RAW Tells Us It's All About Elimination Chamber

How’s It Going, Enthusiasts?

 

Enjoying your Monday? I’ve had worse ones, that much I can say. So, there’s a few things we can talk about tonight. Much of it is active fodder on social media and elsewhere. Let me jump into this while it’s still fresh.

 

We’ll stop in the Land of Free Agency as AEW has lightened their load. We already knew that Aleister/Malakai Black was on the way out, now Miro/Rusev has been officially released and Ricky Starks. I don’t know much about Starks outside of him ruffling Uncle Edge’s feathers but people seem to be high up on him. I’ll give him a shot. You all know that I’ve been counting the days until Black’s return. I feel like Rafiki finding out Simba is still alive. It’s a great day! Would go out and lead him back if I knew it would work. And everyone can’t help but notice that Miro/Rusev has been re-released into the wild on what would otherwise be “Rusev Day”. Is that some irony or coincidence 😉

 

Most wouldn’t mind all these gentlemen finding their way over to WWE which segues us into the next order of business, the latest WWE releases. As you can see, there may be a method to this madness. Though TKO/WWE could probably afford it, it just doesn’t make good business sense to hire everybody. They have to keep the roster trim yet flexible. However, I understand a lot of the upset these releases have caused.

 

Personally, the only surprise was Sonya Deville. If you ask me, things went downhill when they released Mandy Rose. Let’s face it. Deville works best when she’s “riding some bitch” or seeking out bitches to ride. Put her with Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark and who is she gonna ride? No one was feeling the Pure Fusion Collective either. They should have made more fun of themselves and kicked around a few names before settling on a better one. “How’s About the ‘Scorched Earth Co-op’? ‘Flaming Fists of Fury’? the Triple F…” I could have played along with that. Yet, word is that WWE brass felt Deville had 10 years to make something click and simply didn't really. I think they feel she’s reached her ceiling. We’ll see if she’ll try her luck with other promotions or go back to MMA or try something else. It’s wide open for her now.

 

The one I felt bad about is Giovanni Vinci. In his case, I don’t feel he got a fair shot. He’s a good wrestler but the Crowd just wasn’t interested. Last I saw him, they (the Crowd) wanted him to play the comedic foil. Probably like Santino Marella but more straight-faced. It’s not the guy’s fault but WWE clearly didn’t feel the need to find another angle. Poor guy.

 

This is why I keep stressing that wrestlers as performers need to have their own notebooks full of ideas. They can’t expect WWE to have all the answers. They’ll go with whomever is popular and/or whoever works. If a wrestler doesn’t know what to do with her/himself, don’t expect WWE to figure it out. They’ll just go with someone who does have ideas or works well with the Crowd. It’s that simple. No doubt everyone who was let go brought something to the table but it’s superficial in the WWE Universe. Either you have the People’s Interest or you don’t. It’s stuff like this that keeps me behind the scenes. People don’t often get me and those who do, are few and far between. My consolation, what few fans I do have are diehard. Guess it’s better than nothing.

 

In any case, we know they shake out weak links from time to time. No one should have expected that to end with Triple H at the helm and with the new free agents out there, they have cash available to snatch them up should they please. We are living in a capitalist nation, remember. WWE will always be doing business and aiming to make a profit. I suggest you make your peace with it.

 

I will say though, they should give call-ups and lesser knowns more of a chance. They need to implement something similar to the standard workplace and develop their own 90-Day Probation Period. Maybe give new call-ups like 10 appearances to make an impact. Creative should be working with them and they should be working on ways to sell their strengths and develop an angle/story. If after a set amount of intensive effort, the performer doesn’t get off the ground, then they can contemplate the chopping block. That could implement at least a sense of fairness and new wrestlers can know more or less what to expect.

 

For those who have been slanging but aren’t so popular, maybe brass can give them 5 appearances prior to cuts to give themselves a chance at a stay of execution. If they show they still draw or get a Crowd response, perhaps there’s life in them yet. If the Crowd goes for the bathroom and refreshments, that person’s days may be numbered. People just like to see this sort of thing coming. And there’s always 1 or 2 cuts that drop a jaw. It’s a bit too arbitrary for my liking. Standardize the weeding out process and we can at least understand why. It’s just a suggestion.

 

And so, with all that said, we come to tonight’s RAW. It’s set up for the Elimination Chamber from here to March so we can settle in for that slow burn. This evening, CM Punk will tell us a few things. AJ Styles will get some screen time. Lyra Valkyria will face Bayley in a Qualification Match for the Women’s Elimination Chamber. And Rey Mysterio will try to take a chunk out of Logan Paul. For all the details, we’ll have to catch up and watch. The replay party will start during the 8 o’clock hour. Join in if your Monday night allows.

 

See You in a Bit,

-Nicole Alexis (^_~)