Considering the whole buildup was "can Team WWE get its shit together" it's no surprise they won, it was classic against-the-odds babyface stuff.

I get that, but the narrative ended up being was "no. they can't, but it doesn't matter anyway." They refused Miz. Jericho crashed into Cena when he was at the height of his restored babyface power. Edge and Cena bickered and Edge ate a fall because of it. Edge and Jericho beating on Cena almost cost WWE the match. Miz ran out and KOed Bryan and THAT almost cost WWE the match. And Cena came through anyway. It was a bit wishy-washy. Morrison got a fall. Bret kicked some butt and softened someone up for a fall. It's not like the WWE team failed Cena like some people on DVDVR are saying. The Faces did their part. Even the heels TRIED to do their part, right up to the point where there were miscommunications. Then they acted like heels. Even Miz would have done his part if they just embraced him.

 

So I'm curious what happens next. I still think that they did a great job of getting a fresh, hot summer angle out of a bunch of guys who are super-green, can't talk, and aren't ready for this stage yet.

Not to single out Matt, but his post reminded me of how many people seem to be buying into the whole "nexus = inexperienced rookies" deal that WWE is pushing. I'm pretty sure all of them have at least 5 years in the business and several have more. Granted, it wasn't on national TV in front of millions of people, but these guys aren't right out of wrestling school either.

 

It does help them out in the sense that if they screw up, it won't come off as badly since the crowd sees them as noobs, but after a while it does start to go against them when they do stuff like pointing out that 7 "rookies" are in the main event at SummerSlam. It started to make them look like maybe they didn't deserve to be there which isn't what you want to do.

Not to single out Matt, but his post reminded me of how many people seem to be buying into the whole "nexus = inexperienced rookies" deal that WWE is pushing. I'm pretty sure all of them have at least 5 years in the business and several have more. Granted, it wasn't on national TV in front of millions of people, but these guys aren't right out of wrestling school either.

 

It does help them out in the sense that if they screw up, it won't come off as badly since the crowd sees them as noobs, but after a while it does start to go against them when they do stuff like pointing out that 7 "rookies" are in the main event at SummerSlam. It started to make them look like maybe they didn't deserve to be there which isn't what you want to do.

I actually saw more than my share of FCW over the last year or two. I lament that it's not being posted online the week after anymore. I thought Barrett was excellent as part of the 3 man announce team down there, for what it's worth. On the other hand, Otunga was super green; from what I saw of Young he was pretty green (though he didn't really have much chance to show off in the tag team with Jackson). Likewise Tarver. Slater'd been around for a while. I don't know much about Gabriel's overseas experience. But I don't think any of them had a ton of experience either on TV (past FCW which isn't exactly edited the same) or working big for the guy in the cheap seats. I could be wrong on that.

So did WWE actually release Bryan or did WWE just tell him to lay low on the indies? As the release was never on the corporate site.

Looks like I missed my one chance to see Bryan in PWG before he returned to the WWE. I had thought they would hold him off until November for Sweeps (and also the end of Linda's campaign).

 

John

Raw = cable = no sweeps. Counter-programming maybe, but sweeps weeks don't apply to cable.

It's all in where they go from here.

Dave on the latest Observer Radio defending John Cena is kind of hilarious. Bryan made mention of how everyone on the board hates Cena now because of him always being booked as Superman, and Dave's defense is Cena doesn't book the matches so you can't blame him. He seemed to miss the point entirely that people hate Cena because of the booking, not because anyone thinks he had anything to do with it.

It's not so cut-and-dried; many supposedly 'smart' people have blurred the distinction between the two. Today, there were people posting on the f4w board about how what John Cena did tonight was worse than anything Hulk Hogan ever booked himself to do.

Cena has a reputation as a kiss-ass, and I wonder if it's starting to hurt him since it's apparent he doesn't seem to voice his opinion much in terms of how his character is booked. You would think that by now he would have at least mentioned to someone that maybe some of the backlash is a result of being booked like Superman. Even when he shows vulnerability like the initial Nexus beatdown, he was on TV the next week not selling it a bit.

So did WWE actually release Bryan or did WWE just tell him to lay low on the indies? As the release was never on the corporate site.

In my mind, him returning for last night's match more or less confirms that the whole thing was a work. Maybe not, but that's my perception.

So...is Samoa Joe really regretting the whole going to TNA think by now?

So...is Samoa Joe really regretting the whole going to TNA think by now?

I guess Nigel laments that stroke of a doctor's pen too.

It's all in where they go from here.

When the ratings aren't at 5.0 or higher by whatever the next PPV card is they'll just do to him what they did to Rob Van Dam in October 2001.

They are teasing dissention AND putting dudes in the box it seems.

 

I love WWE.

It's all in where they go from here.

When the ratings aren't at 5.0 or higher by whatever the next PPV card is they'll just do to him what they did to Rob Van Dam in October 2001.

 

They might, but they do seem far more dedicated to Nexus than they ever seemed intent on pushing RVD.

Poor Darren Young, looks like he's going to get exiled from Nexus by his Caucasian doppelganger (unless it's a SWERVE~! for the much rumored Cena heel turn).

It's not so cut-and-dried; many supposedly 'smart' people have blurred the distinction between the two. Today, there were people posting on the f4w board about how what John Cena did tonight was worse than anything Hulk Hogan ever booked himself to do.

I think that's more due to people nowadays having no idea who books what in the WWE. This isn't a company with one head writer or booker or anything else. There's Vince, who obviously can't micromanage every single detail no matter how much he'd like to , and then seemingly millions of underlings who do god-knows-what in their positions. There's no single backstage target for smark rage when some stupid shit happens to piss us off. Whose idea was it for Cena to pop right back up and win the match immedietely after taking a DDT on the concrete? There are about a dozen possible suspects that come to mind. Cena is the only one we can see, so he's the one who people instinctively blame.

Is this angle all to set up Triple-H returning to save the company, send the Nexus back to FCW, then turn heel on John Cena just in time to main event WrestleMania? Or maybe Cena turns on Triple-H?

Dave Meltzer reported this angle is intended to establish a couple of uppercard guys and give the rest a midcard role in an effort to inject some fresh blood into WWE.

 

This angle was started before Triple H got his bicep injury, so any plans for him or Cena relating to this angle that could have existed are probably out the window now.