THE CHAMPIONS
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan – Set Up
I have been incredibly hard on Bryan and his title reign for several weeks. I’m not back-peddling – I stand by what I said, and I still believe his reign has been lackluster at best – but this week I thought he came away looking better than he has since WrestleMania. Notice that Brie Bella-Bryan was kept as an essential part of the story, but wasn’t featured on camera. Stephanie’s ultimatum is interesting, and will go a long way in hyping Sunday’s PPV for me. At this point, if they were going to vacate the belt, they would have done it already. Plus, reports are stating that Bryan will be back in action by Money in the Bank – no reason to take it off him, unless you have an established heel to put that heat on.
WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos – Step Down
Jimmy and Jey got a good pop this week for coming to the aid of John Cena and Jerry “The King” Lawler, even if it did take them about ten minutes to show up. But they get a step down because, despite being CHAMPIONS, they’ve been relegated to the guys who go out and have John Cena’s back. They stood in a ring, off camera, and watched Cena cut a good, albeit typical promo. They are non-players in this program; pawns to back up the real kings in Cena and Bray Wyatt. If they defend the titles at Payback, I think the odds are good that the Wyatt Family walks out of Chicago with gold.
WWE Divas Champion Paige – Step Down
I don’t remember what Paige did on RAW this week. I remember what Alicia Fox did. I remember what Summer Rae and Layla did. I even remember Emma hitting the floor really hard after her match. What did Paige do? Did she wrestle? Was she even on the card? She may have been – maybe I was in the bathroom, or outside having a smoke – but I don’t remember. That is most definitely not a good sign.
Intercontinental Champion Bad News Barrett – No Steps
United States Champion Sheamus – Step Up
Here are two guys each playing the wrong role. Sheamus should be, and will likely be a heel soon. Barrett should be a babyface. He delivers “bad news”, but in a way that makes the crowd like him. Actually, I do really like that he isn’t strictly a hero or a villain. He’s just Bad News Barrett. He makes fun of who he wants to make fun of, and doesn’t much care about reactions. It’s a good fit on him. Sheamus has always been more interesting as a villain though. He’s marketable as a babyface, but he’s no pushing John Cena levels of cash, so it doesn’t really matter.
Sheamus got a solid win heading into his PPV match against Cesaro. Barrett wasn’t in action – an odd choice – but was present and got a good look at his opponent, Rob Van Dam. That both mid card titles are being defended makes me happy. That Cesaro and RVD are both getting shots at them is an added bonus. Lots of forward progress from WWE’s middle of the card right now.
