411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Will Sheamus Cash in at Survivor Series?

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are 411’s Jack Bramma and Chad Perry!

Questions were sent out Monday.

Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

1. With Bryan, Rollins, Rusev, Cena and Orton all out, WWE SHOULD use this tournament to crown Roman Reigns the WWE Champion.

Chad Perry: FICTION – From the moment that Reigns won the fatal 4 way #1 contender’s match on Raw two weeks ago I was saying that Reigns was winning the belt at Survivor Series. Then Seth Rollins became injured and we were left with the current sixteen-man tournament, along with a clean slate. You only get one chance to win your first World Title and for Reigns to do it by simply being the powerful babyface going through the tournament defeating Big Show, Cesaro, Del Rio and either Owens or Ambrose in the finals that would be a good story, but not a great story. Turning Reigns heel and into a member of The Authority is what everyone is calling for, but after Raw on Monday I don’t see that happening. Of course the question then becomes, when will Reigns win the big one? That is a great question, but sadly I am not quite sure.

Jack Bramma: FACT – The only way the answer is fact is if Reigns turns heel, and that’s what I’m betting on. I’ve used this corollary before, and I’ll reinvoke it now: No WWE (and perhaps anywhere else) top face has ever won his first world championship as a face in a tournament setting. Not Hogan, not Austin, not Rock, not Cena, not DB, not Batista, not Warrior, not Bret, not Diesel, not Undertaker, not Shawn, etc. I want to clarify – Rock did win his first world championship in a tournament setting and he was the top face, however, Rock won that championship in that tournament by turning heel and that’s the point. In fact, I’d go further to say that no WWE (or perhaps anywhere else but I couldn’t be certain) top face has ever won his first world championship as a face in a setting other than a booked in advance singles match – no tournament, no hardcore, no cage, no hell in the cell, no last man standing, no RR, no MITB cash-in, etc. The only one that even comes close is Punk winning his first world championship with a MITB cash-in on Edge. However, even that example is arguable – Punk was (arguably) never the #1 face, the world championship was so clearly secondary to the WWE strap that it shouldn’t count, Punk’s first real world strap win with the idea that he’d be a top face was beating Cena straight up at MITB 2011, etc. Put another way, if Reigns wins the tournament to become WWE World Heavyweight Champ, they either will turn him heel, don’t plan on making him the top guy, or Vince has become so senile/corrupted/insane by the Cena reaction for a decade solid that he won’t care and will put over Reigns as a face anyway. I’m betting on a Reigns win via a heel turn and joining the Authority.

2. You are disappointed that the WWE did not bring in any special guests for the World Title Tournament.

Chad Perry: FACT – I’m not sure disappointed is quite the correct word I would use, more of a bummed feeling. However, that feeling was very strong when looking at the bracket yesterday. Seeing guys like O’Neil and Kalisto (I am a fan of both) in a singles tournament when the two combined have not won 10 singles matches this year is baffling. Also having the likes of Tyler Breeze debuting in the tournament and The Miz who is largely on-and-off WWE TV seem like wasted choices. Half of those spots could have gone to New Day members Kofi Kingston & Big E. I am happy they didn’t go with the surprise of bringing John Cena back early, or even Brock Lesnar. A tournament like this should be used as a way to make a new star, however with how the brackets are looking I doubt that will happen. Cesaro would be the only face in the tournament I could see pulling off some miracle run to the finals, but not with him facing Reigns this Monday on Raw we know that is not happening.

Jack Bramma: FICTION – I suppose if you were looking to the NXT Dusty Rhodes tag title tourney as a template for the WWE to follow, then perhaps yes, it is disappointing. However, that’s just not much of a main roster priority or likelihood. When was the last time Vince was regularly bringing in different workers to work the main show for single or double shots at the time? The legends coming back to run through Heath Slater a few years ago? Bringing in the NWA or the lucha minis or the original ECW invasion in the late 90s? It’s just so un-Vince like to bring in Batista, Dragon, Rock, indy darlings, or other free agents unless it’s for a WM run and payday and certainly not as a ringer to hotshot through a tournament and get fed to Reigns/Owens/Ambrose, etc.

3. Tyler Breeze losing his debut match on Raw was simply bad booking.

Chad Perry: FICTION – Breeze controlled most of his 10+ minute match against one of the most popular wrestlers on the current WWE roster for his main show debut. While loosing in one’s debut is never the desirable thing to do, I would not call it bad booking. With the time they were given the two were able to tell a good story, and it almost felt like Breeze was already into the role he has had in NXT for the past 12 months of “gatekeeper”. If you look at Breeze’s history of NXT matches in the past year many of them have been similar to this, 10+ minutes of ***+ action that Breeze eventually ends up on his back. I think the bad booking part of this match was that there was no interaction of Breeze and Ziggler on the show. My assumption is that Ziggler will lose next Monday to Ambrose, thanks to some interference by Breeze. Hopefully this will set the two up for a singles match at Survivor Series that can see Breeze get a win in.

Jack Bramma: FICTION – There are so many unwritten rules of wrestling that seem to be broken on a regular basis and never amount to anything, and the most egregious examples seem to stem directly form wins and losses. Charlotte lost her debut to Natalya on RAW back in 2014, and you’d have thought the sky was falling. Almost a year later, no one cares. The New Day were arguably the hottest act on the show back in June (and still are) when they lost the tag titles in a relatively unexpected move to the PTPers. Vince had lost his mind (again), New Day was done (again), and the sky was falling (again). Few months later, the New Day won the tag titles (again), and here we are in November and the New Day are the hottest act on the show (again). My favorite example of this is how CM Punk’s first TV loss was to Bob Holly in early 2007, and holy shit, the damn comments section was about to pull down the sky themselves. Long story short, CM Punk ended up fine and no one much cared a few months later. As to Breeze, the bad booking was putting him in the tournament in the first place, not having him lose a competitive match to Ambrose who needed to hog tie him with a roll up to advance. Due to the Fed jettisoning enhancement talent pretty much altogether, some guys are going to get the call up and not immediately go into 6 months of beating Frankie Williams and Mike Sharpe. In the long run, Breeze’s first match and first lose will mean little to nothing.

SWITCH!

4. WWE is making the right call by not having Alberto Del Rio return to AAA to drop the Mega Heavyweight Title.

Jack Bramma: FICTION – Perhaps from their perspective, they are making the right call, but I’d say in the grand scheme of things, it’s the wrong move. One of the universal laws of the business is allegedly that a guy should finish all of his dates and do jobs on the way out before moving on. In fact, Vince went to war with Bret for over a decade solid for not doing that at Montreal and basically erased Madusa from existence for the same period of time for throwing the women’s title in the trash on Nitro. It’s not as if ADR is a priceless commodity that they haven’t already jerked around a dozen times by now. Just let him do business and err on the side of karma.

Chad Perry: FACT – The question that I struggled to answer most on here, mostly because quite frankly I do not care about AAA. Outside of AAA being the governing branch or Lucha Underground they do nothing for me. I have sat through two of their shows this year and found neither to be entertaining. While it would show respect to AAA to allow this to happen it is not a necessity and is a product of poor planning by AAA. Vince McMahon learned his lesson in the mid 90s in regards to the contract structure of his stars after being burned by Luger, Rude and Blayze. This should help AAA realize that they need to lock their talent up in a more legal way, that is what’s best for business. On the plus side for AAA, they can also book a Heavyweight Title tournament to crown a new champion; it’s not like 2 of the 3 three biggest companies in the US are currently doing the same thing.

5. It doesn’t matter who wins the WWE World Title Tournament, Sheamus will cash in at the Survivor Series and leave the show with the title.

Jack Bramma: FICTION – Due to the year clause and assuming they don’t completely forget or negate that clause, Sheamus has until June, 2016 to make good on the briefcase. Between now and June of next year, there are only 3 real possibilities:

1. Sheamus cashes in and loses.
2. Sheamus cashes in and wins, somehow becoming more over in the meantime.
3. Sheamus cashes in and wins, despite not being over.

If it’s 1, it doesn’t really matter when they do it, but if they do it at SS, it’s fiction. If it’s 2 and they somehow drastically improve his booking and get Sheamus over, they still wouldn’t be able to do it before SS this Sunday, which means also fiction. If it’s 3, the best time to do it would be the usual dead period between Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble, so the tournament would be the perfect time. If they wait until after the RR or until after WM and Sheamus character and heat is in the same shape as now, his cash-in win and reign might completely destroy the gimmick, so that would lean fact. However, 2 > 1, so I’m saying fiction.

Chad Perry: FICTION – I do not see Sheamus cashing in at Survivor Series, his clear chance was when the title belt was sitting on that podium all night. Sheamus should have kicked over the podium with a Brogue Kick, had Barrett count the fall, and walk out with the belt. In all seriousness though I don’t think WWE has any idea what they want Sheamus to do with the case yet. If Reigns is to win the tournament I would expect a Sheamus cash-in, but only to make Roman look stronger by defeating Sheamus. If anyone else wins the tournament, we don’t see a cash-in.

6. Judging by the four matches announced so far what is your excitement level for the WrestleKingdom 10 event?

Jack Bramma: 8 out of 10 – The IWGP title match is guaranteed to deliver as Okada/Tanahashi have perhaps laid out the best series of matches and rivalry since 2000. Nakamura and AJ should also be fantastic as both guys, particularly Nakamura, are on a hot streak, and AJ is putting on a second half of his career to rival some of his best TNA years. The IWGP Jr. heavyweight title and Jr. heavyweight tag title matches should help the show hopefully live up to the hype and make it one of the best shows of this year/next year.

Chad Perry: 8.5 out of 10 – The card already looks strong, however it also looks quite familiar. Omega/KUSHIDA we have seen twice in singles matches in the past 5 months, and while I see the need for a rubber match, it doesn’t mean I want to see it. Kenny Omega matches are always very hit or miss for me, while KUSHIDA has been consistently great for sometime now, yet NJPW doesn’t seem to know how to book him. I really enjoyed their Dominion match, but Destruction felt just “good”. As much as the junior singles division needs some freshening, the junior tag division needs it in a BIG way. I have only been following NJPW closely for the past year and by June was already sick of the division, even though I like every guy in it. The tournament that has been taking place the last few weeks felt completely useless with 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams earning a title shot against the champions (who finished 4th) at the biggest show of the year. So my overall interest in these two matches is a 7, let’s get to the stuff that does have me excited. Okada vs Tanahashi is a match that has been down before on numerous occasions but much like Austin vs Rock during the WWF attitude era, guarantees to put on a great match. Like most NJPW followers I am a huge fan of both men and wish that Gedo & Jado would be willing to mix things up a little more in the main event scene, however this match almost guarantees to be one of our first match of the year contenders next year. My hope is that this is the final encounter of the two and we see Okada take over as the face of NJPW. Unlike the rest of the announced card, Styles vs Nakamura is a completely fresh match (the only time the two have been in the ring together was in a 2008 tag team match with Nakamura/Kurt Angle vs Styles/Tanahashi). Along with being a fresh match, it is one of those dream matches that you never really think of until it is staring you in the face. Much like the main event there is a good chance the two will produce a MOTYC. My excitement level for the two main events sits very strongly at a 10 as both have high potential to be ***** classics and will surely at least hit ****1/2.