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Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com... Better yet, EXCLUSIVELY to both of those websites... Ah yes, we're about to head into the month of October or as the WWE is calling it, "Brocktober" and for good reason. Brock Lesnar is contractually bound for about 5 wrestling matches per year and we get TWO of them for October. Reportedly, the WWE negotiated an additional match so that he was able to wrestle WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 to wrestle his 3rd match Undertaker match since Lesnar's 2012 return. In addition to WWE Hell in a Cell, we'll see Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show on a WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden in October as well. LIFE IS GOOD in the WWE with Brock Lesnar... As I argued before in another column, "there's Brock Lesnar and then there's WAITING for Brock Lesnar". For all of the bad storylines and pushes we endure such as (a) overpushing Roman Reigns, (b) overpushing Sheamus, (c) underpushing Dean Ambrose, and (d) Seth Rollins feuding with Kane... We get Brock Lesnar and the glorious Paul Heyman for the month... So happy... Brock Lesnar keeps me hanging on as a wrestling fan. That 3 year, $9 Million deal signed on the Tuesday before Wrestlemania 31 was a 3 year extension for me as a wrestling fan. There is nobody else in pro wrestling for 2015 that can present that "big match feel" besides Lesnar. Nobody. Very strange to have the reported Wrestlemania 32 match-up between Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar moved up many months to WWE Hell in a Cell 2015. If you were asking me, my guess is that Wrestlemania 32 will see the RETIREMENT of the Undertaker. However, they don't want to see Taker lose on the way out. If you were asking me today, I think we'll get that Sting vs. Undertaker match complete with massive entrances and mysterious hype heading into the match. Maybe we'll FINALLY get John Cena vs. Undertaker which has been a match that has eluded us for years. MAYBE, just MAYBE... Undertaker gives one last match to Kane and lets Kane defeat him in his final match as a "thank you" to Glenn Jacobs. Either way, Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32 is NOT happening. With his feud against Undertaker completing, however, Brock Lesnar is left limited options to wrestle BIG matches for the rest of the 2 and a half years he has left on his 3 year contract. Seriously... The bar that Lesnar set is TOO HIGH and it takes a special caliber of wrestling superstar to live up to the hype of wrestling Lesnar. Not much on the current WWE roster, to be honest... 2 and a half years, eh? First and foremost, we have to rule out John Cena and Seth Rollins at the moment... Cena has 3 one-on-one matches with Lesnar, Seth Rollins has one, and Rollins/Cena wrestled in a Triple Threat against Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2015. To be honest, I'll take repeat helpings of that Triple Threat match... Technically speaking, Rollins also has a match at Wrestlemania 31 against Brock Lesnar via the Money in the Bank cash-in. At least for the next year, it can be easily argued that we've exhausted possible matches against Cena and Rollins. But again, I'll take a Triple Threat rematch between Rollins, Lesnar, and Cena any day of the week. After "Brocktober", I think we can also rule out an potential rematches against Undertaker and Big Show. Lesnar will defeat Big Show because it is before WWE Hell in a Cell 2015 and that will be his second match against Lesnar since Brock's 2012 return. As mentioned above, Taker/Lesnar was likely moved up from Wrestlemania 32 to end the feud to possibly allow Undertaker to retire at Wrestlemania 32. Thus, we rule them out. In my opinion, I believe we can also rule out Triple H. They had a best of 3 series between 2012-2013 and I don't think that Executive Vice President Triple H wants to wrestle a dangerous opponent like Lesnar ever again. So... With John Cena (for now), Seth Rollins (for now), Undertaker, Big Show, and Triple H ruled out as Brock Lesnar opponents for the time being and/or next 2.5 years... Who would face Brock Lesnar? Let's review the possibilities: Roman Reigns: He had his "big" match opportunity at Wrestlemania 31. I'll agree that it's actually the best showing for Reigns yet but that came as a result of Lesnar showing tremendous vulnerability that he hasn't shown anyone else. Since Wrestlemania 31, however, Reigns hasn't improved much as an in-ring performer. Worse yet, while not being on the track to wrestle for the WWE Title and/or Brock Lesnar, Reigns is not drawing midcard. The 9/28 RAW drew poorly with the main event being Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt. Without the multiple WWE Title pushes, Reigns is exposed as a wrestler as being unable to get naturally over and continues to struggle as an in-ring performer. Reigns just needs more work in the midcard... Bray Wyatt: Such an inconsistently pushed wrestler... Dominates Daniel Bryan, can't beat John Cena, loses to Chris Jericho and then beats Chris Jericho, can beat Dean Ambrose but can't beat an older Undertaker. Had the WWE introduced Bray Wyatt as a midcarder and just had him gradually rise to the top of the card, they'd have real money in him now. Instead, he's a booking mess... Against Brock, though, Bray presents a legitimate challenge that I think can DRAW. Bray is a GOOD wrestler and can deliver a 4+ star match with Lesnar. HUGE PLUS. Better yet, if Lesnar wants to get to Bray, he has 2 thick hosses to get through before reaching Wyatt. The Wyatt Family presents a legitimate threat to Lesnar and I could buy Bray Wyatt defeating Lesnar in the first match and Lesnar getting revenge in a second bout. Bray Wyatt would work... Sheamus: As a wrestling match, Sheamus vs. Lesnar COULD work. Sheamus is a good wrestler. I can name a handful of matches that I consider good-to-great that Sheamus has wrestled. His in-ring performances are not the problem... It's the HYPE leading into the match-up. The Sheamus character is inconsistent, lame, and overpushed by WWE Creative. Had WWE taken their time and figured out the personality of the Sheamus character, he would be a BIG superstar right now. Instead, he's damaged goods... In my opinion, Sheamus would be a great WWE Network special match-up, maybe something overseas. Sheamus gives us a better match-up than Kofi Kingston. Maybe... Dean Ambrose: More "damaged goods". Not right now for Dean Ambrose. His Pay Per View record since the Shield/Evolution battles is just awful. For whatever reason, WWE Creative his picked Ambrose apart and for no good reason at all. Maybe if WWE rebuild Ambrose, he could be a better match up then instead of now. Cesaro: Ditto on the "damaged goods" for Cesaro as well. Just too much bad booking for Cesaro that would hurt any hype heading into a Lesnar match. What makes Cesaro unique, however, is that he's strong enough to toss Lesnar around and has some effective offense that might make you believe that he could hurt Lesnar. Like Sheamus, maybe a WWE Network exclusive show. Maybe... Randy Orton: I've argued Orton for a while as a Lesnar opponent. It makes total sense. Both "Class of 2002" (there I go again Comments section, how about them apples?) never wrestled each other in the WWE (Orton was on RAW, Lesnar was on Smackdown) and there is some credibility of the 10+ World Title holder going up against Lesnar. Plus, if you care about history, Randy Orton broke Lesnar's record as the youngest WWE World Champion... But where I think Orton stands out is his offense. He has the punt, the RKO, and the through-the-ropes DDT that WWE could sell as effective offense that can hurt Brock Lesnar. While Orton may be a worn out superstar, this match-up remains unique and I think it could draw at SummerSlam or Wrestlemania. Randy Orton would work, but possibly for just 1 match... Orton has to step up. Kane: Unique match-up, as Kane was on RAW and Lesnar was on Smackdown back in the day. Lesnar hurt Kane, after all, and so the storyline is somewhat there to hype. Personally, I'm not into Kane as a wrestler during 2015. He's just not capable of pulling off a huge match-up like he used to. Maybe a WWE Network special but I'd rather use Lesnar for some of the younger wrestlers. Sting: I'll say this... It's unique. Big stars from two different eras colliding. It could work for 1 Pay Per View as a short-term draw but nothing more. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin: On Twitter recently, Steve Austin said that rumors of him wrestling Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 32 were "bulls**t". Notice what Austin said... Specifically, he said wrestling Brock Lesnar but the way he carefully worded that Tweet, he didn't rule out wrestling at Wrestlemania 32... I believe that a potential Steve Austin vs. John Cena match may happen to headline the show... But Austin vs. Lesnar? Not happening. Austin can't take the beating that Lesnar could deliver with that neck. Austin is much older, too, as he'd be 51 years old at Wrestlemania 32. That older body hits the canvas hard from an F5. Though Austin/Lesnar have some history, as Steve Austin walked out of the WWE before a RAW episode where Lesnar would defeat him in a non-hyped match, that was 2002 and this is 2015. Nobody cares or remembers that "heat". Lesnar vs. Austin is a unique match-up, but I just don't see it happening. Chris Jericho: We haven't seen this match-up and it could be entertaining. I would mostly enjoy it just to see Heyman and Jericho battle in a "war of words". Dolph Ziggler: Could you imagine Ziggler bumping for Lesnar? Match would look amazing but it would be very one-sided. Rusev: Big, thick, and offense that might look credible against Brock Lesnar. I'd buy it... However, WWE would have to toughen him up a bit. Can't just be in the WWE as an accessory to Lana. Ryback: Maybe, but I thought we already saw this match-up at Wrestlemania 20? I guess Brock Lesnar would be trying to get his win back... Samoa Joe: 5 years ago, maybe... Joe has too much tread worn from the tires and so far in NXT, he's been just OK. Plus, the fact is that the WWE only has interest in keeping Joe in NXT and not the main roster. Kevin Owens: Let's allow Owens to prove himself as a draw holding that Intercontinental Title first and then give him the big match-ups. HOWEVER, I really like the Owens/Lesnar match-up. If the WWE could take a few pages out of the CM Punk playbook for his Wrestlemania 29 feud with the Undertaker, Kevin Owens could do well hyping his feud with Lesnar. In other words, Owens has to play an evil heel that has the full intent to lie, cheat, and steal his way into Lesnar's head in order to appear as a credible opponent. Then, cheat during the entire match-up. Owens has the in-ring ability pull off a match with Lesnar not just for selling, but for delivering credible offense against Lesnar as well. I like it... Yes for Kevin Owens... But with time... The Rock: If WWE wants short-term mainstream press, Brock vs. Rock would work. However, WWE doomed itself on this match-up because Rock already lost to Lesnar. In fact, their SummerSlam 2002 match-up is the cornerstone to Lesnar's career. Rock put over Lesnar during the Rock's last days of his prime years and Lesnar has only improved since 2002. Might be a good match-up and I could imagine Brock Lesnar would sell like a champ for him but I just don't see the Rock returning as a wrestler anytime soon. That Hollywood career is quite amazing for him right now. Batista: Speaking of Hollywood, I really like the Batista vs. Lesnar match. Thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy, Batista's name value increased significantly and may continue to grow since that movie was a major hit. Batista vs. Brock could be a short-term mainstream publicity success but long-term, Batista wouldn't be in the WWE for long. Rock and Batista would work, though only helps WWE short-term... And finally... Yes... Yes... YES! Daniel Bryan: Any day now, we may hear an announcement that Daniel Bryan is set to return. My guess is that he'll return as an entrant into the 2016 Royal Rumble. Reportedly, he has been cleared of any concussion issues and the neck might be feeling better. Bryan presents a great "David vs. Goliath" match-up that could be very popular in a live arena. Better yet, if the WWE sells it right, they could actually sell to fans that Daniel Bryan's kicks act like an equalizer... However, I could imagine this match being like those Mike Awesome vs. Spike Dudley matches in which Spike was destroyed by Awesome. But could Daniel Bryan take the dangerous bumps from Brock Lesnar? I just don't know... As you can see... There are SOME potentially great match-ups for Lesnar. However, my fear is that most of the matches are just short-term fixes and not solving the WWE's long-term crisis of not building new superstars. Oh well... If you're watching the WWE for Lesnar, as I have been, then the ride is still good. ---------------------------------------------------------- WWE RAW IS HULU Just giving you my thoughts and not necessarily play-by-play as I was writing the above portion of this column as RAW from Hulu was airing. Hey, you gotta multi-task to be Mr. Tito. HULU MISSING IN ACTION X - Big Show vs. Mark Henry X - Stardust vs. Neville X - Bo Dallas vs. Randy Orton X - Kevin Owens vs. Rusev ^ At least I THINK those were the matches cut. I don't remember them... - I enjoyed the Xavier Woods vs. John Cena feeding into Dudleys/Cena vs. New Day 6 man match. Good entertainment and it was incredibly weird for me to see John Cena tagging up with the Dudley Boys. Unique... Match was fun and sadly, it took 6 entertaining performers out of the mix for the rest of the RAW show. They should have moved this to the 2nd hour instead of the first. - Oh spare me on the WWE Corporation stuff being injected into the storylines. Oh, we need the Human Resource representative to help ease the Seth Rollins/Kane tension. If you ever wanted to see why Seth Rollins is FAILING as WWE Champion, just watch this show. He's had to deal with this internal Authority fight for the entire Summer and now the Fall. Poor Seth... And then things got worse in the ring, later on the show, when Kane's HR evaluation results came in. Kane reviewed to be "sane" and then Rollins attacked him. Kane is taken away to an ambulance, ambulance stops, and then the DEMON Kane comes out of the ambulance. That's right, that vehicle was stock with red lights and steam to quickly allow for Kane to remove his suit and appear as the DEMON Kane gimmick. Sigh... We are in 2015, right? Right? - I did enjoy the Big Show hype tonight... I was SHOCKED and I repeat SHOCKED to see some late 2002 footage in the hype video. Late 2002 was the BEST that the WWE ever booked the Big Show and he posed a real threat to Lesnar back then. You know, 13 years ago... WWE also showed the exploding ring from a Smackdown episode from 2003. I can't believe it... WWE will ignore Wrestlemania 17 for Triple H vs. Undertaker to hype Wrestlemanias 27 and 28 but they'll use past footage to hype a New York City houseshow showing on WWE Network? Alrighty then... Then, Big Show confronted Paul Heyman and Big Show looked stronger by talking him down. So in 1 week, the WWE was able to make Big Show into a serious threat to Brock Lesnar? Hyping wrestlers is so simple... Pose the wrestler as a serious threat or create some kind of "sense of urgency". Instead, we have scripted lines and booking that keeps everybody appearing equal. - I'm honestly waiting for the WWE to move on from the Team Bellas vs. Team PCB stuff... Just not doing it for me. I guess it's good that Natalya is involved again, but long-term, where are we going? Are we pushing legitimate female wrestling or what happens on the next episode of Total Divas? Maybe I should give Paige a few more weeks to develop as a heel but I'm just getting bored with the Divas Revolution in the WWE. Just not working and I'm not suggesting that Charlotte, Becky, and Sasha aren't working but what I'm suggesting is that the WWE Creative Team has no clue how to book women on the WWE roster. NXT has created the roadmap on how to get over as a female wrestler and WWE can't borrow from that? - Exactly what was gained by Luke Harper/Braun Strowman destroying the Primetime Players? PTP were just chasing the World Tag Titles but tonight, they are jobbers... What, the Los Matadores or Lucha Dragons weren't available? Completely kills O'Neill and Young. And again, I ask this... What is the point of Braun Strowman? He's an unstoppable, non-selling force which the WWE has multiple versions of already. - Roman Reigns vs. Bray Wyatt was OK but nothing ready for prime time, in my opinion. It's Reigns. He's just not strong in singles matches. The action actually picked up once the Double Countout occurred. That's bad. Double countout means that we'll see another match from these two... Oh boy. Reigns needs to crap or get off the pot already as a singles wrestler. Can you deliver a great match, big guy? LAST WORD: BAD episode of RAW this week, even at a condensed 1.5 hours on Hulu, I was struggling... But hey, this is BROCKTOBER and there are things to look forward to during this month for the WWE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PHAT QUESTIONS Question #1 - Do you think that WWE will move Pay Per View events to Saturdays, possibly compete with UFC? What I think the WWE will continue to do, much like this upcoming Madison Square Garden WWE Network exclusive, is to present special shows here and there. Shows considered "Pay Per View" for the WWE will remain on Sundays. That's just how tradition works for pro wrestling and the contracts in place with Cable/Satellite probably gives WWE the monopoly on Sundays for airing their shows. Compete with UFC? I wouldn't shake that tree... Bad for BOTH businesses. That's why NFL has Sundays and College Football has Saturdays. Not good to compete with each other on similar audiences. Furthermore, if Dana White gets rattled, he can easily place free UFC shows on FOX during the nights of Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble. That would be completely destructive to the WWE. Now - In the light of the older "Saturday Night's Main Event", WWE can occasionally run these WWE Network exclusive Saturday events and I think they'll draw well. The whole WWE Japan show was something that helped get me on as a subscriber and this week's upcoming MSG show helps cement me further as a subscriber. Make it once a quarter or every other month to keep it fresh. ------------------------------------------- Question #2 - On day one, what happens if/when Vince McMahon is no longer running the WWE? Here's something to consider about Vince McMahon retiring or, sad to say, passing away... There's a good chance that Vince or the McMahon family controlling the majority of shares may SELL the WWE. During the last television negotiation from 2014, there was a serious offer made by the AMC Network to actually BUY the WWE or have some controlling stake in the company. In some ways, I don't think that it was just AMC making that offer. I believe some serious talks were in place with that network to sell the WWE. Vince McMahon just turned 70 years old and running the WWE is HARD WORK. Thanks to the corporate set-up, the McMahons are incredibly wealthy. What is their incentive to keep working that hard? Stephanie and Triple H are certainly driven individuals but even they could see that pro wrestling is a dying fad unless they innovate something new to the business. The McMahons could easily cash-in and try other ventures. Maybe Triple H, for example, could sell the WWE assets and continue this NXT wrestling experiment on a smaller scale. However - If WWE isn't sold and Triple H/Stephanie take over, I would fully expect that mass firings would occur of some corporate fat and Executive Producer Kevin Dunn would be gone. I would expect that the Clique members would obtain jobs, notably Kevin Nash on Creative and Sean Waltman as a trainer. HHH would probably scale the WWE to more of a wrestling company again because that is what he knows while they'd probably hire someone from the outside to handle the other entertainment ventures (WWE Films, etc.). ---------------------------------------------- Question #3 - What is Bret Hart's issue with Triple H? If you've seen various YouTube interviews with Bret Hart, he holds nothing back on criticisms of Triple H. He ripped his Wrestlemania 27 and 28 matches heavily against the Undertaker while having utter disgust for Triple H for his role in the Montreal Screwjob. In particular, Bret remembers Triple H denying everything to his ex-wife's face on the Wrestling with Shadows documentary. Worse yet, I've even heard Bret claim that Triple H came up with the screwjob idea which coincides with Triple H bragging that he once came up with the idea back in 1997. Bret claims that HHH has been a parasite on the WWE company ever since. Bret remains critical of the Clique as well. My response is simply this: "meh". He's a bitter former wrestler who didn't have a storybook ending to his career. I'm amazed at how personal he holds a grudge against Triple H when Bret should hold a larger grudge against others instead for their actions. Back during November 1997, Triple H was a midcarder who helped carry Shawn Michaels's bags and ensured that HBK made it to the ring OK without passing out. To suggest that HHH was a power broker during 1997 would be ridiculous. The guy didn't win a WWE Title until the 3rd Quarter of 1999 but Bret considers Triple H to be the Godfather of Montreal. He wasn't. Not even close. Minor player back then. In my opinion, Bret just has envy and jealousy of Triple H's career. Moving to WCW and then getting injured at the hands of Bill Goldberg cut his career short. Bret had much more to offer the business and it was all over by early 2000. Whose career took off during early 2000? Triple H and he just got stronger and stronger. To me, Bret sees what Triple H became in the WWE and thinks that it should have been Bret. After all, Bret signed that 20 year contract which probably would have put him in a management position with the WWE after his wrestling career. Instead, the WWE cut Bret Hart loose after 1 year of that contract (escape clause) and WWE only increased in size once Bret was gone. Bret lost out on a bigger wrestling legacy and millions upon millions of dollars as a result. -------------------------------------------- Question #4 - Do you believe that WWE Hall of Famer, Donald Trump, has a chance to become President? See what I did there? WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump... Of course Donald Trump can become president. ANYBODY can become president in the modern age. As long as you have the mainstream media (paper, internet, radio, television) and social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) on your side and organized behind you to market yourself effectively, you can win. I don't want to pick on the current President or get political with him, but if you remember during 2007, he was an actual longshot to defeat Hillary Clinton during the Democratic Primaries. Then, thanks to his innovative campaign adviser David Axelrod, the Obama campaign utilized the media, social media, and began to market itself heavily to regions and demographics that political pundits never thought of. As a result, Clinton was overwhelmed during 2008 and after the economic meltdown during September 2008, John McCain had no chance. Quite a story... So yes, Donald Trump can become president... However, it's all about how you market yourself. That's where I think WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump fails. Sure, he might be winning the polls for the Republican Primaries, but against Hillary Clinton or possibly Joe Biden, he's behind double digits in some polls... Why? In a General Election, he faces all demographics. In my opinion, he's ticked off two specific demographics. (a) Women and (b) Hispanics. With Women, calling Rosie O'Donnell a "fat pig" and then doubling down on a debate stage will score you no points. Then, ripping Carly Fiorina's looks was done in completely bad taste. His initial comments on Illegal Immigration were out of line when he accused that most crossing the borders were criminals. Those are the fastest growing voting demographics and he's ticked both of them off royally. Jeb Bush actually polls better against Hillary than Trump and Jeb's numbers among GOP voters are low. But hey, if Trump plays his cards right, he could utilize various forms of media to market himself correctly to weather any demographic specific storms. I still say that WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump is a plant within the Republican Party to hurt their 2016 chances. He invited the Clintons to his 3rd wedding, donated to Hillary Clinton's political career, donated to the Clinton foundation, and Bill Clinton reportedly encouraged him to run for President. Then, you look at Trump's past political views and they are more aligned with the Democratic Party. We could be seeing a political screwjob in the making... I see WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump fumbling the football at some point and the GOP establishment performing tasks to ensure Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio wins the nomination. Lots of political money backing Bush/Marco and until a vote has been cast, polls in September 2015 mean nothing. ======================================================= SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2015
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