Royal Rumble Fallout - RAW Gets Clean-up Duty...

How’s Everyone Doing this Evening?

 

Well, the Royal Rumble came and went and WWE succeeded in making a mockery of itself yet again. We’ve seen a lot of bad PPVs and unfortunately, that one ends up in that pile. It wasn’t all bad, but it was everything wrong with WWE in a nutshell. The saving grace, the only place they can go is up.

 

WWE tends to recover when it puts its back up against the wall. The intrigue for tonight’s Fallout Show is how they salvage things. But how did they end up here? It’s simple really, they’re relying on performers who aren’t on the roster full-time. Right there, they’re short-sighted. Even with all the releases they still have like 5o people they need to figure out what to do with and last night confirmed they still have no clue. Never a good look. As I’ve said before, they have the Talent but no Vision. They may have an endgame but it’s still not clear how they get there. This year’s Rumble definitely gives them incentive to start developing those logistics.

 

Yet, as I said, it wasn’t all bad. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins can breathe a little easier because they just added a new chapter to their saga and if they stay sharp, will have some more to come. A lot of people didn’t care for the DQ finish but that was WWE being WWE. They want to do things their way and that involves fucking with the fans a little. This is fine if the payoff is fun. WWE has never been known for being the savviest on picking up the tone of an audience. Oftentimes, people don’t find them funny. Again, this debacle gives them more incentive to find an agreeable middle ground.

 

As for Reigns and Rollins, they just have to focus on keeping their spots fun and interesting. Most are expecting a rematch ‘cause WWE but the way they left it, we could also assume the beef for now has been settled. Reigns quite obviously tagged Rollins back for that betrayal years ago. Guess Reigns hangs on to those sorts of traumas. Rollins clearly played into it. We could just as easily see them calling themselves “even” and ready for the next things. They had match of the night if you ask me.

 

A distant second was the mixed tagged with the married couples, Edge & Beth Phoenix against The Miz & Maryse. Now, they were a good example for the rest of the roster. They showed up. Did their jobs and left. Open and shut. I think WWE generally wants this from its performers. They want them to know what’s up. Go out there and sell their shit and then step aside for the next act. It’s real simple but not everyone gets it. They expect to have expert pushes that elevate them to stardom and title matches and all that. It’s kind of cart before the horse thinking. Don’t believe that you could just get a load of wrestlers and have at wrestling promotion. You’d have to figure out what to do with ‘em too. What to do isn’t clear in this day and age. I think AEW proves that more than anything else.

 

I’m glad that they’re an alternative to the corporately suffocated WWE but they’re so homegrown I can’t take them seriously. Even though the Royal Rumble wasn’t a great example, WWE is at least polished. I think I’ve made the analogy to abstract art before. I hate going into a museum to see a canvas with a line through it or paint flicked on it and it lists for $10,000 because it’s “art”. I want to see the artistry. If anyone can get up and do the same thing, it’s not art to me. I want to see the years of honing a craft result in a sublime portrait. Now, WWE mass produces prints, I know but at least I see the skill in the action. AEW, though it has some real talents, comes off sloppy to me and I don’t know if they have any desire to clean it up. I think they think it’s more “organic” their way. So, the real analogy is farmers’ market to supermarket. WWE has to aim towards being more like Gelson’s or Bristol Farms.

 

The third best performance is a tie for me between the Women’s Rumble and the start of the Bobby Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar match. The Women’s Rumble was well-intentioned and cleanly carried out for the most part. The Ladies haven’t been a problem in quite some time. They got the job done and had some fun with it. I heard Ronda Rousey might crash and wasn’t all that surprised when she did but now, they gotta make her interesting. She doesn’t have the best attitude and I was never impressed with her on the mic so, WWE has to come up with the appeal past the novelty.

 

Same kinda goes for Brock Lesnar. If I didn’t know better, I’d say WWE didn’t see the crowd turning on him. I think they got a little ahead of themselves and thought that since Lesnar was over as the Montana version of himself that he could do no wrong. They underestimated how bored the audience is. We are flat out tired of Lesnar being the endgame.  Looks like they’re going to have fast track Walter/Gunther and Brock II in Parker Boudreaux/Harland. People are just sick of him. That’s WWE’s fault through and through. That’s what happens when you keep hitting repeat. People realize you only have one note. They need to pick up a couple more just so they can make it to “punk rock” at least 😉

 

Nevertheless, Lesnar and Lashley looked like they’d have an awesome match so that kinda puts to bed those who thought it would be a sleeper. So, there’s promise. As for the lead up, well it’s up to WWE to not spoil its own party. Fans are getting pretty sick of WWE. They’re going to have to smarten way up if they’re going to keep them coming back. Given times as they are, they’re likely to take their attention just about anywhere else. WWE has to think up ways to make it feel like people are missing out. At the moment, WWE has to prove to people they aren’t wasting their time.

 

So, that brings us to tonight’s RAW. Every PPV is followed by a Fallout Show as we all collectively consider what has happened and how that may affect the future. This time around, Lashley will embrace regaining the WWE Title, who cares if the win wasn’t clean. He’s fine with where the title landed. Ronda Rousey is also supposed to show to give us an idea on how she’s gonna fit this shit into her schedule. Everything else, you’ll have to stop by and see for yourself. Funny tweets and Likes get retweeted. Let’s see how they mop up this mess.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)