DMJ

Just as a shameless plug of my blog, here are my scores from the past few WWE PPVs (not counting NXT, which tend to score higher because they have fewer matches and math is involved)... Great Balls of Fire - (3.06/5) Money in the Bank '17 - (2.58/5) Extreme Rules '17 - (2.50/5) Backlash '17 - (2.37) Payback '17 - (2.44) WrestleMania 33 - (2.80) FastLane '17 - (2.89) Elimination Chamber '17 - (2.86) Royal Rumble '17 - (3.30) Roadblock: End of the Line - (2.50) TLC 2016 - (3.00) ...and I could go on and on. But, at least from my records, the last non-NXT/non-"Big Four" show that I thought was as consistently good as GBOF would have been Money in the Bank 2016 (3.13 out of 5) thanks to good matches in AJ/Cena, Reigns/Rollins (I can't imagine enjoying a Rollins match now), a fun MITB ladder match, and a better-than-expected Apollo Crews/Sheamus match.

Overall, I found the show quite watchable. Full review on my blog. A few notes for conversation's sake: - Disagree with the comment that Miz's entourage is unnecessary. Found their involvement (and Maryse's) to be the only remarkable thing about the Miz/Ambrose match and an element that helped it stand out. Plus, as others have pointed out, Miz's batting average is really high at getting himself and his partnerships over (see his work with Morrison, Big Show, Sandow, Riley, R-Truth, etc.) and even if it doesn't do anything for Bo or Axel in the long run, its not like we're talking about two undeniable blue chippers getting held back. It's Bo and Axel. - Wasn't as big into the Ironman match as others but am willing to chalk it up to this sort of stipulation match just not being "my thing." It wasn't a bad match (I rated it above average), but it won't make my short list of MOTY contenders. - What might've made that list (at least until the finish) was Bliss/Banks. From beginning to end, I was hooked in this match and found that it may have been Banks' most seamless match in awhile. It helps when the internet is buzzing about "shoot" heat and then you see a match where both performers are not only laying their shit in, but looked like they were actively competing to be "the star" (this was Banks as The Boss in a way she never got to be against Charlotte while Bliss looks and work like she legitimately savors the championship and how it places her above her jealous opponents). Others may have seen the dislocated elbow bit before, but it was new to me, so, yeah, I loved it (and didn't find that it happened "too early" in the match at all as it actually would've been even dumber to have that as your finish knowing that it had been used before). Tack on a better ending to this match that sees Bliss cheat to win and keep the awesome post-match spot and I'm probably at 4-stars for it. - If there was a moment in the Braun/Roman match that screamed "babyface" to me it was Braun shrugging off chair shots. Just awesome. The post-match angle and commentary definitely put some heat on Roman, but I don't think the WWE is halting production on Reigns gear any time soon. I think they've come around to the idea that Roman is not going to be "the next Cena," but maybe they see him as the next Lesnar or (and I'm puking in my mouth as a type this) Triple H in that Roman will get whatever reaction he gets depending on who he's facing and will maintain his main event position/credibility because he'll be the "cornerstone" of the company the way Triple H was from say 2001-2005 (as mostly heel, but also face at times). With Cena, his challengers were almost always heels throughout his run, but Reigns is currently a different case as he's gone up against increasingly popular new guys like Strowman, "smart" fan favorites like Joe and AJ, and "casual" fan favorites like Lesnar and Taker. With Reigns, I think the strategy makes some sense - the more intriguing question to me is how it will work with Strowman. Braun gets cheered when he's tossing Roman around or when he's going face-to-face to Lesnar. I think he'd get cheered for beating on Wyatt. But against Balor? Against Ambrose? There's some interesting dynamics to consider if they ever do decide to "lighten" Braun's monster side and have him actually become a full-fledged "good guy."

New-ish documentary on Netflix called Nobody Speaks. First half is all about Gawker/Hogan and was pretty good. I, for one, after watching the documentary and seeing what's been going on with Trump's attack on the media have kinda switched sides a bit - In 2016, I didn't really care about the specifics of the case and just looked at it as Gawker/TMZ getting taken down a peg because they'd violated a celebrity's privacy and that sex tapes aren't newsworthy because, hey, what's the difference between this and "The Fappening"? Don't celebrities deserve the right to seek justice when their private pics and videos are leaked? But the documentary, which is imperfect (especially in its 2nd and 3rd acts), made a convincing argument that the threat of censorship is real and that the 1st Amendment and a free press are more important than Hulk Hogan's embarrassment or Paige's embarrassment or Jennifer Lawrence's privacy. This is also why, as a poster asked above, we should care that a billionaire like Theil was secretly behind the case. Even if you believe Gawker acted shamefully by outing Theil (to which, again, the documentary offers a reasonable counterpoint - that the article in question was not only complimentary towards Theil but was really about how even in "liberal" Silicon Valley, LGBT VCs feel the need to remain closeted), do we really want the richest 1%, with bottomless resources, to be able to piggyback onto whatever civil suits choose just so they can win petty disputes? Again, I hope others - especially those who were maybe like me and actually felt sympathy for Hogan - take a minute to watch the first 40 minutes of the film. After viewing, I actually have sympathy for Hogan in a different way. I feel sorry that he was treated like a total pawn and that his name is tied to a case that was really about Theil and the powerful anti-media Right trying to take out an independent press. I think Hulk Hogan thought was fighting for celebrity privacy when, at the end of the day, this case had almost nothing at all to do with that (arguably) noble cause. And as long as I'm on a rant, if you still think the case was at all about "making Hogan whole" and not eliminating Gawker (and putting sites like it on alert), think of the judgment. Even the biggest Hulkamaniac would probably agree that $140 million is quite a settlement when you compare it to your state's average wrongful death payout. I mean, Hulk Hogan deserves $140 million because it got leaked that he said racist stuff and slept with Bubba's trophy wife, but Ferguson settles the Michael Brown suit for $1.5? Castile's life was $3? Eric Garner is choked to death for selling loose cigarettes and NY pays out under $6 mil? If we used the Gawker case as our baseline, we'd be bankrupting municipalities every 3 months, but the LIFE of someone is worth less than Hulk Hogan's untarnished reputation? $140 million wasn't about doing right by Hulk, it was about putting a scare in the media and the fact that you can tie several of these right wing billionaires together makes it even scarier.

I'm sure there's multiple reasons he requested a release, but from a fan perspective, I can see how he might've viewed his WWE run as disappointing and not looking like it was going to get any better. With 205 Live being its own "brand" in a sense, I can see Aries feeling like he's been pigeon-holed (meanwhile, the 190-pound Finn Balor is crowned Universal Champion within a couple months of his main roster debut) and that a ceiling was placed on him fairly early (even Aries' debut match seemed more about getting Corbin more over than heralding the arrival of a potential NXT Champion and main roster player, which is the level I'm sure he believes he should be at). I can see the same frustrations eventually getting to Neville and others. I know its been said a million times already, but the problems with the cruiserweight division concept in today's WWE is not just "they don't get stories" or "they need more air time" - its that when you've got Seth Rollins doing the Pheonix Splash and big men like Luke Harper doing suicide dives, the 205 guys aren't giving the audience anything they haven't already seen.

I kinda hate to admit it, but I cried at the end of Bayley/Sasha from Takeover Brooklyn 2015. The pre-match video promo hit me, the crowd was super live for it, the emotion of the finish and post-match. I don't know, sometimes the corniest crap gets to me. Case in point, I fucking wept at the awful Adam Sandler movie "Click." It is one of my most embarrassing moments that my wife loves to bring up in front of company for a laugh and, at a recent dinner party, we were joking about it and another guest admitted they cried too - which made me feel better for falling (and falling HARD) for such melodramatic BS. I kinda feel the same way for Bayley/Sasha - it was designed to make fans tear up and they succeeded. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't have Bayley celebrate with a puppy who survived cancer. So, anyway, if anyone wants to make me feel better, they can say they cried after Bayley/Sasha too. EDIT - Just as I posted this, Benbeeach made it okay!

Vader in WCW (92'-94')

Is Carmella the worst female worker on the main roster? I think I prefer her over Tamina.

What did the tweet say?

You don't even have to look that far into history. In the 90s and 00s, people have switched from heel/face so many times, pretty much every main eventer can be pointed to as having (whether we like it or not) a successful run as a heel and a face. Take Triple H. I loathe his DX face work in the 00s and I don't care much for his heel work in the 00s either, but I think we can say both runs were successful (didn't single-handedly light the business on fire, but I'd still call him a "successful" wrestler). I liked the Rock much better as a heel than a face, but he was successful in both roles. That's actually why someone like John Cena is an anomaly in today's wrestling scene. While he has a heel run, it wasn't a main event role - so, he's really only been successful as a babyface (definitely in kayfabe terms but als, if you were to compare merch sales, mainstream media presence, etc. between then and now). Was Hulk Hogan the first guy to be mega successful as a heel and a face? That's a different question but I don't think he'd be that guy either. Randy Savage was pretty successful in both roles in the 80s/early 90s for the WWF.

So, 10 years ago, I recorded a concept album called Double Murder Suicide inspired by the Chris Benoit tragedy. A year or so later, I put out another one about the Hart Family, then about the fall of WCW, and then about Ric Flair in 2012. Despite a band name as shocking/morbid as "Double Murder Suicide," the albums are homemade, lo-fi pop (think early They Might Be Giants with slight post-punk bend and occasional balladry ala Guided By Voices maybe?). Today, I've released my fifth wrestling-inspired concept album, Razor's Edge Suitcase, and it is now up for sale via Peanut Butter Records through Bandcamp. All proceeds (or I should probably say "almost all" because Bandcamp takes a small percentage) are going to the Cauliflower Alley Club's Benevolent Fund. The album is $3 (or "name your price" if you want to make a larger donation). Anyway - I'm hoping some people here take the time and make the small monetary sacrifice to help support pro-wrestlers in need and maybe enjoy the admittedly off-kilter album I've made. And if you do enjoy it or just like the idea of raising money for the CAC, please feel free to share on whatever social media you use or on other wrestling sites. In case you don't like hyperlinks, you can check it out here: https://pbrecs.bandcamp.com/album/razors-edge-suitcase

Full review on my blog - TLDR version below: - Of all the "troll" booking the WWE has done in recent memory, this felt like the most timely and most "excusable." The idea that the heat is on Ellsworth and not Carmella isn't a wrong thought, but I don't think its a major issue. As they're a package deal, the heat transfers just fine. - Loved the Kanellis' theme song's Bolton-esque brilliance. Reminded me of nauseating garbage TV like The Bachelor. I think this gimmick has real promise as I was irritated by them instantly and I think you actually have more "notes to play" here than with the Drifter (pun intended). - The Fashion Police backstage segments are gold partially because of Fandango's somewhat subtle delivery. Unfortunately, clever, low-key comedy works great as TV segments, but the audience, at least last night's, couldn't have given less of a shit about them wrestling. Maybe with a team more over than the Ascension they would've got bigger responses - but I also wasn't a huge fan of the broad comedy that they did at Backlash show and don't want them to revert to it in place of their current comedic style. (I'm probably in the minority with that opinion, though, as many liked their Backlash match...) - Mahal/Orton II was good-not-great. If it was the main event of a house show I was attending, I'd be headed to the exit after the Singh Brothers table spots as there'd be no need to see the telegraphed finish.

I think calling this a "slap in the face to the women" is the point and will be the focus going forward - as Charlotte, Becky, etc. have a legit babyface gripe that the women's match was "won" by a woman who needed a man to hand her the briefcase. I usually hate the WWE for their "troll" booking - but this time, it at least has some timely substance beyond "Fans think Jinder is a talentless, walking Wellness Violation so let's have him win the title! That'll really set those redditers off!" Plus, when you consider the options, you kind of need to give Carmella the briefcase. Tamina, from her work in this match, is still really green and not over at all, Charlotte and Becky are over enough that they don't need the briefcase, and Natalya is like the Women's Division version of Big Show - she's been a face, she's been a heel, she's done serious, she's done comedy - she's a solid hand but is a role player. Carmella with the briefcase at least gives that character relevance for the foreseeable future.

I had never seen this in full so I was kind of taken aback. I don't think the Worst Match Ever reputation is really deserved. Yeah, Warrior is gassed around minute two. Yeah, there's the logroll spot and Hogan botching the fireball, and the convoluted ending, but there's some positives here that I think get overlooked. First, while it doesn't match the atmosphere of WrestleMania VI, very few matches ever have. I think this comes across as an important match - one that Hogan really, really wants to win. As Loss said, its not like either guy is half-assing it out there. Second, I'm not a "physique" guy but Warrior is shredded and Hogan is Hogan. The match looks right - which is more than one can say about Sting/Hogan at Starrcade. Its a minor thing but there's also something to be said for the relative speed/pacing of the match. As neither guy can really go anymore (Warrior is breathing pretty hard when he challenges Hogan to a test of strength), they actually do a nice job of covering for their age, getting the most out of very little, and popping the crowd for the bigger moments (Warrior bodyslamming Hogan and Warrior clotheslining The Giant out of the ring). They may not be on target 80% of the time, but those clotheslines Warrior throws do look like they'd legitimately hurt too. Finally, intended or not, there are throwbacks to WrestleMania VI (I'm guessing unintended because they're the kind of tropes that happen in nearly every Hogan match) that make this more fun to watch than just your average match. At WrestleMania VI, Hogan got the visual pin. Here, its Warrior's turn. At WrestleMania VI, the test of strength made for an iconic moment. Here, Hogan fights dirty so that should-be iconic moment is tainted. I'm not defending this as a good match (it clearly isn't), but in hindsight, I probably smiled more watching this match before its overbooked closing minutes, even with the absurd gaffes, than I do watching the cookie-cutter "you're turn/my turn" matches that have become the norm today.

There are moments here when these two show that they could've delivered the ultimate mid-90s dream match. But there are just too few of them. For example, at one point, Hart counters a Stinger Splash with a boot to the face. It's a simple counter and one that's probably been done before, but I can see that spot, in a better, more dramatic match, being an amazing transition. I know people hate matches where both guys are just "trying to get their shit in," but in a dream match, when Hart pulls out nearly every one of his big moves, you want to see Sting bust out the Scorpion Death Drop, some knife-edged chops in the corner, or maybe even a press slam early. As good as Hart is as a heel (and he's very good - he gets a ton of heat early with the fans at ringside), the context of this match hurts it a bit for me. I didn't want to see Hart work as a face, but to me, WCW should've built up the idea that this is a dream match and that neither man has ever beaten the other and that this was to finally find out who the best there is, best there was, yadda yadda, truly is. Then, you can have Hart kinda goad Sting into waiving off his Wolfpack allies (I think Hart was out of the nWo by this point, but I'm not sure), demanding a fair fight. That way, you can get your dream match stuff where these two are evenly matched and busting out their signature offense but unable to put each other way (which is what the fans really want to see) instead of hokey weapon nonsense and a 4 minute ref bump. in classic WCW fashion, they also tend to use weapons that just make your head shake. "Brass" knucks that look more like a leather strap? Bret using the bat makes sense considering who he's facing - but aside from the last shot with it, the others just looked weak (like when HHH uses the hammer in a way nobody has ever used a hammer). Would've preferred Hart using the ring bell - he always wielded that thing well. Not the worst match on the show - but how could it be when Disco Inferno wrestles twice, Lodi's in action, and Warrior/Hogan follows it?

- Pretty good pull-apart brawl between Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar but this has to be what? The 3rd or 4th time they've done this with Brock? I'd say it was ineffective, but the crowd ate it up and it was cool seeing Joe kick Lesnar square in the face. I'm not expecting these two to turn back the clock at Great Balls (yeah, I'm shortening it and hoping it catches on worldwide), but I'm definitely going to tune in. - If you're Seth Rollins - hell, if you're anyone - you're hurting yourself by selling shock or fear of Bray Wyatt. Bray Wyatt really is the anti-Taker as Taker was basically protected for all of his WWE career and Bray Wyatt hasn't been protected for any of his WWE career. Hell, they still haven't taken RANDY ORTON'S FACE OUT OF HIS TITANTRON VIDEO! I knew Vince and the rest of the creative team had stopped giving a shit about the guy's presentation, but the production crew checked out too? - I really like Emma, so it kinda pained me to hear her music hit to interrupt a completely dead divas segment. Her big return was basically just to come out and say "Remember me? I'm still just a space filler" before Sasha Banks arrived to actually attack Bliss. Why not have Emma return to take out Banks? Or screw Jax by aiding Bliss? Or what about just having Emma come in as Bayley's next hurdle or as the woman determined to retire Mickie James? When you've got a relatively thin division on your hands, it behooves you to present returning or new talents as more than just Girl #4. She tapped out at the end of the match too. Welcome back.

Luger beating Hogan for the title on Nitro. To me and I think most fans it was a foregone conclusion as early as August 97' that Sting was going to be the guy to take the title off of Hollywood, so, Luger winning it on an episode of Nitro was a huge shocker. Now, Luger's victory telegraphed that Hogan would get the belt back on PPV - but it doesn't take away from the shock of Luger getting the belt even for 6 days or whatever it was.

I've found Russo to be insufferable on the podcast circuit over the past few years. Like, I know WWE weekly TV hasn't been my cup of tea for years now, but his ideas to make it better are actually even less likely to bring me back (shorter matches, more gimmicks to make us care about Seth Rollins). For me at least, Austin's two-cents and, oddly enough, the things Nash, Hall, and XPac posit are far more basic and general, but more sensible and intriguing (Seth Rollins should be Bret Hart - no comedy, just mechanics and fighting spirit, let Owens talk even more trash and highlight that as his "thing," keep AJ at the top because he is the best guy they have, don't worry so much about Roman and just keep giving him fresh opponents - heel or face - cuz he's money either way). Russo wants to blow up the product and that's dumb. It didn't work for WCW either time he was in control and they were way worse off than WWE is now. The sensible thing to do is to see what works and keep doing those things (Braun/Reigns or Charlotte's RAW run, for example) and see what's not working and fix those things (Rollins not being definable as a character) . A complete renovation, as Russo often espouses, is exactly why he doesn't deserve a seat at McMahons table.

Charlotte as a heel gives you the aforementioned Charlotte/Naomi and Charlotte/Lynch feuds. Charlotte as a face give us what? I totally agree that the division could use some help via an NXT call-up or two, but I don't necessarily agree that there is a benefit to "holding off" on Charlotte being a heel right now. The Charlotte/Sasha feud ran for like 6 months it seemed - I don't see it as so problematic that you could have Charlotte/Naomi/Lynch in different pairings for the next 3-4 months, especially if you throw in Natalya on occasion or Carmella into multi-mans and I think Nikki Bella will be back around August maybe? So, putting my booking hat on, Charlotte comes in as a heel, goes right after Naomi. Meanwhile, Lynch plays the Sting to Charlotte's Luger in the way that while Charlotte is acting quasi-heelish, Lynch stands up for her as a friend as she challenges Naomi. Charlotte wins the title semi-cleanly - Naomi rolls her ankle or something and Charlotte gets the Figure 8. Lynch confronts her on SD, but Charlotte says in the moment, she just wanted to win. She says she will give Naomi her rematch and they even hug it out, Lynch essentially brokering a peace treaty. Then, at the next big show or whatever, Charlotte out-and-out cheats to retain the title and maybe kayfabe injures Naomi with an underhanded tactic. Lynch finally sees Charlotte for who she is. As this is going on, you have Becky Lynch involved in a feud with Carmella and Ellsworth and maybe even pair her up with someone for a mixed tag (I'm thinking the "Fiery Becky Lynch" with fiery mystery partner Kane doing a one-off appearance just to chokeslam Ellsworth for a crowd-pleasing pop).

I didn't mind the brand split at all when SD was booked well. This show wasn't. Nak/Ziggler was a very poorly layed out Ziggler showcase. Remember when SD had Lynch defending the title on one part of the show and Nikki Bella in a grudge feud with Carmella elsewhere on the show? That was pretty cool how they could rotate the talent around and have two legitimate storylines going on. Last night we got the same multi-man nothing match we got at Mania. Also, Charlotte as a babyface, even short term, confuses me. Like, if you've got Kyrie Irving on your team, you should probably play him as a point guard, not a power forward. I disagree that Mahal/Orton was better than either Wyatt/Orton match. The Wyatt/Orton matches were insulting, stupid, tasteless, and corny - but they were also somehow "must see." They were a shared burden all modern WWE fans had to submit to (like how liking the first Matrix movie meant you were obligated to sit through the atrocious sequels). Mahal/Orton was a C- match with an "out of nowhere," "shock for the sake of shock" finish. I regret watching Mahal/Orton more than I regret watching either Wyatt/Orton match. I gained nothing from watching the match that I couldn't have gained by simply reading a spoiler. If you only read spoilers of the Wyatt/Orton matches, you missed out on a what were two of the most absurdly bizarre, poorly conceived, poorly executed matches in recent WWE history. There was something, however offensive, however terrible, however failing that made the Wyatt/Orton matches worth sitting through in their entirety. There's something to be said for being part of a collective groan. Epically bad is better than just bad - or even just below average. Orton was maybe a *hair* more motivated (read: he didn't sit in any headlocks too long) and I will admit to liking the spot where one of the Singh Brothers did a flippy-doo on the table, but aside from that? Pretty pedestrian stuff leading to a shoulder-into-the-post spot and then pretty much the same finish that we got when Mahal won the contendership against Zayn (Singhs interfere, Mahal hits unimpressive finisher). Now, I try to keep my match reviews devoid of complaints about overall direction - meaning, I don't think this was a bad match just because I don't think Jinder deserves to be a champion and I think its ridiculous that in a company with this much talent, Jinder is the one getting the push (to me, that's like arguing Hardcore Holly deserved a title run in 2004), but...c'mon. You want to take the title off of Orton and put it on someone fresh? Bring Braun over or hotshot it to Corbin. You want to put it on someone who draws heat? The Miz didn't need to be traded last month. Isn't Rusev on SD now too? You want to do something shocking and crowd-pleasing instead of crowd-infuriating? Big E's sitting around. I don't see how Jinder Mahal is a better option than any of those others - and I haven't even mentioned "indie faves" Zayn and Owens. (Personally, I think AJ Styles should be at the top of the card because he's the best act on the brand, but that argument is too easy to make.)

I actually thought the main event better than UK Title match - and probably would've said it even without the post-match (which I thought was great). To me, that moment when Gargano took the bullet for Ciampa sealed it. Dunne/Bate may have had more fireworks, but to a casual fan like myself, I'm not really emotionally invested in them as characters yet (though, I did think Dunne was instantly unlikeable in a way so few are). Even if this was your first Gargano/Ciampa match, that singular moment was so heart-wrenching, you could fully understand the story of this team and of Gargano particularly. Then that post-match happens and, damn, you can just hear the money-printing machine boot on. I would like to see Dunne/Bate again. I fucking *need* to see Gargano/Ciampa.

Seinfeld and wrestling converged against last night! http://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/veda-scott-kings-of-leon-slut-shaming/#.WRJNs2UWzdk TLDR? The bassist of Kings of Leon mocked wrestling on Twitter. A Canadian indie wrestler used the "jerk store" comeback from the Seinfeld episode "The Comeback" on Twitter and things just escalated and escalated from there, with the Kings of Leon bassist's weak, arguably embarrassing retorts and his eventual attempts at clarity failing miserably. A day later, more and more wrestlers have done the one thing you should count on a wrestler to do - stomping a mudhole in this jabroni. And as long as we're talking about the unmatched peaks of 90s sitcoms, I'll leave this here too in case anyone else wants to join along in bashing this poor dude's unfortunate decision to criticize pro-wrestling...

Just saw this. As others have said, this is classic WCW shit booking, but I felt an urge to really detail it for future generations. At the previous month's Bash at the Beach, The Giant beat Kevin Greene (who was promoted as Goldberg's buddy). The crowd at that show chanted "Goldberg" during the match. WCW knew they had something in Goldberg/Giant and September's Fall Brawl was practically begging for it as you already had nWo Hollywood/nWo Wolfpack building with Nash leading his squad against Hall's team (with or without the Hulkster). Hall and Nash leave early in the battle royal - which is smart because the battle royal really only needed to do two things: build towards Hall/Nash and build towards Goldberg/Giant. ...And then the rest of the battle royal happens and it is boring and Giant eliminates only one guy while Goldberg takes everyone out (they should've each eliminated 3-4 guys). Goldberg spears Giant and things haven't turned to shit just yet. It's the Jackhammer that seals it, though. Why not have Goldberg fail to lift Giant? Then, Giant can toss the winded Goldberg and you have your Fall Brawl title match. Goldberg can still have his undefeated streak because who counts battle royal losses? The Giant, who was over, could gloat that Goldberg was just another "little guy" that couldn't overcome his size and strength. Goldberg could say that he was going to Jackhammer him. The cherry on the shit sundae is that the battle royal ends in a pinfall (!). Even if Goldberg had just somehow tossed The Giant, the Giant could've at least still claimed he'd never been pinned by Goldberg. Instead, the battle royal, with its thoroughly decisive ending, serves as the blow-off to a feud that, up to this point, WCW had booked perfectly. Side question - was Bret Hart getting paid by appearance or something? He didn't need to be in the battle royal, but him interfering to knock out someone like Sting would've given the Stinger some direction (and maybe Hart too - he was US Champ, but what was he doing? Lower midcard angles with Booker and Benoit?).

I think where the House of Horrors fell apart was that it wasn't the Boiler Room Brawl or Total Deletion. Whether or not you bought the pathos of the BRB, it was presented as a legit match - no spooky soundtrack, the match wrestled in a regular, musty, dark boiler room (not a "haunted" boiler room), no ridiculous post-production editing tricks, Taker nor Mankind making weird dramatic faces to the camera "that wasn't really there" - it was essentially a "reverse" falls count anywhere match building up to a meaningful, memorable finish with at least one hellacious-but-not-cartoonish spot (Foley's back bump to the floor) to make it clear, this was a brutal brawl. Total Deletion was kind of the opposite. It was absurd and ridiculous and took place in a thoroughly distorted reality...but the fact that it looked like it was edited in a junior high's AV room made it light, funny, and charming in its own weird way. It was Tim & Eric. There isn't a single frame that even bothers to exist within the already-limited realism of a typical pro-wrestling show. The House of Horrors match sucked for multiple reasons, but to me, part of it is that it was neither. The over-production (the music, the house set, the "acting") was heavy-handed and uninteresting without ever really hitting that "so bad it's good" level. To make matters worse, the actual brawling, in-ring portion, and finish were so flat (all of that work for a Jinder run-in?) that it made the whole thing feel like a throwaway anyway - an excuse to give Wyatt a "win," but nothing more than that. It was a match seemingly designed to please the small number of people who've always wanted to see what you'd get if you took a late 90s Marilyn Manson video and tacked on your average TV main event screwy finish.

This is one of those cases where winning and losing don't matter because the takeaways from Mania and Payback are... - Bray Wyatts "mystical powers" are goofier than they are dangerous - Randy Orton is the superior wrestler and was never in peril and had outsmarted Wyatt at every turn (even in his signature match) - It took the interference of the Singh Brothers and Jinder Mahal to beat Orton, because Wyatt alone is powerless and seemingly he is flockless now because nobody bothered to interfere on his behalf - which makes him even more impotent Where is Bray going on RAW? He feuded with Ambrose and Reigns a year or so ago, right? If they turn him face, they better have a great storyline in mind to get there because even with a cool entrance, why would anyone cheer this loser? The best case scenario after the disaster of this feud might be to send him on a 9 week vacation and see if there's a sudden need for the character closer to the build for SummerSlam.

Fun match, thank god Cesaro and Sheamus did the post-match beatdown as they had me fooled that they were heading to the back and I was gonna shit all over the booking of them just accepting the loss. I think the Hardys being back in the WWE is really fascinating in that they have so many potential directions to go with them but none are necessarily guaranteed. Tonight was an example of "At the very least..." as in "At the very least, they can be the centerpiece of a lukewarm tag scene and make people care about teams that they would otherwise not care about."