Should AJ and Owens be defending champions at Mania?

[Tanahashi Coates]

I alluded to a friend who is on the 'fukk WWE for not doing right by the guys who carried the company" wave. In a show of confirmation bias, he sent me this article from Malwareinsider (I'll save y'all the popups)

Spoiler

REPOSTED AT 11:28 ET: THE HUGE MISTAKE THAT WWE HAS MADE GOING INTO WRESTLEMANIA
By Dave Scherer on 2017-03-07 11:28:00
Some readers told me that they couldn't see this post, so here it is again!

You can send us questions for the PWInsider.com Q and A at pwinsider@gmail.com.

Honestly, why should I care about WrestleMania now? I watch the product all year long. I have heard Eps and you make the case, very well, that WWE is dropping the ball by catering to casual fans once a year with their biggest show. Can you give me some reasons why they do that? And do you think those outweigh putting younger talents in big positions to show those casual fans what they are missing?

First off, I feel your frustration, I really do. I have been saying for months that both AJ Styles and Kevin Owens should go into WrestleMania as their respective champions. They have worked hard all year carrying their brands and deserved to go into the biggest show of the year in a strong position. After Sunday’s ridiculous decision to put the Universal Title on Bill Goldberg, we are now instead looking at a Title match where he will take on Brock Lesnar while AJ Styles will, at best, be a challenger (and I don’t expect that to happen). So if all goes as planned, Randy Orton joins Lesnar and Goldberg in the Title matches.

After all, as you mentioned many casual fans come back once a year to watch the big show (and some may even come back to watch The Big Show). In most businesses, the company would use that uptick in customers to expose those fans to the great things that they have to offer.

In WWE’s case however, they put older, part time talent in prime positions and do it at the expense of the guys that did all of the heavy lifting all year long. It makes no sense at all to me to with people tuning in once a year you give them a 50 year old who has still not worked more than a few minutes defending the WWE Title against a part time guy who has decimated the entire roster, except for the 50 year old guy.

Why would they do it? Well in the old days the explanation always given was, “We charge a lot of money for this PPV, we have to put names on it that the casual fans know in the top matches”. While I didn’t fully agree with that, I could understand their thinking. They felt that the names would be a draw for them. But that was then, this is now.

With the advent of the WWE Network, they don’t need to chase the PPV beast anymore. People can either get a free month of the WWE Network or just pay $9.99 for it and get the biggest show of the year. They are not chasing buys any more. I get that they want to have a big name match with Lesnar vs. Goldberg and I am fine with that. That match is a draw all by itself. It doesn’t need the Title attached to it. But it has one and Kevin Owens is now relegated to a grudge match with Chris Jericho. To me, it would have made much, much more sense to have the casual fan tune in and see, “Hey, this Kevin Owens guy is really good and he just beat Chris Jericho, who is a huge star!”

In the case of Smackdown, it looks like it will be Randy Orton taking on Bray Wyatt so they at least could have Orton lose and elevate Wyatt, but that does nothing for AJ Styles, who was the MVP of the brand all year and maybe of the entire company over the period.

So to recap, no I can’t come up with any good reason to sacrifice the hard work that Styles and Owens put in all year. I think Vince McMahon made a really bad decision in both of their cases. Maybe they will both have amazing matches and it will make the casual fan stay on to watch them but there would have been a much better chance of that happening if those fans tuned in and saw those two as long running champions.

Instead, they will tune in and see that nothing much has changed since last year and I predict a significant percentage of them will do what they do every other year: Take the rest of the year off from WWE until next year’s WrestleMania.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Honestly, I would be a lot more interested in Mania if they were champions. Especially on the RAW side because Owens/Jericho not being for the Universal title is just on all levels.

Sometimes, the WWE really needs to get out of its own way.

 

[Saysumthinfunnymike]

I felt they should have held off on AJ/Cena 3 until WrestleMania. Owens reign was trash from the start so I don't care much about that.

 

[SpacelySprockets]

im not reading all of that but aj styles should definitely be champion, u cant even use the "big name" excuse for smackdowns main event because wtf is a bray wyatt to a casual

from a business standpoint lesnar vs goldberg as the headlining match is gonna sell more tickets than jericho vs owens or anybody else vs owens, thats just the harsh realities.. not enough overweight neckbeards that identify with KO to fill up a stadium

 

[R=G]

lol

 

[llt23]

Wrestling bubble. If you look at the post in the sports forum here bout ESPN covering WWE, you see what people who dont watch wrestling think when they see Kevin Owens. With all due respect to KO, hes not just fat but he has no muscle. He could at WORST get his arms looking strong. He doesnt look intimidating at all. Even back in the day jobbers were jacked and looked like they would fukk you up. Someone like that is pushing away potential viewers.

I like KO as a wrestler and as a promo guy, but that is a big problem.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

They have two choices:

• Sandbag their big matches for 10 months out of the year to only make "WrestleMania matches" for SummerSlam and WrestleMania...If you do this:
  • ten months of PPV don't matter
  • 18+ network big shows are irrelevant
  • 40 weeks of raw don't matter
  • 40 weeks of smackdown don't matter
• Have major matches at other big events as well as SummerSlam and WrestleMania...If you do this:
  • Every month, at least one of the two PPVs are relatively important
  • Raw and SmackDown can build up for payoffs that matter
  • You can have a summer and fall program that draws money
  • You can have space for part timers who can draw money at the big shows

Which would you prefer?

You can do Cena / AJ in October, and push a network buy number during a traditionally dead period, and Bray/Orton/Luke for mania, which isn't a pure draw in and of itself but can make for a great mania moment, and have space for Brock Goldberg at WrestleMania....Which is a big attraction.

You can have more ppvs that matter, and draw casual eyes to WrestleMania if you do it this way. Plus, Cena / Nikki vs Miz / Maryse is something you can bring to talk shows (face and heel) better than AJ / Cena...It's just a fact.

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

Wrestling bubble. If you look at the post in the sports forum here bout ESPN covering WWE, you see what people who dont watch wrestling think when they see Kevin Owens. With all due respect to KO, hes not just fat but he has no muscle. He could at WORST get his arms looking strong. He doesnt look intimidating at all. Even back in the day jobbers were jacked and looked like they would fukk you up. Someone like that is pushing away potential viewers.

I like KO as a wrestler and as a promo guy, but that is a big problem.

The guy who holds down the summer and spring and the guy you push on WrestleMania aren't necessarily the same guy....KO ain't mania poster guy yet. Ask BULLY Bubba RAY if that matters

 

[MenacingMonk]

Wrestling bubble. If you look at the post in the sports forum here bout ESPN covering WWE, you see what people who dont watch wrestling think when they see Kevin Owens. With all due respect to KO, hes not just fat but he has no muscle. He could at WORST get his arms looking strong. He doesnt look intimidating at all. Even back in the day jobbers were jacked and looked like they would fukk you up. Someone like that is pushing away potential viewers.

I like KO as a wrestler and as a promo guy, but that is a big problem.

Those dudes are just stuck in the times when they watched. Glad you brought this up because I just thought of a reply to make in there if it hasn't been done.

 

[mrken12]

Wrestling bubble. If you look at the post in the sports forum here bout ESPN covering WWE, you see what people who dont watch wrestling think when they see Kevin Owens. With all due respect to KO, hes not just fat but he has no muscle. He could at WORST get his arms looking strong. He doesnt look intimidating at all. Even back in the day jobbers were jacked and looked like they would fukk you up. Someone like that is pushing away potential viewers.

I like KO as a wrestler and as a promo guy, but that is a big problem.

What's pushing away viewers is the lack of good storylines and half assed shortsighted booking.

 

[Golayitdown]

Definitely should have had AJ main event against Cena.

KO's championship reign was for the most part but he definitely could have fought Jericho for the belt since it isn't remotely necessary in the Brock/Goldberg feud.

 

[Slystallion]

I only watch Royal Rumble and Mania...and maybe summerslam so they are catering to guys like me. But they also run thier weekly shows like they don't matter cuz mania is gonna be something different so maybe that's why I just stick to those ppv's

 

[llt23]

Those dudes are just stuck in the times when they watched. Glad you brought this up because I just thought of a reply to make in there if it hasn't been done.

Yep but theres a reason why most people dont watch now. Being stuck in the times when wrestling was getting 7.0 and higher ratings on two different channels is not bad. And I agree most of it is due to terrible storylines and 0 character development, but guys who look phony is a part of it too. Another problem Id think is having extended matches every single week instead of saving anything for PPV which also lends to the storyline issue.

Think we as hardcore fans are sometimes too stuck in the wrasslin bubble and arent looking outside to see what the problems really are. Lot of fans think they want more wrasslin, more clean finishes etc.... then you watch attitude era and see non stop fukkery which was the highest rated stuff ever. I dont think the fans even know what they want anymore

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

What's pushing away viewers is the lack of good storylines and half assed shortsighted booking.

Are the current storylines unsatisfactory to you? Shortsided?

• Orton / Wyatt has had a 7+ month buildup
• Goldberg Brock have a career feud and have had a buildup for months
• Charlotte Bailey Sasha has been their plan since NXT
• Reigns taker has been on their radar since they backed reigns heavy
• They built up Strowman for a year, he's credible
• AJ Shane has had a slow build (like it or not it's not shortsided)
• Cena Miz have a career rivalry and they've added hot girls to the feud
• HHH / Rollins has been a year in the making
• Samoa Joe being added to this feud is a way to make him look major.

What would you like instead? "Booking sucks" is no longer a worthy reply in 2017 tsc

 

[llt23]

Are the current storylines unsatisfactory to you? Shortsided?

• Orton / Wyatt has had a 7+ month buildup
• Goldberg Brock have a career feud and have had a buildup for months
• Charlotte Bailey Sasha has been their plan since NXT
• Reigns taker has been on their radar since they backed reigns heavy
• They built up Strowman for a year, he's credible
• AJ Shane has had a slow build (like it or not it's not shortsided)
• Cena Miz have a career rivalry and they've added hot girls to the feud
• HHH / Rollins has been a year in the making
• Samoa Joe being added to this feud is a way to make him look major.

What would you like instead? "Booking sucks" is no longer a worthy reply in 2017 tsc

What does it matter when the storylines are all vanilla. You couldnt tell me one good reason why any of those feuds mean anything whatsoever.