart and waited ten years.  Is that better?

So the next year they repeated the match, but to try to improve it they added the Hell in a Cell, which unless you are going on top of is never all that good anymore and Shawn Michaels as the ref.  If Michaels super kicked Undertaker and cost him the match in doing so that would have shit on the entire streak.  So, because we knew they wouldn’t do that he didn’t really serve a purpose unless you have him turn on HHH, which would have really set up for something good down the road.  In the end HHH is 0-3 versus the Undertaker at WM’s. 

So looking back on all that, why in the world would it be a good thing that HHH is new head of creative and talent for WWE?  Well because it finally puts him in a position of accountability.  If HHH ascends to the head of the WWE and replaces Vince then we are probably never going to see a really good WWE because clearly HHH is a guy who can’t separate what’s good for him from what’s good for business.  He truly doesn’t live up to the moniker what’s best for business.

If HHH stays in this role then ratings will drop.  He clearly can’t tell what the right thing to do is.  If ratings drop and buyrates drop then the stock price will drop.  This will cause the REAL executive board to take action against Vince putting pressure on him to make changes.  They are not going to want Vince to step aside, but be more involved.  At that point Vince is going to realize the product has slipped and he’s going to turn to people that he has used in the past during better times to get things going in the right direction.

I would expect Mic Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Bruce Pritchard, and Michael Hayes to again have major creative influence.  Also expect to see Good Ole’ JR back in a meaningful behind the scenes role.  HHH and Stephanie will be pushed into corporate positions where they have less impact on the creative side of the product.  I don’t’ think it’s actually wishful thinking.  HHH has lost the underlying confidence of the locker room.  Who could ever trust him looking at his above listed track record? 

Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, Edge, Jericho, and Randy Orton are just a few guys that have had bad experiences with HHH.  That’s just to name a few and the ones we know about.  Most guys will not talk bad about HHH and they have good reason not too.  He doesn’t appear to be as savvy as Vince and know how to forgive.  Also most guys are getting legends checks from WWE.  Where will they land if not with WWE?  So why spoil a good thing and vent on HHH for what he really is. 

Remember back to the CM Punk promo that made him in WWE.  He was told to go out there and speak truthfully.  He had some issues with the way Vince handled a few things, but he specifically named Stephanie and HHH as major problems.  Why would he do that if there wasn’t some truth in what he was saying?  There was major truth in what he was saying.  In the end money runs thicker than blood.  WWE is public traded and if at some point the company starts really losing money you will have major problems.  The axe will fall and Vince has never struggled to make tough decisions.

So having HHH in charge is a good thing.  He will either reverse the habits he has developed over the years by producing a good product or people will execute the right to change the channel.  The bottom line is he can’t continue with the behavior of the past.  He will either change or be pushed aside, which are both good things for WWE fans in the long run.

It’s not all doom and gloom for the WWE.  If the rumors of Shane leaving because of a rift between he and Vince over Stephanie and HHH’s roles then it will likely be Shane who seeks to come in and save the day.  I think this would be a very positive thing for the WWE.  I’ve often wondered if Shane wouldn’t be a bad guy to take over TNA though.  Now wouldn’t that be interesting.

The TLC PPV is fast approaching and a very strangely booked unification bout has been scheduled.  This looks cleverly like a chance for HHH to cash in on the much lauded heel turn for John Cena.  Orton is failing as the major heel and the weird way the build up to this has occurred makes total sense.  It would shoot some life into the company and setup a match between CM Punk and Cena at WM30 that would be very fitting. 

A John Cena heel turn can either be the major step in the right direction the WWE needs or a massive nail in the coffin.  If Cena is booked properly he could be huge and turning him back might actually get him over with the crowd as a face.  If booking him blows up and they lose him as a major draw then the WWE is sunk.  I think HHH will look to do this because right now something big needs to happen.  Look for this to be the defining early decision of HHH’s hopefully short tenure.   

Breaking End: A look back at the Breaking Bad Finale and the Claims against it

Breaking Bad is over and so ends one of the greatest TV dramas of all time.  Like anything in the day of blogs and social media many have chimed in with their opinion.  For the most part the show got great reviews and I think most casual and hardcore fans were satisfied with the ending.  Yet, there are still those who like to poke holes.  I found many of the arguments to be weak and I decided to share my reasons why.

One of the first complaints I heard was that it was a bad idea to start both premieres with a reveal into the future, the first being the scene where Walt purchases the machine gun and the second where Walt retrieves the Ricin.  Some people felt that this gave away too much of the ending to the finale.  Bill Hader appeared on Talking Bad and stated he felt the Ricin was meant for Lydia’s tea and he was dead on.  It was clear going into the final episode that the gun was likely intended to be used on the Nazi’s.  Hader opened the door on Lydia, but I think to some it was clear it might be used on her.

Many have argued if they would have saved those things for the final episode they would have been more mysterious.  There are two schools of thought.  The first school is that they should have skipped the scenes altogether.  That would meant that the gun would randomly pop out of the trunk and Walt would simply revealed to Lydia that he poisoned her. 

If the writers would have gone that way then you would have many people up in arms as to how Walt got the Ricin and how did he have time to rig up that gun and where did he buy it.  Instantly people would have jumped on those holes as too farfetched and felt he didn’t have the opportunity to excute them.  The second belief was that maybe these things should have happened in the finale in sequence. 

This argument bares some weight.  If we just take off from the end of Season 4 and build to the season 5B finale in total order with no future details then the finale might have been even more surprising, but wouldn’t everything that happens simply fall into place the same way.  We would know once Walt grabs the Ricin that he plans to use it and most likely it’s for Lydia.  The scenes would happen in sequence and we all knew that the gun would be used against the Nazis.  What’s so surprising about all that?

What many missed was that the writers decided to use these peeks into the future to create even more interest and misdirection.  The entire first season we are left wondering who will Walt use the gun on?  I think at first we assume that it somehow ties back to overseas buyers, or the other dealer that he trades with.  At no point in the first season did I believe it was intended for the Nazi’s.  I thought it was intended to be used on Hank near the end or the DEA, but that never made sense to me. 

The whole purpose was to get your mind racing and misdirect you to overthinking the whole situation.  By episode 7B I had figured out it was likely going to be used by Walt to rescue his money, not Jessie, from the Nazis.  It was just a brilliant rib and later the Ricin at the start of the 5B gave us that same misdirection situation.  I think most had to believe he was going to try to poison Jessie.  If Hader had not stated his belief I likely don’t think it’s for Lydia until that coffee shop scene starts.

So what I think happened was some people were upset because you figure these things out right before they happen and maybe they wanted it to be a secret, but did anyone really believe Walt was going to Rambo with that gun in his health condition?  So I think this gripe bears little weight.  The two items came mysterious because he grabbed them early on.

Tying back into this point some people were confused as to why Walt would kill Lydia.  That maybe her death was unnecessary and Walt didn’t have a strong reason to kill her.  Now the easy answer to this is that Walt finds out that Todd threatened Sklyar and the family if they ever talked.  In that scene Todd tells Sklyer to forget he ever met Lydia at the carwash.  So naturally that’s why Walt offed her, but the events happen out of sequence.  He poisons her then gets the information from Skylar.

Many then might argue that he did it because of what they did to Jessie, but again he doesn’t even know Jessie is alive and assumes he is dead after they take him away.  So maybe everyone is right.  Why kill Lydia?  The answer is quiet simple.  Walt is a genius.  He realizes in the shootout scene that his value to the Nazi’s is diminished and they no longer respect or fear him.  This is likely because they have 60 million of his money and Lydia has got them into the meth business. 

So yes Walt’s ego takes a hit, but when the facts starting getting fully uncovered eventually things will tie back to Lydia.  When she gets busted that will put heat on Walt’s family, which is what he’s trying to avoid.  Killing Lydia assures that all the connecting important pieces are gone and the police won’t pursue things much further.  No loose ends.

A big complaint, and one I saw coming after watching the finale, was that the episode put everything to rest in a too convenient manner.  The reason I saw this as a complaint was that the episode was banging out resolutions in scene after scene.  This also went in the most contrast to the Soprano’s Finale, which we all knew this would get compared heavily too.  The Soprano’s left a lot of open ended questions while Breaking Bad seemed to answer them in a very orderly sequence. 

Walt took care of his family with the money he gave the Schwartz’s, killed the Nazi’s, freed Jessie, came clean to Sklyar, saw his daughter for the last time, accepted his failure in Flynn’s eyes, and offed Lydia, just to name a few.  All these things were accomplished in one episode.  So, yes maybe that is too a litte to tighty and a lot to happen, but in reality the brilliant writing set everything in to place.  In reality Walt was not on a timeline.  He devised a plan in the time it took him to drive all the way home and executed it.  We just saw it in order and the chances things like saving Jessie and getting the call from Lydia just happened. 

We have become so conditioned for there to be questions and loose ends that we felt upset that there were so few questions, but especially no major ones. There was no Russian in the forest and fade to black.  In reality the Soprano’s was ended the way it was because of a possible movie spinoff.  The fade to black gave an excuse to either say Tony was killed there or there was more to come depending how the company decided to move forward.  Breaking Bad could have pressed on for a few more seasons, but it always risked become too much like Dexter with the central character constantly surviving miraculous situations until it became too unbelievable.

Breaking Bad gave an ended that respected the fans by leaving very little up in the air.  For those who thought they did too much and wrapped it up tiddy I say you are simply overthinking it.  For once the writers and creators respected the fans and gave them great tv.

Another argument that received some criticism and I thought very unjustly, was that the Schwartz’s would go to the DEA.  I won’t even give that argument the time of day.  After Walt admitted to Sklyer what he had done on the phone the DEA was able to start connecting the dots and he apparently became a celebrity criminal and was known to the national media.  The Schwartz had every reason to fear Walt as a legitimate threat. 

He casually snuck into their house and had them gather his money for them.  They had every reason to fear him and what he was capable of.  If someone has that much money, and clearly he did as he gave it to them physically, you have every reason to believe that the he could have hired hit-men to get rid of you.

I think that his death sequence would only reaffirm to me that he was not to be trifled with once that hit the news.  So, I don’t think they go to the DEA especially considering they had nothing to gain by doing it except living in fear that Walt was serious.  He could have also had Badger and Skinny Pete leave reminders that this needed be done, but that may be a bit of stretch.  Still it was great that they were included in the episode.

This was the weakest gripe I heard and I was surprised I heard it so much.  I think this was derived from those who wanted to see Walt fail.  There was a large group of those people and it was understandable.  Still I think if I was in reality in the shoes of the Schwartz’s living the high life there would be no reason to gamble on Walt having really hired hit-men.  That’s what the point of the red dots was.  To really drive the point that they were under threat, pardon the pun.

The last argument I heard was one that surprised me during the finale, but made sense to me almost instantly after.  I foresaw that Walt would rescue Jessie, but then Walt would allow Jessie to exact revenge by killing him.  Many were flustered when Jessie did not kill Walt and no one was buying that Jessie wouldn’t pull the trigger considering what Walt had done.

Walt allowed Jessie’s girlfriend to die in season 2, poisoned Brock, told the Nazi’s to kill Jessie, indirectly caused his capture and murder of his latest girlfriend leaving Brock motherless.  So yes Jessie had a bunch of reasons to kill Walt, but he didn’t.  Does that make sense?

In the end to me yes it totally does.  When Jessie told Walt to admit that he wanted this I thought for sure he would pull the trigger, but he didn’t.  That shocked me, but then it all aligned. Jessie was a punk kid who came almost full circle in the end realizing the value of life.  He changed in the end into somebody who wanted to do the right thing.  He realized that decisions have consequences.  He realized that killing Walt made him no better than what Walt had become.  That was not who Jessie had become and that’s why he left it there.  He may have also realized Walt was shot and would likely not survive, but regardless of that fact he made the right decision. 

The trailer for the finale started with the scene where Walt talks about chemistry being the science of change.  That shows out in the final scene with Jessie.  Walt had changed into someone he thought he wanted to be, but Jessie had changed into someone who he refused to become.  Through the entire series we were always hoping that Jessie would stop being a punk who used drugs and become responsible.  He time and time again had the chance to do it, but it wasn’t until the final season that he made the transformation completely. 

No show was without faults.  Breaking Bad was no exception, but the writers did very well to keep things as believable as possible and they often times surprised us with logical twists that we rarely ever saw coming.  That’s what made the show great.  Maybe some people were let off a bit because some things were predictable.  Yet, that was necessary so the writers could have an ending that made sense.  What I think a lot of people missed and what I realized a few hours after completing the finale was the ultimate trick played on us by the writers.

Throughout season 5 Walt does things that make you really despise who he is.  I rooted for him and Jessie for the first 4 seasons, but in the end I was rooting for Walt to get taken down and Jessie to get out because he had become a good person.  After Hank is killed I thought Walt might come back to the pack, but he still wants Jessie kills and he goes wild on his family taking the baby away.  At that point I think many Walt supporters realized the evil person he had become.  That maybe Walt had gone too far.

In second to last episode Walt becomes extremely selfish in his meeting with Saul.  You start to root against even more.  It’s at that point I was just hoping that he ended up on the wrong end of things.  Often in the show Walt does thing that make your skin crawl.  He makes really stubborn decisions that as a viewer you openly disagree with.  He of course does not follow the direction of his handler and leaves the cabin.  He contact his son Flynn who refuses the money he wants to the family and then he makes a call to get himself caught and you realize that in a way Walt has given up.  Then he sees the Schwartz’s on TV and becomes motivated.  I thought he was motivated in the wrong light.  I thought he wanted to prove who Hisenberg truly was and leave his stamp on everything and everybody. 

What they did in the final episode was transform Walt back into the hero that we all wanted him to be at some point or another, or at least most of us.  They did it in such a crafty way I didn’t even realize they had done it.  By the end of the episode I’m hoping that he dies so the police don’t arrest him.  I think part of me was maybe hoping he even got away.  How did they do this?  With great writing they turned a modest man into a villain and once he reached the apex of evil they brilliantly turned him into a great hero.  It was a master stroke. 

When the gun took out all the Nazi’s I am sure I wasn’t the only one that screamed hell yeah.  When the leader of the Nazi’s thought Walt still wanted the money, but Walt instantly shot him I realized he had changed.  They somehow made Walt into the hero again and many soaked it in.  It was extremely fitting that he could die in the lab where he was truly at his best.  A much better ending than I could have dreamed up and a fitting end to the greatest television character ever written and perhaps greatest show too.  Time will tell all things.

True Blood the Season that Wasn't

I like True Blood.  It has had a some good seasons, but after last season I felt like we had covered all the ground we could and maybe the show needed to wind down.  I will say I was looking forward to this season after the cliffhanger ending, but after just a few episodes I was a little confused and before the end ready to stop watching.

True Blood is good because the characters are strong.  I'm not a Sookie fan, or a Tara fan, but their are some many great characters to choose from if you don't like them.  I hated Eric, but he slowly became the best character out of the regulars.  Then Bill became kind of cool too and Russell Edginton stole the show.  Russell was so good that I think they rushed him back way sooner than necessary to appease fans of his.  I thought it should have all ended with him in the final season, but they went for the ratings grab.

So here we were after a pretty decent season where the Vampire Authority had been all but obliterated.  Bill had turned into a super vampire and it looked like he had embraced evil with Eric becoming the hero.  Warlow loomed as a mystery.  Eric was finally the hero and now maybe he would fulfill his destiny with Sookie.

Here is how I thought the season would go. Jason would struggle with his complete hatred of vampires.  Eric and the crew would battle Bill and some vampires would be forced to pick sides.  I wasn't sure if Warlow would be a major story line or an arch that would play out in the next season.  You could make the case that it could with the slow story telling they were using on that angle.  

These were common assumptions, but in the end they played out much differently than I thought.  Logic seemed to have escaped the cast of True Blood in this last season.  While in a fantasy world that is understandable, I think the writers got very lazy in their story telling and it showed.  When you confuse the audience and have people screaming at their TV's for the characters to make logical decisions a show can lose interest quickly.  

The season was marred by confusing situations that just weren't logical even with the history of things that have happened in the past.  Take the case of Bill.  He becomes a super vampire and at first we assume that he is evil, but immediately it is determined that he is not evil.  So forget about the Bill versus the world story line.  Instead he has a vision of a handful of vampires, some he knows, dying in a room.  Bill had become a semi jerk, but after seeing this he becomes obsessed with stopping this vision from coming to life.  

He believes that he must be able to walk in the day in order to do this, something he assumed with his new powers he could do, but he actually cannot.  So he sends Jessica to kidnap a scientist that can synthesize fairy blood so that he can.  Why was this so important for Bill to do?  I believe the angle was for Bill to give all the vampires the blood so they could survive the sun.  Ok, but was all that really necessary?  Wouldn't it have made more sense if the blood really could have cured the hep V virus the humans created?  

Why kill the Governor so early in the season?  He was a great new evil character.  Why would Jessica not be arrested for killing three fairies that also happened to be the Sheriffs daughters?  Andy is really just ok with that?  Why did Eric need to be able to walk in the day to save the vampires?  Couldn't he just have done this at night.  Also, couldn't he have just organized everyone in prison to escape.  How hard was it to do that?  All he did was open the doors and they all went on a killing spree.

The season was cut 2 episodes short because Sookie was pregnant in real life.  You could tell that they had planned for 12 episodes and did a really poor job scaling back to 10.  Everything seemed rushed and out of place half the time.  The entire Warlow thing was such a train wreck and a major let down for us much as they had hyped it.  One second Sookie has sex with him, then she is concerned about marrying him, and then after waiting all this time he has no patience left to try to win her over even though she had sex with him already.  So Warlow goes evil and must be killed, which in turn maybe kills Eric, but probably not.

The last 15 minutes of the season did a lot to spark some interest in next year and get us away from the misgivings of the prior episodes.  Advancing into the future was a good idea.  Yet, they did a very poor job explaining with the Hep V was not just killing all the infected vampires.  Also, the Eric situation was poorly written because if he started on fire he would have immediately buried himself in the snow.  If they are trying to tease his death I think zero percent of people were buying that as real or a just ending to the show's best character.

Hopefully True Blood can right the wrongs of this past season and give us an end we can all be happy with.  They did not set the bar high in this past season so that should not be very difficult, but I would hope they keep it simple and just bring back a few old faces.  What we always want in shows that end is the loose ends to be tied up and with this show there are quite a few.  Let's hope they get to them all. 

Blog Update

I have been away for a short time.  Work has been nuts and I haven't been inspired consistently to write.  I have start stopped so many pieces lately it's not even funny.  I began writing for bornoffside.net and now I feel a level of pressure to put even better work and I think it has made me over think things a bit lately.

Any way a little time away was much needed.  I'm going to keep all the football stuff on their and all my other musing on here.  I think I just need to start putting out thoughts and not focus on how pretty it reads for a while.

So in any event here are some thoughts for you all to ponder on;

I'm happy that the football season has kicked off.  Baseball has been uninspiring this year.  There were a few stories, but honestly the Arod thing put a bad taste in my mouth.  Here's a guy that's guilty as sin, but doesn't have the sense to cut a deal and accept it.  I will be let down if he doesn't get at least a year suspension.  Very tired of the guy and I think I'm not in the minority on that opinion.

Regarding football you can honestly say it's a become a league of major parody.  You get the impression like any team that plays well down the stretch could win the Superbowl.  I thought Baltimore was a good team last year, but not the best.  I thought the SF was good, but not the best either.  That's what you get when you have one game playoffs.

Football entertains for other reasons.  With Fantasy getting so huge the sport has an entirely different dimension to it.  Did my first two drafts in about ten years online the other night and I have to say it was a blast.  I don't have a lot invested in the whole situation, but I look forward to it adding a little more interest for me.

I'm really looking forward to the NHL season more than usual.  Maybe because I want to see if the Hawks can get back to back.  That would be great for the NHL and the city.  I'm biased, but a back to back would be a good thing.  Disdain causes as many people to watch as love.

I watched Tinker Tailer Solider Spy about 5 times this week.  That movie is sneaky good.  It's actually better when you watch it a few times because the plot is very complex, but once you get it then you start enjoy it even more.  These days I can't watch movies more than once so that's saying something.  Django was one of the best movies I have ever seen, but I have only seen it once.

I watched Iron Man 3 the other day.  It had it moments, but the pacing was too quick and they didn't make you really hate the villains.  Once you realized the plot he was beaten and it was just all too quick.  SPOILER ALERT  Ben Kingsley plays the Mandarin, but it is later revealed that he is just an actor and the real Mandarin is someone else.  Problem is the Kingsley plays the villian way better, and the Guy Pearce character is very predictable.  Overall they focused on action and did that great, but took what could have been a great story and sped though it.

Smackdown was so frustrating.  HHH is really over doing it, but more on that later.

Ok folks.  That's all for now.