WWE Musings

Happy New Year, Enthusiasts! May 2019 be filled with numerous successful endeavors.   Hopefully, 2018 didn’t disappoint.   As for me, I’ve had better years but I’ve certainly had worse as well.   I’m looking forward to 2019, actually.   Get the feeling there’s gonna be a lot of new changes.   I’m looking forward to whatever this New Year has got.   I’m ready! In any case, they’ve pre-taped tonight’s offering so that everyone gets to have some fun tonight or at the very least, just get some rest.   What looks interesting from the previews is a Steel Cage match between Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre.   Also, it appears there will be a mini Battle Royale to decide who will be the “#1 Contender” for the Intercontinental Title and after that or later in the night, that contender will face Dean Ambrose for the title.   Seems a little unfair to the #1 Contender but that may be the point. Other agenda items of note come in the form of...

Merry Christmas, Enthusiasts! I hope it’s going swimmingly and that you have what truly enriches you.   As for tonight, it’s similar to last night.   We tune in to see if the SmackDown roster suffers from double duty.   I would have to say RAW didn’t let it show.   Nattie handled her match against Ronda Rousey letting her cockiness be what does her in.   And in a bit of a surprise, Baron Corbin displayed quite a bit of improvement in his loss to Seth Rollins.   I find the development promising because he could prove a fine foil for The Authority and a formidable Heel opponent for any of the Faces that go up against him.   There could be a lot of fun in the future.   I hope the WWE continues to set him up well. As for tonight, we’ll just see many of the main players who had to work the earlier show.   Shane McMahon will attempt to drive some sense into The Miz as he makes his appearance on MizTV and it looks like Daniel Bryan wi...

A Blessed Christmas Eve to You, Enthusiasts! I hope you’re having fun with your traditions or at least are enjoying yourself comfortably.   Tonight we get the second show taped last week so that our travel-worn roster can take a break and enjoy the Holidays.   That will show a little in the tonight’s fare as some of who we would generally consider the “second stringers” get some airtime while others do double duty.   Seth Rollins will be one of those as he faces off against Baron Corbin and Natalya has to freshen up for her title match with Ronda Rousey.   We’ll see if the fatigue shows. We also can expect to see Paul Heyman leave us with some Holiday cheer and as for the rest of it, we’ll see if people take full advantage of the opportunity.   Might as well blow it out for the New Year.   As you can see, I don’t have much to say because what we’re looking for is whether the double-header has taken a toll.   Again, in these “Woke” Ages, we d...

Greetings, Enthusiasts! How does this Tuesday treat you?   Well, it looks like the general sentiment for last night’s RAW is that everything changed right back to the way it was.   Well, not exactly.   The McMahon Family gave us a bit of their time to take personal responsibility for the state of things and vowed to turn them around.   And again, Baron Corbin served as WWE Martyr to take the blame and serve as whipping boy.   After that, we were given quite palatable fare with Natalya closing out the night via the Women’s Gauntlet match that allowed the winner to face Ronda Rousey on “Christmas Eve”.   That episode was taped the same night so, we’ll see how that plays out.   Leads me to think it probably goes to Rousey but we could be surprised. Nonetheless I’m happy for Nattie.   I feel this sort of opportunity is long overdue.   She demonstrated she has the skill.   I know she doesn’t have full crowd support but I’m one for time d...

A Happy WWE Week to You, Enthusiasts! Now, I know some of you may not be so thrilled but might as well make the most of it.   TLC was lackluster except for the main event and now we begin again as we focus towards 2019 and the Royal Rumble.   We all know the Chairman, Mr. Vince McMahon will be making an appearance tonight to commence the annual “shake-up” that tosses up the rosters and creates a new playing field.   Many of you probably feel this couldn’t come at more opportune time because what’s in play is floundering.   It’s hard to pinpoint the exact problem but a gentleman on the Twitter tweeted, in regards to TLC anyway, that the main thing wrong was that the lead up to the TLC matches was just not there.   What’s the point of these matches?   Why are these people fighting?   These lead-ups are what make the entertainment entertaining.   They definitely need to get back to basics on that. As for what we can expect outside of Mr...

A Pleasant Sunday to You, Enthusiasts! Tonight, we gather round for the final PPV of 2018.   It’s been an interesting year.   A lot of shocks and surprises and a lot of not so surprising moments but, though this year could be described as “bumpy”, I find this year was promising.   This is probably the beginning of a new chapter within the WWE and naturally, the growing pains were evident but the fact that they exist says something.  Recent free offerings may have had plenty to be desired but I do believe that’s the beginning of the turning of the tide.   I think with SmackDown going to FOX next year has a lot to do with it and I’m sure come 2020, we’ll have a different iteration of this WWE Universe.   It may be long overdue. In any case, as for tonight, TLC is the name of the game and it’s hard to know what to really expect.   I won’t run down the entire card but I will point out some matches of note, the first being the match slated betwe...

A Good Tuesday Evening to You, Enthusiasts. Though RAW was respectable, I’m sure there were plenty who were un-appeased.   Yet, I do think the job of building interest for TLC was accomplished.   Are we salivating, no but I do believe we’re fairly curious and that’s good enough to a point.   We want to watch and that’s a fair start.   Yet, I feel I have to give some props to Baron Corbin this week.   He commendably served as “martyr” as he took the blame for the recent atrocious RAW s.   We all know he was only doing as told but for him to maturely take the faux heat I find meritorious.   I don’t know if this too was something he was told to do or if he elected himself but he wore it well and it cleared a space for the WWE to potentially correct the situation.   Kudos to Corbin for being big about this and taking a few hits.   Let’s just hope this isn’t how they’ll account for all bad shows going forward.   Once in a while is f...

Good Evening to You, Enthusiasts! How goes this Monday for you?   So, it’s Go-Home time for the final PPV of the year Tables, Ladders and Chairs and though it’s not the best lead up, they’ve gone into PPVs with far less momentum before. Tonight, the rumor is that Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax are going to have a pre-match press conference. There’s also talk that Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose will give their showdown a final push and Rollins is going to break down to us as to why RAW sucks so much right now. Also, we’re probably going to hear from Baron Corbin in regards to the contingency plans for the match with Braun Strowman since it’s looking like he won’t be match-ready by Sunday.   And Heath Slater eases into his new refereeing duties.   We’ll see how that works out.   It’s hard to say what’s going to be in between but the goal is the same as it is before any PPV.   Get us salivating for it.   Something tells me the impetus may be a bit mor...

They know how to hold people’s interest 😉 A Good Tuesday to You, Enthusiasts! So, RAW kept its end of the bargain and cleaned up its act yet, the Fans felt the need to punish for the previous week’s offerings because word is this week’s RAW  unusually low ratings.   I’m sure some still complained while they watched too this week.   I’m not going to fully vouch for it but I will say that I doubt this company will be left to fully falter.   There’s too much potential.   All that has to be done to get it going in the right direction is for the company itself to decide to take it there.   I’m sure there’s enough people on the team who don’t want it to suck.   It’s a process.   The numbers are being seen, let them do something about it.   We’ll be there to give progress reports.   They need us to be. Let me also take a moment to make the distinction between Fans and We the Audience.   I feel “Fans” are just the general WWE...

Merry Monday to You, Enthusiasts! So, tonight RAW will attempt to redeem itself from its well-meaning yet lackluster showing from last week.   Since SmackDown may be relying on some of the second-stringers, with the Tribute to the Troops to be filmed tomorrow, RAW has no choice but to keep its head above water on its own.  SmackDown has got double duty.  Can't be bothered to mop up the mess this week.     News doesn’t offer much for content but we should expect to see Dean Ambrose, not sure he’ll wrestle though.   And Ronda Rousey has tag-team duty with Natalya against the family partners in Nia Jax & Tamina.  Besides that, we’ll just have to wait and see.   I’m sure will get some stirring of the TLC pot but I’m sure that build will be given its real push next week since that’s the Go-Home week.   We’ll see if they can light a fire under it.   Funny tweets will get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, let’s see what the...

A Fine Tuesday Evening to You, Enthusiasts! Still interested?   RAW didn’t scare you off for good? 😉   Personally, I feel we’ve certainly seen worse from them but not in a good while.   It’s been a few years at least.   It appears the general consensus is less talk and more action.   Well, that may take some time because it looks like everything was hinged upon Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman being present.   Shouldn’t they have back-up plans in general?   You never know when someone is gonna get hurt.   Well, in any case, their absences appear to be forcing Creative to scramble and now, SmackDown has to step-up and salvage whatever’s left…mostly Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler matches. News on tonight’s offerings is paltry at best.   We should expect to see Becky Lynch but it’s unlikely she’s clear for any real action.   The Bar will take their beef over to The Usos for a bit and AJ Styles returns to counter Daniel Bryan’s tur...

How Goes It, Enthusiasts? Here we are again, gathered round for Monday Night’s festivities.   From what I hear, it looks like Seth Rollins is going to set Dean Ambrose down for a spell and open up the Intercontinental Title for an Open Challenge.   Now, there is word that Bray Wyatt may be back in action and that would be a good place for him to make his surprise return.   I would be fine with this.   Been wondering where he’s at.   With Roman Reigns out for who knows how long and Braun Strowman probably not back until the Royal Rumble at the earliest, there are some opportunities for other members of the roster to start to make a little push for themselves.   I’ve always found Wyatt engaging.   There’s plenty of potential and I’m all for a Wyatt Family reunion.   They could feud with and forge alliances with the likes of SAnitY at just about any point and time.   There’s a lot of fun that could be had.   I’m all for it. As for ...

Less cleaning up RAW ’s mess 😉 Greetings Enthusiasts! How does this Tuesday go for you?   I can’t say I can complain.   As for RAW , my complaints are minimal as well.   If anything, I’m a little surprised at how coherent the show was. This pending partnership with FOX appears to be getting WWE Creative into a more streamlined groove.   The action is actually starting to make sense.   You can start to see a train of thought.   It’s exciting and I hope the trend continues.   Was I cool with all the content?   Meh, it’s a start so I’m not gonna pick it a part.   It’s also wrestling so, I’m not trying use this for the basis for a thesis statement either.   It just has to make “enough sense”.   It doesn’t have to completely check out.   To be honest, for me, picking on Drake Maverick backstage at catering was the best bit.   They need to have more fun like that. In any case, tonight, we’ll see what SmackDown has...

A Merry Monday to You, Enthusiasts! How’s everyone doing?   Well, Survivor Series 2018 has come & went and I have to say that I’m not upset with what was displayed.   I was a little surprised RAW swept, though.   I’d thought they would make it a little more interesting in terms of competition but it appears that wasn’t really the point this time.   I do believe the point of last night was to establish some sort of overlying plot(s).    We had Nia Jax, accepting her unofficial title of "FaceBreaker."   Finn Bálor takes steps to bolster himself during the Elmination Match and Daniel Bryan manages to keep a straight face as he’s served up for turning heel.   Notice how many of We the Audience are now wondering what happens next.   That is the question because if it doesn’t have anything to do with last night, then the WWE is not so much changing as it is digging in its heels.   It’s an interesting time.   I’m curious to see wh...

A Good Sunday to You, Enthusiasts! So, Survivor Series is here and given all the shuffling, I’m not even going to bother trying to break it down and give it my 2¢.   What I will say is that I’m thoroughly intrigued and curious as to how this year’s installment will play out. I’m sure what hangs in the balance most is this match between Brock Lesnar and Daniel Bryan.   With Bryan going heel it will be interesting to see how that measures up against Lesnar’s pseudo-heat.   Personally, I can easily see the decision for Bryan to turn heel being made as a counter to facing Lesnar.   I can understand it being very hard to believe Bryan winning the match clean.   Yet, if he’s gone to the Dark Side, he’d be more likely to use rule-bending tactics and otherwise be ruthless in order to secure a win.   The caveat is how will We the Audience respond to an unsportsmanlike Bryan?   It’s hard to say.   The match is now a matter of choosing the lesser ...

How Are You Doing, Enthusiasts! So, RAW didn’t disappoint but wouldn’t you know it, it was because of SmackDown , per usual, and Becky Lynch led the charge.   I like how the resident “Lass Kicker” is coming into her own yet, she might have gotten a little too excited.   Word is circulating that she may be pulled from Survivor Series due to an injury.   We all saw the blood coming down her face but was it real?  That's always a question we have to ask in the WWE Universe.   Remember, they’re in the game of fooling us.   We know it’s fake but they make like it’s real so, naturally the line gets blurred and this is certainly no exception. Personally, if Lynch is hurt I’d prefer to see her sit out.   It’s hard to get into a match when one of the wrestlers is visibly injured.   Of course, focus is on that and a good opponent exploits it but again, if it’s for play-play, we don’t really want anyone hurt or suffering for our entertainment so, i...

A Good Evening to You, Enthusiasts! So, we have the Go-Home Show for Survivor Series and I have to admit that it’s not as fun as it was last year.   Understandably, there were other matters to attend to with Crown Jewel potentially up for location regarding political turmoil so, I’m going to say that they pulled away a lot of creative power.   Nevertheless, here we are and I’m not sure what to look forward to.   It appears there will be a lot of “Dream Matches” as RAW’s titleholders prepare to face off against SmackDown titleholders but I’m not sure if the winner gets anything but bragging rights.   To say the least, this lead-up has been disappointing but maybe they’ll build up some steam tonight and tomorrow. For tonight, we can prepare to receive Mrs. Stephanie McMahon to begin the “win or else!” set-up.   Brock Lesnar will come through to serve as the RAW Mascot though Braun Strowman may make a last minute reach for the honor.   Alexa Bli...