Are We Leaving The PG Era Behind?
Every member of the Internet Wrestling Community discusses the stark contrast between the Attitude Era and the PG counterpart. Somehow, through magic even, the former has been romanticized to a large degree. In turn, it has left a mythology of an era that was great, but nowhere near as perfect as discussed.
As for the PG Era (aka: The John Cena Era) it has had its ups and downs.
Over the last few weeks, however, it appears as though that time in the company is passing.
Since the brand split, we’ve consumed a rather sizable portion of non-PG raunchy product. Between Enzo running around naked to The Miz openly discussing Renee Young’s love life behind the scenes, not much of what the WWE appears to be doing is geared toward the younger generation.
Maybe it is just a few small things that don’t actually mean anything, but if this trend continues, don’t be shocked to see the WWE’s “rating” to open each show change, and for the company to abandon trying to cater to the 1- to 134-year-old demographic.
Who Is Going To Challenge The Wyatt Family For The Gold?
Thanks to a real life injury, whatever plans the WWE had for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship are no more. With one-half of The Hype Bros succumbing to the rigors of doing scripted violence for a living, a four-team tag team match has been set for Tuesday.
The assumed/rumored idea of having The Hype Bros face The Wyatt Family was so the champions would retain the belts without burying another tag team of consequence.
Now that there is no longer a face (jobber) team to be fed to the cult-faction, a four-corners match will be held on Tuesday for the gold. The aforementioned champions are in it (duh), as are The Usos, American Alpha and former Tag Team Champions Heath Slater and Rhyno.
The outcome seems pretty obvious. Unless the WWE is desperate to expedite whatever angle they have in store with Randy Orton and Bray, chances are they will be walking out the champs.
What will be interesting to see is which — if any — tag team from this bout rises to become the “rivals” of The Wyatt Family moving forward.
Is Braun Strowman Our New Super Monster?
I think we already know the answer to this question, but there’s slightly more to it than the surface-level “he had a good showing last Monday” spiel.
How invested is the WWE in turning Strowman into this generation’s Undertaker/Kane/Big Show/etc.?
He seems to have all the tools. He’s huge, strong, shockingly athletic, and has the look to be all the things the WWE wants from its super monsters. But a question about how far they are willing to book him as unstoppable remains to be seen.
It comes down to this, really: If push comes to shove, especially now that he’s inserted himself (kind of) into the Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins situation, would the WWE book Strowman over Reigns or Rollins (or any other established main event guy, for that matter)?
Is Charlotte Going To Be Booked Weak As Champ?
One episode into her billionth (I am kidding) Women’s Champion title run, Charlotte lost to Bayley.
It is odd she was booked to lose. Not because Bayley is an undeserving winner. Rather, Charlotte’s appeal has been in her relative dominance. Unlike Kevin Owens or AJ Styles, she has won matches on her own, defeated stellar opponents, and most importantly, has not lost random non-Network Special matches (yes, she lost to Sasha on Raw, but that match was not random).
Is this how the WWE is going to continue to book her leading into her eventual blowoff match with Bayley?
In my less than humble opinion, it would be unwise to do so. Coupling Charlotte’s dominance with the idea of Bayley needing to “overcome all odds,” it would be counterproductive to have each performer booked in any other way.
Did The Elf On The Shelf Take James Ellsworth With Him?
Glorified jobber James Ellsworth lost to AJ Styles in (finally) decisive fashion on Tuesday night.
So is there anything left for the chinless wonder?
Dean Ambrose still needs some form of revenge on him, I guess, but if Ambrose is a face and Ellsworth is still meant to be the sympathetic jobber, it would be weird to see the former wallop the latter.
If the WWE actually signed Ellsworth to a full-time deal, it will be interesting to see what the company does with him moving forward in a world where he’s not shoved down the WWE Universe’s throat.
Furthermore, will live audiences — or those at home — care enough about him to warrant him having television time?