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So yesterday, I was just chilling on Monday Night... I was watching a few of my favorite episodes of The Office with my wife and then afterward, I began to binge watch my favorite television series of all time, Breaking Bad, once again. I love me some Netflix. For those who didn't know, I decided to "cut the cord" and get rid of Cable. I couldn't be happier... In addition to Netflix, we have Hulu to watch any Network or Cable shows that may appear there. I've been watching and reviewing the condensed RAW for the past few weeks... I had my iPhone and was SHOCKED at the explosion of WWE hatred on my Twitter Timeline from everyone watching RAW. Complete anger and fury. Over what? For one, many internet fans read that Cesaro was appearing on WWE Superstars and therefore would not appearing on RAW. Second consecutive week for this, I believe... Secondly, they were FURIOUS at Neville being quickly dispatched by Sheamus on RAW, somewhat in a similar fashion to Daniel Bryan defeated early by Sheamus at Wrestlemania 28. Especially from NXT loyalists... Many chants of "why promote to the main roster?" if the NXT male call-ups are subject to his humilation. OUCH. First and foremost, I've argued FOR Cesaro for years now. I thought he had major momentum heading into Wrestlemania 30 and had an amazing moment by winning that event's Andre "the Giant" Battle Royal. Then, he was depushed and actually wasn't allowed to use the Giant Swing move because it was getting too over (WWE wanted him heel). He would then tag up with Tyson Kidd... Of course, before this, he was the United States Champion who lost repeatedly... When asked about Cesaro on Steve Austin's podcast, Vince McMahon specifically said Cesaro lacked the "it" factor and was missing something as a character. He seriously said that... Meanwhile, Neville... May I be BRUTALLY honest about Neville? He's a 5'8" wrestler who does flipping moves that doesn't effectively finish other wrestlers. Seriously, watch his matches... He wrestles like a modern version of a 1990's WCW Cruiserweight wrestler. Spot after spot after spot while his opponents sell them like regular wrestling holds. That's a problem... But the height is a major issue. To make it as a "heavyweight" in the WWE, historically, you need to be close to 6'0" with the preference being just above that height. Many wrestlers in the WWE are not just large, but thick... So how could Neville's acrobatic moves hurt someone with size? It's not like Neville has any striking power to be an equilizer like, say, Daniel Bryan. Bryan appeared credible as a main eventer because he could kick your face off... Internet fans... Save your breath. Until you can effectively communicate to me HOW Neville should factor into WWE's long-term plans for the WWE World Heavyweight Title, then save your anger over losing to Sheamus. Save it for someone else who has proven that they can hang with the WWE main eventers, such as Kevin Owens. Do you like what you see from Finn Balor in NXT? Then again, save your support for him. As I stated in another column, the reason WWE is able to ignore fan favorites and push who WWE Management likes instead is because WWE fans are inconsistent on their tastes/preferences and the wrestlers they support. There isn't a particular wrestler that fans are 100% behind such as they were during 1997 for Stone Cold Steve Austin and WWE had no choice but to push Austin. Hell, they even let Bret Hart go knowing that they had Austin (even with a broken neck). Instead, some support recent prospect from NXT... Some love Dean Ambrose... Some love Bray Wyatt... Some Dolph Ziggler support still remains. Many like Seth Rollin even though I have concerns about his RAW ratings drawing ability... Cesaro gets some love here and there... I guess even Roman Reigns has his fans... Meanwhile, about half of the fanbase still hangs onto the "Class of 2002" developmental guys named John Cena, Randy Orton, and Brock Lesnar and that's why those guys remain dominant... WWE hears the loudest support for those veterans but are completely confused by fans as to who else they support. And merchandise sales prove this. You have John Cena at the top by a margin and then just pure inconsistency that follows... WWE does NOT know what you want. But is Neville really what you want as a potential WWE Heavyweight Champion? You're really going to thrash the WWE for not instantly pushing him to the expectations that maybe NXT built up too much for the guy? Is he really that good of a wrestler who can overcome his 5'8" height? Can he draw houses, sell merchandise, and become the face of the WWE? Maybe you ought to focus your energy on someone else... Do you think that Neville is better than other recent NXT guys on the roster or about to debut? I don't see it right now... BUT - Stranger things have happened. Wrestling is all about moments and momentum, but both must be natural. For all we know, Neville and Cesaro might get lucky with a storyline that catches fire that nobody can avoid. Daniel Bryan was tagged up with Kane and had to endure sessions with a psychologist to cope with being a tag team member with Kane. What happened? WWE had low expectations for the team and gave Bryan/Kane some freedom to flesh out their characters... Bryan and Kane's interactions became entertaining and the "YES!" chants was born. From there, Bryan kept growing and growing as a wrestler that the WWE couldn't avoid to keep down. Sure, WWE tried to destroy him, but Bryan had the will to overcome it. Ditto with CM Punk during 2011... He used actual leverage of his WWE contract expiring and some freedom given to him to cut an unscripted promo before WWE Money in the Bank 2011. CM Punk delivers the "Pipebomb" promo and from that moment, momentum was created that (a) changed WWE's plans to make CM Punk become WWE Champion and (b) signed CM Punk to a very lucrative new WWE deal. How about John Cena? Go look back at his 2002 year on the WWE roster... He was a plain looking wrestler who didn't look unique from the rest of the "Class of 2002" developmental wrestlers (hey Comments section, that's TWICE that I've mentioned that great CLASS OF 2002). Then, on a fateful Halloween episode of WWE Smackdown, John Cena loosely dressed up as a rapper and did a little rap on that episode. IT GOT NOTICED... Character change was in full gear and John Cena during 2003-2004 built momentum that made him WWE Champion during 2005. I could give you another example about Stone Cold Steve Austin who was once called the "Ringmaster" when he debuted in 1995. Then, he is granted a little freedom to change up his character and freedom to cut the promo of his life at King of the Ring 1996 known as "Austin 3:16". What Cesaro and Neville need to do is to keep working hard and then whenever they are given any creative freedom by the WWE (often when WWE Creative has no idea how to use them), seize upon that opportunity. Try something new... Say something new... Come up with a new wrestling move, spot, or hold... Change-up the wrestling gear... Try something that will get you noticed and then creates momentum that WWE Creative and management cannot avoid. Something that (a) creates a moment that gets fans talking and (b) can allow for momentum to build. That would create LEVERAGE, particularly with a contract coming up... And that's exactly what CM Punk did during 2011. His WWE contract was up through WWE Money in the Bank 2011 and the WWE booked him to LOSE to John Cena on the way out as a throw away match. Through 2010, CM Punk's run on Smackdown was thinning out and WWE wasn't quite sure what to do with him. They moved him to RAW and made him the new leader of the Nexus. Remember them? After briefly working with John Cena, WWE decided to book Miz vs. John Cena at Wrestlemania 27 (seriously) and move CM Punk away to lose to Randy Orton at that event. Punk was pretty serious about leaving the WWE following Wrestlemania 27. Following Wrestlemania 27 and after John Cena won the WWE Title, the plans were to have John Cena survive the summer and drop the WWE Title to Alberto Del Rio at SummerSlam 2011. CM Punk was just a placeholder opponent for Cena on his way to Del Rio. But then something happened... WWE Creative were out of storyline ideas to hype the match and gave CM Punk creative freedom to cut a promo of his choice... He hit a homerun... The "Pipebomb" was Punk's "Austin 3:16" moment... RAW ratings grew, Punk was a hot topic on social media, and Punk's promo actually gained mainstream media attention. WWE had no choice but to (a) give Punk the WWE Title and (b) sign CM Punk to a very lucrative WWE contract for the next 3 years. On the latter part (b), CM Punk knew he was well paid by the WWE. Remember CM Punk's response to my claim that he was "buried" by Triple H at WWE Night of Champions 2011? Remember this?  Buried in money... How about that? You see, if Cesaro and Neville do have their moment from being granted creative freedom and build on that momentum, they need to be cautious on how they respond to their WWE employer. See, WWE is a successful corporation with a lot of capital and money in the bank... They can pay certain wrestlers well... How else can they not flinch when paying Brock Lesnar 3-5 million per year for limited dates? Do you think that the Rock is attending WWE shows for charity? Do you think that John Cena isn't well paid? But there are always strings attached. WWE is willing to pay wrestlers to keep them away from COMPETITION. CM Punk could have legitimately left the WWE and carry that star to another promotion. Sure, TNA and Ring of Honor are much smaller than the WWE, but pro wrestling is driven on star power and CM Punk was white hot during July 2011. He could have gone anywhere and made smaller promotions into a bigger deal. But he stayed... And he got paid... And then he got spayed. Because you see, after he signed that new WWE deal, CM Punk became very corporate. Sure, I'm not going to blame CM Punk for TAKING THE MONEY. With wrestler shelf life being short, particularly in the prime drawing years, I don't blame him one bit for taking the money. However, what I blame him for is walking out of the WWE during 2014, bad mouthing the WWE via Colt Cabana's podcast around Thanksgiving 2014, and then having the nerve to rip the WWE's association with the Susan G Komen organization. He called Susan G Komen as a "scam" as seen by his tweet: In case the Tweet is deleted, it reads: @CMPUNK: If you're going to give money to a company that claims to raise money for finding a cure for cancer, please do some research.Komen is a scam (5:48pm 10/5/2015) A scam? Didn't CM Punk openly support Komen when the WWE had the campaign in the past? Oh yeah... GO HERE... As the image shows, CM Punk is speaking on behalf of wrestlers and in support of the Komen organization during October 2013. Why, I thought they were a "scam"? The fact is that since August 2011 through much of 2013, CM Punk GOT PAID. Again, I don't blame him one bit for cashing in... But what I have issues with his integrity. He let the WWE do whatever they wanted with him and he took it with a smile until things began to bother him during 2013. If you look at that late 2011 through early 2013 "WWE Title Reign", you'll barely see him main eventing Pay Per Views, let alone Wrestlemania. That's right... CM Punk stated that he always wanted to MAIN EVENT Wrestlemania yet as WWE Champion during 2011-2013, he barely main evented non-Wrestlemania Pay Per Views let alone editions of Monday Night RAW. At least Seth Rollins as WWE champion mostly wrestles in the main event spots for both Pay Per Views and RAW episodes. Spare me on the "Koman is a Scam" because THIS PHOTO says otherwise. That WWE contract paid you quite well to be a company "yes man" and I believe that upon realizing this during 2013, CM Punk became bitter and eventually led to his walking out following Royal Rumble 2014. Punk knew what the WWE turned him into... He became a corporate shill and WWE was able to easily convince him to do whatever and lose to whomever based on a house of cards of false promises. They worked him and CM Punk knows it. That's why he's so anti-WWE now. The Corporation known as the WWE chewed him up and spit him out. Money doesn't buy everything, often times it doesn't always buy happiness. Money talks... It's just a matter of how willing you are to talk back to the person handing it out. STAY HUNGRY. For any wrestler, not just Neville or Cesaro who have that moment that creates momentum in the WWE... Learn lessons from the past... Don't just use that leverage to get paid, use it to maximize the creative control over your own character. Or else become just another victim of the WWE Corporation that is self-serving and exists not just to continually make money, but to keep other competitors out. -------------------------------------------------- WWE RAW IS HULU - Thoughts NOT ON HULU X - Sheamus vs. Neville (see, it didn't exist!) X - Natalya vs. Paige X - Kevin Owens vs. Sin Cara X - Rusev/Summer Rae segment (I think) See, internet fans... You think that I'm bragging that I "cut the cord", but watching RAW on Hulu has its benefits. Then again, Sheamus vs. Neville could have happened on RAW is Hulu but I didn't pay attention because I was writing the opening rant of this column... Hmmm... - Brock Lesnar should have nothing but love for Paul Heyman. Lesnar just has to perform and not cut a promo like the rest of the WWE roster. Think about how much is asked of other wrestlers and what is asked of Lesnar. Brock just has to perform on 4-5 Pay Per Views and that's it... His RAW appearances are easy. Just stand there and act happy for the AMAZING promos that Paul Heyman cuts on his behalf. So easy... Big Show comes down and was upset at his match from Saturday. Hey, I was too... I expected more of a fight instead of an extended squash. Brock Lesnar whooped on him, F5... Just nothing for Big Show. What can the WWE do with Big Show at this point? They could have let him put up a fight against Lesnar but nope... - I enjoyed the Wyatts vs. Randy Orton/Roman Reigns/Dean Ambrose six man match... Nothing wrong with that as a RAW match although a 6 man match in a Hell in a Cell cage could have been unique and fun. Oh well... Seems to me that Roman Reigns is going to WIN BIG against Bray Wyatt at WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 and commence MEGA PUSH. I believe that Vince McMahon will "right a wrong" and push Roman Reigns strong for the next year. Someone changed his mind through Wrestlemania 31 and that bothers him now that RAW's ratings are lowering. Wouldn't surprise me if Survivor Series is the event of doomsday for Rollins... Maybe TLC. - And Stephanie McMahon talked down the New Day... They are supposed to be a fun, cocky heel team and yet she can completely own them with threats as a non-wrestling female executive in her 40's. She just bosses everyone around and has marginized much of the roster in her career. Worse yet for Stephanie, she was trying for babyface cheers by talking up Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in front of the Boston crowd. Sad thing is that she can be an effective character but just meddles way too much as an authority figure and only gets herself over. - As I said during previous years, I'm not going to rip the Susan G Komen segments or promotion. I have seen my share of criticism towards this organization and other non-profits, but I'm not going to rip causes in October that might raise awareness enough about cancer. Just being aware of cancer to self-examine or have regular check-ups could be lifesaving enough. What is curious to me is WHO was there with the breast cancer recovery victims... Not just John Cena, but Roman Reigns as well. Yep, the WWE is commencing with the MEGA PUSH of Reigns. If WWE wanted to truly troll internet fans, they'd have Roman Reigns defeat Neville faster next week. - The "Sports Entertainment" aspect of Seth Rollins/Kane ruined what could have been a fun tag match with the Dudley Boyz. Corporate Kane sells the leg injury, eventually gets helped to the back, and smiles at Seth Rollins on the way out. YA GET IT? He's the DEMON KANE, wink wink. So whatever. - Team BAD vs. Team Bella wasn't bad... Match seemed like a vehicle to sell Sasha Banks while trying to keep the Bellas looking strong. In other words, Sasha Banks won the match by making Alicia Fox tap. As I've observed from NXT Takeover Brooklyn and then backtracking a few events, Sasha Banks is the REAL DEAL. The sooner they give her that WWE Divas Title and make her rule that division, the better. That one has real talent and I could only imagine how well Sasha vs. Charlotte could impress at Wrestlemania 32. - The main event this week was John Cena vs. Big E Langston. Well, this is certainly a change from last week. Good opportunity for the New Day to get into a bigger spotlight. Big E isn't a bad wrestler and his match with Cena decent. Sooner or later, Xavier Woods will successfully destroy someone with that Trombone as a foreign object. This match occurred because the New Day attacked Dolph Ziggler in order to get a match with John Cena and his open challenge. Ziggler would later attempt to side with John Cena during the New Day and Cena/Dudleys brawl but Ziggler would accidentally superkick John Cena. Uh oh... Why am I having deja vu? Oh yeah, it was about this time during 2012 where John Cena and Dolph Ziggler had a feud in which a heel Dolph Ziggler went no where... LAST WORD: I don't know, man... I'm just totally mailing it in for RAW even if it's just 1 hour and 30 minutes compared to the 3 hour endurance that others watch when seeing live. I basically live for Pay Per Views because they have actual matches and less than half of the time, Brock Lesnar wrestling. C- for this week's show, come on WWE! ---------------------------------------------------------------- PHAT QUESTIONS Question #1: How does NXT operate at a reported loss? What does that mean? Do you see commercials on the NXT live broadcast on the WWE Network? Well, there you go... Aside from ticket buyers at Full Sail and merchandise sales, maybe Hulu ads (if that), there's not much revenue flowing into the "department" of NXT. Therefore, when you have production costs on the NXT show, wrestler salaries, the developmental center (probably counts within the NXT "department" within the WWE Corporation), and costs from touring live, the expenses outweigh the revenues. While NXT is enjoyed by WWE Network subscribers, NXT is not the main draw of the WWE Network. When WWE published their initial show charts, NXT wasn't breaking the top 5 unless it was a Takeover event. Until Vince McMahon allows for more ad placement in his rings or letting wrestlers have advertisements on their tights, there is no way for a commercial-less NXT show on the WWE Network to bring in revenue. There's a distinct reason why the WWE is still dependent on that Comcast deal. Where else can you find an annual deal that pays your company between $150-$180 million per year? -------------------------------------- Question #2: Given your criticisms of him, how would YOU push Roman Reigns? I would obviously not push as something he's personally not. WWE is hellbent on making him the next John Cena and they want that to happen NOW. As mentioned above, John Cena didn't happen overnight. His character changed during 2002 and he spent much of 2003-2004 as a midcarder to develop his skill and draw as a US Champion. Obviously, that is what's missing from Roman Reigns. He hasn't developed into a midcard sensation as a SINGLES wrestler. WWE foolishly mistakes his teaming with the Shield as development into a main event superstar. Reigns is inexperienced as a character and as an in-ring performer. For one, I'd give Reigns new theme music and change his look. Ditch the bullet-proof vest because a tough guy wouldn't need production... Clinging onto the Shield gimmick isn't helping him grow as a wrestler. Wrestling style, because of his real lack of charisma, I would try to have him emulate what the Undertaker did during the 2000's... Start incorporating some MMA style moves into his offense to add a toughness to his character that he sorely lacks. He has the powerbomb, spear, and Superman punch but not much offense leading into those moves. Reigns just seems to wait for his opponent to do something and just has no flow to his offense. If he physically beats down his opponent like a MMA fighter, more strikes, ground & pound, corner attacks, more chokes, and just being more aggressive looking as a fighter, it could work. I also think he needs to learn how to sell better. Just no emotion inside that ring to show that he's in pain or willing himself to overcome an opponent. Emotionless. You know, psychology... I would definitely have Roman Reigns get over in the midcard FIRST and then promoted to the Main Event level when he has outgrown his role as a midcarder. ----------------------------------------- Question #3: Why are WWE video games no longer unique to each system? In the past, for example, THQ would make WWE games that were exclusive for a particular system. For example, Nintendo received much different WWE games from THQ for the Nintendo 64 than what Sony received for its Playstation. Then, for the next generation of games, Playstation 2, Xbox, and the GameCube received their own separate games. Damn those "Day of Reckoning" WWE games for the GameCube were amazing! But I think THQ and now 2KSports learned the easy business model that EA Sports figured out years ago... With Xbox and the Playstation being relatively similar on builds, EA Sports has made relatively close ports of Madden NFL, NHL, Fifa, and other games between Playstation/Xbox and usually make their games up to the standards of the weaker powered system between the two. Then, porting the game to both systems is easy and they can sell the same game annually to consumers who want updated rosters. Sure, there are some modifications, but costs are kept low by virtually selling the same game on both systems and just selling an updated version of the same game every year. It's harder on the Nintendo systems because of weaker and more difficult technology to program games and Nintendo owners like to play Nintendo 1st Party games only. Like EA Sports and several other annual franchises (see Activision and Ubisoft), 2K Sports and WWE will just keep releasing virtually the same game each year but with an updated roster... They maximize the profit margin by keeping revenues steady (fans always buy) but keeping expenses lower. ---------------------------------------- Question #4: Should WWE return to Netflix? Yes. About 50 million subscribers on Netflix. While many bash Kevin Dunn for his contributions to the WWE Creative team, the guy can produce a good wrestler documentary. WWE has plenty of them on the WWE Network and they are excellent. I've read stories that the documentary section is quite popular on Netflix and the WWE has a real opportunity to impress in that fashion. Just lend Netflix 3-4 documentaries per month and help drive interest in the product. People watch WWE Network for LIVE wrestling events that once cost them an arm and a leg to buy on Pay Per View. You can afford to lend out a few shows to Netflix which has a large user base that like to try watching anything. Old man Tito is watching National Geographic documentaries on Netflix, so I'd think that I would watch a WWE documentary if it popped up... ------------------------------------------ Question #5 - Bigger Draw - Hulk Hogan or Stone Cold Steve Austin? This is probably where I'll get controversial, but I'll go Steve Austin. Without him, there is NO Attitude Era. He gave the WWE that unique superstar that pulled RAW ratings from low 2.0 ratings during early 1997 to regularly receiving mid 6.0 ratings through the Fall of 1999. That is a MASSIVE shift in the ratings on top of 5 minute sellouts of arenas for WWE shows and absurd merchandise sales. With Hogan, he had a ton of help... Rocky 3 was a stroke of luck and the machine that Vince McMahon was building during the early to mid-1980's surrounded Hogan to succeed. Then, during the 1990's, Hogan had Turner/Time Warner money acquiring superstars to thicken WCW's roster to eventually beat RAW. In terms of viewership, Austin added far more views to RAW than Hogan did for WCW Nitro. Very factual... And for WCW, I'd argue that Scott Hall and Kevin Nash were huge draws for WCW then. Both of those two jumping to WCW was a big deal and them acting like WWE invaders sold the angle. I'll go Steve Austin as the bigger draw. The growth in the business from 1997's valley to its peak during 1999 is remarkable and I believe Steve Austin deserves much of the credit. -------------------------------------------- Question #6: Why won't WWE use WCW Pay Per View names for its events? Hey now, the Smackdown roster had Great American Bash for a short while... Starrcade, SuperBrawl, and Halloween Havoc are not WWE creations and are therefore not used. That simple. Vince didn't make those events so therefore, he won't use those properties. He's stubborn like that and all you need to do is watch WWE during 2001-2004 to see him unravel WCW. Hell, just watch Wrestlemania 31 to see how obsessed Vince still remains about WCW beating him. Sting won't win a match in WWE! Personally, I'd replace Hell in a Cell with Halloween Havoc and TLC with Starrcade. Halloween Havoc would be perfect because Halloween has been growing in popularity lately and WWE should try to exploit that for some added revenue... What I REALLY HATE are these gimmick themed Pay Per Views. Hey, it's the "Hell in a Cell" Pay Per View... Let's have Hell in a Cell matches! Ditto TLC which is a redundant event because Money in the Bank has a major Ladder Match. What it boils down to is Vince McMahon and his utter hatred of WCW beating him during 1996-1998. He'll never forget... SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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