The Eater of Worlds

Perhaps it was that fateful kick from a deranged Randy Orton that gave us one of the most captivating WWE characters in memory. A punt kick so vicious that the recipient is now gone forever, robbed now of what he was in which he had spent so much time in becoming, yet his mind rose out of the depths and was reborn as a tidal wave of fear and menace over the WWE universe. He sought out the resident monster upon his arrival, slaying the legend in such shocking fashion that we could do little but stare. There in that ring he preached, dark and foreboding, declaring himself under his new guise as the Eater of Worlds, a man not of the world we all think we know, full of malice and hatred towards what we see as right and true; and the supposed saviour to those fallen under that façade.

Bray Wyatt is the embodiment of evil intent. He craves war, carnage and chaos. He laughs with joy at pain and suffering and for those who would stake claims of righteousness, he hunts. So why is it that when he speaks, we light up as fireflies and sit silent? What is it about a man who happily seeks out our heroes to destroy the pedestals upon which they stand that captivates us so? He has no love for us, he takes what we hold dear and spatters it’s blood across his butchers apron.

But when Bray Wyatt speaks, we will always listen. 

The whispers on the WWE grapevine are that Bray Wyatt is about to lay down a challenge to the Phenom, The Undertaker. Buried beneath the corruption stories of protected superstars, biased bosses and defiant underdogs is Bray Wyatt, the single best promo worker in WWE today. He oozes charisma in an almost hypnotic way as he lights up arenas with his fireflies, commands

his flock to sing whilst all the while decimating those we have cheered long before his arrival. He has been nothing short of a revelation within WWE, a believable heel who delights in telling the WWE Universe that our view of the world is corrupted, that all the things we see as just and true are fallacies. Couple this mysterious, cult-like persona of Wyatt with the supernatural darkness of the true Undertaker and we could be in for something special!

Here however, is my concern. The result of this contest will have repercussions for both men. If Taker was to walk away with the victory, he can hold his head high as he inevitably retires with one more mark in the W column at Wrestlemania. It won't make up for Lesnar defeating him but 22-1 is no bad thing! The problem here is that Wyatt, a man who is pushing to be the top monster in WWE, will have been defeated by a man who is 50 this year. Bray Wyatt took a credibility hit when he lost to Cena, his threats and promises came empty as the WWE 'measuring stick' won the war. It has taken a long time for Bray's effectiveness to return and I worry that taking the loss will knock him back down the pecking order.

Reverse the scenario with Bray Wyatt earning the ultimate bragging rights by retiring Taker and we find ourselves in the predicament where Lesnar's win over Taker loses it's specialness and Taker goes hopefully into a healthy, safe retirement off the back of a loss. Would nostalgia allow Taker to lose? Would common sense allow this moment to build Bray Wyatt into the next WWE phenom?

My head says that a Bray Wyatt victory is what's best for business, my enthusiasm and excitement all want a Wyatt win at Wrestlemania yet my heart wishes to see The Undertaker's hand raised once more. This match could be special, it could be a match with an aura that steals the show but I wonder whether it should happen...

Who would you like to see win between the Deadman and The Eater of Worlds?

Bryan vs ??? at Wrestlemania

So the royal rumble has finished and Daniel Bryan fans have been left wanting. With the snow shutting down raw, the concern for those fans is what is Bryan doing for WM?

Bryan is currently the top face in the WWE and alongside Lesnar, is the top draw. The crowd are surging behind the bearded one yet without a

Wrestlemania date, are we risking the wheels may come off this train? Perhaps not but Wrestlemania certainly needs Bryan and more so, Bryan is something memorable. In short, Bryan needs a feud. Bryan needs to take on a heel but is there anyone out there who can fool us into thinking that Bryan could lose? 

Let us take a look at who is out there for Bryan?

Bray Wyatt.

The Eater of World’s would be perfect for a battle against Bryan. Their previous battles have been immense and it seems their styles mesh fantastically. Wyatt has knocked Bryan off on several occasions and so surely the beard will want to right that wrong? Here is the thing…Rumour has it that the Undertaker wants Wyatt and no other match in the world do I want to see more than the Deadman vs The Eater of Worlds!! As the fans would cry, YES! YES! YES! YES!

Rusev.

Cena seems to have stamped his ticket to WM with a feud with the Bulgarian brute! Now whether this spells the end of the run is up for debate but I am afraid we will have to wait for Bryan to tangle with our eastern European monster on another event. No go here for Bryan.

Kane.

No. We’ve seen this far too many times. Move on!

Sheamus

The rumour mill is spinning at the moment of the return of heel Sheamus. Now I for one hope this is true because Sheamus as a heel was awesome. The thing is, his star is not exactly sparkling at the moment so momentum may be an issue. 

Now I am not saying this could not work as we have a good stretch to go before Wrestlemania but I wonder if something a little more high-profile could be made…

Enter Seth Rollins!

Does this not work? With Seth biding his time with the MITB briefcase, he needs a high profile bout to keep his relevance. It seems the focus of the Authority may be shifting to Sting vs Triple H. Cena is looking in another direction as is Reigns so barring an Ambrose ns Rollins feud, this would be perfect. Arguably the two top ring performers going head to head in what would certainly be a high-octane, edge of the seat match for WM. And making this feud could be done in a mere moment. Bryan enters the ring, reiterates his thanks to the fans and as is basking in yes chants, thus enters the number 1 heel in WWE today!

Would the WWE dare? I hope so

Roman Reigns: The Next Big Thing?

Brock: Unlike him, I don't respect you.

Roman: ...but you will!

Those three words may be the most significant and powerful words spoken this year. After the dismal  and unfair reaction of the 'fans' in the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday night, Roman Reigns and the WWE will surely know that they have to do something to ignite this main event.

Now I won't go into the Royal Rumble itself again nor the reaction of the crowd but Reigns has to win over a lot of fans, and his promise to Brock makes me believe he is going to do that.

One of the biggest criticisms of Reigns is the '5 moves of doom', a favourite insult levied at John Cena. In truth, Reigns does a lot more than 5 moves and as he progresses, that move-set will adapt and grow. There are future hall of famers who have less moves than Reigns yet get no grief for it. In truth, most wrestlers work with a set of high profile manoeuvres, these particular moves are designed to be both individual and identifiable. Because of this, we miss the work that happens between those moves. Say what you like about John Cena but he did pretty well out of using an apparent 5 moveset and limited ability. 

Another criticism is that Roman is being pushed above other talent such as Cesaro, Wyatt and Bryan. There have been suggestions that Reigns should have had a US title run first or a spell as Intercontinental champion but the truth is that is no longer the way it works. Much to my dismay, the intercontinental title has fallen away since the likes of The Rock, Jericho and Triple H held the title, the US title is a belt without worth and the tag team division is such that it is not worth

mentioning that Reigns is a former title holder. Bryan jumped to the top of the pile without going through the initiation period that people want Reigns to go through. Rollins, very much the same. My point is that people need to be consistent with their beliefs. If you believe that Reigns should have to do the long haul, then you must hold every single superstar to account.

So here is why I am excited for what this may hold. Roman Reigns is a young guy with something to prove. He is entering the ring with an absolute destroyer and nobody gives him a chance. Heyman did a stunning job of selling  the type of blood that courses through the challenger's veins and all this serves to build up Reigns into a different challenge than the one we thought he would pose. He now has something to prove, he has an opponent who he must force respect out of and a fanbase who needs to be won over. I am hoping to see Reigns find that higher gear that we saw talent like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk achieve by delivering in the ring. I am expecting elevated performances, heightened energy and an impact that will make the crowd chant 'This is Awesome!"

I am excited about Wrestlemania. The Main Event is not the generic David vs Goliath, it is not a contest between good and evil and it is not a clash with a long history of conflict. There is no clichè to this match up. It is simply a contest between the all conquering king and the young pretender, a battle for honour and respect!

Who Ruined the Royal Rumble?

Roman Reigns: Winner of the Royal Rumble 2015

What is it with people? What is with this inherent need to jump on the nearest bandwagon, regardless of where it intends to go. I take you all back to the 2015 Royal Rumble, where Roman Reign’s hand is raised in victory after dispatching Rusev, who the WWE creative team had bafflingly decided to hide under the ring. Boos are echoing throughout the Wells Fargo Center, just as they did when Batista won the very same event the previous year.

Now I’ve been a WWE fan for 15 years so have seen many a show end with boos and uproar when the heel gets one over the hero of the time. In the last two Royal Rumbles however, this trend has taken on a different meaning. No longer are the crowd booing because the bad guy comes out on top, they are not showing dismay at their favourite guy coming up short...they are booing it seems because they did not get their own way.

Now the first thing I have to say is that I am no hater of Daniel Bryan, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt or any other performer, with the exception of Khali. I look at myself as a true fan of WWE. I allow myself for those few hours to invest in what is happening before me, for me it is real, as watching a movie or going to the theatre. For that moment, I allow myself to believe that what plays out in front of me is happening on the spur of the moment. Now of course we all know that it is scripted with results decided ahead of time but then Argo was scripted, as was Lord of the Rings and Bridget Jones’ Diary. When you go to watch Les Miserables on Broadway, you go there knowing that the ‘result’ is already decided.

So here is where we have strayed from the path that we should be on. Let’s take Game of Thrones as an example. Prince Oberyn was a fantastic character that oozed charisma and likeability, topped with being a badass warrior. Now in the book Oberyn dies, which was honoured by HBO in the script. Now I like Oberyn, I thought he was a great character and wanted him to be there until the bitter end but unfortunately the show/book did not play out as I had hoped. What I did not do is boo, cancel my TV subscription, throw hate towards Mr Martin and then complain and stir up any message board that would enjoy the surge in ad-revenue. You see I enjoyed, despite my disappointment, the show for surprising me.

Going back to the Royal Rumble result, here is some of the reactions that have appeared on one popular website.

Classy fanbase...

Now for those who perhaps missed it, the crowd had become dissatisfied when Daniel Bryan was eliminated. They proceeded to boo many superstars including Big E and Kofi Kingston (who boos Kofi??) because their favourite had been eliminated.
Now that is fair and people will argue that they paid for their tickets so they can boo who they want but the reasoning behind the boos I feel was entirely unfair. Ahead of the Royal Rumble it was known that Roman Reigns was a hot favourite and a popular standpoint of WWE ‘fans’ was ‘If Roman wins, Philly riots’. Now that is unfair on both Roman and the WWE.

The WWE is trying to put out a believable product with stories and interactions intended to illicit emotion from their audience, they may not hit the mark but that is the intent. What they are not doing is producing a show where the fans decide who wins. Remember the reason for the booing of Reigns was the same as that for Batista, because a certain superstar did not win. If WWE were to go down the route of results echoing the opinions of the fanbase then there would be no surprises, there would be no need for emotional investment because we, as the so-called fans, have already decided what is going to happen.

The reality of this is that the fans should never have a say in any of the results in the WWE. They should approach the promotion as they do a movie, TV show or stage production. You believe it is real, you cry when your favourite guy loses and you cheer when he wins. That is what it is all about, WWE is a live performance of heroes vs villains, good against evil and we should not cross the threshold into concerns over the scripting, that is not our place and not our right. And if a city or town wishes to try to hold the WWE ransom in the demand for pleasing results, then the WWE is big enough to take it’s grandest shows somewhere else where the audience have more respect. There are millions of people worldwide who would watch WWE as it is intended but never get the opportunity and so to see a crowd like the one we saw in Philly saddens me.

People ask me why I say the Attitude era was better and this Royal Rumble shows why. It’s not because the superstars were so much better, it wasn’t the scripting or the production. It was simply that the audience cared more, we invested more and we trusted the WWE/F to lay a show on for us without us needing to concern ourselves with who SHOULD win, just who does win.