Survivor Series 2014 Predictions

Survivor Series will take place from the Scottrade Centre in St. Louis, Missouri (Orton, where you at..?) on the 23rd of November 2014.

There are currently 5 matches officially announced for the show (well, you can’t really complain if you’re getting this PPV for free on the Network… or illegally streaming it that is…), I would expect one or two impromptu matches to be added throughout the night, as well as the main event getting a time slot of close to an hour.

The overall excitement around this PPV for being 1 of the "big 4" is clearly lacking, but at the same time, is the whole concept of the “big 4” PPV’s even around anymore? I’ll leave that up to you guys to decide.

Beginning with the “Diva” matches (God, I can never hate that word enough), we will once again be getting a double dose, whether that is a good thing or not, we’ll see on Sunday (let’s be realistic, it will not be). We will be seeing a traditional Survivor Series match - Paige, Cameron, Layla, Summer Rae Vs. Naomi, Natalya, Emma, Alicia Fox as well as a Diva’s Title match of AJ Lee Vs Nikki Bella w/Brie. With a big portion of the roster in the main-event of this PPV, this has given the entire females on the roster an opportunity (an opportunity of maybe 5 minutes if they’re lucky... ha), okay, my pessimism regarding the females of the WWE is really pouring out right now, isn’t it? I’ve been very open with my views on the way females are treated within the company and on-screen today. Just because you may be seeing more women on your screen than we have in a long time, do not be fooled, I am not content with it; a lot of these women can legitimately WRESTLE (yeah, remember that word?) but that is entirely disregarded on WWE TV (bar NXT) and well, as I have already gone there, let me just add that Total Divas has destroyed the division almost entirely and has also made arguably a complete joke of the women that came prior to these “divas”.

The SS match will most likely be quite the car-crash as these Diva tag matches most frequently are (with the benefit of hindsight, that can’t be denied). The fact that Paige will now be involved in these matches, is just disappointing, I can’t even hate on it… It’s overall, simply one big let down. I mean, just let those that can legitimately wrestle a chance by having a legitimate feud e.g. Natalya/Paige/Naomi and let the rest of the “Total Divas” pull each others hair or whatever they do. This match is one big plug for the show with the addition of Layla and Emma in there, just because they couldn’t be left out. Oh yeah, and I don’t care what the result is.

… well, the hate is real, huh?

Before you think I’m a complete hater, I do think that AJ Lee Vs. Nikki has the potential of being really good. Despite the 5 matches currently announced, I don’t have high hopes that they’ll be provided with a decent amount of time to put on a good match, which they are completely capable of. 

Nikki has improved massively in the ring so I have to give that to her and AJ has always been one of the best in-ring female competitors imo, so if you combine these, we may actually see a good wrestling match. Although Nikki is currently on Total Divas and there is an apparent rumour that none of the women on the show can hold the Title, I do see a title change happening here; I do want it to happen, we need change and right now, any change is good change. But, lets not forget that Brie could also cause for some kind of issues for Nikki.

We will also be seeing a Fatal 4 Way match for the Tag Titles – Gold/Stardust will be attempting to retain their titles against Los Matadores/The Usos/Miz+Mizdow.

I do believe that this match will be really, really good, despite the insane amount of times we’ve seen these guys go at it, it any combination of ways, the matches themselves have usually been pretty decent. With all 8 guys on a PPV, we can’t be disappointed. In an ideal world I would love to see Miz/Mizdow getting the victory with Mizdow actually being the one to get the pin; it may be too far fetched but I know that myself along with a lot of you would love to see that happen. Yet, for some reason, I do still see the Dust Brothers retaining here… maybe, I need to be a bit more optimistic… in all honesty, I am ready for The Ascension to debut now and add something new/fresh to the division.

Despite my pessimism, we still get MIZDOW – what do I really have to complain about? If any of you haven’t seen this week's SmackDown yet, watch it just to see what he does. The guy is hilarious.

Bray Wyatt Vs. Dean Ambrose… Okay… I am trying to hold in that pessimism once again… Let me just come out with saying that I am disappointed with this feud and it is NOT due to either of the guys or their talents, I am just not happy right now with how the storyline is developing. The ending of HIAC had me thinking that this feud would be seen as massive, now of course the Authority storyline would take centre stage but I did think Ambrose/Wyatt would get more TV time than it has been receiving. From what we have seen so far, the few minutes on each show have proved that this angle can be incredible, if handled correctly and provided with enough time. I loved the backstage angle on SmackDown last week and Ambrose’s promo this week as well (which I have already seen), which also leads me to saying that, with certain guys, them constantly cutting promos on the other would most likely get repetitive, predictable and boring… But NOT with these two; they are both crazy, unpredictable and they draw fans in. However, as of right now, it has overall been pretty slow… you have a 3 hour show weekly, surely you can give these guys 10/15 minutes… or am I wrong?

In terms of the actual storyline, the addition of Ambrose’s father and personal life from his past has been captivating, it’s a side we haven’t seen in a while and a side of Ambrose we haven’t ever seen; some of the greatest feuds have had that personal touch to it.

This is one of my dream feuds, so don’t get me wrong, I am still extremely excited for this match, mostly to see how both these guys will tell their story… they are incredible talents and one of the things that they are both incredible at, are telling a story inside that ring; this is overall what I am looking forward to most, over the actual wrestling.

This feud without a doubt will be far from over after SS, so I am optimistic about where it can go and my only negativity is how it is being not built as that important. I do see Wyatt winning here by getting the upper hand on Ambrose through his mind-games somehow.

Also, who else is dying to see both guys in the ring just cutting a promo on one another for 10 minutes? Heavenly or what?!

Despite my negativity on how this feud has begun, it can continue and end on a high.

Now for the main event, a traditional 5 on 5 Survivor Series match will see Team Authority (Rollins, Rusev, Henry, Harper, Kane) Vs. Team Cena (Cena, Ziggler, Rowan, Ryback, Show). If Team Authority lose, they’re out of power, if Team Cena lose, the entire team, besides Cena will be fired. The build to this match has been pretty good, despite neglecting basically everything else, the focus and tension surrounding this match has been built well. After finally this past week on Raw seeing the final line up for each teams; I can say that I am overall excited. Excited due to the fact that there are guys on both sides that are being put in big positions that they so rightfully deserve, in order to shine; knowing that Rollins/Harper/Rowan/Ziggler/Ryback etc. are all main-eventing a PPV makes me hopeful that the future is indeed bright and that WWE are realising that they can elevate multiple guys at the same time. Sure, the WWE World Champ isn’t around so it has helped guys in building themselves up, but despite this, it does prove that WWE knows to stop relying on the same crop of talent all the time (despite Cena of course).

I expect the match to go pretty long, and am also expecting a whole lot of twists and turns; this match needs to be highly unpredictable which to their credit, it already is. There needs to be shock value, whether that is Orton coming back for vengeance, someone screwing someone over or a random return, it needs to happen... and I am optimistic that we will get this (see, I can be positive). 

Every guy needs his time to shine but did anyone else think that HHH himself would be in the match? It would have made a lot of sense… I mean, he did get in the ring a few months back just to get rid of The Shield, so why wouldn’t he get in the ring to prevent The Authority losing power, now?... Odd.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to predict the outcome here but I am edging towards the unpopular opinion of Team Authority coming out on top, but only due to some type of screw over, with something massive happening on Raw the next night. Overall, I do see this as the end of Team Authority, but in a very unpredictable way.

Who do you guys think will come out on top? Let me know - @WrestlingMenu

- Zara

Reasons Why WWE Is Not Exciting Me

WARNING: Controversial Post Ahead.

1.     John Cena
 Now let me explain, before you think I’m a typical Cena hater and I need to “get over it”, I am “over it” but I am also sick of it. I have never been a fan of Cena, ever since he debuted, I have neither liked him nor disliked him… he was just there who happened to be a massive star, I never connected with the guy and never will. I understand why his face is plastered all over the place and why he “needs” to be on every show, but at the same time, it is 2014 and the fact that he has such a massive, prominent part on the show every week just highlights the failures of the company and well, Vince McMahon. Imo, as typical and cliché as this may sound, he is a boring, repetitive guy and they just go around in circles with him; tease a heel turn/preach about never giving up/pander to the crowd to get them cheap pops/shout about how he is going to walk into a ppv and walk out the champ… you get the idea. People joke about it, but it is 100% true and that leads me to my next point…

2.     The lack of stars

     The reason why Cena is so heavily forced onto our TV screens imo, is due to this. There is so much talent within the company right now, more than there has been in a long, long time, yet the use of this talent is puzzling and bizarre. I understand that building up stars can take months, even years and fully getting “over” isn’t easy, but when a guy does slowly get hot and start to develop some steam, why is it all taken away? Cesaro and Bray Wyatt are perfect examples of this. Post WM30, Cesaro was on fire, crowds were getting behind him, fans were excited about him and what did it lead towards? Being unnecessarily paired with Paul Heyman, delaying a face turn and losing every match he is ever in. I genuinely felt for the guy last night… anyone else think of Zack Ryder? He is main event level talent along with Wyatt, but I don’t understand the booking, I really don’t? If anyone can provide me positive insight into this, please do, I would love to hear it.

Having multiple stars IS possible, it has been achieved before, just look at the attitude era; I used to view every guy, no matter where they were on the show, as a top guy. So, before anyone says you can’t have so many guys at the top, you absolutely can... it just depends on how it is done, which one again leads me to my next point…

3.     The legitimacy of the US/IC Title’s
This links to actually building up the IC/US Titles as credible, legitimate and important Championships. With the lack of the WWE Champ around, you would think that the WWE would use this time to build up these two titles which come on lets face it, no one even cares about anymore. Dolph Ziggler being the IC Champ has 100% bought some excitement back to the title but I do want to see a proper, legitimate feud with two guys; Ziggler and Cesaro could have been something BIG, if they actually put a story behind it… I mean, I know I have no idea how to book a wrestling show, but is it seriously that hard to make a title feud have a little background to it? The US Title is a complete and utter joke, everyone used to criticize Ambrose and I won’t lie, I myself didn’t like how he barley defended the title when he was the champ but man, Sheamus has been even worse, why does he even have the strap?... The match between he and The Miz at HIAC was simply for comedy purposes, don’t get me wrong, Sandow did keep me entertained throughout it but, can we put some seriousness and legitimacy back into the title, please?... Just put the belt on Rusev and as much as Rusev does not interest me, him holding the US Title certainly would and at least it would make the championship mean something and be worth fighting for.

4.     The lack of captivating storytelling

     This once again leads me on to another point (can I just say I love how this all links…). Storytelling and proper feuds are needed; I am not shitting on the company, I mean, look at Ambrose/Rollins, their feud has been captivating, intense and whenever they’re on the screen we want to see what will happen next… right? So it shows that having intense rivalries are 100% possible. I understand that up and down the card, it may be difficult to do, but there is way too much of a lack of it at the moment. At least give the IC/US title feuds something legitimate to work with and give us all something we want to tune in for every week. For me, one of the main reasons I have been watching every week, despite the lack of the WWE Champ has been to see where the Ambrose/Rollins feud goes next… which highlights their great talent and storytelling. No one wants to see guest hosts (that no one outside of the US has ever heard of) parading around the ring or a man dressed up in a bunny suit beating up big dudes (to their credit, we haven’t seen him in a while); it is outdated and WWE need to get with the times.

Now, before everyone thinks that I am a typical wrestling fan and all I do is complain, please read my previous posts where I always attempt to pick out the positives in the WWE, even through the worst times. Last nights Raw simply frustrated me as I believe there could have been so many things done a lot better; one of my main issues was that in the closing moments of the HIAC, the man himself, Bray Wyatt finally returned… in an amazing and BIG way, costing Ambrose the match against Rollins and in turn leading to everyone debating about this. We were all talking about the promos, the way the storyline could go down, why there should have been a definite end, what happens with Ambrose/Rollins… and the list goes on. Yet, WWE decided to ignore this “hype” and despite the great promos from both, make it feel weirdly lackluster on Raw... even though this was what CLOSED out a PPV! Don’t get me wrong, I am all for a slow build but I felt confused afterwards, they should have kept the steam going and kept it big… I guess we will see where this heads in the following weeks and I am possibly being too whiny.  

Nevertheless, there was still a lot of good on the show, Randy Orton's intense mic work and that RKO out of nowhere to Rollins were great which I totally called 1 minute before by the way! Ryback’s return did put a smile on my face and I am glad that the crowd reacted how they did to him, I hope there are big things in the works for him. Rollins performance throughout the night was simply put, pretty phenomenal and although Cena puts a downer on everything for me, and despite the ending to Raw, I cannot ignore that. He is an example of WWE doing things right and that is a credit to them and his own incredible talent; although this post is why I’m NOT excited with WWE, I AM excited to see this guys future, his cash in moment will be something to see.

I don’t know anything about business or what needs to be done to keep the company going but in an ideal world, I would love for them to take a few risks and to attempt to make the company fresh; the talent is there, give them something worthwhile to work with. Ultimately, it is all down to complacency… is it not?

As always, open to all your thoughts. Let me know - @WrestlingMenu

- Zara

Ambrose Vs. Rollins, HIAC Thoughts...

Insanity.

That is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this match, from the second it began right up until the closing moments. This could be taken as a positive or as a negative.

Before I go into this, the first point I want to take notice of is the fact that this match went on last; it was the main event. WWE took the right decision and I am so glad that they did because Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins proved last night, why they truly deserve to be in the closing spot and on a main-event level. WWE clearly knew/know the excitement from fans behind these two and not having them close the show would have been a travesty. Ending it with Orton/Cena would certainly have not been “best for business”… I didn’t find their HIAC match all that interesting, the amount of false finishes did not excite me, but of course, you may disagree.

The match started off BIG, and that is probably an understatement. Ambrose climbing the cell right at the start made me feel as though one guy was going to be thrown off of it (in the safest way possible… if you want to call it safe). I did not imagine both guys hanging on to the side of the cell, from a pretty high distance, with it resulting in both crashing and burning by going through both announce tables. I have heard some complaints about how it wasn’t high enough and although I would have definitely loved one of them going off the top of the cell, I still loved this spot, one of my favourites in a long, long time. Both guys looked like they landed in a pretty bad way but I do believe that, that bump should have been placed somewhere later on in the match because although there were some great moments after that, the table spot was the biggest, most shocking; I do understand that WWE probably wanted this match to start off big however.

What I did not like was Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury coming out with Rollins and actually getting involved quite heavily in the opening of the match. Imo there was no need for them to climb the cell and get beaten down by Ambrose once they reached the top. What did it achieve? I would have much rather preferred Rollins climbing to the top without hesitation… I mean, this is a HIAC match where both guys have history, a story about betrayal & vengeance behind them and a legitimate hatred for each other and hence, want to destroy one another, right? I was not keen on having Rollins look afraid. It’s HIAC and after the past 4/5 months, both guys should have seemed completely fearless. I didn’t feel that absolute animosity and hatred from both men who were former “brothers” coming through the screen. This type of match is the final resort for a feud fuelled by hate, you can not get any bigger than a HIAC match in WWE, especially since how the company book how devastating it is and how there is nothing above it. So, after the finish of the match (which I will go into more depth about) leads me to believe that we will never get pay-off for this feud in a BIG way, unless they decide to one day down the line go through the HIAC route again. This has been the feud of the year imo and a HIAC match is the blow off match, so I am not going to lie, the finish was slightly disappointing.

BUT… before anyone starts hating…

I also understand that this is a rivalry that will go on for years to come, WWE clearly realise what they have with Ambrose/Rollins and how invested fans can be in this feud and so it leaves the window wide open for them to always be able to revisit it at anytime. Nevertheless, I did want to see a definitive finish after them going back and forth for 5 months now, neither guy would have looked weak by taking a loss inside the cell and the place would have gone crazy for an Ambrose victory.

Talking about weak, was I the only one pissed at how badly the commentators sold Ambrose kicking out of the curbstomp?! This is a move that has been built up for months as devastating and no one has yet kicked out of it, no one until last night when Dean did and the commentators could not have cared less. Their underwhelming selling rubs off on fans and those watching; it was disappointing. Overall, commentary was garbage for this match last night, announcing HIAC can in fact make a match, as we have seen previously from JR.

Yet, this idea of a lack of hatred transcending the TV screen could have been due to the restrictions that the PG rating has on a HIAC match. I am never one to complain about the company being PG, a good product whether it is PG or not, is a good product and that has no relevance. Yet in this type of match stip, it does. Blood is needed, blood adds devastation and a great visual to the match up and reflects how desperately both men want to inflict pain on the other. The lack of it, is a major factor. Blood makes fans emotionally invested in a HIAC match and you can’t deny that.

Also, just to randomly add this in, which is just as random as Kane appearing, does anyone know what the 5 second appearance of Kane was for?! Was it needed? WWE just can’t keep him away can they? The one thing I didn’t want was interference and that was what we received the most of.

Overall, the guys are capable of a 5* match but the booking stopped it from being a whole lot better and I do wish the match would have been a bit longer too, I wanted to see them go at it for a while. I’m not saying it was bad… don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing match but from these two guys, there is so much to see and so much more we could have received; that is how talented they are. There is no one to blame but WWE. What I did love was the storytelling, which is what has kept us all so invested in this rivalry. I loved the emotion Ambrose portrayed throughout the match and the use of cinder blocks made the story come full circle (despite not being used); strong, passionate storylines are what WWE are in general, lacking today.

The finish of the match swerved us completely and was entirely unexpected, which is usually a good thing. I can’t deny that I love finishes to PPV’s that have everyone talking and debating about why it was done and where things will go from here on out. This is no different! The lights going out with the sound of Bray Wyatt mumbling, first of all is SO creepy, I hate it but at the same time because it is so creepy, love it; weird satanic type of stuff. The lantern in the centre of the ring with a hologram appearing (potentially sister Abigail) was amazing, I loved the imagery and it was completely unique, how often do we see something like that in the WWE? And I find it a complete joke that people are complaining about a hologram… it was different... for once. I definitely had goosebumps.

Wyatt attacking Ambrose could potentially lead to a variety of things e.g. The end of Rollins/Ambrose and Wyatt attempting to recruit Ambrose, Rollins being in on the whole spectacle etc. But despite, all of this – this is the one feud I have always wanted to see, both guys are insane and I know everyone is saying it but that is because it is 100% true… THE PROMOS…IMAGINE ALL THE PROMOS… if both are allowed to let loose, then this could be something very, very special and the in ring work will be very unique. So for all of this, I cannot wait.

Bray Wyatt has in a past interview even said himself:

“Me and him (Ambrose) have that special chemistry where we can bring out something that no one has ever seen, because we’re both a little crazy.”

Some say this should have waited for Raw and there should have been a proper definitive finish which I did initially think but at the same time, it puts massive heat on Wyatt and massive sympathy on Ambrose - it builds both of them up and will elevate them. I am very curious and eager for Raw tonight. Just the visual of two insane men going at it will be something to see… them crazy eyes.

Overall, I don’t think that the HIAC PPV should exist, it ruins the cell’s credibility and they should maybe get rid of the match altogether… and only bring it out if there is legitimately going to be carnage.

Also, this finish could potentially inject new life into the WWE; new fresh feuds are exactly what the WWE needs, especially after Cena destroyed what Wyatt had going for him. Also, we will most likely be seeing Rollins/Orton pretty soon as well.

As you can tell, imo there were a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. This match and the finish is bitter sweet but if the WWE book this feud correctly and I mean in the best way possible, no lazy booking or finishes, but for it to be a massive storyline, I am on board and all for it. An “okay” rivalry will not cut it for me; especially after how this match ended… it needs to be big and to prove that the lack of payoff for Ambrose/Rollins was worth it.

This has been a pretty debatable match. What do you guys think? Lemme know - @WrestlingMenu

- Zara