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The first companion book in the WrestleMania Era series, The Greatest Champions Of The WrestleMania Era, is also available now! ”The Doc” Chad Matthews has been a featured writer for LOP since 2004. Initially offering detailed recaps and reviews for WWE's top programs, he transitioned to writing columns in 2010. In addition to his discussion-provoking current event pieces, he has written many acclaimed series about WrestleMania, as well as a popular short story chronicle. The Doc has also penned a book, The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment, published in 2013. It has been called “the best wrestling book I have ever read” and holds a 5-star rating on Amazon, where it peaked at #3 on the wrestling charts. Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: Has WWE done well since Mania to present a product more in tune with your fan preferences? The following is a case study of WWE’s product for the month of April 2016. NXT Takeover: Dallas Review Will WWE Proper Ever Allow Itself To Become Like NXT? I’ll keep this short and sweet, but it has been on my mind lately that, in order to make wrestling fans of all ages engaged in what I’d consider the best way possible – that being happy and excited about watching the product on TV and attending it live – WWE should consider presenting themselves as more like NXT. I’m going to follow WWE either way and I always find enough good things in what they do to avoid becoming a jaded wrestling fan, but I absolutely loved watching Takeover: Dallas in part because the people there were having the time of their lives. I was at Mania two nights later and I halfway felt that 50% of the people there really wished they weren’t, as if it was an obligation instead of a privilege to attend the biggest wrestling show of the year. The way people react to NXT is the way people reacted to WWE in the Attitude Era; whether they agreed with the company’s direction or not, they were invested in the characters and loved every second of being part of the show. It’s special when you get the crowd to emote that kind of enthusiasm; it’s infectious. Perhaps WWE is trying too hard to serve too many masters and should just simply go with the flow suggested by the most vocal part of the fanbase. Ditch the played out heel authority figures, the force-fed thoroughbred synthetic babyfaces, and the insistence on trying to trick the adult male fan and concentrate instead on getting back to basics. NXT has built its success on the basic principle of giving the wrestling fan what it wants: the best pro wrestlers in the world competing on the biggest stage with the best production value. Change takes time; we may never see WWE look like NXT showcased at its best. Even if it’s not a complete transformation, though, there’s an amalgamation of the two products that would be an extremely healthy makeover for WWE in the modern era. Could what we’ve seen since the post-Mania Raw be a preview of things to come? Match of the Month: Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Sami Zayn at NXT Takeover: Dallas Though I do believe that the Women’s Championship at WrestleMania and the trio of other (borderline) classics at Takeover (Balor vs. Joe II, Asuka vs. Bayley, and American Alpha vs. Revival) were legitimate contenders for April’s top match, it would’ve been difficult for even the staunchest contrarian to pick anything but Nakamura vs. Zayn. NXT does so well with the presentation of their matches, including with the commentary. Zayn was justifiably pegged as the heart and soul of the NXT brand since it became what we know it to be today two years ago and he fought like it against Nakamura. The manner in which that match was booked spelled out clearly for us that Zayn was measuring stick of NXT and that Nakamura was going to have to prove that he could measure up, which of course he quite obviously did. Right place, right time, right opponent. Gather 10,000 of the most passionate fans in the world together at the perfect period in wrestling history for a Japanese star to be well-known by the WWE’s diehard supporters and put him against your most battle-tested NXT star who has taken such pride in helping build NXT to its current levels of success and in whom enthusiasts take such pride in having seen reach the heights that he has. The result was magic – the atmosphere, the chemistry, the execution, and the storytelling; a true classic and definite frontrunner for Match of the Year through four months. Previous winners: Ambrose vs. Owens at Royal Rumble (Jan), Ambrose vs. Reigns vs. Lesnar at Fast Lane (Feb), and Dean Ambrose vs. Triple H at Roadblock (Mar) WrestleMania 32 Review Wrestler of the Month: AJ Styles AJ Styles was the obvious pick given that he made his WrestleMania debut, looked really good in defeat, then became #1 contender for the WWE Title in a great Fatal Fourway and had a TV Match of the Year candidate to confirm his newly earned status against Sami Zayn. I would not call AJ’s month “Phenomenal” and I actually flirted with making this the first month since I started handing out these awards in which I picked an NXT Superstar for WOTM, but Styles did end April with a sizeable lead on new NXT Champion Samoa Joe and the rest of the field. What a year it has been for the former TNA and NJPW standout. In just his fourth WWE PPV match, he’ll be gunning for the World Championship and the vote of confidence has shown in his interviews; he seems as comfortable in his own skin as he’s been since he arrived. Seeing talents who have excelled all over the world come to WWE and find tremendous success on the largest wrestling platform is what the modern era is all about. Previous winners: Dean Ambrose (Jan and Feb) and Chris Jericho (Mar) May Predictions The Bullet Club’s arrival has added some additional intrigue to an already interesting WWE Title match this Sunday, but I think it’s pretty clear that Roman Reigns is going to be champion for awhile. Time will tell if he shifts allegiance, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up that he’ll turn any more than he already has unless WWE tweaks its dominant WrestleMania Era philosophy and goes with a heel as the true face of the brand (for at least awhile). Reigns has been positioned on TV as “THE Guy,” but has been positioned in WWE marketing campaigns and in the media as “The Man” in the classic sense. Nevertheless, Reigns vs. Styles could be a fantastic match, which Roman needs after a critically panned WrestleMania main-event. Extreme Rules is only three weeks away, so it would be a logical choice by WWE to continue a lot of the feuds that have been leading to Payback, but I would have originally predicted Bray Wyatt to step in as Roman’s challenger after whatever outcome was chosen for Reigns vs. Styles. With Wyatt’s health still in question, maybe WWE goes with another Styles-Reigns match or pulls the trigger on a WrestleMania main-event rematch that I know few are itching to see but seems logical if you read from the WWE 101 textbook. Perhaps Kevin Owens is an option depending upon the result of his match with Zayn at Payback; both of them have been knocking on the main-event’s door, but their feud seems to just be getting restarted instead of prepping to wrap up. The McMahon melodrama will likely yield a storyline that concludes in the next few months and crowns a regularly established authority figure (yawn). I continue to be ready for a behind-the-scenes, Jack Tunney-type General Manager made popular twenty years ago and beyond, but I’d settle for a babyface in that role ala William Regal in NXT that does far less meddling. I will be rooting for Shane or a neutral party that emerges in the wake of the McMahon family’s latest implosion. Wed on The Doc Says…”WWE Has Gotten It Right With Payback (5-Star Preview”
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