Getting Over

   Is it the job of the wrestler to get over themselves or is it the job of the promoter/creative to get the wrestler over?  Or perhaps, is it a little of both?  I've often seen times when a wrestler got over by themselves but their legs were cut out beneath them.  This observation started when WWE put the Stone Cold Steve Austin podcast on the WWE Network and Austin's guest was the chairman himself, Vince McMahon.  Austin mentioned Cesaro and in my opinion, McMahon listed ridiculous things as to why Cesaro never got that big push.  Since then, Austin mentioned the so called "brass ring" and that it is a superstar's responsibility to just take it.  However, it's a big Catch 22!  Austin said wrestlers should speak up more about their characters, yet at the same time, often wrestlers like that are seen as complainers, like Dolph Ziggler.  I see it happening right now with Rusev, where he has managed to get himself over and the fans by his side, yet WWE won't budge. 

   The problem is, since WWE is a monopoly and there's isn't really anywhere to go, you're kind of stuck!  That's easy for Austin to say but in his day, there was another big company or two out there to go to.  There were options!  If anyone didn't like the way they were being used in the WWF they could go to WCW, and vice versa.  In fact, some even found themselves and a character by going to ECW.  Look what ECW did for Raven!  Or Justin Credible!  Heck, Bam Bam Bigelow reinvented himself there and began to look like the monster he should have all along.  Chris Jericho left WCW for the WWF and became an even bigger star.  The same thing happened with the Big Show.  Even during TNA's best days, they were still not WWE's competition.  

   I brought this up because it's been bothering me for the longest time.  While Austin brings up some good points, he's not exactly the right person to get the advice from.  The reason I say that is due to him walking out of the company in 2002.  He disagreed with something so instead of dealing with it another way, he took his ball and went home, something he regrets to this day.  In a previous blog, I brought this up and mentioned that the reason he walked out was not because he refused to lose to Brock Lesnar.  He just felt it was not smart to put a match that caliber on free TV without any buildup.  I completely agree, but he went about it the wrong way.  Here's the problem, though! Whenever a wrestler questions something, it's looked at as complaining or insubordination.  What I'm asking is, where do you draw the line?

   Let me start with Cesaro!  At WrestleMania, he and Jack Swagger, the Real Americans, lost in the Fatal Fourway Tag Team Championship match.  After the match, Swagger turned on Cesaro by trying to put him in the Ankle Lock.  For quite a while, even though he was a heel, Cesaro garnered fans with his amazing displays of power.  When Zeb Coulter made Swagger apologize and shake hands, Cesaro completed his face turn by using the giant swing on Swagger.  The fans went crazy for him! As if that wasn't enough, he went on later that night to win the first ever Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal by body slamming the Big Show out of the ring.  Momentum was in Cesaro's corner. The next night on Raw, he was endorsed by Hulk Hogan, who presented him with the trophy.  Cesaro was on top of the world!

   That's when it all went to shit!  He turned on Coulter and informed him he was now a Paul Heyman Guy, as Heyman walked out to the ring.   Swagger came out and attacked Cesaro, which kept the fans on his side.  Unfortunately, Heyman's other client Brock Lesnar had just broken the Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania and the fans were not happy.  Heyman mentioned Lesnar all the time, completely overshadowing the work it took to get Cesaro cheered!  I don't understand that! Why ruin his momentum to turn him heel?  Not only that, why make him an afterthought compared to what Lesnar did?  It baffles me to this day!  They should have kept Cesaro face and not put him with Heyman at all.  He could have rode that momentum all the way to the following WrestleMania. By then, the fans might not have even cared about Daniel Bryan trying to get his moment again or complained too much about Roman Reigns.  I don't think Cesaro was necessarily destined for a World Title, but he could have at least got pushed!

   Zack Ryder is another example.  Due to not being used at all on TV, Ryder decided to get himself over without WWE's help or endorsement.  He created his own YouTube show called Z: True Long Island Story.  His show was entertaining and he made many tongue-in-cheek references to the aspect of getting over.  He even created his own Title belt, the Internet Championship.  This caused WWE to take notice and finally push him on TV.  It seemed things were going great when he finally defeated Dolph Ziggler to become the United States Champion.  That was as far as it went!  Just weeks into his reign, he lost the Title, his girlfriend Eve Torres cheated on him with John Cena, and he was destroyed by Kane.  I'm not saying Ryder should have been World Champion or anything but he could have at least held the US Title for a few months or so.  Not everyone can be a main event star but he sold merchandise and they could have thrown him a bone.  His career since has been touch and go.

   I feel like they're doing Rusev a disservice right now by not doing anything with him at all.  "Rusev Day" has gotten so over with the fans that he outsold all the other merchandise for a short time.  The fans absolutely love him right now and it seems like though the fans want to cheer him, creative is trying their hardest to keep him heel.  I say, don't fight it!  The fans should dictate who's over and who's not.  I feel like they need to ride this momentum because we may be looking at the next big star.  Beyond Braun Strowman, who I believe will be getting his moment sooner rather than later, Rusev is not too far behind.  It's a joyous occasion because every day is Rusev Day!

   Dolph Ziggler is the ultimate example!  He is known to complain a lot about his pushes, or lack there of.  I'm with Ziggler all the way, though!  I also don't think he's injury prone or anything like that.  The biggest example of a time when he could have been pushed was the 2014 Survivor Series.  With a little help from Sting, Ziggler was the last man standing on his team, finally dismantling the Authority (for all of two weeks, but still).  Again, I'm not saying he should have won the 2015 Royal Rumble or anything, though I would have loved it, but they could have at least done something.  Instead, he was a throw away competitor in the Intercontinental Title Ladder Match, and had stop and go pushes many times over.

   Though I have many examples. I'll talk about one last wrestler, Bad News Barrett.  Wade Barrett started off strong as the leader of the Nexus, only for he and his cohorts to be disposed of quickly by John Cena.  Thanks John!  After that, Barrett dabbled in mediocrity, winning several Intercontinental Titles, with none too memorable.  He seemed to hit his stride by creating the Bad News Barrett character.  That got over!  Unfortunately, nothing came to pass.  It's amazing, during the awful League of Nations faction, Barrett was the only one I cared about at the time.  When it comes to getting a great push for Barrett..."I'm a afraid I've got some bad news!"

   I could probably go on for a long time.   I just feel like if a superstar is doing their part, it's only right for them to be at least met half way.  All of these men I mentioned got over organically with the fans.  They're on the right track with Braun Strowman, Elias, and several others.  Yet, they've dropped the ball with Bray Wyatt time and time again.  With all that being said, I'm curious as to what you all think.




If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Brand Split: For or Against?

   I may be in the minority here, but I've never been a fan of the brand split in WWE, whether it be the current incarnation or the original back in 2002.  Ultimately, it's all the same company so the competition really doesn't exist, especially when they've made it clear that they care much more for Raw then they do Smackdown.  There was a time last year when Smackdown was a better show than Raw in my opinion.  Also, during the time Paul Heyman was writing for Smackdown years ago, it was the better show.  Back then, there was the Smackdown Six, which included Kurt Angle, Edge, Rey Misterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, and Brock Lesnar.  Other than that, it's not so much that Raw was better, but clear that Raw was cared for more.  There will never be a time when these two shows will be treated as equals, even though Smackdown finally went live as well.

   A company with brands competing against each other just doesn't make sense to me.  For instance, when WCW was bought by Vince McMahon, many of us thought it would be used as a second brand and looked at as WCW. However, that was not the case, and due to WWE not shelling out enough money and/or wrestlers waiting out their AOL/Time Warner contracts, we got treated to a piss poor "Invasion."  No wonder Sting didn't want to join then!  Although, to be fair, as much as I respect them, Booker T and Diamond Dallas Page, were not as well known as Sting was.  Yes, Sting ended up losing to Triple H years later, which I still disagree with by the way, but back then he was still a major star and had a bunch of good years left. 

   Some speculate that the reason we never got a WCW brand was due to the night Raw became Nitro for one night only.  Booker T defended the WCW World Title against Buff Bagwell, who flat out did not care and was fired shortly thereafter for it.  McMahon did not purchase any main WCW commentators, except for Scott Hudson, who called the show that night with Arn Anderson.  Arn was a great talker in his day as a member of the Four Horsemen, but commentary was just not his thing.  One thing was promising, however, because in the storyline, Shane McMahan bought WCW out from under his father, which was carried out during the infamous Nitro/Raw simulcast.  Unfortunately, some of these factors are possibly why WCW was never turned into a brand.  Regardless, I still think they should have at least tried, especially because eventually many WCW wrestlers finally came to the WWF.  By November, Ric Flair was there.  By February of 2002, the nWo's Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash showed up, followed by Rey Misterio that Summer and Scott Steiner in the Fall.  A few months later, Goldberg signed.  

   In 2002. the WWF's roster was larger than it had ever been, due to the WCW contracts that were purchased, along with ECW's end, in which several ECW stars also showed up, such as Rob Van Dam. Just after WrestleMania XVIII, the storyline had Ric Flair owning half of the WWF, along with Vince McMahon.  Linda McMahon then decided there would be what was known as a Brand Extension.  Vince would run Smackdown and Flair would run Raw, with each choosing superstars in a Draft.  It was a promising concept so I tried to give it a chance.  It started to go south when they decided to split up the Dudley Boys.  Later on, the APA was split up as well.  None of these four men needed that at this point.  Not only that, the Tag Team Titles remained on Smackdown, with Champions Billy & Chuck, while the Hardy Boys were on Raw with no Championship to go for.  

   At the time, the WWF Champion was to go between brands and defend the Title, but other Titles were split up, some the property of Raw, and others the property of Smackdown.  To combat this situation, they brought in a second World Title, the US Title, and another set of Tag Team Titles.  They just unified the WWF and WCW Titles months earlier, only to have many Titles yet again.  Even with the elimination of the European and Hardcore Titles, there were still too many.  After Vince got full ownership back from Flair, he assigned two General Managers to the brands.  Stephanie McMahon became the General Manager for Smackdown, while Vince chose Raw's General Manager to be none other than the man that used to run WCW, Eric Bischoff.

  A brand split is something that if done right, could have worked out.  Splitting up tag teams aside, the split wasn't taken seriously.  People kept jumping from brand to brand, making it seem like a company signing a talent from another company.  If you're going to do a brand split, you can't half-ass it, you have to make it seem rock solid.  For a few years, despite a few brand moves every once in a while, it worked somewhat. Eventually, talents started showing up on both shows, ruining the aspect of two World Champions, even though I hated that anyway.  In September of 2002, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar signed exclusively with Smackdown, leaving Raw without a World Champion.  Not to be outdone, Bischoff brought back the old WCW World Title and presented it to Triple H.  That was the Title of a dead company and its lineage basically started right then and there. Meanwhile, back in December of 2001, Chris Jericho had defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock that night to become the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  Unfortunately, Jericho was not treated as he should have, being undermined by Stephanie McMahon and a glorified dog watcher, but that's another topic for another time.  The point is, just nine months after they Unified the Titles, it was undone. 

  By 2013, it was just a mess, with superstars showing up wherever they pleased.  During the year, it was decided that the brand split would end, or at least there would be a unification of Championships.  By this point, the Tag Team Titles had already merged, and the Diva's Title over took the storied Women's Title, while the two mid-card Titles, the Intercontinental and US, remained. At TLC in December, WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated World Champion John Cena to become the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion.  I was happy, as having one World Title would make it mean something again.  

   In 2016, the brand split was brought back, and I was none too pleased.  The draft took place in July and wrestlers went to their separate brands again.  Since WWE Champion Dean Ambrose was a Smackdown superstar, WWE created the Universal Championship, which is currently held by Brock Lesnar.  In August, Finn Balor defeated Seth Rollins to become the first Universal Champion. Unfortunately, he was injured during the match and the Title was held up.  Kevin Owens won it soon after, dropping it to Goldberg in February of 2017, who subsequently lost it to current Champion Lesnar.  As far as I'm concerned, the belt means nothing to me and is not a real World Title.  

  

  Back at WrestleMania that year, a new stride was taken in the Women's Division, as the Diva's Title was finally phased out and the Women's Championship was brought back, won by Charlotte Flair.  In September, since Charlotte was on Raw, Smackdown created its own Women's Title, and its inaugural Champion was Becky Lynch, diluting the importance of the Women's Title.  Also, Smackdown created its own Tag Team Titles as the Tag Team Champions at the time, The New Day, were Raw superstars.  Smackdown's first Tag Team Champions were Heath Slater and Rhino.  Once again, shortly after this, it started to fall apart again, with several switches here and there.  Now, John Cena is a free agent, roaming from brand to brand, negating the very idea of the brand split.  WWE owns most of the wrestling world so they would be free to have Smackdown under a different banner, with the illusion of it being a separate company.  Humor me a little, that's all I ask!  Beyond that, I just cannot get behind a brand split.

   Since there is a ton of WWE programming, WWE could pull off what the NWA was at one time. The NWA was the ultimate wrestling organization during most of the Territory Days.  There were multiple Territories around the world and you'd see wrestlers go from one to the other, never overstaying their welcome.  Special attractions like Andre the Giant and Abdullah the Butcher often did this.  The World Champion would often travel to different Territories and defend the Title.  For instance, you'd see Ric Flair defend against Carlos Colon in his Puerto Rican Territory, World Wrestling Council.  With many brands at its disposal, WWE could do something similar.  NXT has almost become its own brand, and isn't just seen as Developmental.  Meanwhile, 205 Live is floundering and they created a UK Champion with a great tournament, but no brand for the Champion to call his own.  At least create the illusion that there are separate companies.  Even though we would still know everything was under the WWE banner, it would at least make a little more sense.  Otherwise, if it stays the way it is, I just flat out don't like it.

   Some that like it will point out that if not for the brand split, we may not have seen some wrestlers finally rise to the top.  Without the brand split, Title reigns for Eddie Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Christian, and Mark Henry, who finally hit his stride 15 years into his WWE career, would not have happened.  It also created new stars in John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista, among others. However, the brand split also gave us abysmal Champions like Jack Swagger and the Great Khali.  Without it, we wouldn't have had to sit through an almost year-long reign of JBL.  Let's be honest, there is no way Jinder Mahal would have won the WWE Title if there was no brand split.  I could get behind this Territory concept but right now, the brand split is just dumb.  With WWE already giving in to duel-branded Pay-Per-Views again, it's only a matter of time before this split ends as well, hopefully giving way to rightfully only one World Champion once again.  Thoughts?

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Deconstructing the Attitude Era

   In a recent edition of my company's wrestling podcast, information of which can be found below the blog, my colleagues and I discussed the notion of wrestling being for kids.  The reason for the discussion was a listener criticized those on the podcast who have children being bad parents because their kids watch wrestling.  Whenever someone wants to debate the argument, they inevitably bring up the Attitude Era, a time we can all agree was not for kids.  However, what people fail to realize is that the Attitude Era was basically a necessary evil.  Often fans of today who watched during that time claim that wrestling was better than it is today and it's all due to the rating.  While that time period was admittedly WWE's most profitable, I don't think it's fair to say the TV-14 rating back then is the reason.  That kind of rating doesn't necessarily mean quality.

   Just after the infamous Montreal Screwjob, Vince McMahon was finally outed on wrestling television as the owner of the World Wrestling Federation.  The Mr. McMahon character was born and McMahon's feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin eventually catapulted the WWF back to the mainstream, competed fiercely with WCW, and ultimately won what was known as the Monday Night War.  Here's where it all gets lost in translation!  Going that more adult-oriented route was never McMahon's intention.  He was quite content with keeping the product kid-friendly.  However, during the Monday Night War, it was cutthroat and there were many times where his company might have been on the verge of going out of business.  Vince McMahon adjusted accordingly and did what he had to do to survive.  As I said earlier, the Attitude Era was a necessary evil and many forget about that.  As a kid, I grew up watching the Hulkamania Era and as I became a teenager, I witnessed the Attitude Era.  I'm at the age where I grew up watching the product in two completely different, yet most mainstream time periods, both as a kid and as a teenager.  However, being the average horny teenage male at the time, it's no wonder I enjoyed the Attitude Era, as it was certainly not for children.  

   For a long period of time during the Monday Night War, WCW was often beating the WWF in the ratings on a weekly basis.  In 1995, Ted Turner set Eric Bischoff loose with his money to scoop up big stars and compete with the WWF's Monday Night Raw in the form of WCW Monday Nitro.  By that time, WCW had already acquired Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage.  During the first broadcast of Nitro, Lex Lugar showed up, just days after last being seen working WWF shows.  At the time, Lugar had been working with somewhat of a spoken word contract, meaning he had no ties to the WWF. When Scott Hall and Kevin Nash came to WCW, the WWF created air tight - no compete clause contracts.

 Soon after, Hall and Nash joined with a now heel Hulk Hogan, creating the New World Order (nWo) and the WWF was really in trouble. Another shot fired by WCW was in December of 1995.  WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze, also known as Madusa, appeared on WCW Monday Nitro with her Title. She proceeded to talk smack about the WWF and dropped the WWF Women's Championship belt into a trash can.  In a way, this moment led to the Montreal Screwjob, as Vince might have been afraid Bret Hart would do something similar with the WWF World Heavyweight Title.

   The WWF was still in the New Generation and while they had great wrestlers like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, they still used cartoon-like gimmicks that worked years earlier.  The product started to get a little edgier when the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Brian Pillman came to the WWF in 1996.  However, it wasn't until the end of 1997 that Vince McMahon would coin the phrase "Attitude Era."  Along with Austin's foul mouth, were other edgier gimmicks.  Triple H dropped his Greenwhich snob persona, as he and Chyna joined Shawn Michaels to create Degeneration X, who caused chaos and did what they wanted, telling people to "suck it!"  The Nation of Domination became more like a Nation of Islam/Black Panthers movement, there was factional warfare, and women like Sunny and Sable became sex symbols, often wearing very little.

   WCW was firmly beating the WWF in the ratings during those years.  Vince McMahon was simply trying to survive.  Bret Hart for one, didn't like the direction the WWF was going but McMahon did not want to go out of business. By 1998, WCW was winning the war by a large margin.  The nWo split into factions, creating the extremely popular Wolfpack, Goldberg was on the rise, and Sting was excelling with a much darker character.  In response, the WWF brought in Kane as the Undertaker's brother, the Nation's Kama Mustafa became a pimp called the Godfather, and they even had a porn star wrestler named Val Venis.  Vince was pulling out all the stops and doing whatever it took to get the ratings back.  Mick Foley's character at the time was the deranged Mankind, but every once in a while, he would bring out the hardcore legend Cactus Jack and the fun-loving Dude Love.  More violent matches began taking place, such as Hell In a Cell. One such match featured the Undertaker throwing Mankind off the top of the Cell through the commentary table.  The fall caused Foley's tooth to go through his lip and into his nose.  Foley climbed back up only to be choke slammed through the Cell.  It was certainly a gruesome sight!

   Though both companies started doing more edgy and reality-based things, the real credit has to go to Paul Heyman's ECW.  ECW was able to bring the hardcore style of wrestling to the main stage.  WCW and the WWF both took things they saw from ECW.  WCW for instance, took talent such as technicians like Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Eddie Guerrero.  They also perfected a Cruiserweight Division, stealing ECW Luchadores like Rey Misterio, Juventud Guerrera, and Psicosis.  The WWF, on the other hand, adopted a more hardcore lifestyle and eventually signed ECW mainstays like Taz and the Dudley Boys.  ECW was a true pioneer and one of the reasons for both of the big companies to become more successful.

   One of the things Eric Bischoff used to do to make sure Nitro was winning was to give away the WWF's results.  At the time, every other Monday Night Raw was taped so Bischoff would give away Raw results during Nitro.  This tactic worked big time but eventually, it backfired in a spectacular way.  During the January 4th, 1999 broadcast of WCW Monday Nitro, Bischoff instructed commentator Tony Shiavone to give away Raw's results, as they normally did.  He emphasized that Mankind was going to win the WWF World Title and sarcastically said: "that'll put butts in seats!"  Unfortunately for WCW, millions around the world changed the channel to see Monday Night Raw and watch Mankind win the big one.  I should know, as I was one of those people.  This particular Nitro also included a segment that many call the beginning of the end for WCW, as WCW World Champion Kevin Nash laid down for Hulk Hogan in the infamous "Fingerpoke of Doom" segment.

   Eventually, many factors led to WCW's demise in 2001. It was a combination of bad decisions, wrestlers like Hogan and Nash booking themselves, and a change in office personnel, among many other factors.  However, the WWF also continued to do things out of the box and sooner or later were just straight up a more entertaining product.  Vince McMahon's WWF won the Monday Night War in the end.  When WCW starting gathering up many WWF talents, Vince fought back.  He came up with a much edgier product and eventually a simply more superior product.  Vince had to do something drastic if he was to save what his grandfather and father built many years ago.  He survived both the steroid trial and the Monday Night War, things that would destroy any other company.

 If you think I'm painting the Attitude Era as the best thing to happen in wrestling, think again!  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the Attitude Era! I was also an impressionable teenager and it was my cup of tea.  You'd often find me walking down the halls of my high school wearing an Austin 3:16 shirt.  The Attitude Era was around during most of my time in College as well.  I remember going to a WrestleMania XVII party on campus.  I think many people fondly look back at the Attitude Era wearing rose-colored glasses, however!  Not everything during this time was a winner.  For every Stone Cold, there was a Naked Midean.  For every "If ya smell what The Rock is cooking," there was a Truth Commission.  As many great gimmicks as there were during that time, there were also things not as entertaining.  I liked the Attitude Era but it wasn't perfect.  That's what I'm trying to point out!  People act is if everything during the Attitude Era struck gold and it's simply not the case.

   Again, I'll go back to what I said earlier.  Doing a more raunchy show was not something Vince McMahon wanted to do.  It was a drastic measure taken for drastic times.  It was survival at that point!  The Monday Night War, along with the influence of ECW, was a do or die time.  DX even came to a WCW arena where Nitro was taking place with a tank of all things!  How much more of a war reference do you need to understand what was happening?  It was a crazy time in wrestling and a very profitable time as well.  If there was no ratings war, I doubt either company would have gone to the lengths they did, especially the WWF.  Here's the thing, though!  It was a different time in the world.  I don't think that kind of wrestling programming would fly these days.  After the Chris Benoit incident almost single-handedly crippled the wrestling industry, the WWF decided to go a more PG route.  While there are restrictions that WWE's sponsors want them to make, a simple rating is not going to make or break things.  Bad writing is bad writing, plain and simple!  Going to an edgy product right now will not guarantee a better product.  Another problem I want to address is that since WCW and ECW went away, WWE's basically had a monopoly in the wrestling business.  Without serious competition, it caused somewhat of a lackadaisical attitude on WWE's part at times.

   What I'm trying to point out is that for every time period, you can find both good and bad.  While many things were a little corny in the New Generation, you could still find positives.  In contrast, the Golden Era and Attitude Era, while praised, are also not without faults.  I'm not trying to put down the Attitude Era, as I did enjoy it at the time.  However, I'm not going to lie and tell you it was all coming up roses.  At the end of the day, a real wrestling fan will identify both the positive and the negative, and not focus too much on a certain perspective.  While today's wrestling product may not be everyone's cup of tea, you can't tell me with a straight face that you can't find one single thing to be positive about.  After all, wrestling is a variety show, with something for everybody.  That being said, with the extreme exception of the Attitute Era, wrestling was and is a product geared mostly towards children.  For every kid with a Hulkamania product when I grew up, there's a kid today with a John Cena shirt.  You can love the Attitude Era all you want but the reality is, not everything was perfect!

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Too Many Championships Dilutes Their Importance

   Lately, I have been hearing people talking about the Women's Division in WWE being big enough to warrant a set of Tag Team Championships.  In the 1980's, the company actually did have Women's Tag Team Titles, worn by such teams as the Glamour Girls and the high-flying Jumping Bomb Angels, and we haven't seen those Championships in 30 years.  While I can agree to a certain extent, I don't want that to happen unless there is only one singles Women's Championship.  I don't think the Women's Division is strong enough on both Raw and Smackdown for separate Titles.  I'd rather the Raw and Smackdown Women's Champions unify their Titles into one and then bring in the Tag Team Titles.  I don't know why people think more is better, especially when it comes to wrestling Championships.  The prestige gets diluted, especially when the Titles are claimed to be treated equally.  I tend to endorse the saying; "less is more."  

   Since I'm still on the topic of the Women's Division, let's look at today's Champions.  Although it's almost inevitable that Asuka will be winning the Raw Women's Title at WrestleMania, the current champion of the Raw brand is Alexa Bliss.  Charlotte Flair currently holds the Smackdown Women's Title.  Here's my question!  Which one means more?  In my opinion, it would be the Raw Title, as that came first, and how they didn't continue with the old Women's Title lineage I'll never know.  The Championship on Smackdown came later on, with its inaugural Champion being Becky Lynch at the time.  I mean no disrespect to the women who have held the Smackdown Women's Title but having two of the same Title makes no sense to me.  I realize that the women in WWE are being cared for a lot more these days and attention has been paid, which is fantastic.  Nothing could make that statement mean more than the recent first ever Women's Royal Rumble.  I realize there were a lot of returns, surprises, and NXT wrestlers in it but 2/3 of the match featured women on both Raw and Smackdown.  

   There are several women that could form teams to compete for Women's Tag Team Titles but I feel there only needs to be one singles Title.  You could take any combination of the Four Horsewomen that could hold the belts for a time.  There's always a return of the Bella Twins at some point.  You could potentially have Ronda Rousey team with her MMA friend Shayna Baszler.  There could be any number of combinations, whether they make sense or not, hold the Titles, even the off chance of besties Trish Stratus and Lita having a very short comeback.  My other problem with two Women's singles Titles is the depth of the roster.  While the landscape of women's wrestling in WWE is much different these days, if there was really depth, there would be non-Title programs that make it onto big PPV's.  For instance, it's very likely we'll get a one on one match at WrestleMania between Sasha Banks and Bayley.  I'd rather that happen a lot more often!  If there are two Women's Titles, the company will feel obligated to have both Titles appear on the card and just paint by the numbers, whereas with only one singles Title for the women, creative would have to adjust and put together meaningful non-Title feuds for the women.  

   The other reason I brought this up is the recent announcement of Backlash this May, along with the rest of the PPV's this year going forward, being duel-branded.  Duel-branded PPV's are both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.  What I like about this is that the best of the best will appear on the shows.  Sure, not everyone will be able to appear on the card but that's not such a bad thing.  Another reason I don't like multiple Championships is that they appear more as participation trophies.  As I stated once in a blog, while John Cena may have tied Ric Flair's 16 World Title wins, he competed in a time where there was often more than one "World" Title to go for.  When Cena tied the record, he had been competing on a professional level for 17 years, whereas Flair's career spanned 28 years by the time he won 16 World Titles, and then he wrestled for another eight years after.  

   The brand only PPV's don't generally do well because half the roster is missing, things get repetitive, and we get stuck with meaningless matches that are there simply to fill up a card.  There are also way too many PPV's in general.  With duel-branded PPV's, that problem is solved!  However, another problem now arises!  With nine Championships currently, this mostly means all the shows going forward will have all the Titles on the line.  That in itself would not be a bad thing if there weren't as many Titles.  It means we're either going to be getting a lot of nonsensical multi-person matches, or some major players won't be on the card, therefore not garnering the amount of revenue the company will have in mind.  Therein lies the problem of brands in the first place.  I for one never liked the brand split.  I didn't like it the first go around and I don't like it today.  Realistically, everything is, even in kayfabe, treated as being under the WWE umbrella.  A company cannot compete against itself, it just doesn't make sense!  The first brand extension ultimately failed and this one will too because the effort eventually goes away.  If you're going to split the roster, you can't half-ass it, you have to go all in.  That's for another topic altogether, though, so I'll save that one for another blog down the line.

   The biggest problem in all of this is the Tag Team Division.  I don't think either brand has a strong enough division on its own, even with more solid tag teams forming.  For a long time, WWE hasn't concentrated enough on tag teams at all, considering many are broken up and don't stay together long.  In 2017, we lost teams like Enzo and Big Cass, American Alpha, and several others.  Back in the day, teams used to stay together for years, some even staying a team forever.  The Legion of Doom were almost always together and even when they weren't teaming with each other, they were still in tag teams.  Animal and Hawk were not good enough to be singles competitors.  Hawk teamed with Kensuke Sasaki as the Hell Raisers and even wore the old Road Warrior shoulder pads together. Though Bubba Ray Dudley eventually found a successful singles character in Bully Ray, the Dudley Boys remained a team for most of their careers.  D-Von wasn't nearly as successful by himself.  Look at a team like the Usos, arguably one of, if not the best tag team in WWE today.  Especially with the fact that they are twins and haven't developed separate personalities, I don't see an upside to either having a singles career.  

   There can't always be a Shawn Michaels and a Marty Jannetty.  That dynamic doesn't exist for every team.  Sometimes, a team splits up and you realize both are the Marty Jannetty.  That happened with Cryme Tyme, among several other teams.  Right now, The Bar are the Raw Tag Team Champions, while the Usos have the gold on Smackdown.  Once again, how does that make sense? Which team or Championship means more?  That especially goes for World Titles!  In my opinion, two World Champions in the same company makes no sense!  I don't consider the Universal Title a World Title, nor do I care about its existence at all.  In fact, I'll agree with The Miz that his Intercontinental Title makes him the main Champion on Raw.  Especially when the Universal Champion is Brock Lesnar, who rarely appears.  Even during the days of the "World Heavyweight Title," I never considered that a World Title either.  As far as I'm concerned, the man that wears the WWE Title, is THE World Champion.  Right now that man is AJ Styles!

   The only time I am okay with more than one Title is in the mid-card.  For instance, I'd be okay with the Intercontinental Title on Raw and the US Title on Smackdown, as they are, with the World Titles, Women's Titles, and Tag Team Titles being unified.  There are way too many Championships, even with a brand split.  The first six months of the original brand extension saw only one World Champion and things were fine.  I don't think another World Title needed to be brought in at all. Many people say that with a brand split, it's better with two World Titles and that way, one wrestler doesn't have to burn the midnight oil on both brands.  In the Territory Days, the NWA had its World Champion go all over the the Territories to defend the Championship.   You'd always see Harley Race or Ric Flair defending the NWA World Heavyweight Title all over the world.  

   That brings me to another topic, which might also develop into its own blog.  If WWE truly wants to continue with a brand extension, don't make it Raw vs. Smackdown.  It doesn't appear as competition if it's all under WWE.  With WWE owning most of the wrestling world's brands, they could just as easily put Smackdown under a different banner.  While yes, everything would still ultimately be under the WWE umbrella, in kayfabe it would appear as actual brand competition. WWE could create its own Territory system.  I'd keep NXT the way it is but with them having a UK Championship, a UK Territory could make sense.  Each brand could have its own singles Champion but I would have the one World Champion make appearances as needed, on every territory, much like the way things happened with the NWA years ago.

   With the upcoming HBO special about Andre the Giant coming out days before WrestleMania this year, I read rumors about more attention being paid to the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Since its inception at WrestleMania 30, none of the four winners were followed up with, concerning storylines and such.  If they really want to make this year's count, it might make sense to have actual big names in this thing.  Would it be so bad if say John Cena or Randy Orton were a part of it?  After all, the match itself is one big participation trophy, just so everyone can get on the card.  I'm afraid WrestleMania this year will be filled with a ridiculous amount of multi-person matches.  Why not just include big names in this year's Battle Royal?  With the Undertaker's match with Roman Reigns main eventing the show last year and the way he left his gear in the ring, it signified the end of his career. Therefore, the much rumored match with John Cena this year, doesn't make much sense.  God forbid Cena doesn't have a clear program!  Stack this year's Battle Royal with some star power!  Guys like Cena, Orton, and some others will be just fine.  I really wish WWE would roll with quality over quantity.  That's basically what this was all was about.  What are your thoughts?

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Is the Undertaker Done? Should He Be Done?

   For years now, rumors have been swirling about the Undertaker's impending retirement.  Some feel it should have happened years ago, some feel the day he lost his streak should have been the time, and some feel that when it does happen, WWE will make a big deal of it.  Here's what I'm trying to get at!  Is it necessary at this point for the Undertaker to have a match at WrestleMania.  It's been up in the air as far as his readiness to compete.  He's been long rumored to face John  Cena this year and as we've seen during Cena's struggle to get on the Road To WrestleMania, it might be where they're going.

   I feel that the Undertaker is finished and there's no reason for him to have a match this year.  Last year, he suffered his second loss at WrestleMania to Roman Reigns in seemingly a passing of the torch encounter.  Taker left his gear in the ring and left, kissed his wife, and went back up the ramp, only to be seen on Raw's 25th Anniversary special.  If that doesn't say retirement, then what was the point of all that.  Whether he won or lost last year, the symbolism of what he did tells me he's done.  Why do all that and then wrestle again?  Also, let's be honest!  You know Cena would be going over.  I personally feel that the Undertaker's streak should never have ended, but that's neither here nor there.  As of yesterday, another rumored opponent this year for Cena would be Rey Misterio, which I would be fine with.

    With the way things ended last year, I just don't see the point in the Undertaker wrestling again.  Don't get me wrong; I love the Undertaker!  I just feel like it's time.  They missed the boat on Undertaker vs. Sting and besides, Sting is retired now, anyway.  If Sting was going to lose at his first and only WrestleMania, it should have been against the Undertaker at WrestleMania 31.  Triple H did not need that win but that's for another topic altogether.  An Undertaker/Cena match, while definitely WrestleMania worthy, just doesn't seem as satisfying now as it would have years ago.  After all, the Undertaker wrestled Kane twice, Shawn Michaels twice, and Triple H three times and you can't tell me they couldn't have used one of those times for a match against Cena.  

   After Taker's loss to Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30, I completely lost interest in the Undertaker's matches at WrestleMania.  Once the streak was over, there was nothing to look forward to.  His match against Bray Wyatt was disappointing.  His match against Shane McMahon did not make any sense, and his match with Roman Reigns, though it ended the show, was forgettable to me.  The point is, how much clearer could it have been for us to realize the Undertaker may in fact be done.  There are those that say why have Cena bring up Taker's name if it's not going to happen?   They say, why tease it?  I say to that, nothing was teased!  Cena said he wanted to challenge the Undertaker but  quickly mentioned that it's not in the cards.  How was that a tease?

   The Undertaker is and always will be one of my favorites of all time.  If he does wrestle Cena, I'm indifferent at this point.  It's always cool to see his entrance.  If Goldberg wasn't headlining this year's Hall of Fame, I bet the Undertaker would have.  Maybe that's next year!  One of these days, he's going in.  At the end of the day, it's the man's decision and he has earned the right to do whatever he feels is the best option.  If he decides to wrestle again, I'll respect his wishes.  If he is done, I'll respect that decision as well.  He's earned respect no matter what he does.  My point is, the way he left his gear in the ring last year couldn't have been a more perfect ending for his career.  The fact is, we still don't know what is going on.  Though signs do point to Cena vs. Taker, nothing is final as of yet.  However, it is interesting to see Cena go through this phase, where's he's losing left and right, getting desperate, and acting a little entitled.  What do you think of it all?

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Elimination Chamber 2018 Review

   WWE made their first stop on the Road To WrestleMania with last night's Elimination Chamber event.  It was historic in that the main event featured for the first time a seven-man Elimination Chamber match.  Not only that, there was the first ever Women's Elimination Chamber match as well.  I'm here to share my thoughts about last night's show.  We have one more stop and that is next month's Smackdown exclusive show, Fastlane.

Kick-Off Match - Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Miztourage

   Before the main show began, fans were treated to a tag team match.  It was the Good Brothers of the Balor Club taking on the Miztourage.  The Miz himself did not get involved, nor did Finn Balor, as I'm sure their participation in the Elimination  Chamber was more pressing.  As I predicted, Gallows and Anderson prevailed. Tonight on Raw, we'll probably get more insight on how Raw's side of things will shape up for WrestleMania.  The match was fine, it did what it was supposed to do.  

Raw Women's Championship Elimination Chamber Match - Alexa Bliss vs. Mickie James vs. Mandy Rose vs. Sonya DeVille vs. Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

   The first official match on the card was the first ever Women's Elimination Chamber match. Alexa Bliss was in for the fight of her life, defending her Title against five others in this ominous structure.  Absolution's Sonya DeVille and Bayley started things off, which each other woman in her respective pod.  The first pod opened and it was another member of Absolution, Mandy Rose.  As expected, the two stable mates double teamed Bayley.  Bayley didn't back down and took the fight to both as best she could.  Sasha Banks then entered the match and now Bayley had some help.  The next pod opened up and it was Mickie James, leaving Alexa Bliss last to enter.  Mickie climbed one of the pods and leaped from the top onto her opponents.  The first one eliminated was Mandy Rose, which Alexa loved because it was one less person she had to deal with.  Mandy Rose now has the distinction of being the third woman to enter and first woman eliminated from both the Women's Royal Rumble and Women's Elimination Chamber matches.

   Next eliminated was Sonya DeVille, right after Alexa finally entered the match.  Much to the chagrin of Alexa, her on-again off-again friend Mickie James was eliminated next.  It was every woman for herself, however, as it wasn't long before Sasha attacked Bayley.  Bayley attacked back and the two fought, while Alexa smiled.  Alexa tried to escape by scaling the cage but she was corned by Sasha and Bayley.  At one point, all three women were on top of a pod.  Sasha viciously threw Bayley off the pod.  Alexa performed an amazing Twisted Bliss of the top of a pod.  Alexa soon eliminated Bayley, followed by Sasha, to retain the Raw Women's Championship.  Alexa's night of worrying wasn't over yet, as later on Royal Rumble winner Asuka would take on Nia Jax.  One thing that became clear to me out of this match was the tension between Sasha and Bayley, which will hopefully lead to a one on one match at WrestleMania and a full-on Sasha heel turn.

Raw Tag Team Titles - The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide

   In the last two years, Sheamus and Cesaro have become one of the best tag teams in WWE today.  I mean no disrespect to Titus or Apollo but this match was pretty easy to predict, with the Champs coming out the victors.  It was a pretty entertaining match, though!  Sheamus and Cesaro did in fact win this contest but there's a big question mark as to the next contenders.  I'm sure tonight on Raw, we'll get some answers.  As far is Raw is concerned, these two don't just set the bar, they are the bar!

Asuka vs, Nia Jax

   Asuka won the Royal Rumble last month and she's going to WrestleMania regardless to face the Raw Women's Title.  The stipulation for this match was that if Nia wins, she would join the Championship match and it would become a Triple Threat.  With WWE building up Asuka's undefeated streak, I had a hard time buying she may lose before WrestleMania.  However, if there was ever a woman to make fans doubt Asuka's chances, it's Nia Jax!  She gave Asuka the fight of her life last night.  In the end, Asuka came out victorious.  Unfortunately for Asuka, Nia is quite the sore loser.  Nia battered Asuka continuously after the match.  Backstage, Alexa Bliss was seen smiling, as her future opponent was just weakened.  Asuka could possibly challenge for the Smackdown Women's Title but I feel like there's too many loose ends to tie on Raw.  I'm pretty sure Asuka is going to defeat Alexa to become the new Raw Women's Champion.  Not only that, I imagine WWE doesn't want their first female Money In the Bank winner Carmella to not cash in successfully and there's no way they would end Asuka's streak with a cheap cash in.

Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

   One of the most anticipated characters in a long time has been Matt Hardy's "Broken" character he used in TNA.  Between his brother Jeff's injury and latest feud with Bray Wyatt, Matt has become "Woken!"  Bray's often been known to laugh maniacally and up until now, no one has been able to match Bray's psychoses. Matt has clearly matched Bray's craziness on every level.  I figured since Bray won the last match, Matt would win this one.  Matt won but it's unclear what either man does from now until WrestleMania.  Is the feud over and will they go their separate ways?  Will it continue?  Are we expecting the return of "Brother Nero?"  

Elimination Chamber Match - Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Elias vs. John Cena vs. The Miz vs. Finn Balor vs. Seth Rollins

   Fortunately, the predictability of the outcome of this match didn't take away from the enjoyment it brought to the fans, myself included.  Elias was in the ring, entertaining the audience with a little mini concert.  He was stopped dead in his tracks when the "Monster Among Men" came out to enter his pod.  I'm a little disappointed that Elias didn't take the guitar into his pod and play while the match went on. However, Elias had the distinction of being the last to enter.  John Cena and Roman Reigns made their way into their pods.  With seven men in this match, three would start, and those men were The Miz, Finn Balor, and Seth Rollins, who was the MVP of last Monday's gauntlet match, lasting over an hour himself.  The Miz tried to strike deals with both men early on but neither would go for it.  John Cena's pod opened and he came out fighting.  Reigns entered next, followed by Braun and then lastly, Elias.  

   At one point, all of the men turned their attention to Braun Strowman but no one was able to topple the big man.  In an amazing performance, Braun eliminated five men.  He eliminated The Miz first,  followed by Elias, and then took down "Big Match John," to the surprise of many.  Braun then set his sights on Finn Balor and eliminated him.  The Shield brothers, Seth and Roman, teamed up to try and take Braun down.  Braun eliminated Seth and then stood one on one with Roman Reigns.  The matches these two men had in 2017 were awesome and now we were in for another war.  Even though I predicted Roman to win, deep down I hoped Braun would pull it off.  Roman won the match in the end and I predicted every match correctly.  Now we know Roman will take on Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania but I'm more concerned with what the remaining men do.

   I expected Roman to win and his upcoming match with Brock has been on the table since last year's WrestleMania.  However, I don't think it should close the show for two reasons.  First of all, I would like tradition to continue with the Royal Rumble winner, this being Shinsuke Nakamura, taking on the Champion, this being AJ Styles, in the main event.  Secondly, there is no way another match will be able to top the Shinsuke/AJ match.  Any other match going on last would not be a fitting end to WrestleMania in my opinion.  A distraught Cena went all melancholy on Raw Talk after the show and hinted towards either a heel turn or a possible match with  the Undertaker.  With the way WrestleMania ended last year, I don't see the point in another Undertaker match.  I'm curious as to what Braun Strowman does, especially after his dominating performance in the Elimination Chamber.  Braun brutalized Reigns after the match so maybe they add him to the match?  Before I forget, there was also the contract signing of Ronda Rousey.  Raw General Manager Kurt Angle instigated tension between Ronda and Stephanie/Triple H.  Ronda put Triple H through a table and Stephanie slapped her, only for fear to overcome Stephanie by doing that.  It leads me to believe the four involved will face off at WrestleMania in a Mixed Tag Team Match.  Next stop is Fastlane on the Road To WrestleMania!

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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Elimination Chamber Predictions

 
    Tomorrow night continues the Road To WrestleMania with the Raw brand's Elimination Chamber event, which features for the first time, a Women's Elimination Chamber Match.  Along with all the matches is the contract signing of Ronda Rousey to Raw.  The outcome of this show will likely set up the Raw side of things going forward for WrestleMania.  In my mind, it's somewhat of a predictable show, but you just never know!  Nothing is ever set in stone.  I learned that from "twice in a lifetime!"  

Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. The Miztourage

   I just learned that this match was added to the card for I believe the Kick-Off show.  This match will most likely result in a win for the Balor Club members and possibly another step towards regaining the Tag Team Championships on Raw.  Although, I could see the Miztourage pick up the win should their mentor The Miz get involved. If that's the case, I could potentially see Finn Balor himself getting involved and a chase towards The Miz's Intercontinental Title.  With Maryse due to give birth just days around WrestleMania time, it's likely The Miz might lose the Title.  For now, I'm predicting Gallows and Anderson picking up the victory.

Raw Tag Team Titles - The Bar vs. Titus Worldwide

   I'm not seeing much focus on either set of Tag Team Championships, especially as we get closer to WrestleMania.  I'm sure Jason Jordan getting injured somewhat disrupted plans on Raw regarding this.  Since coming together, Sheamus and Cesaro have proved over time that they are one of the best tag teams in WWE today.  As they say, they don't just set the bar, they are the bar!  I feel like this is just a filler until we figure out the number one contenders for the Titles at WrestleMania.  I doubt Titus O'Neal and Apollo (sans Crews) will win.  I'm choosing the Bar to retain and go into WrestleMania as Champions. However, I wouldn't be opposed to the Miztourage picking them up and teaming with The Miz against the Balor Club for both the Intercontinental and Tag Team Titles.  

Asuka vs. Nia Jax

   I'm actually surprised they went this route because I thought for sure Nia would be in the Elimination Chamber match.  The stipulation for this contest is that if Nia wins, she joins Royal Rumble winner Asuka in a Triple Threat Match with the Raw Women's Champion, whomever that may be, at WrestleMania.  There's no way Asuka is taking a loss right before WrestleMania, undefeated streak or not.  I'm predicting Asuka as the clear cut winner.  However, I could see some shenanigans taking place that will somehow allow Nia to enter the Title match at the big one.  I'm sure that if Paige was not injured, things in the women's division on Raw might be playing out a little differently.

Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt

   I feel like the effort towards this feud is getting a little stale and the fans just aren't into it anymore.  With Bray getting the win during their last match, I'm predicting Matt will take the win here.  I'm not sure where the "Woken" or "Broken" character might lead to next.  Rumors are swirling that Matt's brother Jeff may be returning from injury soon.  In that case, it's possible we may see the debut of "Brother Nero!"  The Broken Hardys challenging for the Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania could be an interesting set of circumstances.  I think both Matt and Bray will be moving on after this match.

Raw Women's Championship Elimination Chamber Match
Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley vs. Sasha Banks vs. Mickie James vs. Sonya DeVille vs. Mandy Rose

 I'm nor sure why they put both active members of Absolution in this match.  I thought Asuka vs. DeVille would be better, with Nia Jax getting to the Chamber match.  There are several ways this match can go down.  Although I'm predicting Alexa to retain the Championship, I could see a few other scenarios.  First of all, let's get this out of the way.  There is no chance for either DeVille or Rose taking the Title.  I could see Bayley winning, with Sasha turning on her directly after.  I could see Sasha winning.  I could also see the possibility of Mickie getting one more run, as the teased story of Alexa and Mickie getting back together goes south.  We also have to remember that it's possible Asuka decides to go to Smackdown to take on Charlotte Flair.  We also have to factor in Ronda Rousey, who for all we know, could pull an Edge and insert herself into the Chamber to win the Title.  Even though we already saw Alexa vs. Asuka, I'm still predicting Alexa will walk out Sunday with the Title and lose it to Asuka at WrestleMania.

7-man Elimination Chamber Match

Roman Reigns vs. Finn Balor vs. Braun Strowman vs. Seth Rollins vs. The Miz vs. Elias

   Many fans think it's a forgone conclusion that Roman Reigns wins this match and goes on to face Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania.  That's a pretty fair assessment, considering WWE has been rumored to go this route since Lesnar took the Universal Title from Goldberg last year. Reigns is my prediction but I'm not upset about it, just indifferent.  I care much more about AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura.  However, I feel like there is a better option and it has nothing to do with whether I like Reigns or not.  You know the saying: "strike when the iron is hot?"  That applies to the Monster Among Men, Braun Strowman. He's the hottest thing in WWE right now and I think it would be pretty great to see Braun get redemption from his loss to Brock a few months ago.  Either way, I think we can all agree that Brock will be dropping the Title.

   You can make an argument for most of the competitors in the Elimination Chamber match to win and face Brock at WrestleMania.  Based on his incredible performance on Raw in the gauntlet match, Seth Rollins would have a good shot here.  It wouldn't be out of the ordinary to see Rollins in a main event.  Some fans would love to see Finn Balor win but I feel that if Brock was able to defeat Braun with a single F5, as well as other big men, it might not be as believable for Finn as a challenger, regardless of how talented he is.  Then again, Gallows and Anderson aren't far behind and the Balor Club could reign supreme.  The Miz lately has been talking about bringing the Intercontinental Title into the WrestleMania main event, which hasn't been seen since the Ultimate Challenge.  With The Miz about to be a father, I don't see him walking out with his own gold, let alone more, though it would be intriguing.

   You can never rule out John Cena.  Time and time again, "Big Match John" has proved he can deliver and he's no stranger to WrestleMania main events.  Not only that, he is currently tied with Ric Flair as a 16-time World Champion and could very well break the record should he survive the Chamber.  The most unlikely winner would be Elias, but he has really come into his own since his arrival on Raw.  With the fact that he defeated John Cena and Braun Strowman recently to earn himself being last to enter the match, I really hope he brings his guitar into his pod and plays until he enters.  The betting odds seem to favor Reigns and that is ultimately who I'm going with.  

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, let me know in comments.  Heck, let us all know on The WAR Report podcast, every Tuesday at 7PM EST on YouTube, brought to you by tagmeadate.com, the first and only dating site for wrestling fans.  Go to askthewarreport@gmail.com or #askthewarreport.  For TagMeADate members, our Android and Apple apps are vastly approaching so stay tuned!
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