The Mad Scientist: Daniel Bryan v. Roman Reigns

There can be no surer sign that Daniel Bryan is truly considered a B+ player than his treatment since his return from injury. Although his return to the ring was announced and advertised, the match was scheduled for Smackdown. This begs the question; why would the return of Daniel Bryan, the former World Heavyweight Champion, the champion that never lost his title, the champion that won that honor after beating Triple H, Batista, and Randy Orton all in one night at Wrestlemania XXX - why would the return of the crowd favorite be relegated to the B-show?

The Mad Scientist: Why Everyone is Mad that Roman Reigns Won the 2015 Royal Rumble

I'll be the first to admit that I lack any and all practical experience within the sports entertainment industry. Perhaps then, taking my business acumen into account, it is not a surprise that I find myself baffled by the current state of the WWE. I'm speaking, of course, regarding the creative decisions that resulted in the booking for the 2015 Royal Rumble match. The Road to Wrestlemania is before us, and the main event seems set; Brock Lesnar will defend his WWE World Heavyweight championship against the destined face of the WWE, Roman Reigns.

A lot of wrestling fans were put off by Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble, as evidenced by the worldwide #CancelWWENetwork trend that appeared on Twitter. Since the Shield imploded in June 2014, Roman has had only a limited run as a singles wrestler. This was compounded by his emergency hernia surgery on September 20th, which saw him out of in-ring action until December 16th - nearly three months. All told, Roman has had 4 months experience as an active roster singles competitor. I won't downplay his impressive physique and athletic ability, but I suspect that his meteoric rise has done little to prepare him for a title match on the grandest stage of them all.

The Teacher plays a game. "Heel or Not Heel?"

 www.barbershopwindow.com

Gather ‘round, children.  I want to tell you a story.

You see, back in my day, which was called “the early 90’s” by us crazy chilluns, things were different.  I’m not saying they were better. . . I’m just saying they were different.  It was a time before you had all these new-fangled “smart phones”, back when a “tweet” was only a sound that a bird made, you see?   

This was a time where you could buy a gallon of gas for less than two dollars and could go to the movies for $4 or $5, and I’m talking about an evening show!  These were the days when Family Matters, you walked Step by Step to a Full House, and other random 90’s television show references as well!

This was a time when you knew the difference between a face and a heel.

And here you thought we weren’t going to be talking about wrestling.

When I began watching the then-WWF in 1993, you could draw a definite line between the good guys and the bad guys.  It was plain as day.  Bret Hart? The ultimate good guy, always battling the odds and fighting for what was right.  Jerry Lawler?  Totally a villain, what with his insults to the crowd and his demeaning looks.   Now, maybe it was because I was a kid and believe what my elders told me (even if my elders were Bobby Heenan and Randy Savage), but I never had a question in my mind as to who the faces and the heels were.

Flash forward to today.  Look around the WWE - can you really tell the difference anymore?

UnInformed Predictions: Looking Ahead at Possible Royal Rumble Participants

For my money, there is no better single PPV concept than the Royal Rumble.  It’s the perfect event for a culture with short attention spans.  Every 60-120 seconds (depending on the year) another superstar enters the mix, leaving a seemingly endless number of possibilities.  There’s always some surprise returns (at least there have been these last few years), some feuds continue while others begin and inevitably Kofi Kingston does something ridiculous, thereby leaving him free to languish in glorified jobber squalor for the next 364 days. . .

Sorry, was I really bitter just then?

Recently it was “officially” announced that this year’s Rumble would feature 40 participants, which I believe is only the second time in history that has happened.  This has only added to the Twit-splosion of predictions, conjectures and fantasy booking as to what’s going to happen, even though we have 3 more PPV’s to go before we get to the ‘start of Wrestlemania season’.

This decision, along with some other nuggets of info I’ve gleaned in the past 24 hours or so, has set my own creative juices flowing.  Therefore, let’s take a look into our collective Crystal Ballz Mahoney and see what the future may hold for our Rumble experience.

By my calculations and creations, there are about 75 possible wrestlers who could be a part of the Royal Rumble.  Let’s break them into groups for easier viewing.

Current WWE Superstars

Substitute Contender: Try Some Positivity for a Change!

From time to time, The Teacher is absent, Doc Manson's lab is empty, and a substitute takes center stage.  Today, Shannon Scott (@Love2HulkSmash) discusses the Twitter-verse reaction to the Roman Reigns injury.

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I have been a wrestling fan as long as I can remember. Literally at least two-thirds of my life. It's the only thing I'm truly passionate about. Some of my earliest memories of life involve wrestling, watching it on Saturday nights on TBS with my mom. Yep, I started off as a WCW fan sometime in 1990. It took a few years before I finally found World Wrestling Entertainment, but I knew from the moment I saw Undertaker in 1994 where my heart was destined to stay. Now, 20-plus years later, I am a firm and unashamed WWE loyalist and WWE apologist. At the end of the day, I stand by this company, come what may happen. They have given me memories to last literally a lifetime. I’ve been to lots of house shows, Wrestlemania X-8 in Toronto, a couple Smackdown shows, and just this past summer, I went to my very first RAW broadcast. I’m kind of addicted to them.

Lessons from the Network: RAW and PPV's from early 1993

It’s hard to be a wrestling fan.  

It’s even harder to be a wrestling fan who then has to produce original content about said wrestling.

On behalf of Doc Manson, I apologize to our fans for being absent these last weeks.  I wish I had a hell of an excuse, but I think it just comes down to fatigue.  Tired of writing, tired of editing, tired of having to watch RAW week after week and think of a new angle to blog about.

WWE just isn’t that exciting these days.

Sure, when Brock beat the snot out of Cena, we were jazzed.  This was the beginning of a new era, we thought.  This was going to be special.

What’s happened since?  The Bellas spend each week yelling at each other and crying. . . Dean Ambrose is running around the countryside like Mick Foley after one too many Vaderbombs. . . What’s the main event for Night of Champions?  Cena and Lesnar. . .Again.

So I’ve soured a bit on the current product.  Thankfully, the WWE Network has saved me.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been watching the first year of Monday Night RAW, and the PPV’s to go with it.  Here are, in no particular order, some musings and thoughts on that crazy time in pro wrestling, and if we can take anything from it today.

Number Two Contenders Summer Slam Preview!

Summer Slam is less than 24 hours away, and the Number Two Contenders have you covered.  Doc Manson and The Teacher are here to discuss matches, angles, predictions and more!

The Teacher:  Doc, does it feel to you like this PPV has taken forever to get here?  It seems like these feuds have been building (or in some cases, not building) for months!

Doc Manson: Yeah, the build has been pretty slow for almost the entire card. I’m starting to feel like a broken record, always talking about the same stories and wrestlers. Although, a few of those wrestlers I talk about aren’t even on the SummerSlam card.

T:  I assume you are referring to one of our favorites, Mr. Cesaro, who will be kicking off the card by not wrestling on it.  He and RVD are scheduled to face off in the Pre-Show.  I’d like to say that having two of the better wrestlers in the company going at it before the PPV means that Summer Slam will be stacked with epic encounters top to bottom, but I just think this is more indicative of some of the lack of quality booking for certain talents.

Cesaro has to win, right?  Even if he’s going nowhere.

DM: They can pull the trigger on Cesaro at any time and he will deliver. I don’t think a win or a loss against RVD on the SummerSlam pre-show is going to make much difference in Cesaro’s career.

Guesses on the first match of the night?