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 The Snowman is a genius Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: What did you think was the best thing about Raw? The worst thing? Pros Seth Rollins added to WWE Title match at Royal Rumble. I was never one who particularly enjoyed the renewal of the Cena-Lesnar feud last summer, nor thought it was much different from the match that they had two years prior (other than the last three seconds). I certainly had no interest in the third match in the 2014/2015 series. Adding Rollins makes the championship bout something to watch and gives me a rooting interest in the result. In my podcast recently, I have been talking about the wide open race for Mania headlining spots. A triple threat match for the title opens the door for a lot of possibilities, including an avenue through which Brock could lose the title but not lose the match, retaining his mega-credibility all the while. It will be the Architect’s first shot at the WWE Championship and he more than deserves it. The Authority being back is good for the show. I may never have particularly enjoyed Cena-Lesnar last year, but I enjoyed The Authority for nearly all of 2014. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are excellent at what they do. Antagonists of the highest modern order, they also have a tendency to give the show a basic direction. Tonight, they sought out revenge on their foes. Dolph Ziggler lost the IC title in a consistently changing match to Bad News Barrett. Ryback was booked in a handicap match. Erick Rowan was annihilated by Luke Harper and the modern stooges. The John Cena Appreciation Night vignettes added to the overall plot of the evening. Without Trips and Steph, the TV product suffered, at the very least, from a lack of purpose. Temporary General Managers gave the show a stop-start feel instead of a week-to-week flow. Not to say that every Raw with Authority-storylines has been perfect, but they lay a good foundation. Dean Ambrose and Bray Wyatt had an enjoyable Ambulance Match. Frankly, it was one of the better versions of the gimmick that I've seen, although that's not really saying much as I can't honestly tell you that another version has ever left much of an impression. It told a good story and tweaked the traditional format enough to keep it interesting, going to the ambulance early, retreating from it, and then coming back for the entire climax. A lot more time will be needed to fully contextualize the Wyatt-Ambrose feud, but I think tonight offered a microcosm of the entire saga – it was solid but not overly memorable. Cons Roman Reigns describes himself as Superman. I'm all for Reigns showing some personality, as he'll surely need to if he's ever to fulfill the rumor mill prophecy of becoming the next face of WWE. However, he'll never become the star that he's capable of being if he doesn't get over big first. Right now, he's already starting to draw a mixed reaction from vocal males rebelling against his increasingly whitemeat persona. His backstage “Superman” promo was not playing to his strength tonight. He is in his element as a cool customer with a chip on his shoulder; not as a figurative cape-wearing comic hero. I haven't done a lot of current event columns with any sort of regularity in months, so let me reiterate my previously established opinion that I really like Roman Reigns, but I strongly dislike the character that WWE wants him to use. In a word, “Boo.” The three-man announce booth needs to go. Jerry Lawler has not been a good WWE commentator for a long time and, if you ask me, his presence detracts from the natural chemistry that Michael Cole and JBL have developed over the years. I wish him good health, of course, but if he retired tomorrow, I wouldn't be disappointed. Booker T stepped in for him tonight and reminded everyone why he didn't work in that role three years ago. He busted out that old cliché book, trying his best in a battle of intestinal fortitude to give it his all and all that jazz, but he accentuated how nice it would be if WWE would just go with what worked so well eight years ago and Smackdown and handed the Raw gig to Cole and Layfield. Is Ambrose ever going to win a match that matters? I think WWE's Tribute to the Troops is a phenomenal thing, but I have never taken its match results seriously. Therefore, Ambrose losing to Wyatt on Raw means that the Lunatic Fringe has yet to actually win a meaningful match since the Shield split up in the summer. As a fan that still believes that winning and losing does actually matter, I look back and reflect on loss after loss after loss and wonder if there's ever going to be a win for the guy. Didn't he lose all the matches to Rollins just as he just lost all the matches to Wyatt? I subscribe to the Bret Hart theory on the matter, which states that you don't have to win all the time, but you surely can't lose all the time. These losses to Wyatt weren't that protected either. He looked like a moron at TLC and then just lost twice clean on TV. Here's hoping that distancing himself from Bray does Dean some serious good. Cheers, Pringle...
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