Watry’s WWE MITB 2017 Review

“I have been reading your stuff on 411mania and nodq.com for the longest time now and I have never felt inclined to email in. The general consensus of you not being most popular is harsh at times but also can be well-founded too. But I still read your stuff because I do enjoy your articles and find your perspective interesting most of the time.
“I have been reading your stuff on 411mania and nodq.com for the longest time now and I have never felt inclined to email in. The general consensus of you not being most popular is harsh at times but also can be well-founded too. But I still read your stuff because I do enjoy your articles and find your perspective interesting most of the time.

That said, your article about your friend Megan and trip to Wrestlemnaia was the greatest thing you have ever wrote. Forget about the predictions you brag about getting right. This is your crowning piece. Maybe it is because I can relate as going to Wrestlemania is my ultimate dream and it will be happening next year. But I genuinely loved your article.

Thank you for the great stuff.”

– Jay’s Ways reader

Backstory

This will be my WWE Money in the Bank 2017 review.

WWE MITB Thoughts

– Hype Bros over The Colons on the Kickoff Show. Yawn. Let’s just fast forward to the heel turn already.

– Carmella via James Ellsworthless climbing the ladder won the first ever Womens Money in the Bank ladder match. Alright, we all feared this would happen and saw the betting lines. Clearly, this was not much of a surprise. More of me hoping against hope that it would NOT actually go down. Well, it did. First of all, from the standpoint of elevating a talent and heels being heels, this was fine. Those two are clowns and deserve each other. Nobody likes them, and WWE wants their act to be featured on television; it makes sense to have them with the briefcase as others will be just fine without that title opportunity. They don’t need it to be on the top of the division – Carmella does. My early prediction is we get the first ever live event cash-in, but we can discuss that at a later date.

Here is the problem and what I was talking about Sunday night with my Twitter followers.

At what point does the Land of Opportunity turn into “Here’s a bunch of mid-card people in big spots for no reason.”

Last year was Heath Slater and Rhyno as Tag Team Champions, while American Alpha sat around doing nothing. Something still going on to this day sadly. Then there was Dean Ambrose toiling away on top as WWE Champion feuding with Dolph Ziggler for Summerslam. I mean we even had to deal with James Ellsworthless hanging around the main event scene (and winning) for a few months.

This year has seen Jinder Mahal become a main eventer in a flash, Tamina Snuka treated as a legitimate threat, Lana walk onto the screen for an instant Smackdown LIVE Womens Title match, The Ascension get a match on the MITB pay-per-view…and now Carmella with clown in her purse are holding the first ever briefcase representing females in the entire industry.

This is where we are at with the blue brand. Anybody and everybody is getting a chance…all the while ratings are bottoming out to NEW lows, and since April, PWTorch has noted their male demos have decreased by a staggering 50%! That is ridiculous. In a short two month span, cut in half. This is not some small drop or little mistake. The WrestleMania 33 buzz and Superstar ShakeUp has NOT done any favors here. Evidence and factual data are very telling with this all.

Listen, I am all for new guys and gals to get an opportunity. The Smackdown moniker of just that is awesome. I love it, but there is a fine line that is obviously being crossed right now. Am I wrong here?

– The New Day defeat The Usos via count out. The heels were outmatched and sensed a loss coming, so they took a walk to keeps their tag titles. That is effective and classic Wrestling Booking 101. I am fine with it. Anything that keeps The New Day away from another long drawn out run with the belts. Nothing special or worth mentioning during the match, which was to be expected.

– Lana, in her first single’s match, lost to champion Naomi. Clean. No controversy whatsoever. The two are friends, so this had to be a cool moment for them personally. Lana probably did better than most thought; still, either this was going to end up with her being a cheap champ…or a quick defeat. With Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion, I actually thought the company would give the same ‘opportunity’ to Lana. I was wrong. Wonder if she just goes back to Rusev now? Carmella teased a cash-in but decided to wait. Honestly, I would have went with the cash-in. Put us out of our misery now and not drag this cluster on…

– Mike and Maria Kanellis! Oh, get it? Get it? The couple are using HER last name. How 2017 of them. I liked their debut segment and enjoyed it for a few reasons. First, the crowd cheered when they arrived but soon started to boo during the promo. Instantly put them in the heel role and did a good job establishing that. The hearts and kisses were more than noticeable. Second, the last name will likely bother some (like the patriotic junk) but whatever, it is professional wrestling. I am sure it will be played up more. Thirdly, it sure seemed to me that Maria would be treated as the star of the duo, not Mike. Fine by me. Until we get to see more, that is kinda what most wrestling fans think anyways. Finally, while I was told they were going to debut in NXT back in March (wrote about it months ago), this works too. The blue brand could use another act. It is the land of opportunity, right?

– Jinder Mahal beat Randy Orton to keep the WWE Championship. This was done on Father’s Day, so Bob Orton (and legends) had a great view in the front row. Doing it in St. Louis was just the icing on the cake. Cheers for Mr. RKO and boos for the heel title holder. Makes for a great wrestling scene. I liked most of it. Orton got his revenge by whooping on The Singh Brothers but didn’t get to reclaim the gold. Win-win for both guys if you look at it from that point of view. Also, this was NOT the main event which signaled a funky finish. I said the male MITB ladder match should close the show, and it did. There was no way WWE was pulling the plug on this experiment after only a month. Let it go through July. If TV ratings and interest is still near rock bottom, then John Cena is back for awhile. Sorry to say, but you can figure out what will happen next. There is title reign number 17 to after…or a briefcase to be used.

– The Ascension were revealed as being behind the Fashion Files mess. Wonderful. I almost cared for a second. Almost. Tyler Breeze and Fandango beat them in short order, and the event continued. I don’t know. As mentioned earlier, the blue brand is in such a weird state. Not even thinking about the massive drop in main demographic ratings since April, there just feels like too much comedy and/or mid-card stuff. Nakamura, AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens – all these guys should be doing more than fighting over the United States Title and wrestling in a thrown together multi-man ladder match. Add in American Alpha doing nothing, Rusev returning, John Cena coming back, Chris Jericho always looming, and there is tons of potential with the roster. Mike Bennett now too. SO much talent that it is a shame none of it is clicking right now.

I will cover the main event in many parts, so stay with me…

– Great decision to close the show with the male MITB ladder match. It should have.

– Shinsuke Nakamura being attacked pre-match was a nice touch. Baron Corbin gets some true heel heat for his actions, and it eliminates the fan favorite from contention early. I said from day one he should NOT have been included, so I was happy with it. Of course, he did return later, but you get the point. I wrote about it last week, explaining my position.

– Didn’t care for Styles hanging from the top and then just falling on his face. Eh. What was the purpose?

– Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens fighting again. Again. Again. I am fine with them going at it in small doses, as we saw on Sunday. My problem is all the pointless filler bouts they have had in the past year or so. Even being moved to the same brand (again) felt strange. What we got from them at MITB is okay. Just teasers and reminders, nothing big.

– Phenomenal showdown between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura. The live crowd sure picked up on the hint. If WWE can milk their match for a little bit longer, it would be HUGE! Huge. Mania next year in New Orleans is the wish, but if officials want to make Summerslam 2017 “must see,” that is your dream match.

– Okay, Baron Corbin won. He was the favorite all along and had been rumored for months. Honestly, I put my hopes behind Sami Zayn. Him ending the event in celebration mode would have given the blue brand a big boost for the summer. Corbin was my favorite (as I wrote about last week) and is a pick that sums up the MITB gimmick. New, fresh, and interesting heel (who has been losing as of late) that could use that extra added ‘something’ to get him to the main event. No complaints at all. He won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and is now Mr. Money in the Bank.

SUMMARY: Solid show all around. Just far too many question marks about Smackdown LIVE to form a true opinion.

NRW: The Return

It happened. Original theme music, characters, ring, etc. An absolute blast and after months in the making, things went smooth. Such an amazing day for everybody involved. I overheard one person say they will never forget it. I concur. Big thanks to the guys and gals who put it together. They know who they are and understand all the hard work that has been put into this venture. Exclusive first look at the action can be found by following mmonroever on Instagram. The full match and much more will be released in due time…

It happened. #NRW pic.twitter.com/xZYKcPPEbO

— Justin Watry (@JustinWatry) June 18, 2017

Cheap Plugs

I’ve been posting more personal columns as of late (on another website). Check them out.

Follow: @JustinWatry

Email: [email protected]

Thanks.