WWE Money in the Bank 2020 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank 2020. 

Money in the Bank 2019 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank 2019.

Boos for Braun?

There are a few certainties in life. Death, taxes, and Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman will always win cleanly no matter the odds. Almost every time I watch WWE programming, both Reigns and Strowman are usually having their hands raised in victory. The only difference between the two is that Reigns is booked to look like an underdog despite his "Big Dog" moniker. Strowman on the other hand is billed as the "Monster Among Men" and is booked like one most of the time. The two have crossed paths before with Reigns playing the hated face and Strowman taking on the role of beloved heel. However, Strowman has since left the dark side of the wrestling world and has been booked to win almost every match he has. Could this cause Strowman's crowd reactions to mimic that of Reigns?

I think it might. Despite being booked as a monster, WWE made Strowman appear as a bit of an underdog at Money in the Bank. Every wrestler in that match teamed together to eliminate Strowman by attempting to bury the monster underneath a pile of ladders. That was not enough to stop him though as he soon emerged from the rubble like Godzilla rising out of the sea and proceeded to destroy everybody in sight in route to winning the Money in the Bank briefcase. There are only a handful of guys I can think of who can overcome odds like that and win: Hulk Hogan, John Cena, and Roman Reigns. All have previously been booked as unstoppable underdogs and all have previously been booed out of the building. If WWE is not careful, Strowman might be grouped in this category.

Let's look at some of Strowman's accomplishments so far this year. At Wrestlemania 34, he easily defeated the Bar with a kid name Nicholas to win the Raw Tag Team Championships. He then won the Greatest Royal Rumble match in Saudi Arabia. He overcame the odds at Money in the Bank, and even though his team lost the next night on Raw, it was Balor, not Strowman, who ate the pin. In terms of professional wrestling, that is an incredible year so far and we are only in the month of June. There are still six months left in 2018 for Strowman to be booked as invincible.

WWE crowds turn on wrestlers they think are overexposed or never lose. While Strowman is not there yet, he's getting awfully close. A lot of people did not like the decision to have Strowman win the Money in the Bank briefcase as they feel like he is already over enough with the crowd. Despite that sentiment, WWE still booked the monster to win and he has already called out Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. Everybody thinks Strowman will cash in and finally be the one to defeat the beast. I'm thinking that Reigns and Lesnar clash at SummerSlam with Reigns finally taking the belt from the beast only for Strowman to cash in and take the title from Reigns. This sends the crowd home happy and keeps Strowman on the crowd's good side as he will be feuding with Reigns again. But what about when the Reigns feud is finished? We'll have to wait and see what happens. Hopefully WWE handles Strowman better than they have Reigns so that monster does not feel the wrath of the fans.

Money in the Bank 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank 2018. 

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank 2017. 

My All Time Favorite Wrestling Moment

If you have been a frequent visitor of my website or follow me on Twitter, then you know that I am a diehard fan of professional wrestling. I have been a fan ever since I was kid when guys like Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock were the top guys of the industry. I have watched tons of episodes of Raw and Smackdown and have seen numerous pay-per-views. I have seen matches that were duds and others that were thrillers, and I have witnessed moments and segments that have blown the roof off arenas. However, Money in the Bank 2016 produced the moment that is easily my all time favorite in my nearly twenty years of being a wrestling fan. That moment of course was Dean Ambrose successfully cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Going into Money in the Bank, the two favorites to win the contract were Ambrose and Kevin Owens. I had predicted that Ambrose would win the contract after his feud with Jericho ended at Extreme Rules. However, Owens is the best heel in WWE today, and I began to think WWE would make him the winner. I like Owens and normally I would have been happy to see him win the contract, but Ambrose is my all time favorite wrestler so I was rooting for him to climb the ladder and grab the briefcase. Of course, the match came down to Owens and Ambrose battling atop the ladder and when Ambrose knocked off Owens and grabbed the briefcase, I was elated. I thought the night could not get any better...but WWE had a few more surprises.

The main event was a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns. The match was a very entertaining bout, and I thought that Reigns was going to retain his title. After Rollins countered a spear by Reigns into a pedigree, he hit another pedigree to pin Reigns cleanly and capture his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins was celebrating with the belt, and I thought that was how the show was going to end. Then Ambrose’s music hit.

The arena exploded. I stood up out of my chair. The cameras showed the entrance, but there was no sign of Ambrose. The camera showed Rollins again when from out of nowhere, Ambrose appeared and smashed his Money in the Bank briefcase into the face of Rollins. He exited the ring, handed the referee the briefcase, and it was official. Ambrose was cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. I was ecstatic. The bell rang, Ambrose picked up Rollins, hit him with a Dirty Deeds, and pinned him to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. I went crazy!

I was cheering and clapping as if I was there in person. I finally saw a world championship come to Cincinnati. The Reds have not a World Series since before I was born, and the Bengals have never won the Super Bowl, but Cincinnati’s own Dean Ambrose won his first ever WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and for the first time since 1990, Cincinnati has a world champion. I have never been more excited for a wrestling event in my life, and Ambrose winning the title is easily my all time favorite moment in professional wrestling. Even though the initial excitement has worn off, I am still thrilled that Ambrose is the champ. He is one of the few guys in WWE that I think deserves to be in the main event as the champion, and I can honestly say that this is the most interested I have been in professional wrestling in a long time.

SmackDown vs Raw…Again Part 2

In my previous post on the WWE brand extension, I discussed its history from its inception until it was pashed out completely. In this post, I will talk about why I am not a fan of WWE’s decision to bring back the brand extension, and why I think not having separate rosters is the way to go.

The last time there was a brand extension in WWE, both shows started out as equal before more and more attention was given to Raw each week. Maybe it was because SmackDown is on tape delay and Raw is live or maybe it was because Monday nights attain better ratings than Thursday nights. Either way, with each passing year, more attention was given to Raw than SmackDown as Raw always had guest stars, special episodes, and the most popular wrestlers on the roster. I do not see that changing because Raw has more airtime than SmackDown since it is a three-hour show. Raw will need to retain viewers for an extra hour and a way to do that is by having guest stars, special episodes, and the most popular wrestlers on the roster.

Another reason I am not a fan of the brand extension is because of what happened to the championships. Every championship was essentially doubled during the last brand extension, and it took away the prestige of winning a title. I have no problem with their being two midcard championships. However, having two tag team champs, women’s champs, and world champs is ridiculous and defeats the purpose of having those belts as those titles are supposed to represent the best tag team, woman, and man in WWE. I really hope WWE decides to leave the championships alone and have the champions appear on both shows. That would keep the prestige of the titles in tact.

I think that having one roster is the way to go because it keeps things simple. The championships remain prestigious, you can catch your favorite wrestlers on both shows, and storylines are a lot easier to follow. With two separate rosters, you have two separate shows, which doubles the amount of storylines and rivalries to follow. Some of these feuds might be between two wrestlers that nobody cares for, and instead of having a better overall product with few quality storylines, you get a worse product with more storylines that do not capture the attention of the audience. Also, there might not even be a payoff match at a pay-per-view. WWE’s montly pay-per-views are only four hours long if you include the kickoff show and with WWE having two separate rosters with their own storylines spread across five hours of weekly television, it will be nearly impossible to have all those rivalries culminate with a payoff match.

That is why I am not a fan of the brand extension, and why I think the WWE should not separate the rosters. The last time WWE separated the rosters, it failed. It started out well, but it ultimately did not work and the quality of WWE programming suffered because of it. Hopefully this time WWE does the brand extension right or ends it fast.

Money in the Bank 2016 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Money in the Bank 2016.

The Money in the Bank Winner Is…

Money in the Bank is one of WWE’s best events of the year. It is usually filled with great matches, and its results set the tone for SummerSlam. The biggest and most influential match at Money in the Bank is the bout that the event was named after in that the results of it are what people care about the most. The winner of the match receives a contract for a WWE Championship match whenever and wherever the victor wants, and when the cash in happens, the crowd usually erupts in excitement. So who should win the event this year? I believe that Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens are the most deserving to win this match. Let’s start with why I think Owens should win.

Kevin Owens has been absolutely incredible ever since he was called up to the main roster from NXT. His rivalry with John Cena was one of the best of 2015, his matches are generally some of the best on the card, and his mic skills as a heel are fantastic. He is so good at being a heel that he gets face reactions. He is currently involved in a great feud with Sami Zayn, and if Owens wins the Money in the Bank ladder match and claims the briefcase for himself, then his rivalry with Zayn could be taken to the next level as the two could be battling it out for Money in the Bank contract. The crowd would also go crazy if Owens cashed in on Reigns, and the rivalry between these two could be epic.

Dean Ambrose also deserves to win the Money in the Bank ladder match in my opinion. He is one of the best talents in WWE today. He is solid in the ring, he is great on the mic, and despite WWE booking him in a questionable manner, he is still over with the fans, receives huge pops every time he enters the arena, and his rivalries with Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bray Wyatt, and Brock Lesnar have been very entertaining. If he wins the Money in the Bank ladder match, then things in WWE could get very interesting. With Seth Rollins returning to the WWE after his injury and Roman Reigns in the middle of a WWE Championship reign, an Ambrose victory could finally mean that we get the long awaited Shield triple threat match. Also, Ambrose is my favorite wrestler, and I would love to see him win the match and hopefully the WWE Championship with a successful cash in on Reigns, Rollins, or whoever the champion may be.

In conclusion, that is why I think Owens and Ambrose each have equal claim to the Money in the Bank contract. They are both great in the ring, on the mic, and get really good crowd reactions. If either of these guys wins the match, the crowd will cheer and the arena will definitely explode whenever they decide to cash in their contract. While I am a fan of Owens and would really like to see him win, I will be pulling for Ambrose and hope he climbs the ladder, grabs the briefcase, and takes his first step to becoming WWE Champion.

Let’s go Ambrose!

SmackDown vs. Raw…Again Part 1

In 2001, World Wrestling Entertainment had established itself as the undisputed wrestling promotion champion in the world. It had defeated Extreme Championship Wrestling and squeezed the life out of World Championship Wrestling, putting an end to the epic “Monday Night Wars.”

As the dust settled and the smoke cleared, many former ECW and WCW wrestlers signed with WWE, creating a huge surge in talent on the WWE roster. In order to give these new wrestlers airtime while keeping the established WWE stars on television, WWE came up with the brand extension. The idea was to make Raw and SmackDown two separate promotions that would “compete” against each other. There was a draft between Raw and SmackDown and wrestlers were exclusive to only the show that drafted them. The only exceptions were champions who appeared on both shows. The only times fans saw wrestlers from both Raw and SmackDown appear on the same show were pay-per-views.

Eventually, champions became exclusive to either Raw or SmackDown with each brand having a total of four titles each. For midcard  championships, this was not really a problem as Raw had the Intercontinental Championship and SmackDown had the United States Championship. There was also a Cruiserweight division with its own title that was exclusive to the SmackDown brand. However, each show had its own world champion, pair of tag team champions, and eventually a women’s champion as SmackDown retired the Cruiserweight Championship and created the Divas Championship while Raw already had the Women’s Championship

The brand extension continued until 2011 when SmackDown wrestlers began to appear regularly on Raw. It was officially phased out by 2012, and titles merged as the Raw and SmackDown tag team titles and women’s titles were unified. The unification process was complete in 2013 as the WWE Championship of Raw and the World Heavyweight Championship of SmackDown were merged by Randy Orton when he defeated John Cena and became the first Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion since 2002. With that, the brand extension had officially come to an end.

Wrestlers were no longer exclusive to certain shows, titles could be defended on both Raw and SmackDown, and the championships regained their prestige as there were fewer belts to compete for between the wrestlers. It was nice to have the WWE go back to a simpler way, and I was and still am a fan of ending the brand extension.

In theory, the brand extension was a good idea, but in reality, it failed. While it did allow a few wrestlers to emerge like John Cena, Batista, and Randy Orton, it ultimately turned SmackDown into the “B” show as more attention was given to Raw each and every week. SmackDown did have great success and was an overall better show than Raw when the brand extension began, however it slowly spiraled downward and essentially became a recap of Raw with some filler. If it was executed better, then perhaps the brand extension could have worked. Maybe there could have been more than a handful of guys who had careers launched during the brand extension, and Raw and SmackDown could have been treated as equal shows. That was not the case, and I do not really see that happening with the new brand extension.

Stayed tuned for part two of this post in which I explain why I do not like WWE’s choice to bring back the brand extension.