wrestling / Columns

Watry Q&A: Survivor Series Finish, TLC 2016, WWE TV, More

December 4, 2016 | Posted by Justin Watry
Goldberg Credit: WWE

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as March 2012’s “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and October 2015’s “WWE NXT: Bobby Roode, You’re Next.”

Backstory

Once a month, I respond to the comment section from my columns. Here is the November 2016 edition! As always, offensive insults or cussing will NOT earn a reply.

October Reader Feedback Column

Jason S: “Just because you are a company and have a top title defended all around the globe doesn’t make it a recognized World Title.”

That’s the very definition of a World title! Now you’re saying ROH is no longer a recognized world championship?!

When a company like Whatculture Pro Wrestling calls their title a “World Championship”, it’s laughable because they are currently based in just a few cities in the UK only. Same with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (although they may have traveled beyond LA). But a title that’s defended in multiple countries against a host of competitors? That’s what a World Championship is.

Well, then I am going to introduce my own WORLD Title, blow thousands of dollars to bring in wrestlers, compete in various countries, and hold matches every few weeks! After emptying out my bank account, I will insert myself into a match and WIN! Yes, I will be a future World Champion folks!!! Legitimately too because my company will have a bunch of matches with a host of competitors and be held all over the world. Sweet.

AG Awesome: Honestly you responding to feedback on your columns is one of the things I legitimately enjoy and respect about you. Sometimes it’s a good discussion, sometimes it’s trolling, sometimes it’s just bizarre. Lol.

Just me being me. No gimmick.

nosoheavyd2: winning over HHH twice (also clean) in World Title PPV main events

Didn’t at least one of those happen when he supposedly had a broken freaking leg? Oh I’m sorry, Dustin put a wig on him once so he was buried.

Broken leg and defeated Triple H clean and took out the rest of Evolution by himself, and he just demolished Brock Lesnar in less than two minutes. You see, WWE hates Goldberg…and stuff…because…yeah, I read it online. About the much discussed RAW wig segment from 2003, people forget that Goldberg (in kayfabe) did NOT want that thing put on his head, immediately took it off and physically threatened Goldust afterwards, to which he said he soiled his pants. Played up that Goldberg was not one to mess with and wouldn’t take no BS from anybody, including a fellow face character. As usual, folks took it a different way to fit their (false) narrative and over a decade later still mention it…despite everything else telling a different story.

WWE Heck On A Deck 2016 Review Column

KickPuncher (aka The Endgame): It would be nice if the people in charge had a sit down with Watry though. There appears to be so many readers dislike his writing and attitude. A performance review might finally break him of all his awful habits.

It has been over three years of the same complaints. Might be time to finally move on buddy. No use in wasting your time. The boss has been nothing but supportive of me. Even when I decided to leave in late 2014, I was welcomed back six months later in a snap. Meant a lot to me then and still does. My suggestion is either stop reading or try to find SOMETHING to enjoy in my columns.

menstruatingheart: I enjoy Watry’s posts for many of the reasons people seem to hate them. But if we’re talking brass tacks, the content of this article is spot on for me.

Oh, people enjoy them more than you realize. You would not believe who has emailed me privately and praised my work…but then publicly said the opposite. I won’t name names and cause drama, but it is quite fascinating. Plus, the numbers are the numbers. I consistently double or triple Fact of Fiction votes whenever I appear, and just last week, my Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg column had more than four times the amount of votes in the past two Fact or Fiction columns. Ain’t it fun?

Mark Schoeman: I think 99% of internet writers just regurgitate the same “IWC conventional wisdom”. Watry doesn’t. Do I agree with him all the time? No way…but he’s always interesting because it’s a unique thought, not one beholden to the usual hardcore fan nonsense, and even when I disagree, I can follow the logic. That so many just try to shout him down, rather than attack his thinking, only confirms his value to this site.

Not to get political, but the IWC is like Fox News viewers. They don’t want the news, don’t want diversity in opinions, they just want content that confirms what they “feel” is reality because emotion trumps all.

Hey man, good to hear from you again. I won’t touch the political stuff because that is not why I am here. What I will say is thanks for the kudos. Agree, disagree, whatever – it is cool. Opinions are opinions for a reason. Baseless bashing and cursing is pointless. Actually debating and discussing a topic is the good part, and I think I have proven myself throughout the past eight years as doing just that. My ‘value’ is very clear, as stated above. That is just an added bonus.

Respectmyname: How could not be into 5 on 5 classic survivor series macthes?They are always fun eapically with actual build

They are always fun. Get a fair amount of time, feature big stars, and will have quality wrestling. The problem is ‘actual build’ consists of a make believe feud between Raw and Smackdown that has nothing on the line and is forgotten about 24 hours later because both brands will get back to business as usual.

WWE (Not) Struggling Column

taabr2: People who think WWE is struggling just don’t understand. Vince has completely cornered the market and wrestling will always have the audience that he can squeeze money from.

Yep, another profitable quarter of business. WWE will always bring in revenue. The trick is making more money than you spend. Their costs have skyrocketed in recent years. Keep those down to manageable levels, and yeah, the company will be fine. I am starting to become a bit concerned about all the original programs on WWE Network. No offense but most of them are not going to add one single new subscriber. Not one. Yet, the more recorded…the more money spent. Can’t just keep adding more and more junk for the sake of it. My belief is NXT, WWE pay-per-views, and live specials drive the business with sporadic extras being the icing on the cake. The rest serves no purpose.

discus_qwYHorFTGc: They’re aren’t struggling, but they sure as heck aren’t thriving. With how the ratings keep dropping and how TNA will eventually collapse, I do think that the wrestling industry will experience a crash within the next two years. And if WWE goes down, everyone will go down.

People have been predicting this supposed “crash” for awhile now; I don’t see it happening. People forget that even in an era when television ratings are down big time, their shows are STILL constantly in the Top 5 or Top 10 for 52 weeks during the year – something no other show can claim. Seriously, go ask every single network on TV; they will all accept two, three, or four million viewers every single Monday/Tuesday night for the entire year. That being said, I agree on your last sentence. The business goes where WWE goes.

Sashas_Forehead: Titanic is your favorite movie?? Are you a teenage girl in 1997?

Come on, your user name is “Sasha’s Forehead.” Please do tell us all what your favorite movie is. I eagerly await a reply…

Shout out to Ken Wood for a good comment. Too long to post sadly. I loved it though!

Bill Goldberg/Brock Lesnar Preview Column

Drew Lytle: On one hand, I also have trouble buying Goldberg going over, he’s 49, hasn’t wrestled in 12 years and Lesnar is still to active. On the other hand, they can’t keep Lesnar this dominant forever, he’s destroyed too many guys too easily with only 2 true pinning defeats since returning (cena and hhh) and it’s honestly old.

Plus, and I know this shouldn’t be as much of an effect as booking and longterm planning, but after he steroid news and and other bits of information (his refusal to do Ambrose favors) I really want him to pay some dues. I’m normally not a fan of booking as punishment but this is a bit of an exception. But…a more active guy getting that rub is more preferable. And then there’s also the chance Goldberg does have more then one match, he loses then hes no longer credible.

This is really an interesting predicament going on, I really don’t know which direction is best.

Yeah, I just covered (on another website) all the whining about Brock Lesnar’s act being too predictable and stale. Then he loses, and everyone flips out saying he should have won in dominant fashion. Gotta love the double talk and hypocrisy. Oh, WWE is too predictable and never surprises us…except when they do, then it is stupid booking and ridiculous.

Um, what?

Can’t have it both ways folks. Just another example of why internet fans are internet fans, and casual fans are casual fans…

You see that video? It is a buddy of mine who watched the WWE Survivor Series main event because one of his favorites from WCW (Goldberg) was back in the ring after 12 years. Didn’t care about anything else on the card, much less even knew the matches or story lines. He was rooting for Goldberg and did not give a darn about rumored backstage politics, betting lines, Brock Lesnar booking, money, contracts or any other BS. He was a fan of Da Man and wanted him to beat Brock Lesnar. That’s it.

Like you, I was torn on if Bill Goldberg was truly back for one match or not. Since it was against Lesnar and nothing else was signed, I went ‘all in’ on picking Brock. It was the obvious outcome. Once we learned (in hindsight) that Goldberg signed on for more dates and a future story line, well yeah, he had to look great. What was he going to do, lose in two minutes? Then what? It’s over. Such a tough situation for WWE to be in but one they caused themselves since The Streak ended in March 2014.

Jay: I’m pretty sure Oldberg already told us who’s going to win when he said “you’re last”, meaning it’s his last match. Guys generally go out on their backs, and being that this is a “demon” for Lesnar to exorcise, I’d say Lesnar wins.

If I was going to take a realistic point of view, it makes literally zero sense for a guy (who wasn’t that good in the first place) to come back after 12 years away from the ring and steal the rub from the guy who broke the unbreakable streak, demolished John Cena, and hasn’t lost in almost 4 years (that Undertaker sham at SummerSlam doesn’t count). There is an up-and-comer out there somewhere that could do some great things with a rub like that, 100% unlike Goldberg.

Good call. Like I said, internet fans…casual fans…

CS 22: Their pockets.

Oh yeah. By all accounts, this is a bout Brock Lesnar pushed for, was all for, and he even was in favor of the finish. He knows how to fall his wallet more than most. Clearly, Goldberg would love it as well. WWE won, Lesnar won (I guess), and so did Goldberg. Any other Brock/Survivor Series match versus say Kevin Owens, Chris Jericho, Sami Zayn, or whoever would have received far LESS attention and made far LESS money for everybody. Just the fact of the industry.

Kung Fu Panda: I smell some sort of a “SS Screw Job” coming for the Goldberg win !

Check your nose!

WWE Survivor Series 2016 Review Column

Luisho: I’m proud of J. He didn’t try to play it off as if he predicted Goldberg vs Lesnar and seems as shocked as the rest of us.

Thanks, except I have a series called “I Was Wrong” and constantly point out how wrong I am on a weekly basis (on another website). Please read all my columns and not just nit pick certain ones. Clearly, I was wrong on Brock Lesnar defeating Bill Goldberg at Survivor Series – 100% wrong.

Respectmyname: Your hate for the tag and main survivor series macthes was disgusting

Your overuse of the word disgusting is disgusting. Here is my exact quote from the column:

“Nice match though, credit to all the guys out there for delivering. Heck of a showing.”

Yeah, real ‘hate’ there. The tag teams bout with Sheamus and Cesaro winning, I said it was a fun final few minutes but didn’t care for the rest. If that counts as ‘hate,’ then fine. It was a throwaway match that just filled time during a pointless RAW vs. Smackdown month-long feud and featured the beloved (ha) New Day lose again on pay-per-view without defending the titles – as the heels they always have been. Good thing I have been pointing all this out for the past few months and was spot on again!

ARE_TROOF: Heck On A Deck is the proof he’s a knob. Why not just type HIAC?

Because then you wouldn’t have commented.

AG Awesome: If he’s going to be bold with predictions then he should make a huge column (on this site) dedicated to it. Then we can laugh if he’s wrong or give him some sort of “congrats” if he guessed right. Or something… lol

I’ve done it repeatedly for over eight years, here in the opening of my columns and elsewhere too. Heck, I wrote about Sheamus beating Daniel Bryan in under a minute a full week before WrestleMania 28 and STILL receive insults over that particular column. Yes, insults rather than praise! Unreal. Pretty sure my track record speaks for itself at this point and like Roman Reigns and John Cena, there aren’t any “congrats” coming my way no matter what. Sad.

DragonBoys: Hahaha. his love boy roman lost.

*sigh*

I predicted Team Smackdown to win. This is what I mean – people just choosing NOT to actually pay attention over making silly (and false) comments. Welcome to the internet!

DavexG: Goldberg at least won without taking any of Lesner’s offence, which leaves room for a return match beat-down by a Beast now focused rather than assuming victory & getting sucker-punched (sucker-speared?)

Sure it might be just a cheap headline grab with no follow up plan, but I ‘ll save my disappointment of things that have actually happened (as will probably be the case…)

Honestly, I have come around to the Survivor Series finish after a week of thinking about it. A back and forth hard fought battle with Brock Lesnar winning or even Goldberg winning would not have done much for future business. We already knew Lesnar was a monster and beat everybody in the world. What would be next? Another easy whooping for Dean Ambrose, Shane McMahon, Seth Rollins, The Miz, or Rusev? Um, okay. Cool.

Not a lot can be done with that.

Goldberg took advantage of an over confident Brock who turned his back for a moment, took him down with two spears, a jackhammer, and caught him off guard. Pretty amazing he had a dominant WWE run in 2003/2004 and just returned after 12 years to beat the unstoppable Brock Lesnar in 90 seconds…and folks still want to drink the kool aid that Vince McMahon hates WCW and their homegrown stars. Unreal how ridiculous these fantasy myths can get with 100% facts stating the opposite.

It was just two fights ago that we saw top UFC star Conor McGregor absolutely destroyed and knocked out. Anybody still care about that result now? Nope, didn’t think so. He rebounded, reclaimed his spot, and avenged the loss. Back to the main event for him and UFC making major bank.

Personally, I would have listed a dozen other guys who could have been ‘the one’ to beat Brock Lesnar over a 49 year old part-timer, but now that it has happened, WWE needs to finish the story and benefit everybody – whatever story that is…

JaySin316: Awesome Sheamus-like haircut, I guess you’re just totally living the gimmick.

Respect.

Ah yes, the infamous mohawk picture. It is from 2010/2011 and was a quick snap shot of me in between buzzing/shaving my head. Literally 30 seconds of that look half a decade ago. Love that it is still mentioned though, always good for a laugh.

BODConscience: I’d be more impressed with your predictions if you can predict a time where you won’t be the punchline to all of the other writers on 411’s jokes.

Nobody has ever said anything to me, so I wouldn’t know about it. Only reason I clicked on the past few Fact or Fictions was to scroll to the bottom and compare voting numbers to prove my point, and well…there was no comparison – I was right with my assumption.

TwentyTimes: Thanks for putting Watry in the title. I believe this was done so that people wouldn’t inadvertently click on the articles. I hope Justin put some money on all the predictions he got right.

No use in betting through back channels – not worth the risk. I don’t write the column titles. Made this abundantly clear numerous times. Send your thanks/bashing to the higher ups when my name is included.

Voice of Logic: Why is it so important that the tag titles get defended at a PPV? I mean, they are defending the titles, did so the day after Survivor Series, and will do so again next week. So what exactly is the point of that little useless factoid?

Right. Didn’t defend their titles at Survivor Series 2015 (lost), FastLane, WrestleMania 32 (lost), Payback, Battleground (lost), and lost at Summerslam 2016, lost at Heck on a Deck 2016 and just got completely wiped out at Survivor Series 2016 where the belts were not even up for grabs…again. Please keep sticking up for the internet darlings, I welcome it. Then go talk to Nikki Bella about how unfair her title reign record run was treated (surpassing fellow internet darling AJ Lee), compared to The New Day.

TLC 2016 Talk

nerdtastic4dawin: I thought Becky/Alexa was turned into a tables’ match? Yep, pretty sure it was.

I had the column done for Monday night – a full 24 hours before Smackdown LIVE aired. In other words, WWE did as I proposed and added a stipulation. Surprise, surprise.

Bubbles: I have zero interest in AJ/Undertaker. I’d much rather see AJ/Orton or have Zayn, Cesaro, or even Nakamura show up on Smackdown and challenge AJ

I don’t disagree, but none of those seem possible for January. Randy Orton is still locked into his Bray Wyatt thing, the other two are on an opposite brand, and the third is in NXT…for now. Down the road? Yeah, sure. I like all those matchups. Come next month and trying to fill up 60,000 seats in Texas? The Undertaker makes the most sense, for right or wrong.

ChicagoMade: Great column, I agree with everything you’ve said here especially when it comes to the misuse of Ellsworth and American Alpha. I would dig that ending you described as well – Undertaker vs. AJ Styles would be another fantasy matchup. Not sure it will happen but it would be cool.

Misuse is American Alpha. Even being used at all on a regular basis is James Ellsworth. If need be, he can be the new Santino Marella. Anything beyond that, no thanks. Agreed on AJ vs. Taker. Not even sure it is in the works, just tends to line up nicely if WWE does decide to go with it. I think we are due for AJ Styles getting in there with legends – would be fun to see.

Okay, that does it for this installment! Hope everybody has a December to remember…

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article topics :

Survivor Series, WWE, Justin Watry