By Haydn Gleed, Prowrestling.net Staffer (@haydngleed)
-Greetings, everyone, from a boiling hot UK, which is gripped in the clutches of a heatwave. I say heatwave, but most of you reading this would probably be laughing at me when I say the temperatures are in the ’90s and that constitutes a heatwave. Keep in mind that the UK is doesn’t know what a home air conditioning unit is. We have electrical fans that end up just blowing the hot air from around you back into your face so doesn’t really help. The weather forecasters have predicted that this weather will last for the rest of July and then possibly all of August, so I’m sure I will be moaning about the heat a lot more over the next few weeks.
-So we’ve talked about something that is hot, but lets talk about something that is not, Roman Reigns (see what I did there?!). This week on Raw, Reigns came across as the most self-obsessed, narcissistic, selfish, arrogant douchebag that ever stepped into a WWE ring. Based on his comments last week in an interview where he claimed he was already a heel that would be perfect. He gets the fans to dislike him, they want to see him shut his mouth by force from the popular wrestlers, and WWE makes a lot of money. The only problem with both the way he acted this week and the idiotic comment about him already being a heel is that he’s pushed as the top babyface. He primarily wrestles heels, his matches are laid out for babyface comebacks, and to garner positive reactions from the crowd. There is such a disconnect.
I’ve been saying for months if not years that the biggest issue with Reigns is not his look, it’s not his in-ring ability, its about the character and the way he’s portrayed. The fans don’t like his persona and have rarely been given a reason to like the character. I know I’m beating a dead horse here with this point but I’d rather that than bang my head against a brick wall, which is how his character makes me feel sometimes. The perfect example of what I’ve been saying was the way he behaved on Raw. He was arrogant towards his best friend Seth Rollins while talking about the upcoming Extreme Rules PPV, he dismissed Bobby Lashley and treated him as beneath him in both the promo exchange and when they teamed together, and he was also the guy who threw a punch at Drew McIntyre when he was taking off his jacket. These are all characteristics of a heel but in the push of a babyface. It boggles my mind it really does.
-So Raw was in Sioux Falls this week? I wonder if Jody Mills and Claire Novak were in attendance……..that’s a little joke for my fellow Supernatural obsessed brothers and sisters out there.
-I really enjoyed Smackdown this week. I thought it was a tight two hour show with good stories and good wrestling. I’m a sucker for callbacks to past events between characters and especially events that I thoroughly enjoyed, as is the case of Team Hell No. The chemistry between Kane and Daniel Bryan is phenomenal and they showed they haven’t missed a beat from a couple of years ago. There has been talk/concern that this will lead to a feud between the two, but I’m not so sure that will happen. I don’t know or understand American politics, but isn’t Kane on the verge of becoming the mayor of his city? As such, I don’t imagine that he returned to WWE for a prolonged stay. Being around for his match at Extreme Rules I can obviously see, but anything after that remains to be seen.
-I’m not a huge fan of James Ellsworth like some other people I could mention on the site, but I did enjoy his promo before his “match” against Asuka. I’m sure there was someone somewhere offended by the comments about female’s brains being smaller, but I thought it was tremendous heel work. For me the fact that this clearly weaselly heel says something like that makes it instantly not true and it makes the viewers want to see him get beaten up by the victim of the lie. The fact that he showed later on with his actions inside and outside the ring backs up the fact that what he was saying was a bare faced untruth and designed to make the fans hate him. If he had gone out there and destroyed Asuka with her “tiny brain”, then yes I would have an issue with it as it would give the impression that that is what WWE truly think about their female wrestlers however the way it was booked was the polar opposite to that. If we ever get into a position where heels can’t antagonize the babyfaces and fans with clearly misinformed information and screwy heel logic then what are we going to be left with? Perhaps a babyface will get upset because a heel claimed he or she saw their opponent put a soda can in the general waste bin instead of the recycling bin.
-Well it’s been a ruff couple of weeks for Shinsuke Nakamura after reportedly being bitten by a dog backstage at a WWE show. I’m sure he’s working his tail off to get back in tip top shape as soon as possible by following the path of leashed resistance. When I heard about the incident I howled with laughter at this rare breed of a story. In all seriousness, I’m sure it was an incident filled with terrier and he’ll be doggedly getting ready for his match at Extreme Rules. It mutt have been much worse so I’m glad it looks like he’s ok. I wonder if any of his co-workers said, “Oh, you paw thing”? I’m here all week ladies and gentlemen, tip the waitstaff.
-The wrestling war developing in the UK heated up this week with the release of the trailer video for World Of Sport Wrestling, which proclaimed they are starting their ten week run this month.
The trailer is a fantastic piece of work and has also had the benefit of being shown during the commercials through the World Cup matches shown on ITV. Potentially an audience of a good five to ten million are seeing this advert. With the focus being on the former Wade Barrett, who is the new WOS authority figure, it gives instant name recognition and credibility to the product. I’m looking forward to the show and comparing the finished product with the new NXT UK product, which should start during the ten week run.
-That’s going to do it for me this week. I want to finish by congratulating England on their advancement to the quarterfinals of the World Cup after a narrow victory against Columbia. The next few weeks should be interesting. Also, a belated happy Independence Day to my American readers.
As always if you want to make a comment based on the blog or anything wrestling related, feel free to comment below or via twitter @haydngleed or via email haydn.gleed@gmail.com
We have Air Conditioners here in The United States and as much as your electric bill will rise and try to avoid using it, you can’t help it. Here, is a heatwave too. We are in 90 degree weather but it feels even hotter. Was on weather.com and it said that it was 94 degrees but it felt like it was over a 100.
Fans are good but they do blow the hot air around.
Btw, they did a poll on WWE.Com about how Roman Reigns acted on Raw. Proud Warrior or Egotistical/Egomaniac. 62% said Egotistical/Egomaniac.