Hopefully Adam Rose and his molly-riddled posse of bandits have cleared out since Avicii's death cult concert this past week, as the WWE will be live at TD Garden this coming weekend, bringing the Money in the Bank pay per view to town. Your humble sports entertainment blogger will be in attendance this Sunday, sitting dead center in the balcony, and I’m expecting an entertaining show. The last pay per view that the WWE hosted in Boston was Survivor Series last November, which proved to be easily the lowest point of the last 12 months, with the Big Show in a main event against Randy Orton.
The WWE’s creative and booking teams must have been working overtime the past few months since WrestleMania. Instead of doing a match by match preview of the Money in the Bank pay per view, let’s look at four of the variables that have toyed with their best laid plans over the past few months:
1) Daniel Bryan’s neck injury – Even before the stack of dimes that Mr Bryan calls a neck decided to fail him, the Yes Movement started to seem to putter out. The highest of highs (70,000 people screaming Yes at the Superdome) couldn’t match the lowest of lows (another feud with Kane?) WWE had to find a way to strip Bryan of the belt, put the belt onto someone worthy, and keep Bryan relevant (all during what is normally their weakest time of year) must have led to some sleepless nights for the writing staff.
2) Batista’s Failed Run/Movie Career – WWE brought back Big Dave/Bluetista/Drax the Destroyer in January to what they thought was going to be a strong and positive fan reaction. Apparently skinny jeans, euro track jackets and Godsmack logo tattoos don’t get over with the sports entertainment crowd as well as vegan diets, beards and chanting “Yes.” A well-timed month or two off for Batista might have actually worked perfect for WWE, as they could have him take the pin at Payback and walk off tv for a bit of time going forward. Since January, the guy has won the Royal Rumble, but probably spent more time getting pinned than anyone expected initially. His recent visit to NXT, relatively amusing promo and powerbomb of Bo Dallas could hint that they’re fixing to bring him back as a babyface once he’s done selling Guardians of the Galaxy.
3) The Death of the Stable – Not since Attitude Era/nWo years have we seen “stables” take over the entire business in such a strong way. Between the Shield, the Wyatts, and Evolution (and 3MB? RIP L,) the strength of the Stable was at an all-time high. Within three quick months, we’ve seen the Shield and Evolution completely disband, and we’re now seeing hints (new entrance music) that WWE may be separating Harper and Rowan off from Bray Wyatt as well. Every fantasy booker in the internet wrestling community had his own reason for which member of the Shield would be the one to eventually turn heel, and there were strong arguments for each. Roman Reigns had the natural heel look with long hair, Ambrose is a complete psychopath cut from the Rowdy Roddy Piper mold, and Rollins has proven to just work in a cocky heel role. By killing off the Stables that looked so strong in the month or so after Wrestlemania, WWE has probably given themselves more roster flexibility to book different angles going forward.
4) Stagnation – Let’s not kid ourselves, Paul Heyman is among the best things going in wrestling over the last 20 years, but something about his run with Cesaro hasn’t totally clicked. I understand and appreciate the need to keep Brock Lesnar in the front of the fans’ mind, but the over-selling of the end of the streak, when we haven’t seen Brock or the Undertaker since April is essentially burying the importance of Cesaro and Heyman’s relationship. Too much of the “mid card” has been stagnant for almost a year. Ziggler, Swagger, Big Show, Miz, Sheamus, Del Rio, Big E, Curtis Axel, Sandow, Titus Young, Fandango, Kofi, Mark Henry, R Truth, Xavier Woods, Ryback…that’s over a dozen names that have stagnated over the past twelve months. WWE has to find a way to balance between bringing up the hot NXT talents like Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt and pushing them strong versus letting the mid card completely deflate upon itself.
Sunday Night should be fun, and I'll follow up with a recap Monday or Tuesday. Follow me on Twitter for live-tweeting of WWE Network/Raw/PPVs @the123fridge.
Fridge
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