It's Clash at the Castle...

Good Morning, Enthusiasts!

 

It’s probably afternoon or evening for the lot of you but I’m last to the party by default. How’s everyone doing? So, it’s Clash at the Castle and I’m about to have breakfast. That being said, let me just get on with it and breakdown my personal matches of interest. Let’s see what we got here.

 

First match that has me curious is Matt Riddle vs. Seth Rollins. This could be potentially very interesting. Mainly because the simmering beef is kinda half real. Rollins doesn’t like Riddle for obvious reasons (sexual assault allegation) and so how much of this is kayfabe is an intriguing question. They’re willing to go there on television but will someone go “too far”? Who knows. That’s what makes it juicy. We’ll see if it turns out to be a good match as well.

 

Second on the curiosity meter is Shayna Baszler and Liv Morgan. So, isn’t this the night & day match. Well, I see that Baszler is slowly becoming the reluctant heroine and I think that it is about time she take a Face turn. We know she can be bad but can she be good? One will wear both masks at some point in the WWE Universe. It’s the only way to see which one best fits. Not to say she couldn’t be a Heel Champion but with Ronda Rousey on the other side of things, someone is going to have to counter Rousey’s rough edges. It could be Baszler. Mainly because it’s hard to see Morgan pull of a clean win against a Rousey. Morgan does what she does well, but we all know she’s no fighter. If it came down to it, you take Rousey in a fight. Baszler is a believable opponent. If we’re going for rivalry, Baszler makes more sense. Yet, Morgan has a huge fan base. We’ll see which way Triple H leans.

 

And so that leaves the Main Event, Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns. Now, this is interesting because the advertising is really setting the scene. Will these 2 be able to measure up to the hype? It’s not impossible but will it happen? I don’t know. McIntyre is convincing but stiff. Stiff enough that you would probably think twice about choosing him to use in a video game. He may be powerful, but slow. Reigns, however, appears to be more the full package: power and agility. Will he actually use this to his advantage? I think what a lot of us have a problem with when it comes to Reigns is that we notice it isn’t real. He does what he’s been “scripted” to do it seems, not actually win the fight. And with his storyline, we know that The Usos will inevitably join in if Reigns starts to falter. So, the question becomes how to keep this interesting.

 

The Audience has made it clear that it prefers a clean finish. Reigns won at Summer Slam. It was a fun match but his weighted victory didn’t land satisfactorily. We couldn’t cheer or “go home happy” because if Brock Lesnar was left to his own devices, there probably would have been a different outcome. Moreover, under Mr. Vince McMahon, hometown advantage didn’t guarantee a victory. We’ll be in McIntyre’s backyard but will that be enough to cause an “upset”? Don’t know. Triple H is probably not afraid of it but it all depends on what the real endgame is.

 

If the goal is to have Reigns box The Rock in the next year or 2, it makes sense to keep the titles on him. The point of the future match becomes humility. The Rock comes in to prove the point of that if anyone were to unify anything in the WWE Universe, it would probably be him. So, the angle is somewhat simple. He wins but doesn’t take the match. He beats Reigns but doesn’t take the Titles. The point is to put Reigns in his place. There is no “Bloodline” without The Rock. To display anything else, we don’t buy it.

 

However, in that display, Reigns becomes vulnerable and then it’s feasible to have someone take the Title(s) off of him. The question of whether he can hold them is established. If he is to regain the title(s) after that point, it would have to be in earnest. And this would be in line with a viable storyline for Reigns to eventually Face turn. Nevertheless, the reality is will The Rock be available to play this out. We’ll see.

 

Given that, if they go with McIntyre, I would say it would be more due to scheduling than with change of direction. McIntyre is finding his stride but I think we all just have to accept some things about him. He plays better as a Heel. He comes off as a real hard ass and though you can respect it, you have more fun hating it.

 

Reigns is kinda in a gray area. He’s playing more like an overblown jock which is fair but as can be the case with jocks, superficial and boring. I suppose this is why he has the Heel status, but we wonder why we care in the end. No one has a problem with him in real time but in kayfabe, it’s more made-up faces than not.

 

Nevertheless, I think people are looking forward more to The Rock and Reigns than McIntyre vs. anyone else so…that may be the real deciding factor. All they really have to do is make this chapter in the saga engaging. I say they just have fun and leave it all out there. Be respectable, being abroad and all but the UK can appreciate a good ole tussle. I think that’s all they really need to do. Keep it exciting. Make it hard to call and limit interference. That’s an old school lot. If/when The Usos come running in will ruin all the fun. They need to fight it out and it may even behoove Reigns to call off The Usos if they do interfere.

 

The Audience wants to see a fight not “what the script” says. The script may say “Fight!” but we don’t want to know it’s Reigns to win. He has to somehow wind up there. I think that will be what makes this a success or not. How much it catches us up in it. Too scripted or silly or predictable and people may want their money back. But if they just go for it and it’s really “tough to call”, I think we all go home happy no matter who wins. Yet, story-wise, Reigns is more interesting for the potential. McIntyre would have to prove he’s worth watching. Who would he fight next? Do we want to see him face Brock Lesnar again? Reigns got to 100 times so why not? Do we really want that? It’s a fair question. Sheamus? I love Sheamus but I don’t think of him and McIntyre as “must see”.

 

All that said, the rest of today’s players will have to remind us about them. It’s not their fault. Our attention goes where it goes. It’s nothing personal really. It just is what it is. All they have to do is earn their paycheck. That should keep them in the game. I don’t make the rules but I appreciate the genre. I really do. Funny tweets get retweeted and hey, don’t try too hard. I’m not used to this either.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)