Every week, Kevin Eck will run down his burning questions from the past week in professional wrestling.
‘RAW’ thoughts
Am I the only one who …
… is happy to see Kane back on the scene?
I have to admit that I didn’t foresee Kane being the fifth member of The Miz’s team, but it was a pleasant surprise. (My guess was that it was going to be Samoa Joe). Like Big Show, Kane is no longer a guy you want to see week in and week out, but he still has value as a special attraction.
As for Kane’s motivation for joining up with Miz’s band of heels against The Shield at Sunday’s “TLC” pay-per-view, it might have something to do with Roman Reigns repeatedly bragging about retiring his “brother” The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Or, perhaps Kane is still sore at Seth Rollins for costing him his job as The Authority’s Director of Operations. Regardless of the reason, it just feels right to have Kane in WWE during Halloween season.
Speaking of which, when Kane goes trick or treating, do you think he dresses up as Dr. Isaac Yankem or Fake Diesel?
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… saw the irony in The Miz referring to The Shield as a nostalgia act and then later revealing Kane as a member of his team?
I’m a fan of the Kane character, but talk about nostalgia. Kane’s been around so long that when he made his WWE debut “The Big Dog” Roman Reigns was just a medium-sized puppy. OK, I hear the trolls out there groaning at that line.
But if Jerry “The King” Lawler had said it you’d have laughed so hard you’d have fallen off the couch in your parents’ basement and spilled Doritos all over yourself.
… wonders how Miz knew ahead of time that Dean Ambrose was going to reiterate that The Shield would take on any four, five or six guys, and therefore had Kane stationed under the ring all night?
Perhaps a better question is why Miz didn’t truly make Ambrose pay for his reckless words by demanding that “RAW” general manager Kurt Angle make it a six-on-three match. If Miz had been allowed to choose a sixth man, would poor Curtis Axel have been passed over again? At this point, Axel has to be feeling like he’s Colin Kaepernick and Miz is an NFL owner.
… thinks some of the best promo work in the business the past couple weeks has been by Mickie James?
The story line with James and “RAW” Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss is as simple as it gets — the affable, veteran former champion seeks to recapture her past glory against a disrespectful, young champion — but’s it’s been effective in large part because of James’ ability to get the crowd to sympathize with her.
I’d love to see James rewarded by winning her seventh women’s title (which would tie Trish Stratus’ record) at TLC, but it’s more likely that she is just being fed to Bliss in a one-off. Even if that’s the case, hopefully James won’t be put back in a jobber-to-the-stars role.
… is highly entertained by “Crazy” Alicia Fox?
Foxy definitely has the crazy act down pat. Wait, she is acting, right? Hold on, let me give Wade Barrett a call. Just kidding. During my time on the WWE creative team, Foxy was easy to work with and sane (relatively speaking).
By the way, for all of Fox’s complaining on TV recently that she doesn’t have her own WWE t-shirt for sale, she actually does — and it’s pretty cool.
… noticed WWE Cruiserweight Champion Kalisto said that he would leave TLC as the "new” Cruiserweight Champion rather than “still” Cruiserweight Champion?
Apparently, even Kalisto can’t believe WWE actually took the title off Enzo Amore and put it on him. I do think he’s right, however, that a new Cruiserweight champion will be crowned at “TLC.”
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‘SmackDown Live’ thoughts
Am I the only one who ..
… isn’t excited about a potential match between WWE Champion Jinder Mahal and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series?
As far as world champion versus world champion matchups go, it’s not exactly Hogan-Flair, is it? I know WWE has tried to make Mahal a credible champion by booking him to beat Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, but it’s a stretch to buy him as a threat to Lesnar — especially when I go back and watch this video again.
Nothing was said about the titles being on the line, so it appears this won’t be a unification match, which makes it even less compelling. I’d much rather see a traditional Survivor Series match pitting a team led by Mahal against a team led by Lesnar.
… thought the opening promo segment with Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens was excellent?
Bryan’s home state of Washington, and the arena in which he delivered his emotional farewell promo, was the perfect setting for the segment, and all three performers played their roles very well.
Zayn’s heel turn continues to be believable because there’s some truth in what he’s saying. Zayn was absolutely right when he said there are obvious similarities between him and Bryan, but the difference being that the fans never embraced him the way they did Bryan. Zayn’s best line was when he said that if Bryan had worked smarter instead of harder and dropped the martyr complex, he wouldn’t have been forced to retire.
Bryan’s demeanor and facial reactions to Zayn throughout the promo were spot on. And Owens chiming in about Bryan becoming the very thing that he fought against — the authority — was effective as well.
Speaking of Owens, I lost count long ago as to how many times I’ve thought that he had the best match and/or best promo on whatever show he was on. In the two and a half years he’s been on WWE’s main roster, there hasn’t been a better all-around performer in the company than Owens.
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… thinks a title program between “SmackDown” Tag Team Champions The Usos and the team of Owens and Zayn needs to happen?
The Usos arguably are the best tag team in the business right now, and Owens and Zayn are magic together. It goes without saying that the matches would be fantastic, and now that the Usos have found their voices on the mic, the promos probably would be pretty darn good as well.
… thought the “Pulp Fiction”-inspired episode of “The Fashion Files” was the worst of these segments yet?
I want to like these skits. And I’ve tried, Ringo. I’ve tried real hard. But they’re just not good. In fact, they’re not even OK. Nah, man. They’re pretty f—ing far from OK.
… cringed when it looked like Lana’s sloppy O’Connor Roll on Charlotte might be the finish of the six-woman tag match?
That move was so poorly executed that Pat O’Connor probably O’Connor rolled over in his grave.
… thinks Rusev Day should become a national holiday?
It would serve as a nice bridge between Scotchtoberfest and Festivus.
Happy Rusev Day, everyone. Machka!