Posted in: Mr. Tito
MR. TITO STRIKES BACK - Dean Ambrose/Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns and WWE RAW Review
By Mr. Tito
Oct 6, 2014 - 11:50:50 PM

Follow Mr. Tito on Twitter.com: @titowrestling

Welcome back to the Excellence in Column Writing, exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com. I'm here to give you a full analysis of the awesome and incredible Brie Bella vs. Summer Rae match where Brie's arm was tied behind her back.

Actually, I'm kidding...

I do want to start off this column with a correction... Yes, even I, Mr. Tito, make mistakes from time to time. Specifically, I have written about how Vince McMahon and Triple H hate the "Ring of Honor stench" from wrestlers they've acquired from the Ring of Honor promotion. Instead of valuing unique talents like Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, or Cesaro, they actually end up being "warm bodies" for John Cena and Randy Orton to defeat. Hey, when you've got up to 8-9 hours of television to fill and houseshows to entertain, you need warm bodies actually wrestling matches to fill time. Vince and now Triple H like to mold wrestlers as they see fit and find that certain Indy habits or styles are very hard to undo with WWE brainwashing.

But I made a mistake of suggesting that Dean Ambrose had that "Ring of Honor stench" that Vince/Triple H might not like in the long-run. HOWEVER - I was wrong... Dean Ambrose had a whole 2 dark matches with Ring of Honor before moving on. Therefore, I cannot fear that Dean Ambrose will become another CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, or Cesaro who gets over by the fans but is highly disliked backstage by Vince McMahon/Triple H.

Phew! That was a close one!

Seth Rollins, on the other hand, wrestled about a year with Ring of Honor and was even their World Champion for about 7 months during 2010. Of course, the WWE lured Seth Rollins away when he was ROH Champion... All indications, though, are that Seth Rollins is highly liked backstage by Triple H and based on the way he's become 2014 Money in the Bank winner and seeing legitimate main event opportunities, this could be a legitimate sign of a "changing of the guard" with Triple H increasing his backstage responsibilities over talent and creative. Thank God because Rollins, thanks to the heel turn, is really shining as a talent both in the ring and as a personality. WWE has been short of that kind of heel for quite some time. Randy Orton has not been lighting the world on fire as a heel since 2013.

I really hate to admit this, but the Roman Reigns injury might have saved the WWE some serious grief. While I'm happy that Triple H is high on a talent like Seth Rollins, HHH was also high on Reigns as a main eventer. HHH was pushing hard for Reigns to defeat Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania 31 and was able to lure Vince to that idea as well (Vince reportedly wanted to get the Rock back to take on Brock Lesnar). I have nothing personal against Reigns, but his singles matches were not entertaining and the fan reactions were never consistently there for Reigns. However, the fan cheers have been there for another former Shield member named Dean Ambrose instead. WWE Creative was pushing the wrong Shield member to become a top babyface wrestler.

In fact, despite the intense competition on Mondays now (NFL, Big Bang Theory, Black List, Dancing with the Stars, etc.), WWE has had decent viewership numbers. There's a decent chance that WWE fans are excited for the prospect of Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins getting more spotlight time along with being "free" of Roman Reigns getting shoved down their throats. By the way, how uneventful was that Reigns interview tonight on RAW? Ugh...

I have to admit being wrong a second time tonight... WWE was RIGHT to break-up the Shield this year. I had aspirations of keeping the Shield together and pushing them collectively as a babyface stable. But you know what? The Shield was not only introducing us to Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns, but it was also masking and hiding the weaknesses of Roman Reigns as a pro wrestler. Don't believe me? Seth Rollins debuted during 2003, Dean Ambrose during 2004, and Roman Reigns during 2010. But consider the context of Reigns's career. He started his wrestling career with WWE's developmental system. In other words, WWE hired him based on looks and bloodlines (cousin of the Rock). Gee, why was Reigns busting as a potential main eventer from his push?

Suffice to say, Roman Reigns proved to be the "deadweight" of the Shield and their break-up only served to FREE Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins from him. As luck would have it, an injury has kept the WWE from pushing the wrong member of the Shield to the top. Now, however, Dean Ambrose as a babyface and Seth Rollins as a heel can shine. Just watch out for those dominant wrestlers named John Cena and Randy Orton.

-----------------------------

RAW THOUGHTS

I'm NOT going to bash the Susan G Komen or Breast Cancer Awareness stuff, even if the WWE is overdoing it for publicity sakes. If by having pink ropes, pink shirts, and segments dedicated to breast cancer awareness can help save lives, then I can endure a small slice of a 3 hour wrestling show to it. Not a problem to me. I'm pro-saving lives. I've seen others bashing the WWE's association with Susan G. Komen and overpushing the breast cancer stuff, but I disagree. In fact, do more of it and not just in October. What, you can't spare 5 minutes of a 3 hour show to help raise money to save lives?

RAW was getting several "FINGERS OF SHAME" through about 9:50pm until the Great One, the Rock, made a surprise appearance to cut a promo on Rusev and Lana. Now, normally, I would rip the WWE for having the Rock make petty and childish insults (Chewy ball breath, for example) and then having Rock beat on Rusev... But I really don't like Rusev. He's in that Roman Reigns, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Miz, Bray Wyatt, and Jack Swagger in the OVERPUSHED WRESTLER CLUB. He's getting no reaction despite Lana trying extremely hard with the USA vs. Russia cheap heat. I don't care... In fact, I encourage the use of an unscripted Rock to tear down overpushed WWE wrestlers.

Now, if Rock came down as a part-time wrestler and easily whooped on a wrestler with real potential, I would have a problem with that. Obviously... But Rusev, meh. I don't care.

Contrary to what people were Tweeting me during RAW, I have no problems with the Rock. I thought he was a letdown as an in-ring wrestler when he returned, as I'm baffled that he couldn't get a good match out of CM Punk or John Cena, and I thought he was a bit out of date with his promos against John Cena. But in small doses when he can appear as a surprise and thrash overpushed WWE wrestlers, I'm fine with that...

As a proud member of the OVERPUSHED WRESTLER CLUB, Roman Reigns had one of the most uneventful interviews of all time following an injury. Michael Cole may have talked to him for 2 minutes at best? Nothing significant was said, such as a legitimate timetable for return. All of that hype and yet, once again, Roman Reigns cannot deliver.

For Tyson Kidd and Natalya... Please, please, please review WWE Network footage of "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth before the babyface turn. Basically, material before 1988... If you want to get Tyson Kidd over, try the "blame the girlfriend (or wife)" angle. It actually worked well for Daniel Bryan during 2012, if you recall, and actually made AJ Lee into a star.

I did enjoy the opening segment with Seth Rollins starting off and then being chased by John Cena/Dean Ambrose. I'm enjoying Rollins and Ambrose getting facetime with Cena along with the Authority (HHH/Stephanie) who later came out to talk down Cena/Ambrose. What I like is how the WWE is playing up some animosity between John Cena and Dean Ambrose. That's good stuff because Dean Ambrose needs to present fans with an alternative wrestler to root for and having issues with Cena would work. All else fails, just see how Steve Austin struggled with any babyface wrestler he was paired with during 1997 and it got him over as a rebel. Yeah, that's on the WWE Network too.

No problems with the Usos/Dolph Ziggler vs. Cesaro/Goldust/Stardust match... Good wrestling, advances 2 midcard title feuds at once, and decent time was given. While WWE will chalk it up to "it's a New York crowd full of marks", Dolph Ziggler and Cesaro were both over in this match. New York fans just speak their mind, but they speak for the tastes/preferences of most wrestling fans. Later, we had Miz vs. Sheamus and the fans were rooting for Damien Sandow on the outside. WWE has repeatedly shit on Sandow since his Money in the Bank cash-in against John Cena but I think enough fans recognized that the guy had talent and personality. Sheamus and Miz, of course, belong to the OVERPUSHED WRESTLER CLUB.

Not sure what's going on with the Bo Dallas vs. Mark Henry feud... I'm willing to bet that the WWE drops this feud in a few weeks just out of boredom.

I like their work on the Today Show, but the Hoda Kotb and Kathy Lee Gifford segment with Adam Rose was brutal. Not the ladies fault, as they have success and ratings on the Today Show to validate themselves... But they did not fit in well on RAW, nor did their segment work out well with Adam Rose who has worn his gimmick rather thin already. You're not going to find me bashing Hoda and Kathy Lee. Their hour on the Today Show is actually quite funny. But WWE management has to figure out what works for a WRESTLING SHOW instead of writing it too much like a TELEVISION SHOW. What does this segment add to Adam Rose's career? That's what WWE Creative has to figure out...

Looks like the Luke Harper push is on... So I took a ton of heat for my Bray Wyatt comments last year for him being overpushed upon his debut, but looking back, I was right. Having him defeat Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble 2014 was a big mistake and then having him immediately go after John Cena was another. As I keep saying, GET OVER IN THE MIDCARD FIRST and then move upward when the fans want you to. So yeah, "I told you so" on that guy. Lots of talent on Bray Wyatt, which makes it such a shame that WWE rammed him down our throats during 2013 through early 2014. Now, they have to rehab Bray's character and that will take time.

And the Bella Twin feud continues... This week, the Authority forced Brie Bella to go DEF LEPPARD STYLE against Summer Rae. Listen, if you're offended by that joke, I'm just following in the footsteps of the Bloodhound Gang band. I'm just a mighty tighty whitey and I'm smuggling plumbs. Too obscure? By the way, I've been playing Smash Bros for the 3DS and I absolutely LOVE playing as Pacman on that game. He has nice attacks, fluid movement, and can easily get to a ledge when punched off the side. But I laugh because Pacman was in a Bloodhound Gang song... Wait a second, what am I talking about? Oh, this match... Yeah, Brie Bella would probably want to take a "Photograph" of that match because she just beat someone one-handed. Har har.

One of my favorite cruel jokes remains to be "What has 9 arms and sucks?"... And I love Def Leppard, as they are a childhood favorite band. The Hysteria album blew my mind during the late 1980's. Life was good when you could crank up "Pour Some Sugar on Me"and becoming a pro wrestling fan during late 1988 as I did.

The MAIN EVENT as I painfully and forcefully review RAW was John Cena vs. Kane/Seth Rollins/Randy Orton, which was 3 on 1 when Dean Ambrose walked away from Cena earlier in the show. Not much of a Main Event match, as the heels got themselves disqualified to favor a beatdown. Orton was about to hit his RKO when Dean Ambrose came out with a hotdog stand and actually attacks Randy Orton and Kane with it! Sprays them in the eyes with Mustard and Ketchup! In true "Wildcard" fashion (what show am I alluding to there?), Dean Ambrose take the tongs and pinches Seth Rollins's nuts!

After the match, Triple H and Stephanie come out to announce that John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose will happen at Hell in a Cell with the winner getting Seth Rollins in the Cell. Nice... After that announcement, Wildcard Dean Ambrose goes on the attack and hooks the arms for a DDT on John Cena! Fans in Brooklyn loved that! Nice ending.

LAST WORD: RAW felt broken in parts but the last hour seemed to improve. Rollins and Ambrose are becoming stars before our very eyes. Hopefully, the WWE gets the memo on pushing the right midcard guys or pushing them the right way. Seriously, Damien Sandow is a "stunt double" for the Miz. I'll go B- (B minus), I think.

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 - 1998-2014