WWE Backlash 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on Backlash 2018. 

Wrestlemania 34 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on Wrestlemania 34.

Fastlane 2018 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Fastlane 2018.

Roman vs. Brock…Round 2

At the Royal Rumble, we learned that Shinske Nakamura will challenge WWE World Heavyweight Champion A.J. Styles for the belt at Wrestlemania 34 by virtue of his royal rumble match victory. The Wrestle Kingdom rematch should be one of the best that take place in the Superdome on April 8 and could potentially steal the show. With SmackDown’s main event set, what will Raw counter with at Wrestlemania? I believe that the red brand will showcase Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship.

Much like Nakamura vs. Styles is a rematch, so is Reigns vs. Lesnar. The two previously had a main event battle at Wrestlemania 31 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. While the match itself was fine, the true moment of excitement occurred when Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase during the bout and pinned Reigns to win the title for himself. It was an incredible ending to one of the best Wrestlemania events of all time. A lot of people feel that the enormous amount of backlash that Reigns was receiving from fans caused WWE to call an audible and have Rollins cash in and win the belt.

Even though WWE gave into the demands of the fans in 2015, they did not in 2016 as Reigns defeated Triple H for the title at Wrestlemania 32 to a deafening chorus of boos. Fan hatred for Reigns only grew after last year’s Wrestlemania main event in which the “Big Dog” pinned the Undertaker to hand the “Phenom” only his second Wrestlemania loss. That was the third consecutive Wrestlemania main event that featured Reigns, and I think he is heading for a fourth. Immediately after Wrestlemania 33 ended, I tweeted that it will be Reigns vs. Lesnar at Wrestlemania 34. I’m sticking with that prediction.

WWE has seemingly been building up to this match ever since Rollins cashed in at Wrestlemania 31. They have been building up Lesnar as an unstoppable beast while at the same time packaging Reigns as the only man who can truly conquer the conqueror. Reigns and Lesnar rarely lose cleanly if at all, and they are the only two wrestlers to have defeated the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Reigns was supposed to defeat Lesnar three years ago. WWE made a last minute switch. That will not happen this year. I’m predicting Reigns will win the Elimination Chamber match before he turns “Suplex City” into the latest extension of the “Roman Empire” at Wrestlemania 34. I’m not saying I’m a fan of that decision, but I definitely think it will happen.

Believe that.

Clash of Champions 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Clash of Champions 2017.

WWE Hell in a Cell 2017 Thoughts

Ryan of Cincy Fan Zone shares his thoughts on WWE Hell in a Cell 2017.

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 Thoughts

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

My Thoughts on the Superstar Shakeup

The night after Wrestlemania 33, Vince McMahon announced that WWE will undergo a “superstar shakeup.” Wrestlers would be switching brands and another chapter of the “new era” would be written. The following week, the shakeup happened and while some big name wrestlers did switch shows, a lot of the superstars that were swapped had little to no direction or momentum.

The Shining Stars are a prime example of this. They were the perennial jobbers of the Raw tag team division. Nobody cared about them. They were then drafted to Smackdown, underwent a name change, and proceeded to defeat American Alpha. While the victory was shocking, it also made American Alpha look weak as they lost to one of the worst teams from Raw.

Another example of swapped wrestlers with little momentum is Kalisto. The former member of the Lucha Dragons was involved in a meaningless feud with Dolph Ziggler before vanishing. He then reappeared as a member of the Raw roster and was most recently dumped in the trash by Braun Strowman. While being on Raw will finally allow him to join the cruiserweight division, the fact that he floundered on Smackdown for so long diminishes his value to the weight class.

Popular wrestlers who switched brands include Dean Ambrose, Kevin Owens, the Miz, Bray Wyatt, Charlotte, and Alexa Bliss among others. It is refreshing to see big name superstars switch shows, but when you compare who is on the Raw roster with who is on the Smackdown roster, Raw easily has the better batch of wrestlers. For example, Ambrose and Miz are joining a roster that already features guys like Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, FInn Balor, and Chris Jericho. Raw is loaded. Smackdown is not. Yes, the blue brand has A.J. Styles, Shinske Nakamura, and Randy Orton, but the roster as a whole does not even come close to the amount of star power that Raw has.

In conclusion, I think that the shakeup was underwhelming. A majority of the wrestlers that swapped brands were not utilized much to begin with, and Raw clearly has the better roster in terms of popularity. Smackdown appears to be in complete rebuild mode after their roster was essentially raided. Raw has been presented as the flagship show ever since the brand extension. The superstar shakeup just made it more apparent.