Script Is Getting Flipped - It's the WWE Draft on SmackDown...

Happy Friday, Enthusiasts!

How’s everyone doing?  Well, when it comes to the WWE Universe there appears to be a lot going on.  Tonight marks the first night of the WWE Draft.   The RAW and SmackDown (maybe even NXT) brands get shuffled up in the hopes of shaking up the action.   We all know they need to do more than just shuffle up the rosters but this is always a good start.  Yet, before we get into all that, let’s take a look at some other news circulating. 

Matt Riddle has more problems.  His accuser, Candi Cartwright, has thrown down the legal gauntlet.  She's suing WWE, Matt Riddle, Evolve and a Gabe Sapolsky for $10 million each.  Yowzers.  Well, her allegations aren’t flattering.  I’m thinking this may get settled out of court but I don’t know what that’s going to do to Riddle.  Her claims are very damning.   With WWE chock full of other problems, they may just cut their losses with him or give him some behind the scenes position.   Wouldn’t be surprised if someone gets left off the Draft.

The other big WWE Universe news is Mustafa Ali turning out to be the ring leader of RETRIBUTION.   Now, the clear concern is how racist is this going to be?  Word going around is Ali has mentioned numerous times how he wants to stay away from being an “evil Muslim” yet one can’t help but notice the terrorist connection.   I was thinking that with Paige dropping hints about unionism, perhaps the 2 could collaborate on an angle that provides some story opportunities for the lesser known wrestlers.   The WWE Universe operates like high school.  Think of this like the 18^th grade.  We’re getting our PhDs in Kayfabe.  Given how long I’ve had my blog, I guess I could say I have my Masters 😉  My point is that given this immature backdrop, the WWE Universe can be a very unfair place.  Though it’s full of talented wrestlers, said wrestlers have to hold our attention somehow and just like in high school, the cool kids are just the cool kids ‘cause their “cool”.   All the wrestlers are not “cool”.  Some will end up in "Math Club" or "Chess Club", "Drama Club" or what have you.  Now, what constitutes “cool” is subjective but we can’t say it doesn’t matter. 

For instance, let’s take the resurgence of Roman Reigns.   Now, most people didn’t care for his original debut because he was so blatantly pushed due to how he so clearly applies to high school logic.  Being intimidating and attractive, why wouldn’t he be a top guy?  Now, notice how his skill doesn’t even come into that equation.  Who cares!  You can sell him.   So, right there, some guy who’s been busting his ass for years, but has a so-so look, gets tossed to the side because this “hot option” will just grab general attention, as would be the case in high school.  Everyone tends to know who the hot jocks are, even if they don’t want to.   The WWE Universe operates in this fashion.  Though in Reigns’ case, his lack of skill kept him from getting over, it didn’t curb his popularity.  We all know who he is.  Nevertheless, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t have been given a shot if wasn’t for his family and looks.  Thankfully, he’s taking a more measured approach and has improved his performance this time around so now, we can take some time to judge him more fairly.  Regardless, this state of affairs provides plenty of resentment to work with for lesser known wrestlers who are unlikely to get a real shot.

For the underappreciated, Paige and Ali could band together or form a “coalition” to champion the unheard or unrecognized in the WWE Universe.  This sort of detour could keep RETRIBUTION from looking like an ignorant concept.   In a more adult degree, this could solidify the high school nature of the WWE Universe.  This could serve as the Associated Student Body Club, especially if WWE plans to develop more in-house stables.  It also would encourage us to take the whole thing more seriously.  No one gets a hearing at work if they’re sabotaging business.   Ali could say those acts were a way to get attention.  Now that he has it, he could steer this in a more positive direction.   I hope they do something like that.  Otherwise, we’ll have to steel ourselves for more poor execution per usual.

So, that brings us to the Draft.  Well…to be honest the moves I’d make may not be made.  I’d move Reigns to RAW and Drew McIntyre to SmackDown but with them holding titles, I don’t know if they’re up to it.  They could just let them keep the titles and have the titles change brand with them.  The Universal Title is now for RAW and the WWE Title is now SmackDown…it could happen but I’m not holding my breath.  Reigns is hot right now and so they might as well exploit it on the original “A” show.   I like McIntyre but as I’ve voiced, he may be a bit too foreign for an American audience.  SmackDown may be a good place for him to build his street-cred.  We can be won over, but he’s gonna have to work on it, not necessarily assimilate but instruct us on Scottish bad-assetry.  I think we could grow to appreciate it.  Outside of those 2, I don’t really care.  I’m curious but given the state of things, I don’t know if it really matters.  They really have to be focused on what they’re going to do with the impending changes.   Shaking it all up really isn’t enough.  Let’s see what happens then let’s see if they have a game plan.  In the meantime, funny tweets get retweeted and as for Likes/Favorites, well…it’s kinda hard to figure what’s going to happen outside of the Draft so let’s just see what we get.  If someone knocks it out of the park, they’ll get their due.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~) “M.A.”