by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinRemember when there was feud in the WWE? Remember the feeling it used to give you, watching CM Punk and John Cena, or The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels beating the loving bajesus out of each other, dropping insult after insult in promos that lit the WWE Universe on fire? And we as fans knew that the feud would end, not with a wimper, but with a vicious Hell in a Cell bout that would leave us screaming for more. Cheers of 'Holy Shit' and 'This is Awesome' were commonplace and everyone would go home happy.
Then WWE did what it always does when they stumble blindly onto a good thing, either it shoves it down our unwilling throats at every opportunity; see Roman Reigns, John Cena, Rocky Maivia or Bobby Lashley. Or, they don't get it and destroy it by giving it a stupid gimmick or just booking them in bafflingly stupid angles; see Enzo and Cass, The Club, Bayley, Dusty Rhodes or The Red bloody Rooster. However, with Hell in a Cell, the WWE decided that the 'feud ender' should have its own PPV, similar to such successful gimmick themed PPVs such as Breaking Point or Fatal 4 Way. Needless to say, it's been, a mixed bag to say the least! Since the inaugural event in 2009, the gimmick has grown very stale, and far from it continuing as the terrifying, brutal ender of feuds that it always has been, it's now a tired concept that the WWE have over saturated! Never has this been so apparent as this year when, seemingly overcome with love of the gimmick, Mick Foley has thrown 3 separate matches into the cell this time. 3 matches in a cell...in one night...Good grief! Yes, this PPV hasn't really built anything to make me interested in the same way I feel Smackdown builds some of it's own feuds (NOT JACK SWAGGER VS. BARON CORBIN! Do not use that as your example), in fact the main star of the RAW show at the moment is Chris Jericho, a man not taking part in the PPV at all!? To then put every main event into the cell just seems stupid, and a bit directionless. The only thing that I feel could redeem this PPV is the idea of Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks being the main, main event (of the three billed), making history as the first women's match in the cell, but reports have surfaced that big, bad Vinnie Mac doesn't want the women's match on last (article in Wrestling News). This hasn't soured my thoughts on the PPV as a whole, as I feel it will just play out in the exact same way it always does! No change, Lord no, apparently WWE fears change like I fear a Dana Brooke promo. Has the gimmick themed PPV died out? Yes! If WWE keep over saturating us with Hell in a Cell matches then obviously a PPV of them gets boring extremely quickly! Let's make this match interesting...Erm let's...Erm... throw it in a Hell In A Cell match! Something that offends me on a molecular level, is the way that these matches rarely, if ever, actually utilise the 'Hellacious Structure!' at all. Yes there's the standard, here's a fence, I'm going to throw you into it, followed up by the same spot with the roles reversed. I'm not into it WWE stop forcing me to be into it! Powerbombs on top of the cell, chokeslams through the roof, spears through the side of the metal cage is what these matches are made for, but the sheer over exposure we have to them has made us numb to these spots if they ever do come along - similar to how I feel when I watch a Matthew McConaughey film, where good acting is like trying to find a public toilet when you are desparate for a poo...impossible! Its a shame as it's the same that befell Elimination Chamber, matches which I love! Don't let the same fate befall the concept that has given us the King of the Ring 1999 match between Undertaker and Mankind, or the debut of Kane in 1997 following an excellent match between Undertaker and Shawn Michaels! Don't do it WWE, just make it a once in a blue-moon stipulation and make it as violent as you can in the goddamn PG era, to build it up again as this terrifying structure once more. Do this, and the WWE Universe will be on board, 100%! by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinWhat happens when a roided out Bull of a man takes on an unstoppable boulder with two finishing moves capable of making your spine jump out of your mouth at the biggest pay per view event of the year?
7 minutes of fierce...staring...!? Yes the infamous Wrestlemania XX match which saw Brock-I've just eaten a mountain- Lesnar take on Bill- Who the hell put me in these silly cycling shorts- Goldberg. It was viewed and billed as the clashing of 2 Goliaths, the match that everyone wanted, but when it came, rumours had surfaced (and by rumours we all know it means verifiable truth, after all, WWE don't know how to keep anything a secret; Sting, Batista, Bret Hart) that Lesner was bound for his beloved Vikings and a career in the NFL and Goldberg would not be renewing his $1 million (?) year long contract. Did the fans accept these truths? Nope, not even a little! The 'match' was an exhibition of heckling as chants of 'BOOOORING' and 'YOU SOLD OUT' echoed from every corner as fans tried to boo the blue blazes out of the place! Never has a spear, F5, spear and jackhammer felt so tame. Now obviously Brock came back after his uber successful (sic) stint in NFL and a few years maiming people to within an inch of their lives in UFC, but Goldberg kind of died afterwards. He opened his very successful gym sure, but he never would reach the heights of his WCW unbeaten streak, outwardly slamming WWE on the TV! Now, with the brand split and WWE realising far, far too late that they didn't quite have enough wrestlers to pad out the rosters, there have been rumours a-flying about the company contacting previous stars...top of that list? A Mr. William Goldberg! Now I know I know, this rumour has also bought us WWE talking to Lashley, Kurt Angle, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Jon Morrison and half the stars of wrestling promotions around the world, almost crippling the NXT development centre by drafting almost all of its female talent except of course Asuka (God she's brilliant.) But as the other rumours have quietened, all disappeared altogether, it seems Goldberg's return is a foregone conclusion, being more or less confirmed in JR's podcast in which he stated the deal was basically done, and Goldberg right now is on the advertisement trail having just been included in the WWE2K17 game. Even more than this... Rumours are beginning to surface of a match already scheduled for this years Survivor Series - Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg! Now, would you want to see this? Lesnar seems to be sent out to squash opponents in the most vicious way possible before pinning (TKO - Summerslam), but Goldberg would be a worthy opponent surely? He's still in unbelievable shape and his power would give Lesnar genuine food for thought. Obviously Goldberg's age is a problem as he is now in 40's, but he never had long matches, preferring quick 10 minute power matches, surely this would also be in Lesnar's wheelhouse! The only risk? ... Have they left it too long? Is Goldberg the draw he once was? Have people forgiven him (and Lesnar) for their diabolically terrible match at Wrestlemania? Do we care about this match? My answer? Yes! It cannot possibly be as bad as the last one, which is a plus and I genuinely feel giving the beast a match of this magnitude could potentially lead to something special, what I have no idea, but it certainly has a bit of magic about it! What do you think? by Rob Goodwin @REALRobGoodwinWatch wrestling again they said...it will be fun they said...now I haven't watched wrestling since the lorded Attitude Era, a time when it was acceptable to crucify your fellow wrestlers and make women bark like dogs...wow why did I stop watching? But, I returned and, though a great deal of it was still utter tripe, there was one thing, one wrestler who's unpredictability, ferocity and character work, hooked me in instantly...that man?
Mr. Bray Wyatt! This was back in 2014, as the Wyatt Family stable began to excel itself with victories over The Shield and many other stables and single competitors. I waited with bated breath at each show, waiting for the cocophony of noise that announced a Wyatt arrival. Shamlessly I will say, I loved it! But then, a truth hit me like a sloppy stink face, a realisation if you will: the realisation that WWE couldn't keep momentum with a wrestler if he was going downhill on a skateboard! Slowly but surely, the Wyatt's began to lose, more frequently, not just the stable but the man himself! Standout losses include Alex Riley, Kofi Kingston and 2 consecutive Wrestlemania losses. Surely this was the end, especially as Braun Strowman, a man with as much wrestling grace as a lethargic cow being mounted by another, more lethargic cow, had joined the stable (yay! He's enormous urgh!) And I wept big manly tears for my bearded hero. But, a light shone on the horizon...the brand split! Surely this would invigorate his character, elevate him to the top, make him the star and true dominant heel he should have been! His first two shows were...interesting but not a total disaster, losing matches against Ziggler and Ambrose, and, though they strived to make him look strong in defeat, his words, his promos that hooked me in for so long, now just made him look like a deluded Brian Blessed rambling about Wolves lost in the woods wearing snakeskins and professing to be a God...a fairly small, pathetic God that keeps losing...surely! It is at this point that we must admit that Wyatt's last win was at Battleground, his last singles win, a fairly underwhelming fart of a match against Xavier Woods designed to Big-E him up about having conquered his fears (PUN!) At this point, still as a Wyatt fan, I began to politely lose my temper as only a Britishman can, threatening to write a strongly worded letter and...join a queue....or....something! But, one last hope glowed bright in the distance! Backlash 2016, the Smackdown pay-per-view! Surely Wyatt would win!? Even after the Kayfabe not so Kayfabe injury to Randy Orton, surely Wyatt would win against an old, very stiff, very mediocre incarnation of Kane (a wrestler whom btw, I adored until the bloody suits and cups of tea gimmick! This is why I hate you WWE, you know what you did), even after the RKO from Orton, surely Wyatt would still win...of course this didn't happen, Kane won clean! I just don't understand it; at this point in his career, what possible momentum could Kane possibly need or garner from this? Yet again Wyatt looked like a drunk bumbling idiot after promos declaring himself the biggest predator! Then, just to top off this rant, at the 4th October showing of Smackdown, he lost via countout to Kane AGAIN!! At this point I'm now tearing huge chunks of hair from my own very poor Bray Wyatt imitation beard I have grown in tribute! What are they doing to this man? What is his direction? How can the promos still come when he loses on a comically regular basis? The mind boggles! At this point I fear superstars would be infinitely more fearful of the Gobbledygooker (Google it, Google it now) than Wyatt! It’s a shame and it shows some of WWE's slapdash booking and seeming inability to see the end of a character’s run through properly! If Wyatt loses against Orton at No Mercy, which he will let's be honest, then I genuinely don't know what will happen! I fear for him and it's a bloody great shame! What's next? A feud with Jack Swagger? Mojo Rawley? What's the point, well done WWE, a chance for an absolutley monstrous heel and look what you've done. It's like Heidenreich all over again...oh no...wait |