WWE's Uncertain Future Continues Heading To Summerslam

What a difference a few months can make in wrestling and in the WWE specifically. It was a long battle, but Daniel Bryan got his Wrestlemania moment. A bad program with Kane and neck injury and WWE in a sense was turned on its ear.

While it is easy to cast stones at the WWE you have to admit there has been a ton of turmoil surrounding this company. It started after the Royal Rumble where fans revolted and demanded Bryan to be placed in the title picture. At the same time CM Punk angry over a number of issues decides to go back to Chicago and call it a day. After months of silence he finally came out and declared himself retired. He was also getting married as we would learn to the top woman in company A.J Lee. She beat the odds only to lose the title the next night to Paige and fade away with Punk

First it was to move to Chicago to live with him, than an announcement of a wedding that took place somewhere in Chicago last weekend. The latest is the A.J is expecting and thus will not be back for sometime if at all. It will definitely not be before July in which C.M Punk’s deal is supposed to end if the pregnancy talk is true. Punk's deal coming to an end is even is in doubt with the WWE’s recent actions with Rey Mysterio’s contract, as they rolled it over stated that Rey owed the company time based on injuries. In theory with Punk walking out they could use the same clause to keep Punk under contract assuming this language was in his deal as well. It has all led to a lot of fans picking sides and some turning their back on Punk stating that he did the same to them. While others were just happy for a guy that seemed miserable when he left, finding some happiness since that time even if it didn’t include wrestling.  

There was recent speculation that WWE tried to get Punk to return for Payback in Chicago once they had learned of the injury to Bryan but were unsuccessful. Who knows and at this point who really cares. I am convinced that Punk will not make a move until his current deal expires so he can craft and entirely new deal from scratch.  There is also the off chance that Punk is serious about being retired and done with wrestling. He had always said he would be gone long before anyone expected him to be. About the only thing not on his resume that might interest him is a Wrestlemania Main Event. I could see that being something Punk might be interested in.

I maintain the Main Event for Wrestlemania 32 in Cowboy’s Stadium needs to be Austin vs. CM Punk. It’s a year and half away but this would be the WWE attempting to have the largest crowd in their history for this event should it be the venue for Wrestlemania 32 as it has long been speculated to be.

WWE have much more short term concerns to deal with. Mainly the lack of success for the WWE Network in the early stages, not drawing as big of numbers domestically as they would have hoped. In addition to losing staff over at the network, the WWE also fired their head writer in creative. In addition to the releases of talent last Thursday. Changes are happening all over the place it seems. From the outside looking in it looks like some organized chaos, but at the end of the day still chaos. This likely all sparked by the huge negative reaction to the WWE’s new T.V deal that was expected to double if not triple and even had a personal guarantee from Vince McMahon himself. It didn’t happen while the WWE did get a bump up it was not to the level promised. The low network numbers combined with this news sent the WWE Stock that once had climbed above 30 dollar mark down to below 10 before stabilizing slightly above that number. It closed this past Friday at 11.66 cents in U.S funds.

The one group that has so far seem to navigate all the land mines and benefit in this time of Chaos has been The Shield. They now have been broken up into 3 separate acts as individuals which given the WWE’s lack of people the crowd is invested in makes some great sense.

What originally was thought of has trying to put a band-aid on the situation of Daniel Bryan’s injury may not be anymore. WWE has pulled him from all shows in July and now they are hoping he can be back for Summerslam. Who ends up winning the WWE Title at Money in the Bank might tell you more about Daniel Bryan’s health status than anything.

If it is not one of the old guard and it is in fact a Roman Reigns, Cesaro or a Bray Wyatt it might be an indication that Bryan is not doing so well on his road to recovery. If the Belt were to go on Cena or Orton it might be a sign Bryan is looking on schedule to come back. Losing a title for ether at this stage of the game is not a big deal.

Brock Lesnar seems to be the "wildcard" in all of this, as he was suppose to be taking on the WWE World Champion at Summerslam and that was suppose to Daniel Bryan. Now what happens with Brock? Do they flip his dates around and we see him show up next Sunday? It is possible, but Brock’s original plan was to return for Summerslam and the PPV after that. Brock is very set in only doing his required dates and anything beyond that you are going to have to pay. Given the sweet deal that he already has who can really blame him.

If Roman Reigns were to become the Champion does he face Brock or does he face Triple H as the storyline has been leading us to believe? Cesaro seems the likely fit to face Brock in a feud with Heyman as his manger. It could be the launching point to turn Cesaro baby face finally. Some will say it is too soon and do you really want him to beat Brock which he almost has too in this situation if not at Summerslam definitely on the next PPV.

Bray Wyatt could be the best option as if Daniel Bryan is ready they have some history already and if not a final battle in an “I Quit Match” with Cena wouldn’t be a horrible option for the Title. This despite the two having a long feud, that we all have grown kinda sick of, but if Bray could make Cena quit in a title match that would be worth it. Although the chances we get that finish are probably slim.

In any case if you thought the road to Wrestlemania was a rocky bumpy and unpredictable ride, this one to Summerslam might be even more interesting. Having some lasting impact on the immediate future of the company in the short term and perhaps long term, depending on how it all shakes out.

It is ironic in the predetermined world that is pro wrestling, so many things that could not have been predetermined have impacted on this company in major ways in 2014. WWE has had to endure a lot of shots in 2014 the difference between them and everyone else in the wrestling business is they have more than enough money to take the shots and move forward.

It is not to say this isn’t a pretty vital time for the company because it really is as they are being stretched to their limits in a lot of ways.  

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

Choosing The New WWE World Champion Is Not As Easy As It Seems

The biggest issue facing the WWE is who to make Champion with Daniel Bryan out of the mix. The fans point to names like Cesaro, Bray Wyatt or members of The Shield. The trouble in that is would any of those suggestions avoid being labelled as transitional Champion. It is one of the worst things to be tagged with for a wrestler still making his way up the ladder.

It isn’t a death blow as someone like Chris Jericho proved as some would label his first reign as Undisputed Champion as a “Transitional Reign” to get the belts to the returning Triple H at Wrestlemania. Jericho became the third character in a story of Triple H and Stephanie breaking apart and her trying to deny him winning the title. So much so that she would pair with a former hated rival in Chris Jericho. Sometimes it is all in how you sell it as Jericho just focuses on two points about that title reign. One the fact he beat Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock in the same night. Two he was the first ever Undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion. Well at least with two belts as Randy Savage winning the tournament in Wrestlemania 4 was referenced as the “Undisputed Champion” as well. 

Many feel the WWE will go a safe route and put the belt on John Cena or Randy Orton and wait it out for Bryan to return. There seems to be a lot of speculation on when exactly that will be. It may or should have an impact on who wins this match coming up at “Money in the Bank” in the Ladder Match.

What also seems up in the air as we debated in the Podcast this week is if we will have an actual “Money in the Bank” match for the briefcase. I maintain it is a mistake to have one. I say delay it till Battleground or Summerslam. If not how about you just give the case to Seth Rollins as some form of motivation for why he has aligned with “The Authority” and “|Evolution” as a logical step in that story. If Reigns was planned to win the case in the first place you could have a match for the case at “Battleground” and the case ends up where it was suppose to go. The other name was Cesaro linked to possibly winning the case but that would not be as easy a transition of ownership of the case.

In any case the WWE has a ton of ground to cover with only two weeks to the Money in the Bank event. This is a card that is pretty much unknown at this point to a large degree. It has really been a mess for a variety of reasons since Wrestlemania as things have not gone as planned in a number of cases for a number of various reasons. All with the backdrop on the WWE Stock going into a freefall give this sense the WWE is struggling to some degree. Perhaps, they are in fact facing in short term at the moment for a variety of reasons.  Daniel Bryan’s injury clearly was not in the cards for what the WWE had planned to do and direction they were going. In the end will never know what that title reign was suppose to be or planned to be long term.

While the WWE can afford to enter an event like Money in the Bank a little disorganized they can not for Summerslam. Last year the WWE’S second biggest event in their view, was summarized by Vince McMahon as a “Swing and a miss,” which was a show headlined by Daniel Bryan and John Cena. Many have speculated that this card will be headlined by Brock Lesnar in the WWE Title Match. If this is true and Bryan isn’t ready does that score as a point in favour of putting the belt on Cesaro to get the Brock vs. Cesaro match that many have said is a matter of when not if it happens.

Lesnar is scheduled on the next PPV as well so in theory Brock winning the title is not out of the question. If he did though not sure how great it will be as he likely would drop the belt the next month based on his lack of appearances based on his contract. If they were cool with having a WWE Champion not around and not on house shows for a time than they would have just left the Championship on Bryan.

In the WWE’s view the belief is, the championship and the champion are legitimate draws for not just Raw and Pay-Per-Views, but live events.

This is a big time of transition for the company and how they handle any rising talents is very important it is highly unlikely winning the title in two weeks will make anyone’s career at this point but if handled wrong it could really break somebody’s career as a main event star. Ask Jack Swagger what can happen to you if you get the title to soon. Fans were not ready for Swagger as a champion and you can argue he has suffered from that misread ever since.

So if the WWE World Championship does end up in the hands of John Cena or Randy Orton we all may hate it but it could be good in a couple ways. It would likely be an admission or least a strong hope that Bryan will be back sooner than later. It also would protect some rising stars from getting labelled with the tag of being a “Transitional Champion,” WWE needs to protect any stars they have at this point.

Short term pain for long term gain might be the answer for Money in the Bank at the end of the day.

Condo on the Moon is on Twitter and Facebook and check out our weekly podcasts Every Friday! You can find us now at Condoonthemoon.com

WWE Has Business Distractions Behind Them No More Excuses

It has kind of felt for the last 4-6 months that the WWE has not been completely focused on the product in the ring. Things like launching the WWE Network and looking to secure a new T.V deal seemed and rightfully so like the big priorities. The Network is launched the number was not one that people are all that thrilled with but it wasn’t a complete disaster. The T.V Deal was rumoured to be done in Variety this morning. Later in the day it was confirmed that all the WWE Programming is staying in place. No news on what the agreed figure ended up being. Wall Street experts believe the WWE has come through on their claim of doubling rights fees or T.V rights in the U.S. Will find out in the coming days if that is the case but WWE will remain part of NBC Universal with no changes at all. Smackdown is not going live and remains on Fridays according to reports. Raw will remain on USA Network and Total Divas on the E Network.

So with all of this business stuff out of the way can we please get focused back in on the product? This has been a product that has been dropping the ratings like a stone of late. Daniel Bryan made it through neck surgery today and there have been a variety of reports speculation on return date. Some as optimistic as late June and others saying it could be as long as August. I will leave the being a doctor to the actual doctors.

The first major creative decision that lies in front of WWE is do they keep the title on Bryan? In many ways by the number of times in storyline they have screwed him of the belt you almost feel that they have to leave the belt on him. We are a long way from the days of Jack Tunney and the 30 days to defend your championship. If that rule was still on the books Dean Ambrose would have lost the U.S Belt long before the battle royal a week and half ago.

I doubt the WWE would go the UFC route and declare an interim Champion till Bryan is healthy. If they did it might make for a hell of a match when he returns. Long as it isn’t Kane I say why not give us one. It is a way you could do a re-match with John Cena or Bray Wyatt. Why not raise the stakes in that feud that is getting a little cold and make the Last Man Standing Match for the Interim WWE World Championship. This could also serve another purpose as well. When Bryan comes back we could finally get things down to having just one belt instead of the two?

In any case interim Champ or not I can’t imagine WWE would strip Bryan of the title given all the real life issues he has had hit him all at once.

Now that the big business matters are taken care of the focus needs to be placed on rehabilitating this creative that has been more misses than hits in the last 4-6 months. Thank God for Daniel Bryan, The Shield and the Wyatt’s or who knows where things would be at.

Mission number one should be trying to fix all of the NXT talent that you have broken here on the main roster. That should start with you Divas Champion who has been made to look so weak and pathetic it turns my stomach. After her there is a long list of people to correct. Also for the love of God don’t blow Bo Dallas’ and his debut. I think this character could really catch on. It has a whole Justin Bieber before he went bad quality too it.

Full steam ahead WWE you legitimate excuses and business concerns have been handled. It is time to get this company turned around with some better creative and more compelling stuff as we head to the summertime.