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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: When do you think Roman Reigns should win the WWE Championship? Let me first say about the 2015 Survivor Series that I did not think it was a bad show. Something was missing, though, and it was that more so than poor execution that led to what I assume will be its negative historical perception. The night started off really well with a pair of very good matches in the WWE Championship Tournament. Roman Reigns vs. Alberto Del Rio went a long way for me toward eliminating the negative view I was beginning to build of the current US Champion. From late 2010 to early 2014, ADR was about as automatic a 3-3.5 star match as there was in WWE, but his return saw a lackluster performance against Cena a month ago and several botch-infested matches over the last four weeks, peaking with the pre-Survivor Series Raw in one of the worst bouts I've seen in years against Kalisto. It was probably just ring rust; the fluid sequences, the well-timed and believable near falls that I had come to expect of Del Rio were back in full force last night. Reigns delivered to what is fast becoming his high quality PPV standard and we ended up with a match worthy of revisiting down the road. I loved the use of the kick to the head, by the way. Cena going down so readily to that move at Hell in a Cell made Roman kicking out of it all the more emotionally engrossing. (*** 1/2) Though wrestled in a different style and with a different pace than the opener, Kevin Owens vs. Dean Ambrose continued to establish the right tone for the evening with a very good match of their own. Little things matter to me and there was a spot in this match that highlights how much a greater attention to detail can enhance a performance. Owens and Ambrose were jockeying for position on the top rope and it seemed very clear where they were headed - for the modified Fisherman's suplex off the turnbuckle that Owens employed in his matches with Cena. Yet, instead of just going right into that spot, they kept battling just long enough to make the spot seem more organic instead of pre-planned. (*** 1/4) The event took a downturn when they had an exhibition-style Survivor Series Elimination match in which nothing was on the line and the participants were not even announced ahead of time. Can you imagine if they did this for the Royal Rumble or Money in the Bank? The signature gimmick of Survivor Series is the Elimination Tag. Can they not muster up even an ounce of creative effort for these things? 2014 is the only year since 2005 that Survivor Series felt like Survivor Series. That's part of what was missing last night - focus on the match that built the event's reputation. For what it was, Team New Day vs. Team Babyfaces was just fine, but I cannot in good conscience suggest that it was anything more than passably entertaining. Paige vs. Charlotte sent the show into a nosedive. I won't deny that parts of the match were good, particularly the increased offensive repertoire that Charlotte put on display, but this was the match that perhaps best characterized the theme of my opening paragraph; something was seriously missing here. The psychology of Charlotte's matches is totally off to me. It was off two months ago when this genetically superior female was forced to sell for 10 minutes against a far inferior worker. It was off again last night. I think it all boils down to Charlotte being asked to play a role that she's not suited to play yet. She's not a babyface character. If WWE is going to bring people up from NXT, why are they having them dramatically alter the character that they honed and crafted to get themselves over? Charlotte looks and sounds uncomfortable. Most importantly, nobody is buying her act. If this is how WWE is going to play it, then don't give them 14-minutes to work on PPV. Do they deserve more time? Sure. Are they being put in a position to maximize what that extra time affords? I'd say absolutely not. WWE's formula for this revolution needs to be tweaked because miscasting the characters and then acting like these weak storylines warrant 15-minutes of PPV time is NOT working. (*1/2) I don't think the crowd had recovered from the smell of the turd laid by Charlotte and Paige when Tyler Breeze and Dolph Ziggler got out there. They weren't much better, awkwardly meandering their way through the 6-minute contest. Breeze has been handling himself really well lately, but I'm not sure this match did much for him even though he emerged victorious. Undertaker's 25 Year Celebration was just fine for what it was. That entrance was awesome and one of the few moments of the night that was memorable for the right reasons. Not another word needs to be said about it (and Bray Wyatt and his Family will be fine). As it turned out, my podcast suggestion that the only thing that would matter at Survivor Series was the tournament proved prophetic. Outside of the Taker salute, the Semis and Final of the WWE Title Tournament provided the only real talking points for this show. Reigns and Ambrose worked a frenetic 9-minute match in the main-event and I liked it for the most part. The Sunset Flip Powerbomb miscue aside, they worked well together. Unfortunately, as it became clearer that no shenanigans should be expected from either of them, the clearer it became that Reigns would win and that Triple H would employ Sheamus as his henchman. I don't know about all of you, but the fact that Money in the Bank was never mentioned by the announce team and that Sheamus was given a spotlight loss in the Elimination Tag Match telegraphed that the Celtic Warrior would cash in. It became predictably unpredictable, which is one of the worst things in storytelling. I'll give WWE tons of credit for the execution of the cash-in. I thought the presentation was fantastic. Confetti was falling and it seemed like a moment for Reigns that all his fans would remember forever, punctuated by his Spear of Triple H when the evil Authority leader tried to steal some of his well-earned spotlight. Then, with confetti making it hard to see what was happening in the ring, POW! Brogue Kick! Cash-in! Ball game. Well played! The problem is that WWE thinks that these "surprise" cash-ins make sense, when they actually make so very little sense. It is the dumbest modern booking trend to devalue your Money in the Bank contract holder with losses and irrelevant appearances for several months, only to "swerve" the audience by then making that irrelevant loser the World Heavyweight freakin' Champion. To me, it calls into question whether or not the Money in the Bank concept has played itself out; the only source of intrigue is when the cash-in takes place instead of how it takes place. There hasn't been a unique cash-in since RVD announced his ahead of time...and that was just the 2nd Money in the Bank contract! I truly do believe that Sheamus is going to excel in this new role for however long he plays it and that the story of Reigns chasing the title after being screwed by the Money in the Bank holder twice in one year could be a great one. However, it's going to be that much more difficult to make this work because Sheamus has been a jabroni since August. Overall, Survivor Series provided a few good matches from the tournament, but considered that we got a few good matches from the tournament on TV last week, I think I'd prefer to re-watch the 11/16/15 Raw than the 2015 Survivor Series. That's a shame... --------------------- "The Doc Says" this week will hopefully provide some positive additions to the part of your brain that most appreciates pro wrestling. On Wednesday, I'll be talking about the reasons I'm thankful for pro wrestling and then on Sunday, I've got a very special edition of the All-Time WWE PPV Countdown that will feature the recreation of a dream I had in which Macho Man, Ultimate Warrior, and other legends joined the show. Also, be on the look out for a Black Friday sale for the The WrestleMania Era - the Kindle edition will be dropping down to $4.99!
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