Show Me The Money

On June 29th, WWE is in an interesting situation. And as fans, so are we.

A lot of the fun of being a wrestling fan, the thing that drives us to want more, and feeds our thirst for knowledge, is in the mystery, the not knowing, the thrill of being taken along for the ride. Obviously with the internet, there is very little that people can't find out, and as such, future directions are typically known months in advance, and the only thing we really don't know is the detail of the execution. The thrill of ride is often sacrificed.

Though I do hate the fact that Daniel Bryan got hurt when he did, and the sad fact that he has been completely derailed by poor planning and worse timing, this does create a very unique scenario, one we don't often get any more.

At Money In The Bank, there are eight directions the company could conceivably go. Of them, six are completely realistic. And the beauty is that we have no idea which path they're taking.

Eight men are wrestling for the WWE Title in a Ladder Match, at an event likely to start the course for Summerslam. The lingering presence of Brock Lesnar looms large, as his inevitable return may well play a factor in the outcome. But since the purpose of this site is analysis, let's examine the seven possibilities that lie in store.

Roman Reigns

People loved The Shield, they really did. And as much as that is to be credited to the three individuals, equal credit (if not more) needs to go to the much-maligned creative team. Regardless of what anybody wants to say, I can't think of anything in recent memory that was booked as inch-perfectly as the Shield's entire run. Three unknowns brought in, straight to the top, immediately portrayed as important. Given promo time, put over everyone for months and months, rarely jobbed, never sacrificed. Elevated correctly over former stars.

Was there more mileage in the group? Possibly, but regardless, the timing of the split may also be a masterstroke. Every single member of the team is still completely fresh, and now must sink or swim.

And that's the interesting thing with Reigns. Roman Reigns is going to get the chance to be THE guy. And not a half-assed chance either - the company reportedly sees him as the next John Cena, and that comes with a lot of protection. But people need to realise right now that the job description for the top guy is much different to being one third of a perfectly booked act with two other incredible performers. It's going to be all on him. To work. To talk. To convey. To connect. Not saying he can't do it, but he's got a lot to prove, and this is the time to prove it.

The flipside is that being put in this Ladder Match is dangerous. It seems incredibly soon to win the WWE Title, and we've seen rushed megapushes tarnish potential top stars before (as Randy Orton can attest).

The possibility of Reigns Vs. Lesnar not being at WrestleMania is enough to turn my stomach, and while I'm as big a supporter of the business stepping into the future as anybody, this is one move I wouldn't make.

Not yet, anyway.

Cesaro

This one is a big surprise. He seemed like a shoo-in for the actual briefcase (a position I now see Seth Rollins sliding into very naturally, possibly with the King Of The Ring '99 finish as the corporate favourite), so his entry into the big one is quite surprising.

Whispers and rumblings seem to indicate that Cesaro may end up in the title mix at some point, and that a Cesaro/Lesnar match may be on the cards.

Since WrestleMania, Cesaro's momentum has somewhat slowed down. A lot of people point to the alliance with Paul Heyman as a reason why, but I disagree. The timing is strictly co-incidental. The break-up and feud with fellow heel Jack Swagger was an awkward one for anybody to thrive in, and since then, Cesaro has been directionless. Treading water in the middle with Sheamus isn't doing anything for anyone.

If he was being elevated at the same time as the Heyman element was added, that's one thing. But ultimately, I think this is where his own weakness comes to light. I wrote a column called "The Ceiling Of Cesaro" about a month ago, where I said that the overall package and presentation of Cesaro needs improvement, and that a lot of it lied with him. The look. The charisma. The promos. Granted, he has Paul Heyman to talk for him, but the fans know that Heyman is the established star of the two. The Heyman rub alone didn't make Curtis Axel. It didn't make Ryback either. You can't rely on the manager entirely if the client is booked to tread water.

But to be devil's advocate here, Cesaro himself hasn't done anything particularly memorable other than a strong match with Sheamus at Payback, but guess what, we see really good matches with a lot of different guys on TV for free too. We need more from Cesaro for him to break out. Cesaro hasn't been built to be the champion. If they pull the trigger, and he gets it out of nowhere, who knows - with Heyman and the megapush, it may work. But it is, without a doubt, a gamble at best.

Alberto Del Rio

No.
















Randy Orton

2014, thus far, has been the most heatless year for Randy Orton since 2006. Almost every avenue this character can go down has been explored ad nauseam at this point, and his last WWE Title run was a ratings and Pay-Per-View bust.

Orton has a place on the show, but to be perfectly honestly, near the championship is not that place any more. They may be tempted to go this route on the belief that he "never lost the belt", and makes a natural opponent for Daniel Bryan's comeback if the idea is to put title back on Bryan before or at Summerslam, but I don't see how this route excites anybody in any way, or, most importantly, ends up getting anybody over more than they already are.

He should be in the match because he's a name associated with the title, and you need that in there with the new guys. But that's all, folks.

Sheamus

This guy has had his chance to be a difference maker in the company, and it didn't pan out.

A good worker for a guy his size, I can appreciate he's talented, but at the same time there is absolutely nothing interesting about him that tells me he needs to be anything more than he is right now.

A guy to hang around the upper midcard, win most of the time and lose to the guys who are top priorities. A Sheamus win would get us nowhere, and this isn't the time to be going nowhere.

John Cena

This is where this match gets tricky. If we absolutely must have a babyface winning, Cena is the choice. I know it's not what a lot of people want to hear, and I'm not saying I want him to hold it for any length of time. But of the three babyface choices, he's the most credible, he brings stability to the belt because people truly believe he's the top guy (and given the last year of booking the title could do with a credibility boost), and when the next big heel beats him for it, it means a lot more beating John Cena for the title than anything else will. I still wouldn't do it.

To me the more interesting options are the heels. I fear Reigns would be hurt in the long run more than helped if they pull the trigger now, and I wouldn't take the risk on him. Let that build.

The downside is that during a time when we need the product to progress, this would reaffirm the belief that we are riding the treadmill.

In addition, the only justifiable reason for a babyface victory is that the winner faces Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. And if this match takes place again, anything other than a Lesnar victory is inexcusable.

Bray Wyatt

I think this is the pick I would go with. New. Interesting. Dynamic. 

A character like Bray Wyatt's, exactly like those that came before him, needs to be fed constantly to stay relevant. If Wyatt ends up as a floating character like so many others in WWE, his luster will fade, and it's not as easy to get back. 

We also are yet to see how Wyatt will fare at the top away from Cena, who, for better or worse, always guarantees maximum audience interest and interaction. But if the people want to ride this wave, there is more immediate potential in Bray than any other option. You have the ready made match with Daniel Bryan at Summerslam (with a callback to the Royal Rumble where Wyatt pinned Bryan), and you can go anywhere in the world with it, depending on which way the wind blows. Fans want to cheer him? Then go with it. You want him as the purest of evil heels, you can go that way too.

The only downside is that, with Brock on the horizon, the fact is the shadow his return will cast following his WrestleMania win will easily engulf any WWE Title match that doesn't involve him. And that isn't the start you want for a first time champion that you're going to want to bank on for the next few years.

Kane

Speaking of new, interesting and dynamic, here is the old, uninteresting and uninspired option.

I hate this character. In 2014, it has no business at the top of the card, and the fact this is all they had for Daniel Bryan, the man who won it all at WrestleMania 30, is a disgrace, and the biggest indictment of the creative team's current presentation there could possibly be.

With that said, as much as I absolutely hate the possibility, there is a case to be made for Kane. And the case is - he holds it for one month and jobs out to Battleground, proper, to Daniel Bryan once and for all. If the destination is Bryan Vs. Lesnar at Summerslam, the logical choice is, unfortunately, for the man they pass off as a Demon (you know, the guy that got beat in 3 minutes at Mania), to win it in a match where it hurts nobody in losing, and has a built-in (and short) shelf life. He put Bryan out, he has to face him on his return. I hate it, but that's what we've got. It can make sense, it all just depends on the destination.

Final Verdict

With the F4W newsletter reporting Cena as the most likely winner this past weekend, a lot of the above (written the prior week) seems to be verified. But ultimately, we don't know until Sunday. The wind is blowing in different directions than was originally forecast. And it's rare that we get swept along a different path, one we don't have knowledge or preconceived notions of. 

Knowledge is power, but power isn't everything. Enjoy the ride.

  

SCG Radio #3 - What Does Wrestling Need?

Click on the link below to listen to the latest Squared Circle Gazette Radio show, as we discuss what wrestling needs most in 2014, including some good debate on women's wrestling, whether wrestling is cyclical, the next top star, and much more...

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/b9w4fs/SCGRadio3-WhatDoesWrestlingNeed.mp3

Squared Circle Gazette Radio #1 & #2

Click on the links below to join us for the first two editions of Squared Circle Gazette Radio!

Myself, G. John Chase, Karl Jones and Luke Edwards are the panel for discussions about the following:

SCG Radio #1: Who Should Have Been The Top Guy, But Never Was?
http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/4ve68s/SCGRadio1-WhoShouldHaveBeenTheTopGuy.mp3

SCG Radio #2: Who In WWE Should Be Kept, And Who Should Be Fired?
http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/web/32ztns/SCGRadio2-RosterCuttingShow.mp3

Looking At The WWE's Disgusting Ultimatum To Daniel Bryan

With the stipulations now in place, it's being said that WWE is pressuring Daniel Bryan to return from his neck surgery in time for Money In The Bank.

The scenario where, if he is healthy he defends his title, or if not he is stripped of the belt, does nothing but threaten everything that Bryan has ever worked for. And with his grit and determination, his staggering mental toughness, clearly he's going to do whatever he can to hold on to his dream spot. It's the nature of wrestlers, especially the ones dedicated enough to make it to the top. Looked at from his perspective, you may take the stance that it's commendable.

But looking at the WWE's decision, I find it completely appalling.

Since WrestleMania 30, Daniel Bryan has had a tough time as WWE Champion. On his very first night as King, WWE couldn't have offered a more symbolic image to its viewers: Daniel Bryan unable to stand, lying beaten in the background, as Evolution and The Shield took centre stage with their first staredown. A sign of things to come. A combination of real life events (his honeymoon with Brie Bella and the death of his father) and terrible booking (Daniel Bryan's title reign being a low enough priority that all they had for him was Kane) stalled his run from the beginning, and things only got worse when word got out that Daniel Bryan needed neck surgery. Right now he is in no position to be taking bumps, with the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter stating that Bryan's rehab is slow going, and worse, that has been losing strength in his arm.

The Pay-Per-View is in three weeks. I understand the need to have your champion available, and to use the World Title on your big events. The company has shows to promote and all, but for putting the guy in this position, WWE need to be strapped into chairs and beaten with hammers. Have they not learned a single thing?

All this situation does, one more time, is demonstrate that underneath all the promotional bullshit, the campaigns, their Wellness policy, their rehab offers and their new initiative to help former employees go to college (WWE: The College Years needs to be Network viewing, by the way), when it comes to crunch time, they have the same bullish, ignorant mentality when it comes to the treatment of the talent that they always did.

Daniel Bryan fucks up his neck for the business. You either come back before you are ready or you lose your spot. And this won't be the first time this has happened in the last couple of years. Fandango was brought in, put over Chris Jericho at WrestleMania and treated like a hot commodity. Then he gets a concussion, and poof - all gone. Dolph Ziggler wins the World Championship, and suffers the exact same fate. Concussed and depushed. What kind of culture does this kind of mentality breed? The same one this company always did - fuck you and your health, we come first. Oh, and hide your injuries, because you'll be punished for them.

The road schedule in the 80s left a lot of casualties behind. Say what you want about the excesses of the time, and you'd be right to, but the old mentality of only being paid when you worked didn't help the massive painkiller problems and drug addictions that led to a lot of early demises. Ditto the 90s and early 2000s, where the bar was being raised and the envelope pushed, the environment encouraging guys to take incredible risks and keep on going. The results on the bodies spoke for themselves, and if they didn't, Dr. Youngblood sure would.

Daniel Bryan's win at Mania 30 led to a lot of comparisons to Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit from a decade earlier. Two undersized guys who, through incredible talent, broke through the roadblocks placed before them. And how did they do it? By doing things that they have no business doing to their bodies.

Eddie Guerrero defended his WWE Title against JBL at Judgment Day 2004, and was given a few weeks off afterwards, at the time believed to be as a result of a blood transfusion after his massive blade-job. As it later came out, he was actually given a break because he was told by his doctor that his back was absolutely destroyed, broken beyond belief, and that he needed to retire immediately. The pressures were getting to Eddie, and the title was taken from him.

But he carried on regardless, striving to get back to the top level, washing away the pain with high amounts of painkillers, increasing his steroid and human growth hormone use to dangerous levels in order to give his physique that extra something. We know how his story ended.

In 2001, Chris Benoit was doing diving headbutts from the top of a steel cage with a broken neck to try and get to the top. He used steroids his entire career, refusing to get off them even when he was out for a year with neck surgery, for fear of losing the slightest edge. He was renowned for his drive and focus. I'm not going to suggest the business made Benoit do what he did, but there were a lot of elements about it that stem from his desire to make it, and the pressure from the WWE, spoken or not, to do certain things that weren't healthy.

One look at an episode of Raw now reveals that the company is generally a lot cleaner on the steroids front than it has been for a while, but how the fuck WWE can't see how dangerous this decision is, and how shit-headed they are about how their decisions impact these guys lives in a negative way, is beyond me.

Even more frustrating, they don't need to take this foolish measure. This situation lends itself to a natural solution, one they should blatantly steal from the UFC - have the Money in the Bank Ladder Match be contested for the Interim WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Since they have absolutely no heels ready for Daniel Bryan right now anyway, this is the perfect way to set up a big match for Bryan upon his return to determine the real champion, one in which the fans will be behind Bryan 100% to maintain his threatened position. And more importantly than booking, it sets a positive precedent and sends the right message to the guys.

 Instead, you're rushing this guy back, and the match you're making him risk his health for is against Kane? WHY!?!?

I know the counter-argument. Daniel Bryan can say no. And you know what, if his neck is that bad, then he should. Because he doesn't want the fate of the guys who said "YES!"

The Ceiling Of Cesaro

As 2014 began, it became readily apparant that the man formerly known as Antonio Cesaro was gaining some tangible momentum, based on a number of stellar in-ring performances that highlighted his unique strength and distinctive style. WWE was able to parlay that momentum into a tremendous spot at WrestleMania, where Cesaro hoisted up Big Show, carried him across the ring and slammed him to the arena floor below. 24 hours later, and he was introduced as the newest Paul Heyman Guy, the sky seemingly the limit for the WWE's newest big time prospect, who now appeared to be as complete an act as ever.

Of course, the eventual destination of this alliance looks to be a babyface turn and an encounter with Brock Lesnar, a match custom made for Cesaro to look incredible in defeat. But as we stand today on the verge of the biggest push of Cesaro's career, it's time to be realists, and ask ourselves the tough question - does Cesaro have the goods to be a true top guy? As things stand right now, unfortunately, my gut instinct tells me no.

As good as he is (and he is) in the ring, there have been very, very few examples in history where that alone has been enough to get somebody to that top level, and a lot of the other elements needed don't appear to be there at this time in Cesaro's act. When you look at the entire package - the name, the music, the look, the promo, the charisma - if you had to score him on each criteria, even his most ardent fans would have to admit that he wouldn't score high on many of them. Once you're at the show, he is one of the most entertaining aspects of it, but he's not the guy that makes you buy the ticket. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying every single person needs all the bells and whistles, and I understand that he's intended to come off like a throwback, a bare-bones minimalist.

But let's look at that counter-point, that you can be a bare-bones minimalist in wrestling and get over huge. Because that is the argument for him. Look at the ones who did it successfully, and there is a massive difference between them and Cesaro.

Steve Austin was a bare-bones minimalist, but he has charisma out the ass, and more personality in his middle finger than Cesaro has been able to show thus far in his WWE run.

Taz was a great minimalist in ECW, but he could talk the talk, came off like a badass, had intensity for days, and had the entire Heyman presentation magic around him to back him up.

Arn Anderson was a great example of a guy presented as a straight wrestler, a no-nonsense ass kicker. But Arn was also one of the best promo guys in the business. And despite that, he was never considered for the top spot.

Goldberg never spoke during his peak of popularity, but he was protected to such an strong degree that the comparison is immediately void. And besides, Goldberg had a physical charisma and presence that few could ever match.

None of the guys who truly made it under that mould were one-trick ponies. As horrible a comparison as this may sound on the surface, the best comparison to Cesaro would be Chris Benoit (eliminating the disgraceful end, of course). And in terms of a career parellel, Benoit's looks to be the most logical comparison, in that he'll be up there in the mix, he's a definite player. Respected immensely, a favourite of the die-hards. But he's never anything more than support for the top guy, a gatekeeper for the main event, and the only time he'll get a run on top (if he ever does), it's as a transition to somebody else, or as a tip of the cap if he's so awesome for so long that he gets it as a lifetime achievement award type of deal.

It is a different era, so maybe they'll put the belt on him in an effort to "make him". But the title doesn't work like that any more, and to sustain himself as more than just "the new guy with the belt" in the same way CM Punk was for his first two World Title runs, he needs to plug a lot of these holes.

Still, that isn't a bad career to aspire to. But the weaknesses will hold him back. You ask a fan about his matches and he can tell you a lot. Ask that same fan about his personality and he won't have much to talk about. And it's personality that draws money.

In fairness, it isn't as if Cesaro has really even had a proper chance to show what he can do on a mic in a meaningful situation. Outside of Swagger, he hasn't had a real rivalry to talk about in a heated manner up to this point. But he hasn't been kept completely mute either, and the guys that are mic magic are apparent very quickly - Dean Ambrose on day one let the world know he could talk. Bray Wyatt is where he is because he can communicate effectively. If anybody thinks the comparisons to previous stars is unfair or invalid for any reason, then that's fine, but these guys are Cesaro's competition.

Filling that gap with Paul Heyman would be a brilliant long-term decision - if the goal was for him to be a top heel. But that doesn't look to be the plan right now. The plan for Cesaro is to be a babyface. And all alone. There were reports about a year ago that Vince McMahon thought Cesaro was boring. Clearly something in McMahon switched to a degree to put him in this kind of position, but let's not kid ourselves - Vince can be incredibly stubborn when it comes to his perception of any given talent, and he will typecast Cesaro just like he has so many others before once these weaknesses are exposed.

Steve Austin, in talking about Cesaro on his podcast, always mentions how he feels he needs to tighten up the character, define himself better, work on the whole presentation. This is the time to do it. He has Paul Heyman, the master of bringing the most out of guys, by his side. He'd better work on this while he has the chance, because when the time comes for him to sink or swim on his own, we've seen time and again how easy it is for the WWE to give up on a guy just because he isn't perfect.

I really like watching Cesaro's matches. He's a tremendous talent, and I wish him the absolute best. I want him to succeed and prove every word I've just written completely wrong. But if this match with Lesnar takes place, he's about to get an incredible chance to launch himself that very few guys have had in the last few years, and he's going to have a lot of eyes on him.

I just hope expectations for him are realistic.