I know my critiques of the WWE product haven't been overwhelmingly positive of late, but let's face it--over 550,000 people turned off their TV sets between hour one and hour three this week for a reason---despite Owens/Zayn being the MAIN EVENT (cough-cough). And, as far as Smackdown was concerned? I actually was left speechless after the show. Didn't even know what to say. What could I say?
But with that being said, I want to do my best to stay positive. I want to do my best to not give up hope on a company of which I have been a fan of for some 40+ years. Therefore, I am going to list the five bright spots that hopefully will come shining through in the weeks/months to come.
5. MICK FOLEY
I'm going to be honest here--having worked with Mick for a good part of 10 years, I sometimes cringe over the material given to him by Vince McMahon and the rest of the Creative Team beneath him. The talent is just not there creatively to maximize Mick's absolute uniqueness and greatness. Knowing him, I know that he, himself, has to think some of the material stinks, but, he has a good gig going with the WWE right now, and it doesn't benefit him to rock the boat in any way.
Last week, however, we were reminded of the old Mick Foley in the opening in ring of RAW that saw Mick trump the "Evil Queen" herself, Stephanie McMahon. For a few moments Mick was actually back in his element and he felt it . . . as did the audience.
Hopefully the storyline will continue to go in the direction of the Mick/Steph split, enabling Mick to once again re-write WWE history.
4. HEATH SLATER/RHYNO STORY
I wasn't a fan of Slater's until he brought us inside his luxurious trailer 2 weeks ago on Smackdown. In that element, Heath was phenomenal. And what even elevated his star further was that Rhyno, one of the nicest gentlemen in the business, trumped him by stealing the entire vignette.
Of course I wanted more of the lovely Beulah this week, and of course the WWE writers didn't give it to me. Why should they when they can just have another "rasslin" match.
Ouy-Vay.
3. BAYLEY
I love Bayley. Who doesn't love Bayley. Bayley has the potential to be the WWE's version of John Cena for many, many years to come. Here's the problem, however, and it was the same problem I saw for Paige over a year ago. At her young age, I just don't think the WWE has the creative talent to keep Bayley over for an extended period of time. Her entrance, her bubbly personality, the hugging, that will old get old quick if Bayley isn't given "substance" on a weekly basis. That is what happened to Paige. So young, so talented, and once AJ Lee left----there was just nothing to work with.
I hope this doesn't happen to this girl. Just way too talented to not have the opportunity to maximize her potential.
2. MIZ & MARYSE
Simple. These two are superstars. They look, act, feel, speak, smell and ACT like superstars. Since the brand split, Miz has absolutely been knocking it out of the park on SmackDown. He has raised the bar for every other performer on the roster to step up to his level, and in my opinion . . . very few have.
The wife, Maryse, just simply stunning. The perfect garnish to her superstar husband. But again, material, material, material. Miz needs more than to just deliver the great promo every week. As we just witnessed, the ball was just totally fumbled on any storyline Miz could have had with Daniel Bryan going forward. At some point the creative team/Vince McMahon have got to be as good as the guys/gals in front of the camera.
1. SETH ROLLINS AS BABYFACE
I like Seth Rollins as a babyface, and I think Seth has more of a chance of getting over HUGE as anybody, simply because you know he's going to get written into a storyline with Triple H. I've always told you, when talent is also creative . . . they make sure their story gets over first---it's just the nature of the beast. Once Trips comes back, you can bet that he and Witchepoo will be ALL OVER your television sets once again, allowing Rollins to get himself over simply playing off the opportunity that the situation lends him.
