It Was Dicey at Times But We Make It to Summer Slam...

 How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

You ready for Summer Slam?  Well, I have to say I’m curious to say the least.   There’s a lot in flux in the WWE Universe at the moment and that makes it hard to feel completely confident about the evening’s fare but, I’m sure they’re going to make a good go of it.  We’ll be watching to see if they manage to land on their feet. 

So, as usual, I’m not going to comment on every match.   I’ll just focus on the ones that capture my particular interest.  Sonya DeVille and Mandy Rose get a pass given the circumstances.  It’s highly speculated that Sonya DeVille will lose the Hair vs. Hair Match so that she can properly recuperate from her traumatic home invasion.  She’s being quite the professional playing through.  So, that leaves Asuka doing double duty with the matches to focus on.  She’ll battle both Sasha Banks and Bayley to see if she can take a title off one of them.  I think it’s highly likely she’ll get 1.   She’ll probably win the match she has first and then lose the second just “due to fatigue”.   You can easily shame WWE here as they are clearly not making the best use of the women’s roster but we all know that the WWE Universe currently defaults to Popularity.  We can’t say Asuka hasn’t been performing well.  She’s not even speaking English most of the time, and she’s still one of the most engaging performers across the board.  I can’t take that from her but there are a lot of talented ladies to choose from.  We shouldn’t be focused on just these 3.  There should be more going on in the Ladies Division.  Let’s hope the WWE works on this going forward.

I’ll touch lightly on Dominik Mysterio facing Seth Rollins because I’m just not sure how much of a match this will actually be.  It being the kid’s first real match and all I don’t really expect him to win but I do expect him to be put through it.  They seem to be fast-tracking him a bit because I don’t believe he’s done any work in NXT.  It looks like they let him skip that grade and are seeing if he hits the ground running.   I’m not upset at this.  This may be why he’s getting “jumped-in” numerous times.  Got to get the dues in somewhere.   Yet, this makes it unlikely he wins for a while.  He’s gonna have to earn it and right now, he’s not exactly impressive in the ring but he’s staying in his lane enough that it doesn’t really matter.  For me, I just wonder about how he’s gonna fill out.  He’s kinda gangling and not sure what his look or gimmick will be at all.   We’ll see what happens.

Now, I have to say something about the Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt match because of how much I dislike it.  They’re proving me right so, at least I got that.  What did I say?  This is just bad theater.   I don’t know what they’re going to do so this might be a match where I’m surprised.  They could somehow manage to sell me on it but right now, I’m just thinking about all the possible shit I’m gonna say.  Just get some out of work Broadway director to help.  If they’re gonna do stuff like this, do it right or don’t do it at all.  It just gets people’s hopes up.

So, that leaves us with what will probably be the Main Event, Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.  The general consensus seems to be that it will probably remain on McIntyre just ‘cause Orton has been there and done that so many times.  Time for the fresh blood I suppose.  Orton is hot right now so, if it's a well paced match, we may not mind Orton holding the title yet again.  It also sets up another showdown with Edge when he's healed up.  It doesn’t really matter to me and I can understand the common thinking either way.  Yet, we should consider how McIntyre may never really be all that popular due to his foreign countenance.  This may be at the core of Cesaro’s quest for acceptance.  I don’t mind it but it’s very clear he’s not American.  As global as the WWE Universe is, I’m just not sure it’s quite ready for him.  McIntyre would have to really win us over and I’m just not sure the audience is open to it.  I am, but you know how the Universe is.  It’s so high school.   Whoever’s cool is cool.   They just are.  There’s just something about them.  It’s similar to The It Factor but certainly on a smaller scale.  McIntyre is a guy that we’re going to have to grow to like.   We just don’t get it right now.  Can’t determine if it is cool according to American standards.  It’s too foreign.  For example, consider how he’s 35, still pretty young, right?  Yet, he reads like he’s at least 10 years older.  He comes off like my dad and he’s definitely not old enough to be that.  I get it, he’s Scottish.  The culture is just more mature by default.  Unfortunately, he comes off way older than he is through no fault of his own.  The WWE Universe likes who’s hip.  He looks like he’d storm in, turn off the lights and yell at us to, "SHUT IT!..." *SLAM*  He needs to just craft his particular brand of psychopathy and we may not shrug our shoulders one day.  I’m all for it but I won’t lie and say that he’s there.  

I don’t doubt he can get there and relatively soon it’s just things are so unstable, falling back to proven standards may just add a sense of comfort.  The downside, McIntyre maintaining the status quo will be fodder for fans who feel titles don’t mean anything anymore.  If you ask me, they never did but that doesn’t mean they don’t serve purpose.  Titles are like the Employee of the Month certificate.  At given times in wrestlers' careers they’re granted a recognition of excellence.  Going back to match outcome, Creative sticking to the usual routine may help in putting on a solid show.  I already see one major segment that’s likely to tank.  They got to make sure that at least 75% of it doesn’t suck.  It’s hard to call, such uncertain times.  Right now, I’m just hoping that it’s mostly palatable.  The Go Home shows weren’t horrible, there were some holes but I will say less so than usual.  I will give them that.   That’s why I think this is a more hopeful time than not.  It usually takes a traumatic occurrence to reset the balance.  Hopefully the slap in the face does WWE some good.

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)

 

 

PS: My latest article is out.  Take a look if you’re interested in getting some backstory on the new on-screen talent Abyss a.k.a Joseph Parks.