Roundtable: WWE Super Show-Down

Which match are you most looking forward to?

Juan Bautista: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe. What the company sees in Joe will be revealed because unless he enters the Royal Rumble number 1 and eliminates 20 people, there’s no other time to put the belt on him. They didn’t want to put the Universal Title on him and now it seems like they won’t pull the trigger again. Whether it was intentional or not, the company may have just solidified Joe as a midcarder if he doesn’t leave Australia as WWE Champion.

Jenna Leigh: I’m most looking forward to Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte. Given enough time and booked well, this is a matchup and feud that could positively steal the show!

Chad Gelfand: I’m most interested in Triple H vs. Undertaker because I’m intrigued to see how the match is laid out. Both are past their physical primes, but I’m sure that they’ll have enough shenanigans in the match to make it interesting.

Steven Jackson: As everyone knows my WWE fanboat sailed away quite a while ago, so I had to quickly read this card to see what matches look most appealing to me. I have always enjoyed Cedric Alexander’s work and I know him and Buddy Murphy have delivered in the past, so Cedric Alexander vs. Buddy Murphy is my pick.

Anthony Mahalis: I am most looking forward to the real rematch of Bryan and Miz. I’ll tell you what I’m not looking forward to, though: seeing The Undertaker in the ring again. Enough already.

John Corrigan: There’s no chance in hell I’m getting up at 5 a.m., and history shows that if I don’t watch something live (Mae Young Classic, last NXT TakeOver, Mae Young Classic 2), I’ll probably never see it. But Charlotte vs. Becky sounds good!

Jack Goodwillie: There is honestly not one thing that sticks out above the rest. Becky vs. Charlotte II is cool, but it’s so soon after the original. There has been no time to let it fester and build to the inevitable rematch. Daniel Bryan and the Miz has some high stakes. Triple H vs. Undertaker? Not interested. When you continually lie to the fans about the end of eras and use charlatan booking tactics just to make a quick buck, you’re not going to have my interest, which is crazy given my love of nostalgia. It’ll be good to see John Cena back in action and hitting his new “finishing move” (if you haven’t seen it, do not spoil it for yourself. You’ll thank me later). Styles-Joe is probably my most anticipated match for the obvious reasons, but am I the only one who thinks it’s foolish to blow it off overseas?

Has AJ Styles’ reign been hindered by so many screwy finishes?

Bautista: Yeah, the screwy finishes have taken its toll, plus the lack of quality of matches and opponents. He won the title from Jinder and had an epic match with Brock Lesnar, but after that, it slowly began crumbling. The Nakamura rivalry didn’t take off and wasn’t allowed to breathe. If AJ had different opponents in between that rivalry that he could have produced quality matches with, it would have balanced out. The rivalry with Joe is good, but it’s similar to Nakamura in the sense that we’re getting multiple matches with the same outcome and screwy finishes.

Leigh: No! AJ Styles is at a point in his career where he has well and truly paid all imaginable dues, and has thoroughly proven himself all over the globe. (Of course to him, that would be back and forth across the flat earth, but I digress.) There have definitely been some wonky finishes that could have been booked better, but AJ’s ability to tell a story in-ring overrides a LOT of the bad booking. It’s a sad state of affairs when the “superstars” have to work extra hard to counteract the poor storytelling and booking by “creative”, isn’t it?

Gelfand: I think there are a couple of things that have hindered his reign. One thing is the screwy finishes muddying up his title defenses. Another thing is that he rarely main events SmackDown or PPVs. So while he undoubtedly is a top guy, Styles feels less like “The Guy.”

Jackson: I wouldn’t say AJ’s reign has been hindered, but his matches have not been a true reflection of his skill set and talents. I hope that does improve in the future, but I doubt it.

Mahalis: No, I don’t penalize Styles for bad booking. Styles puts on terrific matches time and time again – the quality of his championship reign should not be scrutinized.

Corrigan: If I was that weirdo in the front row of every show and had paid to see all of these well-built title matches, then I’d feel ripped off. But Styles’ booking as WWE Champion has been a throwback to yesteryear, where the Nature Boy would travel the territories and retain by DQ, countout, blood loss, etc. Of course, the difference is we see every match these days, and the finishes become repetitive. Regardless, I still consider the Phenomenal One to be a great, fighting champion.

Goodwillie: I hadn’t thought of it until seeing the question, but the answer has to be yes. It’s hard to mar an AJ Styles title reign in 2018, but WWE has come close. All you had to do after the Nakamura feud was go ultra basic until WrestleMania season. You’ve got AJ Styles and Samoa Joe; AJ defends the title while Joe plows through babyface adversaries until the two meet on a collision course at WrestleMania. It’s classic, old-school booking and sometimes simplicity is all you need when you’ve got a roster with the talent that SmackDown has. Book it ROH style. Here’s an analogy: If you’re playing football and the defense is running prevent every single play, are you going to chuck it deep or run a trick play? Fuck no. You’re going to run it up the gut. Is it going to make you a revolutionary? No. But it does make you a.) smart and b.) successful. That’s a winning combination in my book.

On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate Ronda Rousey’s run thus far?

Bautista: 3. It hasn’t been the best, nor has it sucked. She transitioned well from MMA, but there’s improvement to be made. Sometimes she has her facial expressions backwards like when walking out of a PPV she’s smiling, but the next night on Raw she’ll walk with a straight face. As a baby face, sometimes she comes off as a whiny bitch. There also needs to be more stories to her matches – she and Alexa had a decent backstory, but other than that, Rousey accepted a random challenge from Nia while on the red carpet.

Leigh: 3. Her athleticism is absolutely undeniable. The way she moves in the ring is so quick, so fluid, so smooth, that I catch myself saying “whoa!” when she is executing even basic moves. However, the pro wrestling fundamentals are lacking. For the short time she has been training, she is doing very well, but she still struggles with believable selling and properly taking bumps. If she does stay with WWE for several years, I have no doubt that she will become one of the very best ever, but as Chris Jericho has said numerous times: “You just can’t teach experience.”

Gelfand: 3. I haven’t been blown away by anything, but it’s too early in her reign for me to give her run a poor score.

Jackson: From not following WWE regularly and only being selective on what I watch, I feel unable to comment on Rousey’s run. Let me say a 2.5 as that’s in the middle; neither good nor bad.

Mahalis: Tough question, I would say a 4, borderline 3. She started red hot with her debut at Mania, and she had a really entertaining match with Nia, and beat Alexa soundly like she should have. I could do without her interactions with Alicia Fox and the Bellas, though. It could potentially go down to a 3 depending on how the Bella angle goes.

Corrigan: 4.5…Aside from Kurt Angle, nobody has picked up pro wrestling faster than Rousey. Obviously, I knew she was a fan and an incredible athlete, but I had no idea whether she could transition to this sports-entertainment mayhem. I get amped up for her entrance theme and actually care about her matches.

Goodwillie: Three Dave Meltzer stars (by the way, how many stars do you think Dave gives his pizza?). Listen, you’d have to go full Vince Russo to really screw up Ronda Rousey at this stage and while I alluded to WWE overthinking recent booking decisions for one reason or another (boredom, etc.), they have largely played it safe with Ronda if you throw out the Hell in a Cell match. Injury or not, having the former UFC champion, baddest woman on the planet sell for someone half her size with no legitimate combat credentials is a rotten look. I can suspend my disbelief a great deal, but this is a woman who beat Cat Zingano, a killer amongst killers, in under 10 seconds.

But this is sort of an unorthodox character. Turns out, Ronda can sell really, really well. Almost too well for her own good. In the ring, I feel like she’s lived up to the Kurt Angle comps. Her makeup artist seems to be out to lunch and the heavy Stephanie McMahon involvement turns me off, as did her being thrown into a match with Nia Jax and NOT walking out as champion. Of course, I probably wouldn’t have made her champion yet. I also think she needs to not be treated like another member of the roster. But all of this is salvageable, hence my three-star rating.

Who wins: Miz or Daniel Bryan?

Bautista: Because it’s for an opportunity at the WWE Championship, Miz has to win. Bryan plays the chasing babyface role to perfection. He can win the Royal Rumble and face WWE Champion Miz in the main event of WrestleMania. If anything other than that goes down, then the feud has been rushed and wasted. If this was only going to be a midcard feud in the first place, then they should have put the U.S Championship on one of them because that’s what the feud started with.

Leigh: I have had a bit of a pet theory that WWE wanted to use this Daniel Bryan return as a bit of a “make good” for all of the terrible past booking. Until this feud, it appeared that way. In my (far less than humble) opinion, The Miz deserves to win this feud. “Creative” has already completely derailed what could have been one of the most emotional and compelling storylines and feuds in YEARS. All of the elements were there: Bryan, the lovable underdog who is getting a second chance. Miz, who was laughably miscast as the “Pro” to Bryan’s “rookie” on NXT, only to grow, mature and truly become one of the absolute top talents in the company today. There were emotional promos, blood, sweat and tears…then WWE decided that Maryse and Brie Bella should be inserted. The feud lost its depth and meaning as soon as they became involved, and that isn’t a knock on the ladies – this feud in particular just didn’t need them. All of that said, I would bet that good ol’ D-Bry wins this match.

Gelfand: I feel like The Miz is going to win here and he and Daniel Bryan are going to go their separate ways until the road to WrestleMania, finally concluding their rivalry on the Grandest Stage.

Jackson: Has to be Daniel Bryan. AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan needs to happen. It just has to.

Mahalis: I’m going with Daniel Bryan to even up the single’s series 1-1. I see this feud going on for a bit longer and I’m not upset with that at all.

Corrigan: Miz has another trick up his sleeve and he’ll screw Bryan over one more time. Or, maybe Brie will fuck up and accidentally cost her hubby the match.

Goodwillie: Smart money says The Miz wins and AJ Styles wins. Samoa Joe can feud with Daniel Bryan, and that might very well happen soon, but it doesn’t need the WWE Championship the way AJ vs. Miz does. At WrestleMania, Bryan will get his ultimate revenge when he pins The Miz for the WWE Championship and don’t be surprised if you also see AJ Styles in there for a triple threat if he doesn’t have a finite feud by then. He may even walk in with the belt, who knows?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3POIQwYe-w

Should Shawn Michaels wrestle one more match?

Bautista: No, because then it’s a slap in the face to the locker room and fans. If he wants to take a pay day, good for him, but it will be tainted due to the Saudi Arabia controversy. It will be disrespectful to the locker room because of all the matches that he could’ve come back. Now he’s coming back for a feud that’s probably past its expiration date. Plus, it shows that late 1990s Shawn is still willing to come for Triple H. To a certain degree, the fans are disrespected because the story has been “I won’t wrestle because Undertaker retired me.” While Undertaker will surely be involved in the comeback match, it’s still a missed opportunity for so many other full-time guys who could really use the rub.

Leigh: I am far, FAR from being a big HBK fan, but even I can recognize just how iconic his retirement match was. It ended one of the best feuds in wrestling history – the war between him and the Undertaker – and it was another win in Taker’s seemingly untouchable WrestleMania streak. The sight of Shawn humbled, taking that long walk to the dressing room one last time, was special. It has remained so because even with sporadic appearances, he has stuck to his word and stayed out of the ring. In a fairly recent episode of Table for 3 on the WWE Network, he discussed the idea of a “dream match” with AJ Styles, and when AJ flat out asked if he’d come back, HBK emphatically stated that he would NOT– and that for him to come back for the proverbial “one more match”, it would have to be an incredible story that enhanced his legacy in some way. Perhaps a fat paycheck enhancing his bank account is currently of greater importance.

Gelfand: I don’t think he should. A couple of years ago I would have been in favor of him wrestling again, but now he’s in his 50s and hasn’t wrestled in eight years. I would like to see Shawn Michaels be one of the few people to have honored his retirement stipulation.

Jackson: He needs to stay retired. I don’t want Shawn to tarnish his legacy with “One More Match.” He has nothing left to prove and the thought of one more match is much more intriguing than the execution of it.

Mahalis: I wouldn’t say I’m against HBK wrestling again, but I am highly against him having anything to do with Taker. It actually is nice to see a guy who says he is retired to stay retired. If you are going to bring him back, don’t waste him. Put him against someone worthy like AJ, Seth, Finn or Bryan.

Corrigan: Leave the memories alone!

Goodwillie: He shouldn’t, but I think the demand is certainly there if the right opportunity comes about. Both myself, and probably HBK for that matter are not interested in just having a throwaway, one-off “dream match.” It has to make sense. Yes, Michaels trained Daniel Bryan in a hands-on, hands-off sort of way, but there’s nothing in it for HBK to come back to face Daniel once and leave. Same with AJ Styles at this point, and that’s coming from someone who really wanted to see them face off at the Rumble in San Antonio a couple years ago.

What can HBK do that he hasn’t already done? WWE Championship? He has done that plenty of times. Universal Championship? Winning the Universal Championship right now is like saying you got a toy in your happy meal. There’s no prestige. But I can say this: Michaels has never beaten the Undertaker at WrestleMania, so that shadow looms large. Only problem is, Taker retired Michaels at WrestleMania 26, so how do you find a way out of that to ultimately finish both careers at next year’s Mania? Well, they can just pretend it didn’t happen and insult the intelligence of their fans one more time, which sort of brings this roundtable full circle. But to everyone who wants one more Shawn Michaels match, I just want you to think about what makes the most sense if you put yourself in his character’s shoes.