You may have noticed I skipped the Survivor Series recap this year. I just couldn’t force myself to dissect the mess that was the Survivor series and subsequent events. Safe to say TLC 2015 has put us on a better footing, heading into 2016. Here’s three things.
1 Reigns finally has a direction and some connection with the fans
I don’t know how it happened, but finally creative stumbled upon a course of action for Roman Reigns, that might work. By removing him from the World title picture and having his focus be on the Authority, the crowd have no complaints to make as far as him being forced upon us. After a brilliant reaction to losing last night’s match. Reigns is now a PG-Era Austin, with HHH playing Vince. It’s not perfect and they may still mess it up, but the relief in direction at the end of the match was brilliant. He attacked Sheamus with a chair, then When HHH came down he beat him the same way before putting him through an announce table. The beating itself was well handled and out of character for Reigns and indeed the WWE at this time. It certainly has me interested to watch RAW, which is the point. Raw ratings are at an all time low and something needs to change. If this is the small seed that leads to the change then happy days. As for the match itself, it was a proper old school TLC match with a large focus on dangerous spots. Sheamus was visibly bruised and bloody along his body and both athletes took major spills. It was such a good match, that it drowned out the unfair ‘We want Cena’ chant in the crowd. By the end there was an audible ‘Thank you Roman’ one. Progress has been made. Moving forward a match against HHH is a certainty. HHH has been in training for the last few weeks by his Instagram account, so it is natural to assume he will soon be back in action. A match between the two at the Rumble will possibly remove the awkward situation of Reigns having to win the Rumble again. After last years effort Reigns winning the Rumble could cause a riot, so anything to avoid this is paramount.
2 Charlotte needs to be a Flair
Phenomenal athlete she may be, natural speaker she isn’t. Charlotte has went from super babyface to somewhere in-between. Now it looks like she will be turning full heel. By becoming a female version of her father, Charlotte has a point. In a division struggling to gain some credibility, a heel Charlotte and a face Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Bayley or even Paige would be the saving grace for the division. A chance to generate actual storylines and interest from the crowd. The reaction after Charlotte’s Flair assisted win over Paige, with Becky sets up a feud between them as well. Finally there is some interest in the Diva’s revolution. The talent is there, all it needs is a showcase and some decent fans in the audience.
3 Ambrose may have peaked
By beating Kevin Owens for the Intercontinental title last night Ambrose won the belt with the most history. Usually the Title has been a stepping stone to greatness. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Ultimate Warrior, HHH and many more have used a successful IC title run and feud to ascend to the top of the business. Unfortunately in today’s WWE the IC title looks to be a place to stick a popular star when you want them out of the way. Daniel Bryan was the most popular wrestler in the company going into Wrestlemania. The whole crowd wanted him to be in the main event. So creative pacified the crowd by giving him the IC belt. I feel they are doing the same on Ambrose. He has the potential to be the next Mick Foley, yet by giving him the title and maybe elevating the loser from last night Owens, they seem to be burying Ambrose with the IC title instead of lifting him. Only time will tell. Hopefully I am wrong and he goes on to win the Rumble.
In any case the picture moving forward has finally become clearer and RAW will, for once be essential viewing.
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