As the wrestling world reels from the hangover of WrestleMania 29 and what happened in the weeks following, WWE’s first event of the pay-per view year (WrestleMania is considered as the end of the pay-per view year) and the first since the big event has a lot to love up to if WWE is going to come through the period unscathed.
A strong card with ample opportunity to prove that it has not lost it’s magic with the youth stars. As we look forward to Extreme Rules 2013 and concentrate on the main events and the Steel Cage Match to settle a score, we cannot forget about what else results elsewhere on the card could mean come May 19th. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Extreme Rules 2013.
WWE Championship Match
Last Man Standing Match
(c) John Cena vs Ryback
Hands up who’s looking forward to this match. Hands up who thinks this will be the match of the night and all around entertainment spectacle. No one? Okay, well maybe we’ll come back to that later.
It’s bad enough that John Cena is WWE Champion again without giving him an opponent who can’t carry a case let alone another wrestler. Cena needed someone who could make him look a star, especially with the recent injury he suffered. The Undertaker would have been a perfect choice although there are rumblings in WWE that Cena and Undertaker will clash at WrestleMania 30. For everyone’s sakes I hope that rumour is bull. That’s a year away though and right now we’re faced with what could possibly be the worst match of the entire decade, and we’re only three years into it.
As challenger, Ryback is the most limited man in WWE today. He has no personality and even less acumen in the ring. Over the past few months he’s relied on wrestlers far superior to himself to get him through encounters and his singles matches have been the worst on television in many years, next to Cena’s that is. C.M Punk struggled to get anything out of Ryback and Mark Henry never stood a chance of making their match at WrestleMania 29 seeing as the pair were hopeless when it came to ring psychology. Ryback though should have picked up something resembling skill by now. He was a former NXT rookie under the name Skip Sheffield and stood in the wings and watched whilst Wade Barrett led Nexus to some semblance of success in WWE before Cena ruined them completely. It’s inconceivable that Ryback, in 2013, is still as bad as he is in singles action.
Can Ryback be blamed for it all? No. WWE have to stand up and take some of the credit for this. Their treatment of the character from his debut last year was shocking. If there was ever a time for learning from history, then Ryback was it. Patenting him after Goldberg was a mistake. Booking Ryback in short matches against irrelevant opponents was only ever going to hinder his journey in WWE. How could he have learnt to work a big match with high spots and crowd baiting moments when all he was booked to do was run through jobbers in three minutes or less? It was a problem that WCW encountered with Goldberg and when Bill was put in headline matches which needed to last twenty minutes or more, he was regularly blown up after ten and ran out of moves to execute. WWE saw this happen at the time and they decided to do the exact same thing. How dumb is that?
The smart money would have been to recognise Ryback’s limitations and keep his character back a year to iron out the flaws. Can you imagine what another year in development would have done for Ryback as a character? He would have been more savvy in everything he does and able to execute moves with accuracy and precision. Ryback certainly wouldn’t have blown up after ten minutes of hard graft and he would have been able to sell weakness whilst getting the crowd on his side and retaining his monster aura. The way it looks now is that WWE believe a monster like Ryback showing weakness will hurt his character. That’s simply not true. Ryback would have been a lot more relatable had he been able to convey peril to onlookers. Something his opponent at Extreme Rules has failed to do in eleven years.
So what do Ryback’s limitations mean for this Last Man Standing Match, as if we didn’t know already? Being a Last Man Standing Match WWE have given the pair every chance of succeeding in their quest to make something of this match. Something other than amble around like two upstarts who haven’t had any training trying to look like the big men in the company. With Ryback being a limited as he is though, I can’t help but this match will resemble something like John Cena vs Kane at Elimination chamber and Royal Rumble 2012. A match which you know is going to be horrendous but like a car crash, you have to watch just to say you witnessed it.
I can’t fault the way WWE have built this match up, turning Ryback heel the night after WrestleMania 29 on April 8th Raw and then standing by and watching Cena being dismantled by the Shield on April 15th Raw. Certainly, it’s a reasonable story that Cena never helped Ryback against the Shield and now he wants revenge, but it is wasted on the pair. This could have been dynamite for two wrestlers with the ability to make something of the rules and draw emotion from the WWE Universe. It’s also something WWE could have done on Ryback’s debut. Rather than having him dismantle jobbers like they weren’t there, which they may as well not have been, Ryback would have been a lot more interesting had he marched to the ring in 2012 on his debut and destroyed John Cena or another headline talent. Everyone saw how effective this method was with the re-introduction of Brock Lesnar last year. It would have announced Ryback to the world and possible, by throwing him in the deep end, conditioned him a lot faster to WWE’s marathon matches.
That though, as we know, didn’t happen. I doubt I am the only one who shudders at the thought of a Ryback WWE Championship reign. Can you imagine someone who is either new to wrestling or coming back after several years away, because they thought WWE wasn’t value for money anymore, turning on the television and seeing Ryback representing the company as WWE Champion? John Cena is bad enough, but at least he’s popular with a percentage with the fans and has personality. Ryback makes a plank of wood look interesting. In fact, Ryback makes Robert Pattinson seem like an Oscar winning actor and that isn’t a feat which just anyone can pull off. Quite how Ryback has gotten this far without being demoted to the mid card or future endeavoured is beyond me, because had this been any other wrestler, with any other physique then their stint in the headline scene would have been over before it got started. The only reason WWE are pushing the lifeless lump is because he has an Ultimate Warrior type physique, Vince McMahon still believes that he’s the man who could spearhead the company and they’ve invested so much money into the character that it would be such a waste of resources should they shelve it or demote it.
Granted, Ryback wasn’t helped by the premature ending of his winning streak, but that’s what you get when you book him in a match with the current champion who is headed for bigger things and the match can only be won by pinfall or submission. I’m of course talking about the Hell in a Cell clash with C.M Punk which caused Ryback his first loss. Had WWE been sharper then they could have made this match for one month later and had Punk retain the gold but had Ryback win via count out or disqualification. A bum ending for a Championship match I know, but it would have preserved Ryback’s streak and made him a lot more menacing. But WWE booked themselves into a corner which they couldn’t get out of and now they’re seeing the damage that has done to their product.
John Cena is WWE Champion again (insert sarcastic tone here) hoorah, hoorah, hoorah. I will concede that it has been nearly 2 years since Cena has been Champion and his recent victory over the Rock at WrestleMania 29 may have been a little more tolerable had Cena actually upped his game since he last captured the WWE Championship – his reign going into SummerSlam 2012 doesn’t count as C.M Punk is recognized as WWE Champion for that period. But John hasn’t and what makes it worse is that the dolt has come out on television and several times and alienated everyone watching by stating that he has no intention of changing the way he wrestles. So what Cena is basically saying is that no matter how bad he is, we have to pay our money to see a man who is unwilling to get better in order to make our enjoyment the best it can be. I’m glad to see that John Cena is such a people person.
Whilst the Rock did the right thing at WrestleMania 29, it’s obvious that not everyone was happy with the result. The kids and slappers would have rejoiced that finally their warrior was back on top of the mountain and so on but the wrestling world’s hoped died a little more when Cena covered Rock on April 7th. Basically, the truth is that John Cena has nothing more to offer WWE either as Champion or as a face. We’re now about to see a little bit of history repeated with the Ryback feud and beyond. Because John Cena’s list of opponents who won’t be harmed by feuding with him is getting shorter by the day and when WWE have exhausted that option then we’re left with repeats of old feuds which we really don’t want to see again.
WWE would be better served in telling Jon Cena to go home for 6 months and rest up whilst they made a new star in his absence. If Cena wasn’t on the programme then WWE would be forced to make a new star to fill the spot. It’s laziness that they haven’t already and have relied on Cena to keep going even when its clear there’s nothing more for him to do. Should Cena go away fro 6 months then he could come back to WWE as a heel and turn on the man who has filled his spot. Cena could then turn on the audience who would have switched their alliance from him to his successor and complete his heel turn. In that 6 months, Cena doesn’t have to remain dormant, he could actually put in the effort and go back to wrestling school to learn how to wrestle and sell moves properly. I’m sure both he and the WWE would benefit greatly from that. Yes, WWE would lose money whilst he’s gone but you can’t substitute money for the quality of your long term future.
John Cena vs Ryback at Extreme Rules 2013 may not be the spectacle that we hope it is, but with Last Man Standing Rules in effect, maybe the two can work out a match which isn’t all bad and maybe come up with a novel ending which necessitates fans demand more of. Is that a pig that has just flown past my window?
Winners Prediction: John Cena
I Quit Match
Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio
Originally a triple threat ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship, WWE had to alter plans when Dolph Ziggler was sidelined with a nasty concussion. We discussed in our last blog the options WWE could have taken to make the World Heavyweight Championship scene more interesting stemming from Dolph Ziggler’s injury but WWE has chosen not to put the effort in and taken any of those options available to them and instead book this match under ‘I Quit’ rules. Lazy booking? Yes. But if the duo’s WrestleMania 29 match is anything to go by then this should be a stunt filled brawl which takes match of the night honours. That’s presuming WWE allow this match ample time to get over, which means more than the ten or so minutes they allocated it at WrestleMania 29. Just imagine what these two can do with twenty plus minutes and a whole host of distractions at their disposal.
Alberto Del Rio has been in WWE’s main event plans since January now but hasn’t produced the goods, so the faux Mexican millionaire is where we shall start.
When WWE turned Alberto Del Rio face and had him defeat Big Show in a Last Man Standing Match on the first Smackdown of the year, they had to have known that if Del Rio’s new character failed to take off then they would be left in a dead end with Alberto. As a heel Del Rio constantly came up short which heels don’t usually do. In the face vs heel struggle, the heel should always come out on top in television clashes and get the better of the face in order for the face to emerge triumphant over the man who has plighted his life for months, on pay-per view. It’s the age old ploy which makes sure the fans can buy into the underdog face and possibly make a star out of the wrestler in the heel role.
Alberto Del Rio had to have known this. The guy wrestled in Mexico for years before coming to WWE. He’s sound in the ring and his knowledge of wrestling psychology is better than most in WWE today. Del Rio has proven he knows how to work an effective face vs heel feud whilst wringing the most out of a crowd. So one questions remains. Why has Del Rio failed to do so since his turn at the end of 2012? With or without the World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio may look like he’s portraying a face on television but one only has to look at his matches to know that still, five months after his face turn, the Mexican is still battling as a heel.
Everything Del Rio does in the ring screams, son of bitch. His mannerisms and his wrestling style are all built for a heel wrestler. The manner in which he defeated Big Show in their dull Last Man Standing Match at Royal Rumble was how a heel would have won the match. His stature against Show at Extreme Rules was more suited to some like Brock Lesnar and his WrestleMania 29 match with Jack Swagger could have had the roles reversed for someone who wasn’t au fait with the wrestling business. In short, Alberto Del Rio either cannot or has not bothered to change anything about the way he wrestles, to match his new character.
Would it really have killed Del Rio to sit down for twenty minutes and watch a Shawn Michaels or Bret Hart match? Would it have hurt him that much to incorporate how well Hart and Michaels sold their opponents offence into his routine to make us feel for him every time he’s in peril? Because at the moment, every time Del Rio is in trouble there is no feeling there whatsoever. You believe that Del Rio will escape the Patriot Lock or whatever other move he’s trapped in, in the way you believe a heel will escape. There’s nothing about Alberto Del Rio that even seems like a face and that is becoming a huge problem for WWE.
As a heel in 2012, Del Rio sank so mercilessly when WWE buried him at the hands of every and any face at every chance they got, a face turn was the only thing that could have possibly saved him from obscurity. How Del Rio could fail this time is beyond me. It can’t have failed to escape his attention that no one cared about him anymore. When one relaises that no one cares then its time to do something different and daring. And that’s exactly what Del Rio should have done. When WWE suggested a face turn, Del Rio should have leapt forth with ideas and shown WWE he was committed. Instead, what Del Rio did was smile and wrestle the same. That simply isn’t good enough.
Alberto Del Rio’s inclusion in this match is warranted, seeing as he is the former Champion. Maybe Extreme Rules will be the night when Alberto Del Rio gets his act together and look like the face that he needs to be to survive in WWE. Should Del Rio be able to portray the underdog who everyone wants to see win, which we don’t, then he may have a chance if WWE books him in a singles feud with Dolph Ziggler over the World Heavyweight Championship. WWE need to book this match so Del Rio is the underdog. The perfect situation would be something like, Swagger and Ziggler team up on Del Rio before Alberto valiantly fights off both men’s advances before climbing the ladder. When he has fingertips on the World Heavyweight Championship, Ziggler snatches victory away from Del Rio hitting a spectacular Zig Zag from the top of the ladder, allowing Dolph to grab the Championship.
That would be the perfect ending. Ziggler would have retained the Championship and Del Rio would be the scorned loser who fought with everything he had but came up short. The other avenue WWE could go down to elicit sympathy for Del Rio is having Ricardo Rodriguez turn heel on him, citing everything Del Rio put him through last year as his turn. Losing the Championship and his announcer could make us feel for Del Rio and take his side. Whatever WWE decide to do they need to do it quickly because I doubt Del Rio can suffer anymore setbacks without his head dipping below the surface.
Jack Swagger had it all and then threw it all away when he decided to load his car with marijuana and get behind the wheel, mindless pissed. Did he really think that impaired, the police wouldn’t pull him over and that when news broke on WWE’s shores, Vince McMahon wasn’t going to do anything about it. There is a possibility that had Swagger not been so reckless then he would have defeated Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania 29 and been World Heavyweight Champion going into Extreme Rules.
However, when we take a look at Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter’s performance in the run up to WrestleMania 29 maybe the wrestling world wasn’t yet ready for a racist champion on a PG rated product. The immigrant bashing which grew tired and old by the second week, instead of yielding to what the public wanted, namely pure wrestling and a feud which made sense and would set their WrestleMania 29 match on fire, WWE carried on and on and on until we lost all interest, which is why Dolph Ziggler was originally added to the line up in a bid to extend the feud. Now though, Swagger and Del Rio are going to have to go it alone and hope the fans are more invested in their Extreme Rules encounter than they were in their WrestleMania 29 clash.
Personally, I believe that Jack Swagger has a bright future in WWE, when he gets done with the court case in June and serves his WWE sentence which will be harsher than any prison sentence or court hearing he’ll ever go to, Swagger should be kept in the headline scene on Smackdown. Let’s face it, he’s got the talent and WWE have no one else to replace him with. There has to be a suspension coming somewhere along the line. For WWE to allow Jack to get away with the bust in February would send a message to every other WWE superstar in the locker room that it’s okay to get busted for whatever, as long as you’re in the ring spot on the card and favoured by the powers at be in Titan Towers. The last thing WWE need now, in the post WrestleMania season is for a rebellion no matter how small or big and some of its bigger stars or those it has plans for heading into the rest of 2013, to go off the rails because they haven’t enforced their own law.
Jack Swagger has a bright future, we all know that and after his suspension or whatever punishment WWE put him through is served, then his re-build needs to be swift and heavy. If WWE aren’t going to reinsert him into the main event scene straight away, and they realistically can’t, then a feud with someone like Randy Orton could make Swagger’s star shine bright again. If Swagger is put over as a danger and strong threat in the feud and the wrestler picked to elevate him sells like a trooper and makes it look like he can’t defeat a reinvigorated Swagger, then Jack could be World Heavyweight Champion again by SummerSlam. But that is only if WWE do it right and do not screw it up. The last thing WWE need to do for Swagger is either take Coulter away from his character or change the managerial role that Zeb currently occupies. The immigrant rants aren’t doing Jack any favours whatsoever. They just make him look like a racist who wants America to be white and pearly. Pushing Swagger as a monster heel who runs through everyone in his path with destructive moves and injuring the top level talent with his Patriot Lock, in the vein of Kurt Angle, would do him no end of wonders.
One last point on Jack Swagger. It’s at times like these, when WWE clearly have no ideas for its main event talent and we, the paying audience have so many, that the company should open up ideas on WWE.Com for us to send in the ideas we have for its talent. It’s something you’re Wrestling God has said before and no doubt will say again. It’s something which would benefit WWE greatly and increase their already sizable revenue. It would mean that us, the people who make that revenue possible are paying to see feuds and ideas that we put forth and that we want to see instead of the re-hashed storylines with partially different outcomes and wrestlers. Hey, it’s just a thought.
It’s a loss to the show and to the match that Dolph Ziggler is injured, not to mention bum timing. But these things happen in WWE. Injuries are a part of the fabric, especially when WWE make a wrestler work as frequently as Dolph Ziggler had in the run up to WrestleMania and the aftermath. Had WWE booked Ziggler strong in the run in to Mania then there is possibility he wouldn’t have to work as hard as he did to get over and therefore the injury may have been avoidable. That though is a theory that we can now never put to the test.
So where does that leave the outcome? In reality, there is only one winner and that will be Alberto Del Rio. Look at it from Vince McMahon’s standpoint. An I Quit match would irreparably damage Alberto Del Rio should he openly quit live on air. Del Rio has had a hard enough time getting his face character over as it is without having to carry the burden of quitting when he needs the victory most. The next point is that WWE won’t book a heel vs heel feud for the World Heavyweight Championship and unless Swagger or Ziggler turns face which neither is pencilled in to do then that is the outcome should Jack Swagger win at Extreme Rules. As the man who is still to get a straight rematch for the World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio has to win this match because he’s scheduled to go on a run with Ziggler that will now presumable start at Payback next month.
Both Jack Swagger and Alberto Del Rio are in better position than they were this time two years ago and indeed last year. At Extreme Rules 2011 Jack Swagger was pitted in a Country Whipping Match with Michael Cole against Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross. He looked in considerably better shape and a lot more alert two years ago than he does now, you only have to grab yourself a copy of Extreme Rules 2011 to see that. However, now, he’s in the World Heavyweight Championship picture which is a step up, even if his punishment is yet to be served. Alberto Del Rio two years ago competing in a ladder match against Christian for the World Heavyweight Championship and about to enter a unfulfilling feud with Sheamus which would damage his image greatly.
Expectations are high for this match and maybe Dolph Ziggler’s injury is a blessing in disguise for both men. One on one, technically, they’re brilliant. But with the added stipulation and the anything goes ruling, surely Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger haven’t been given a better chance to shine since their pushes than this. Should they both fail to capture the moment then they only have themselves to blame.
Winners Prediction: Alberto Del Rio
Steel Cage Match
Triple H vs Brock Lesnar
I really believed that WWE had done with this feud at WrestleMania 29. It seemed the perfect ending to such a heated feud. After Brock Lesnar broke Triple H and Shawn Michaels’ arm at SummerSlam and in the run up to SummerSlam it seemed like WrestleMania 29 would be the best possible ending for the two to thrash out their feelings and advance Brock Lesnar onto another feud. A feud which many thought would be another match with John Cena for the WWE Championship.
It’s then baffling that after the reception the pair got at WrestleMania 29, WWE would book them to fight again at Extreme Rules, especially in singles action. The reception was lukewarm to say the least at ‘Mania, in fact it got so bad that one believed the fans didn’t want to see Triple H and Lesnar go at it again, on the night or after the event. WWE must have heard the reaction they got, even though the match was really good and they pulled out all the stops in order to make the match as engaging as it could be. I’ve yet to hear a reasonable explanation as to why the crowd were so quiet on April 7th, maybe because they were worn out after Undertaker vs Punk or maybe because they just didn’t want to see another match full of hardcore action and one which had an almost cemented ending. Triple H was always going to win.
There were other options for this match, if WWE wanted both men on the Extreme Rules card. WWE could have booked a Fatal Four Way Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship, pitting Brock Lesnar vs John Cena vs Triple H vs Ryback. That would have been an awesome main event which would have covered both Ryback and John Cena’s flaws as well as prolonging the Cena and Ryback feud. Yes, they would have had to go one on one at some point, but coming out of WrestleMania 29, Extreme Rules needed a strong main event and that would have been it. John Cena could have won and Triple H and Brock Lesnar could have re-ignited their feud in the short term had the pair cost each other the WWE Championship.
Another choice would have been Triple H and Stephanie McMahon vs Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. With that situation, the match and both wrestlers had a get out clause. Neither would have had to lose the match and Stephanie could have pinned Heyman or vice versa to end the match. Stephanie has fought before and whilst she was mostly abysmal, it may have brought a little light relief to see her jumping all over Paul Heyman for his part in the Triple H vs Brock Lesnar feud. Plus I would have loved to have seen Stephanie in her tight wrestling pants and t shirt again. Maybe that’s just me being a horny male, who knows? Either way, there were other options for WWE going into Extreme Rules which meant they didn’t need to book another singles match between the pair, especially one month after their last outing.
Brock Lesnar is heading for better things after this feud is done, that is clear. His new contract extension, which hasn’t been made clear whether it contains more dates than his last or not, could see him fight at Payback, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, Extreme Rules and WrestleMania 30. Whilst some of those dates are confirmed and as god as confirmed, WWE could do with Lesnar regularly in WWE this year. After John Cena loses the WWE Championship which he will at some point this year, WWE need a headline star to put the gold on. They could make Randy Orton a Raw star again or the easier choice would be to have Brock Lesnar perform regularly. Should Lesnar become WWE champion at some point during the year then WWE could begin their monster storyline again.
Brock Lesnar could rampage through the WWE locker room as champion, ripping through anyone and everyone who stood in his way. Then as WWE approach Survivor Series they could begin to hype someone who would step into the John Cena role and take on Lesnar for the gold. The person who defeated a monster like Lesnar and dethroned him would surely receive a major push and career hype. That is the prefect way to make a new star and Brock Lesnar could have a hand in doing so. He’s taken a lot of money from the company to perform very few dates over the last year and will continue to do so for the next 2 years of the company’s existence. The least Brock Lesnar can do is give back at least some of what he’s taking by making a new star.
I can’t see Triple H performing much more this year. The man who will take over the company, when Vince McMahon passes on or steps down, with Stephanie wants to concentrate more on the backstage aspect of the business and why not? Triple H has given more to the business than most and more than paid his dues. Triple H never needs to step into a wrestling ring again, but let’s hope he does because he’s one of the best at putting new talent over and making new stars. Whilst Triple H will leave the on screen side of WWE after Extreme Rules I do expect to see him wrestle again at SummerSlam and WrestleMania 30. On the biggest cards, WWE need its biggest performers.
Maybe Triple H has grown tired with the in ring performances. That’s the impression one gets when they see him in 2013, donned in his wrestling tights and knee pads. When you watched him in 2000 – 2006, Triple H looked serious and determined to make the best of what he had been given in the ring. Now though, he really does look like he’s just doing it because the company have no one else who can. If Triple H really is that bored and jaded with strapping up his thighs and hitting the pedigree then its best he steps away from the spotlight because when someone becomes dissolutioned with something they’re doing, the work and outcome suffer. I would hate to see Triple H continue to wrestle and gradually get worse if his heart really isn’t in the ring anymore.
If Triple H doesn’t want to wrestle again then there’s no pressure on him to do so. Backstage, he wields power mightier than Thor’s hammer and has a huge part in the youth development in the company. Triple H would be better building new stars rather than trying to eek out the last drops of greatness from his in ring career. The wrestling world will remember Triple H as one of the greatest wrestlers to ever lace up a pair of boots, that is certain. It would also be a triumph for him to be remembered as the man who rejuvenated WWE’s youth scene and made stars that could go on to shine brighter than he has.
Winners Prediction: Brock Lesnar
Strap Match
Sheamus vs Mark Henry
A strap match? Is that really the best WWE could come up with? And to make matters worse, it involves Mark Henry, again! How many times do I have to go over the same ground before WWE wakes up and smells the coffee. Henry is a bore of the highest degree and doesn’t belong in a wrestling ring let alone on pay-per view in a feud which could be seen as high profile as this. WWE has a whole talent roster they could have replaced Henry with, in fact I would have preferred to see Zack Ryder turn heel and face Sheamus at Extreme Rules. At least it would have been someone different.
When you look back at Mark Henry’s career, it almost impossible to point out a high spot in it. It was only thanks to Randy Orton that Henry shone at Night of Champions 2011, before and after that he was next to useless. I say next to literally because he entered into a feud with Big Show after that. When you consider the other WWE flops of the past, Scott Steiner, Ultimate Warrior towards the end and so on, WWE paid them to stay at home and sit out the rest of their contract because they were so useless. Mark Henry can’t have that long remaining on his WWE contract so why doesn’t Vince listen to us and pay Henry to sit out the remainder of his? You’re not going to sit there and tell me that Vince has a huge plan for Henry this year because I will call you a bare faced liar.
So what can Mark Henry possibly garner from this feud that the pair didn’t get out of their last one? The answer there comes, nothing. WrestleMania 29 was the last chance saloon for Mark Henry and WWE to make something of the walking McDonalds advert and they failed. WWE have him an opponent who he couldn’t work with and who couldn’t disguise his flaws and Mark Henry just didn’t bother to put forth any effort against Ryback whatsoever. That Vince saw their match at WrestleMania 29 as adequate tells me that the man who reared a whole company to sink Jim Crocket and the territorial completion has lost his touch. Anyone who looks at Mark Henry in 2013 and earmarks him for greatness in the future needs to find another form of entertainment, because wrestling isn’t for them.
There isn’t one man on the roster that could help Mark Henry now. Not Randy Orton, not Daniel Bryan, not even C.M Punk when he returns. WWE have exhausted all their options as far as Henry is concerned so surely its time they gave his spot to someone who deserves it. The main event scene is dwindling, people are complaining that WWE is getting samey and stale and Vince McMahon’s answer is Mark Henry. Can someone please ready the wet fish to slap him with? A feud with Sheamus can only help Sheamus’ career when he goes over the most boring wrestling in the world today at the culmination of their warfare which has been overtly dull up to now. But until WWE sees the truth then Henry is going to stumble from one meaningless feud to the next until his body either dictates that he has to walk away or WWE see the truth about Mark Henry and boot his fat arse out of the door.
Sheamus is so much better than this. Last year he was World Heavyweight Champion, one year later the Irishman is being fed to Mark Henry in a bid to get Henry’s career off of the ground, when in truth Sheamus is going to have a job getting Henry off of the ground physically. I am sure that WWE have more in mind for Sheamus than this feud and one is just hoping that its a lead in to another main event run or a feud with Randy Orton whenever it is WWE decide to turn him heel.
Should Sheamus and Mark Henry do battle for too long then it could be damaging to Sheamus’ career, however if its one or two months then maybe Sheamus can weather that storm and move on to something better. Whatever that would be is still being considered. You see, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler have had their feud and whilst it wasn’t a huge high profile battle in 2012, Sheamus came out of it looking better than Ziggler and therefore people would almost expect Sheamus to triumph, which, as Triple H’s classroom pet, he probably would. Sheamus vs Randy Orton has been done even though it would be an improvement on this shambles, but do we really want to see Orton put anyone else over without some victories of his own? Sheamus vs John Cena and Sheamus vs Big Show are hold hat and not something we would wish to see again.
There is a possibility that Sheamus vs Jack Swagger could have legs in it later in the year but the one I would really try to get together is Sheamus vs The Undertaker. The pair have never met in serious competition and if Undertaker is willing to work a two month feud on pay-per view it would have no end of benefits for Sheamus’ career going forward. Sheamus would have to turn heel but that’s no big deal because his face character sucks quite frankly and that grin is getting as tedious as John Cena’s smirk. Either of the above feuds would suffice especially if the Swagger feud did something for both men.
Meanwhile this strap match is sheer formality to advance the Sheamus and Mark Henry feud. With WWE eyeing up the pair to do battle again at Payback in June it stands to reason that Mark Henry will triumph at Extreme Rules to set up the rematch for Sheamus to get his, yes you guessed correctly, Payback. It’s very rare that the heel enters a pay-per view looking for payback so as lifeless as this match will probably be, don’t expect to see Sheamus come out victorious or looking any better than he went in.
Winner Prediction: Mark Henry
Extreme Rules Match
Randy Orton vs Big Show
I have lost count of the number of men Randy Orton has put over in the last two years. When you skim down the roster, no one has done more to make stars than Randy Orton has and for that he deserves a giant push. Had it not been for Randy Orton, the Shield would not be as domineering as they are today. Without Randy Orton, Christian’s heel turn would have been merely passed off as another attempt to garner heat on Smackdown in 2011. Had it not been for Randy Orton, Jack Swagger wouldn’t have looked as good winning the Elimination Chamber match in February, as he did. In short, Randy Orton has done so much for WWE recently and all of it without reward.
The match with Big Show was signposted before WrestleMania 29 went on air. You could probably count on one hand the people which believed that Show wasn’t going to turn on Orton and Sheamus in the first bout at WrestleMania 29, which meant with a Sheamus vs Big Show feud only just died down, Randy Orton was the man to step into the breach and try to do something with a Big Show who has severely lowered his game from what he produced in the ring in the latter stages of 2012.
This is not an impossible task for Randy Orton. He has made the likes of Kane look good at Extreme Rules last year, a feat which one previously thought was impossible, so Big Show stands to gain a lot from this feud, if he can hold up his end of the bargain as he did at Hell in a Cell last year. Let’s be honest, we don’t expect wonders from Randy Orton because Big Show is simply too large for him to do much with. But us setting our sights low for this one may prove to be the better judgment. Because we expect it to be pants, what we actually get may be delightfully adequate. Randy Orton and Big Show may be able to make the most of the Extreme Rules match and pull out a top notch hardcore brawl as Del Rio and Big Show did on the January 3rd Smackdown. It certainly gives them more scope than a one on one match does.
We can sleep easy in the knowledge that Randy Orton will demand the match is laid out move for move before they step through the curtain and into the arena. This will be a measure to make sure Randy Orton’s image is protected. After all, why should he suffer because Big Show can’t be bothered to put in an effort? The match needs a huge spot. An RKO from the top rope. A draping DDT from the barrier or set to the Big Show, hell if WWE could make sure its safe enough haw about having the pair scale the titan tron and Big Show chokeslam Randy Orton from the top of it through tables or boxes below. That would be a stunt in tribute to Shane McMahon and make sure the match not only ended on a high but also, if there has to be a second match, set up the next encounter presumably next month at Payback.
Whatever you feel about Randy Orton, like him, hate him, not bothered about him at all, he’s the best hope WWE have right now for a really nasty heel. Orton has put so many people over that its about time the favour was returned. Orton deserves another World Heavyweight Championship reign and with that, maybe he could even see his way clear to making another star, seeing as WWE blatantly can’t do it, in the process.
What can I say about Big Show? I have been racking my brains for days thinking of what to put here and I can’t come up with anything. What else is there left to both say about him and for him to accomplish? He’s been WWE Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, Hardcore Champion as far as I can remember, United States Champion, ECW Champion, not to mention all of the WCW Championships he won. There is nothing left for him to do in wrestling. At his height and current weight, Big Show’s body must be crying out for him to stop. If Big Show’s gaol was to outdo Andre the Giant then in some senses he has done so. He’s more successful than Andre the Giant ever was in Championship and longevity terms, maybe he’s not as popular as Andre was but that’s a small price to pay.
If Big Show was to retire in 2013 then his career, as dull as parts of it have been, would be a triumph. He could walk away financially secure in the knowledge that there was nothing left for him to do in the wrestling business. He’s never going to win the WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania and he’s never going to win the Royal Rumble because people don’t want to see him in that spot on the card. Big Show has had many good feuds with Brock Lesnar, which yielded a cracking match at Survivor Series 2002, Triple H, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Sting and many lesser feuds with John Cena, Edge, Undertaker. When you look at the feuds Big Show has had and the wrestlers he has fought, then he can’t possibly top that. Show must have feuded with almost every headline star WCW and WWE had. That is an achievement in itself.
I don’t want to see Big Show in WWE much longer. His matches have become constantly repetitive and dull. This feud with Randy Orton may be the last hurrah for a man who can lay claim a wrestling lineage most can only dream of.
Winners Prediction: Randy Orton
WWE United States Championship Match
(c) Kofi Kingston vs Dean Ambrose
Whether you know it or not, this may just be the most important match on the whole card. That is something which I’m sure you never expected to hear and something I never expected to type. With The Shield’s dominance in WWE, the company have opened up a whole new alley for themselves which dictates they have the perfect chance to at least try and make the United States Championship important again.
Whilst many will rightly feel the wrong member of the Shield has been allocated the slot in this Championship Match and it should have gone to Roman Reigns, which it should have seeing as Reigns at the moment is the stand out star of the Shield faction, no WWE United States Championship Match has meant for to the company for a great number of years. Antonio Cesaro can feel aggrieved that he never received a Championship rematch on pay-per view, that could all be forgiven and forgotten should Ambrose capture the U.S Championship.
Looking at the importance of the Shield and how well they have been pushed and built over the last couple of months, any Championship they should capture would immediately be elevated by the group. If WWE continue to push the stable then the Championship around their waist would become important again, if defended against top tier talent which there’s no reason to believe they wouldn’t be. After their WrestleMania 29 triumph and previous six man tag team victories, I can’t see beginning to book the shield against wrestlers such as Tyson Kid and Tons of Funk. It would be an illogical step backwards.
Dean Ambrose as United States Champion could begin feuds with Randy Orton, Sheamus, Rey Mysterio and the loser of the I Quit Match. Subsequent feuds would elevate the Championship and seeing being defended against wrestlers that matter would send the message to the WWE Universe that the gold matters again. Whilst Ambrose is United States Champion and Reigns and Rollins are Tag Team Champions, more on that below, WWE could then turn their attentions from the top of the card which needs no help whilst Ryback and Cena are slaughtering what it means to be a main event star, and begin building the United States Championship division again.
It’s a logical move which would be welcomed by the WWE Universe. Whilst Ambrose is plying his trade with main event talent and making a name of the Championship again, WWE could begin rebranding the Championship by giving the wrestlers in the division enough time to shine on Smackdown and Raw. Instead of the three minute matches we’re currently forced to watch, WWE could book matches between wrestlers such as Tyson Kidd, Antonio Cesaro, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston and so on, to go fifteen minutes. As long as the matches are of high quality and provide entertainment for the length they last then everyone is a winner. It’s not a quick fix, granted, but it is a fix which would matter by the time Ambrose dropped the gold to another United States Championship division star.
By having such a high profile wrestler heading the division, whilst maintaining his image with the Shield and in singles action, WWE could hold a tournament which actually highlights what people have been missing from the division. The winner would be entered into a high profile feud with Ambrose which would be the focal point of a pay-per view card and not thrown on the pre-show without thought or care, as so many matches are now. Just look at how little care we had for the Intercontinental Championship Match on the WrestleMania 29 pre-show.
After Ambrose captured the title, WWE could and should have the Shield, with Reigns and Rollins as the new WWE Tag Team Champions come out on Raw and state how much the Championships used to matter but no longer do, citing its part of the reason why they hate WWE and its talent so much. It would add extra heat to the faction should they then chastise every superstar in the locker room for damaging the titles and then vow to make them important again. That would be dynamite and give other wrestles on the card reason to go after the trio. Once again though, that is what should happen. What WWE actually does with the man and the gold is more likely to be the opposite.
Kofi Kingston is a dead fish in the water. He’s on his side and flapping at the last strings of life. As a face, Kingston is at the end. There is nothing else he can do with a smile and boom drop. He’s been the WWE Intercontinental, Tag Team and United States Champion and all of those reigns have been as good as lifeless. People just don’t care about smiling faces who fight for good. Look at how well Stone Cold Steve Austin and Randy Orton were received as law breaker faces who would attack anyone at anytime whilst still being a fan favourite and then look how badly the Rock did as Rocky Mavia, the all smiling babyface who would grin his way through a match.
WWE should have learnt a lesson here. Kofi Kingston should, by now have been given a makeover in the character department by now. WWE should have depicted him as the man who means business and will do anything to get what he wants whilst having a line he won’t cross. This is why WWE has pondered on turning Kofi Kingston heel. The company recognises that he’s gone as far as he can as a face and should they push him further then the character will became stale and people will stop caring totally before they get the chance to make the switch. If they need to, WWE can use the loss of the United States Championship at the catalyst for the turn. Down on his luck, nowhere on the card, Ambrose getting cheered when he the gold, Kingston could turn on the fans and immediately be elevated up a division.
A heel Kofi Kingston has so much more potential than a face one. The people Kingston could feud with as a hell are unlimited. WWE could reignite the feud with Orton which they chickened out of pulling the trigger on in 2008. If a heel Kingston could take out a face Orton then it could be the start of a main event run for Kofi. And that is something WWE desperately need right now. Kingston has everything else. The look, the skill, the moves, the knowhow, he just lack the backing of the creative team and a really fearsome push up the card. Without those components at his disposal, Kofi Kingston could be WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. What’s more. There’s no reason for WWE not to do so. They literally have no reason as to why they’re holding back.
Vince McMahon would more than likely say that Kingston isn’t ready for a main event push. He’d be lying. Kingston as a former Intercontinental Champion was ready years ago, but never received the green light. The next excuse off of the WWE list of bullshit excuses would be that Kingston doesn’t have the main event feel. Whose fault is that? Certainly not Kingston’s. He’s only going to have the main event aura if WWE give it to him. The last excuse would be that WWE have a thriving main event scene to which my answer would be...where? John Cena is dull and repetitive. Ryback doesn’t have the half the skill or personality of Kingston. Randy Orton seems to be so far down the pecking order I can’t see him returning to the top of the mountain until the end of the year. Sheamus has done it all on Smackdown and has no where left to move, the jeers he received as World Champion in 2012 attest to that. C.M Punk is gone for now. The Undertaker is an emergency call up. Alberto Del Rio stinks a face and Jack Swagger is about to serve a suspension or a hefty demotion for his arrest in February. Someone please point out to me where the main event scene is thriving.
A heel turn is the only thing which could possibly save Kofi Kingston right now. Other than that, I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
As stated, WWE have a major chance to do something terrific at Extreme Rules. You can call it a chance to start again if you like. Looking at what is in store for the rest of year, there is no clear point down the line in which WWE will have to execute this again. It’s a one shot deal which if they let pass they need a kick in the balls and deserve for their lesser Championships to fade away.
Winners Prediction: Dean Ambrose
WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Tag Team Tornado Match
(c) Team Hell No vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
Like the United States Championship, WWE have a chance to reinvigorate their tag team scene. Since September, Team Hell No have been the doubles champions. At the beginning they were good, hell, they were great. The comedy lent itself nicely to the in ring product supported mostly by Bryan and they saw off all comers whilst, at times, making their opponents look as good as they did. And then, like it usually does in WWE, everything began to fall apart.
Suddenly the comedy segments weren’t funny anymore and Kane and Daniel Bryan had exhausted their whole repertoire and everything became samey. The matches which pitted Team Hell No against their opponents were stale and nothing seemed to shine about them. Their Tag Team Championship defence again Team Rhodes Scholars at the Royal Rumble was plain boring and their interactions in the Royal Rumble match and the Elimination Chamber match were predictable and everything we’d come to expect from the pair. Even on Raw and Smackdown they had lost the magic which had been found in September 2012.
WrestleMania 29 was a chance for Team Hell No to prove they had not grown stale and it was WWE’s fault for not giving them the proper opponents and storylines. In Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langston, Team Hell No had the perfect opponents. Maybe not technically but certainly in image. Dolph Ziggler had the skills to combat Daniel Bryan and Langston was the perfect super strength foil for Kane. Whilst Kane battled valiantly against Langston, Ziggler and Bryan should have tore the house down. Yet again with Team Hell No, that failed to materialise. It wasn’t all the competitors fault, WWE rushed the match because they were seemingly running behind two matches into the broadcast. But what was presented may have been adequate but wasn’t good enough for Championship encounter.
WWE, after WrestleMania take all their talent into account, at least the ones that matter and plot a course for them for the rest of the year. After WrestleMania 29, it can’t have failed to dawned on WWE that Team Hell No have had their day in the spotlight and Daniel Bryan could be used further up the card. There is literally no mileage left in the duo. Their matches have become boring, their comedy skits have become predictable and its time they parted ways in favour of returning Bryan back to the main event and Kane to...well, something. Let’s be honest, Kane is done.
Kane and Daniel Bryan will have to have a singles feud when Team Hell No splits but that be can done as painlessly as possible. WWE can make the most of that on television and one match on pay-per view in which Bryan would go over to set him up for life back in the main event. It’s the best course of action for WWE to take at this point. The Tag Team Championship did get a little lift from the duos union at the beginning but now it’s suffering more than it did when Kingston and Truth held the gold. In 2013, that just isn’t acceptable. When something begins to grow stale, WWE should quash it immediately and find something logical to take its place.
Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns have been given the biggest chance they’ve received yet in WWE. Once again, it may not look like much of a chance but if they can secure the WWE Tag Team Championships and make them mean something again, that could do more for the Shield’s image than any victory over any team. Like the United States Championship, in the possession of the Shield, WWE could use the time in which the Shield would defend against top tier stars to rebuild the tag team division from the bottom up, having challengers ready to step up and face Reigns and Rollins when they come back to the division in order to give it a boost.
In order for this to happen, WWE needs tag teams which haven’t been buried or humiliated which they can build from the bottom upwards in order to furnish them with the best start possible. It’s unlikely we’re ever going to see a tag team scene like the early 90’s or the attitude era again. Tag Teams like Money Inc, The Headshrinkers, The Natural Disasters, The Hart Foundation, The Rockers, The British Bulldogs, The New Age Outlaws, The Legion of Doom, The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection plus many others will never be seen again but that shouldn’t stop WWE from at least trying to make new teams which resonate with fans worldwide.
Right now, the tag teams WWE have on their books are no good. The Prime Time Players, Team Rhodes Scholars, Tons of Funk, Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel are just no good. They’ve been buried and left off of so many main pay-per views that it’s hard to imagine WWE ever being able to push them effectively as challengers. With the exception of Prime and Epico, who may have been buried but still possess the skill to get the job done, WWE would be better advised trimming the dead wood from their roster and hiring new tag teams from Japan, TNA, Ring of Honor and the independent circuits – putting aside their hatred for the independents – who are popular with the WWE audience who watch such teams perform. The Brisco’s who ply their trade in ROH would be perfectly suited to WWE’s style of wrestling and bring something different to the tag team scene in WWE. There are a number of tag teams in both NOAH and NJPW who would jump at the chance of a contract in WWE and other independent tag teams such as the Young Bucks and Paul London and Brian Kendrick could be re-hired to inject the division with some quality performances.
Looking further afield, Dragon Gate USA has some quality teams which WWE could purchase from their contracts or failing that, hire singles stars and put tag teams together with them. Anyone who has seen DGSUA or Dragon Gate will be able to tell you how great the wrestlers there are. To see some of them jump around the ring in WWE’s tag team division would surely do the job required. I can sit and say all of this though and WWE won’t do anything about it. They never do, all because they’re convinced that the independent circuit wrestlers aren’t a patch on WWE’s wrestlers. News flash my wonderful friends, they’re better. Every wrestler on NJPW or DGUSA show puts John Cena to shame.
The WWE Tag Team Championships have a better chance of being rebuilt around the waists of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. There is more scope for change and more chance of success with a team that is still to be beaten in WWE. With every victory, comes a little more prestige and with prestige come interest from the fans. It’s down to WWE now. If they truly want the tag team division to flourish then they have all the tools available to them to do so. All it would take is a little involvement, some of that endless cash investment and a few cracking storylines to make everything better again. Can it be done? Absolutely. Will it be done? Watch this space.
Winner Prediction: Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns
Chris Jericho vs Fandango
We knew this was coming. After their WrestleMania 29 match ended the way it did, it was only natural that WWE gave Chris Jericho his chance to get even with the egotistical, Fandango. What’s most astonishing about this match is that on a show where every match is meant to have an Extreme Rule added to it, WWE have basically given us the same match which we sat through at WrestleMania. Now this is being written on Wednesday 15th May, five days before Extreme Rules so WWE could have, by now added such a stipulation, but if they haven’t, then I can’t say with any great confidence that this going to do anything for either man.
Another victory over Chris Jericho would be huge for Fandango, even though the guy has shown us nothing in the way of moving forward or growing as a wrestler. His offence is the same in every match he wrestles and whilst he’s trying his best, he’s been saddled with a bum gimmick. If WWE were intent on debuting the Fandango character, the least they could have done was find someone from WWE developmental who could put a match together, without relying on one of WWE’s stars to get them over – as Fandango did with Chris Jericho in their rubbish match at Mania.
Before WWE decide to push a star or bring him up from developmental and thrust him straight onto television, I’m beginning to wonder if they even bother to watch tapes of what that wrestler can do in the ring. By sitting down with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon, head of talent relations, John Laurientis must be able to tell whether a wrestler is ready. He’s a former wrestler himself and as Triple H is the head of developmental he should be look at a wrestler and say yes or no within two matches. That obviously didn’t happen with Fandango, because if it did, WWE would have been so quick to rush the guy onto the main card and would have found someone with the skills, of which there are many in WWE developmental, to portray the character.
That being said, we’re stuck with him now and have to make the best of it. It’s alarming that WWE seem to see Fandango as the future of the company. This is backed up by their pushing of him against Chris Jericho who has been less than satisfactory in his current role. Earlier, I talked about WWE reinventing its United States Championship division, which I presume Fandango will be a part of when the company lose faith in him, but the one thing WWE cannot allow to happen is for Ambrose to have a strong run and make the Championship something again, for Fandango to come in and undo everything from the seams.
You can look as hard as you like, but you won’t see a future in WWE for Fandango unless he pulls his boots up and do something worthwhile. WWE have given him the platform on which to make a name for himself and the feud with the superior Chris Jericho is the perfect time to do so. Fandango though hasn’t seen this as the ideal opportunity to make himself a star and instead the first step on the ladder to being Future Endeavoured. Up until now, Fandango isn’t a future WWE superstar, and if WWE do not add a stipulation to this match, the odds of him becoming one are slim to none.
Y2J, the man who could wrestle a paper bag and make the bag a star has gone on vacation. Not a physical one, but certainly a mental one. Like a footballer coming to the end of a season, English football I’m talking about, American’s call it soccer I believe, Chris Jericho isn’t focused on the job in hand, instead he seems to have his mind already on the beach, waiting for his body to join it. I would challenge anyone to look at the current version of Chris Jericho, who seems to have lost his passion for the business, and point out where the old Y2J is in him.
The ovation he received at the Royal Rumble should have urged the former World Heavyweight Champion on to make the best of his reintroduction into WWE. Jericho should have seen Fandango’s floors at WrestleMania 29 and been able to cover for them in their match. Instead it looked more like he was just in the match for himself and Fandango would have to swing. The old Chris Jericho would have immediately spotted what Fandango could not have done and make allowances for that. Instead, Jericho, who turned up for the paycheque on the night, simply seemed to close his eyes and hope for the best.
Like Triple H, if Chris Jericho’s heart isn’t in the business anymore then he should leave. No one would begrudge him that. Jericho has given so much to the wrestling industry that he deserves whatever time he deems necessary to either get his head back in the game or retire completely. I would rather see Chris Jericho retire at the top of his game than repeatedly put in performances which looked phoned in and have his star diminish as a result. Did Chris Jericho want to come back to WWE? Probably not, but he has three children, a wife and a mortgage to support and his band Fozzy do not earn anywhere near what he needs to cover his overheads. Wrestling is the only form of work that Jericho knows how to make money from and therefore he has no choice but to continue in the ring.
As far as the feud with Fandango goes, Chris Jericho clearly isn’t bothered. Hindering both himself and Fandango, Jericho could do something special with the lowly star if he cared which he blatantly doesn’t. Instead of giving back to the industry, Chris Jericho has decided that he doesn’t belong on the undercard but in the main event, which, I’m afraid to burst his bubble, but he doesn’t. Apart from his main event run with Shawn Michaels over the World Heavyweight Championship, Chris Jericho has been middling at best in his main event feuds. After everything he’s taken from the industry, Chris Jericho should willingly be making stars left, right and centre. That it has become such a trial for him to do so tells you everything you need to know about Chris Jericho’s ego.
Winners Prediction: Chris Jericho
Pre-Show Match
The Miz vs Cody Rhodes
Instead of ‘The Awesome One’ maybe we should begin calling The Miz, ‘Mr. Pre-Show’, seeing as he’s been booked on three out of the last four pay-per view events on the pre-show. It’s certainly how WWE would like us to see Miz in his current role in WWE, otherwise they would make good on the promise they made in October of pushing Miz back to the top of the card and not book him on a programme which is seen by very little of the audience who order the actually event.
By now, if WWE had done what they were meant to do, then Miz could already be at the top of the card challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship. I say Smackdown’s title because the last thing Miz needs now is another feud with John Cena, which would all but destroy Miz’s career. It was a simple process which WWE have carried out hundreds of times before and have been successful almost every time. After dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Kofi Kingston in October, on the pointless Main Event show, WWE should have pushed Miz like he was the second coming. His career needed it after the utter humiliation of loss after loss he suffered earlier in 2012.
At Survivor Series, Miz should have been the sole man left of Team Foley. He couldn’t have won the match, Dolph Ziggler needed that honour but had he gone down fighting, eliminating Alberto Del Rio before being pinned by Dolph Ziggler, then it would have been huge for Miz. WWE did this with Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 2003 where Michaels flourished as the sole survivor of Team Austin against three member of Team Bischoff, he even managed to put in the career performance of a lifetime. An effort like that would have shed new light on the Miz and gone a long way to enhancing his face turn, which came out of the blue.
His last minute inclusion at WWE TLC 2012 in the pointless six man clash against 3MB should have been avoided in favour putting Miz in a higher position. Hell, WWE could have even inserted him in the World Heavyweight Championship Match, seeing how well received the triple threat ladder match for the WWE Championship was at TLC 2011 the previous year. A strong showing would have urged the fans to want Miz to capture the gold and once again elevated him in their eyes. After TLC, the audience would have been hot for a Miz Championship challenge where he just fell short. WrestleMania 29 would have been a different matter though. Seeing as there was no room for the Miz at the top of the card, WWE could have scrapped Ryback vs Mark Henry and Fandango vs Chris Jericho and booked a five man battle royal or tournament to crown the number one contender to either the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship, which Miz could have either won or just lost out to Ryback.
Switching Miz from Raw to Smackdown after WrestleMania 29 would have been as easy as blinking and hyping his involvement in the World Heavyweight Championship picture would have been a welcome reception. You know, as a face, Miz could have even taken Dolph Ziggler’s place in the triple threat ladder match and won. A face Miz vs heel Ziggler would have had mileage had WWE booked Miz to be the last man left at Survivor Series and eliminated by Ziggler. Alas, that has not come to pass and Miz is now in another slump, even worse than the one he found himself in, in 2011 and 2012.
Miz’s victory on the WrestleMania 29 pre-show to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship looked to be the resurgence for the character who had previously starred in ‘The Marine 3’, for some reason, WWE decided to swap the Championship back to Wade Barrett the next night on Raw, making the Miz look like a complete fluke. It’s this sort of booking which has devalued everything the Miz does. How are we meant to take Miz seriously as WWE Champion somewhere down the line if he’s not even allowed to hold what used to be the second biggest Championship in the company’s history? It’s pathetic.
Miz needs help and needs it quickly. Without investment in his character he’s going to stay a pre-show talent and much more of this booking will all but relegate him to the ranks of Curt Hawkins.
Cody Rhodes must be flicking back through his career, wondering where he went wrong. Everything looked peachy before WrestleMania 28 and his embarrassing loss to the Big Show. He was making headway with the Intercontinental Championship and making the gold important again, not an easy feat for anyone, let alone a mid-card talent. Rhodes’ success with the Championship should have been an indicator for WWE to push him up the card and into the main event position. Everyone would have welcomed that and it wouldn’t have looked like they were just trying everything and anything to bring about change.
Instead of taking Rhodes and making a star of him, WWE mercilessly buried him along with the rest of the crap before inserting him into Team Rhodes Scholars. Now Cody is back in singles action, one has to question where WWE go with him now. The Intercontinental Championship is all but redundant. The United States Championship could be an option if Dean Ambrose captures the title from Kofi Kingston, WWE could even book a triple threat feud over the gold to start with. If Rhodes and Ambrose can make the gold seem important again and lift it from a pre-show Championship which it has been recently to a bona fide mid-card Championship then WWE may stand a chance of making something of the gold and the wrestlers.
It seems a bit of a comedown, to have Cody Rhodes as the figurehead of the United States Championship division, underneath Ambrose that is, but if that’s the role which is going to currently provide him with a path back into some kind of standing in WWE, then Rhodes should welcome it with open arms. If it doesn’t work out for him there’s always a chance that WWE will see his willingness to do what is needed for the company and reward him for his efforts with a push nonetheless. You see, there’s limited options left for Cody Rhodes in WWE. There’s no way he can be immediately into any kind of main event feud, we simply wouldn’t believe it. The Tag Team Championship has been a pitfall for him in recent months and the Intercontinental Championship is fading faster than WWE can catch up with it.
The future is uncertain for Cody Rhodes and that’s never a good thing. WWE could have and should done something halt his descent down the ladder but have failed to do so. Maybe Rhodes could take a leaf out of Zack Ryder’s playbook and try to make a name for himself, hoping that WWE wouldn’t punish him for doing what they’ve failed to do. Certainly, Cody Rhodes cannot continue on this path, because there’s only one place it can lead.
Winners Prediction: Cody Rhodes
Extreme Rules 2013 looks a strong card on first sight. The WWE Championship Match aside, every other match has potential about it and there are some hidden gems in the middle of it all which could set this years offering apart from WrestleMania 29. The star names may all but have deserted WWE in its WrestleMania 29 post season but the company have managed to bundle together a decent looking card.
By far and away the United States Championship and Tag Team Championship Matches are the most important on the card for varying reasons. It could be the beginning of something new and fresh for WWE and the rebuild both divisions need in order to become relevant again. Whilst there’s no Dolph Ziggler due to injury and the Intercontinental Championship isn’t deemed important enough to appear, at least at time of writing. Those matters are trifling though compared to what could come out of the night.
For the first time in 2013, WWE have a wonderful opportunity to make a difference. An opportunity they had numerous times in 2012 and failed to capitalise on every one of them. That cannot happen this time around. Extreme Rules 2013 cannot be just another pay-per event in WWE by the time John Cena lifts the WWE Championship aloft at the end of the card. Extreme Rules 2013 has to be looked back on as the event which began to change everything in World Wrestling Entertainment. It’s an opportunity WWE cannot afford to pass up.
Onwards and upwards...
