Views From The Turnbuckle: 2 Huge Questions WWE Has To Answer Soon
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The summer months have long been a time of boredom for WWE fans. After the thrill of Wrestlemania and the fallout from it are pretty much in the books and Summerslam hasn't really lived up to expectations over the last few years (although 2013's shows was superb). Think about, outside of the Summer of Punk, WWE has given us some pretty poor showings over the last few summers (John Laurinaitis or Ryback vs Cena anybody?) Here are two big questions that WWE will have to address over the next few months.
Question #1: What to do with Bray Wyatt once his feud with John Cena is finished?
Since his debut, Wyatt was been able to build up a huge wave of momentum that has crashed over WWE. Outside of Daniel Bryan, Wyatt has a legit claim to being the most universally liked performer in the company. Wyatt has been able to build up such momentum because he is dynamic on the mic, solid in the ring and most important, has been booked as being an unstoppable mystic that is a pied-piper of sorts that uses his divine psychological ability to beat his opponents.
That aura around Wyatt is in jeopardy since he has begun his feud with company ace John Cena, he and his family have looked like inept hillbillies when it came to physically imposing their will on Cena. Despite the fact that they outnumber Cena 3 to 1, more often than not Cena has gotten the upperhand on the Wyatt family. If you need any proof, just check out their matches from Wrestlemania and Extreme Rules, where Cena beats up all three members for 95% of the match.
Now Wyatt has found himself in a Last Man Standing match against Cena at Payback, in a match that will likely be the last match of the feud. Like a funnel cloud descending over the plains, being booked into a Last Man Standing match against John Cena is a sign of only one thing: Destruction. Taking on Cena in Last Man Standing match is like having to face a cheetah in the 100-meter dash, or facing Brad Maddox in a "Who can look more like Mac from Always Sunny?" contest. You simply have no chance of victory.
Since Bray Wyatt's value so far has been driven based on the fact that he was able to corrupt people and defeat them in wrestling matches, and since he is almost guaranteed to come up short against John Cena, what is next for him? Facing John Cena is pretty much the climax for a heel, and if you don't come out on top (and few rarely do) it is pretty much all downhill from there. He has already feuded with Daniel Bryan and The Shield, and without CM Punk on board, there really are not any faces worthy of Wyatt's attention left on the roster. Wyatt has and can continue to be a very valuable commodity within WWE, but they are really going to need to come up with a good storyline to keep his popularity on the rise after he has finished working with Cena.
Question #2: Who fills the void in Daniel Bryan's absence?
Bryan is out thanks to surgery for a little while, and depending on how long he stays out of commission, WWE might need to find a replacement for the time being. It is being reported that the goal for Bryan's return is Money in the Bank, which is only five weeks away. If that ends up being the case, WWE probably doesn't need to worry about stripping him of the title or anything. But Bryan's injury was from wear and tear, and the last thing you would want him to do in that situation is to rush back to the ring too quickly. I have no idea what his recovery process is going to be like, but if I was in charge, I wouldn't set a date for him to return by and just let him work his way back into health and return when he is 100% ready.
With that being said, if Bryan is out until Summerslam or around then, WWE will have to consider stripping him of the world title. Bryan can always get it back as soon as he comes back, and a returning Bryan gunning for the championship that he never lost is actually a good transition into an interesting storyline. But who can be that person that steps up and holds down the fort while Bryan is out? The logical answer is John Cena, the company stalwart who will always be there when you need him. Cena is still the companies top face in may aspects, and he can still be a very good champion for WWE, even if a lot of fans would rather watch a marathon of Hulk Hogan movies then sit through another Cena title reign.
While Cena is a perfectly logical choice, I would really like it if WWE did something a little different with the world title. With Bryan out for the time being, the time is ripe for a new guy to step in and fill his role. For that role, I really like Seth Rollins. Rollins is certainly popular enough to be a very likeable face champion, especially if he holds it while being in The Shield, and he is starting to get a lot of attention for his remarkable in-ring ability. Rollins becoming champion reminds me a lot of Randy Orton's first title reign. Orton quickly went from being just another member of Evolution to the most important man in the company in one night. Couldn't he pull a Orton and surprise everyone with a title win? Wouldn't it be cool to see The Shield support him for a few weeks or months, but then ultimately turn on him, finally creating a deserving breakup of the stable? Wouldn't a Bryan vs Rollins face/face match where you want to support Bryan for coming back from injury, but you feel bad for Rollins for being left by his friends be a huge match? Putting the belt on Cena may be the easy choice, and it might even be the smart choice, but it still might not be the best choice.
Here are my star ratings from ROH and NJPW's co-promotional event "War of the Worlds" from last Saturday. Big thumbs up to reDRagon and The Young Bucks, who earned my first five star rating of 2014.
ACH, Matt Taven and Tomasso Ciampa vs Forever Hooligans and Takaai Wantanabe- ***1/2
BJ Whitmer and Roderick Strong vs Jado and Gedo- **
Jay Lethal vs KUSHIDA- ****
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson vs The Briscoes- **1/2
Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kevin Steen- ****
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Mike Bennett- ***1/4
reDRagon vs The Young Bucks- *****
Adam Cole vs Jushin Thunder Liger- ***
Kazuchika Okada vs AJ Styles vs Michael Elgin- ****1/4