Writers Or Injuries: Which Is Worse For WWE Right Now?

Hi, I’m Justin Watry. You may remember me from such classic columns as “WWE WrestleMania 28: Sheamus Should Defeat Daniel Bryan in Less Than a Minute” and “WWE Should Send John Morrison Down to FCW Right Now.”

Writing this before the NFL Super Bowl on Sunday night, so congrats to Peyton Manning for retiring on top. Awesome job.

Or kudos to Cam Newton and Carolina Panthers for winning this year’s championship. First he gets league MVP, now a Super Bowl ring. Cool.

There.

Reader Feedback

Cactus: The quoted comments were great. Every time I go to the WWE website, in between 40-year-olds arguing about workrate there is usually a couple nuggets like these. I enjoy them because of how innocent they are, but also because of how I remember being just like that when I was in my early teens. “Dude, I think Brock might actually be fighting these guys for real” was a great argument I had at school one day. Thanks for sharing these.

Cool post. This was the exact kind of response I was hoping, instead of the usual trash. Silly me for expecting too much…

Luisho: Some of those were great. You should do this more often.

I ask myself the same thing about Jericho. I mean he can still go but something’s off.

Maybe I will do it more often. Certainly get a ton of material nearly every day.

As for Chris Jericho, it is the part-time schedule. If he is just coming and going after a few months, it is difficult to get heavily invested into anything he doe. Now, if he was back for a year or so, things may be different and come off as being ‘important’ again. Currently though, I have no complaints. Jericho was a surprise tag team partner for Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns last year, played a fairly big role in the build to WWE Royal Rumble 2016 and is now set to work with AJ Styles and potentially finish what he started with the IC Champion at WrestleMania 32. Nothing wrong with that.

MilvySimoes: He already specifically said he wasn’t using real names as mentioned above geniuses.

Yep, thanks for pointing that out. I mentioned in the column I made up the names of the two eight year olds due to their age.

Connor: “Hi, I’m Justin Watry”. The joy of being alive is overwhelming right now.

My favorite PG rated comment from last week. Made me laugh. Congrats Connor, enjoy The Duck song!

Jeff Twining: Ugh. I don’t mind your articles, I really don’t. The comments are usually the best part. With this one though, I’m really curious who the sources are for these “quotes?” How is a reader supposed to place any value on these as the “other side” of wrestling fans’ opinions when, for all intents and purposes, you could’ve just made them all up?

The quotes were all real. I said from day one, love me or hate me, I am not going to BS anyone.

Hirnklops: Sorry, but I won’t buy that. Two eight year olds rooting for Warrior and André? In 2016? I get the point, and I think you’re right, but that? No. Sorry.

I said the story about the two eight year olds was an old re-post. Wasn’t from 2016. If you had actually read the column, you wouldn’t have missed that detail. It was in March, right around the WWE Hall of Fame stuff with The Ultimate Warrior and Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal hype. My guess is the kids got it from watching Raw or Smackdown and simply hearing their names.

Israel Peralta: Waltry, please post your name in bright orange letters on the image promoting your article so I wont click on it. Thanks.

Wrong on three accounts. First, it is Watry. Second, I don’t select the image or am involved with promoting the column at all. Third, who are you kidding? You would click anyways.

John: These ppl you know know what tna is but not Aj styles?He was the face of the company for many years and definitely one of their biggest stars

The quotes were from different people, as stated in the column last week.

Brokenosmoke: Best article I’ve read on here for ages! Some excellent work.

Excellent work calls for an excellent tune just for you…

Chris: Am I the only one who misses being a “casual” fan? I mean, I’ve been pretty diehard about my love for wrestling since my pre-teen years, but I don’t half miss the days of being so wrapped up in the drama that I snapped the head off my British Bulldog action figure when he turned on my favourite, Big Daddy Cool, or a few years later as a 14/15 year old going crazy when X-Pac returned to join HHH in DX. That’s when it was fun and none of this internet BS mattered.

It depends. If you use the internet to be a clown in comment sections fantasy booking and pointlessly ranting in various forums every day, then yeah. If you can side track all the garbage and keep a clear head, then it is fine. Just like Twitter and all things online – it is a wonderful device…when in the right hands.

Brian MacLennan: “Seeing what Vince Russo booked on WCW during the Monday Night War series – “Vince Russo is a f****ng idiot.”” ???? Really? There’s no way a casual fan would say this, or know or care who Vince Russo is, or that he was booking WCW. Your own definition of a casual fan states that they have no interest in booking or backstage stuff.

this whole piece is a terrible attempt at fantasy booking of conversations in order to make a vague point with little to no relevance to the genre

We were watching the Monday Night War episode discussing head writer Vince Russo jumping to WCW and booking their television shows, so yeah, that is when the conversation came up. Nice try though.

AG Awesome: Sometimes I wonder where all these supposed casual fans are. EVERY wwe show I have ever been to live was filled with smart fans, even the kids were familiar with “IWC” knowledge. Some more so than myself.

I find it weird that Watry has found such an abundance of these “casual” fans that he can make the bold statement that the IWC type is in the minority. Maybe it’s because all his friends/family are mid westerners and less computer savvy than the East Coasters I’m familiar with?

And really? “Regardless, it was a fun day, and these two kids taught me more in five minutes than I have on the internet in the past ten years when speaking with supposed “adults” online about wrestling”

I get that you despise the IWC that you’re a part of but do you really need to add that much of an insult on top of it? Comes off trashy and low brow IMHO.

Also, their names are Jimmy and Bimmy. Get it right!

As noted in the column last week (I sense a theme here), all of the casual wrestling fans quoted use the internet regularly, probably a daily basis. Have Smartphones, laptops, etc. None of them (none!) ever search for anything wrestling related but will catch the occasional WWE program. That is the definition of a casual fan. Thus, your attempt to insult mid-westerners is a swing and a miss.

As for the Jimmy and Bimmy comment, you mean this?

Backstory

Let’s be honest. We all have our complaints about any given television. Whether it is the entire Penguin story being jumbled up in just the third episode of Gotham Season One or a favorite wrestler losing a big match in WWE, it is all the same. We are fans and sometimes have to wonder what goes on in the creative writing meetings. It is just human nature. Everybody turns on the TV at night to be entertained and when that doesn’t happen, blame has to be laid somewhere.

More often than not, that falls on the writers.

In WWE’s current injury filled predicament, is that fair, unfair, or just about right?

Let’s examine…

John Cena – Outside of one week, John Cena has been out of action since October 2015. If you don’t think WWE’s TV ratings woes are at least somewhat tied to his absence, you are kidding yourself. Cena has been the man for over a decade and him being up and gone like that in a flash is never good. Maybe I am being naive, but I believe he is coming back at WrestleMania 32 to take on The Undertaker. All this click bait about who is facing Taker better be nonsense because it is absolutely terrifying to even imagine as the truth. Keep Cena off live events and out of the ring until April 3rd in Texas. Build the entire bout on videos and promos, claiming his one goal is to recover from injury and defeat The Undertaker at WM.

Daniel Bryan – Okay, as usual, this is being written before RAW, so everybody will know what happened by the time this is published. On February 2nd, 2016, Wrestling News World reported that Vince McMahon wanted Daniel Bryan to return to WWE TV in Seattle, Washington. Perfect location and perfect timing on the Road to WM32. The catch was WWE doctors were still not clearing him to compete, but Vince wants him as as on screen character in some form or fashion. Bryan wants to wrestle and only wrestle.

That is where things are at the moment. That was all reported by WNW on Tuesday. As we sit here, I have no idea what to expect. In my mind, the ship has sailed on Bryan being a full-time main eventer again for WWE, and yes, it is due to injuries. Save me all the conspiracy theories, denials, and other junk. Like Edge and Christian, their bodies had enough. Bryan, who wrestled a stiff style his whole career and has even publicly said he won’t change his technique, appears to be at a stalemate with his career. WWE, doctors, Vince, fans and his body is telling him no. Ironically, just like his persona, he is yelling YES!

I think he can be a very valuable asset to WWE or any other wrestling promotion in 2016. However, safety has to come first. Not sure if Bryan just doesn’t realize that (hence his comments about not changing his in-ring work) or if he is actually being serious. The last thing anybody wants is for him to receive a massive injury inside a squared circle. WWE or elsewhere. The man has a beautiful wife, made a ton of money, is ready to start a family, and can accept a lifetime payday from WWE by NOT wrestling.

I know it has to be tough. No doubt he has been thinking about this all for the past two years. My gut says he will wrestle again, if not for WWE but somewhere else. However, my hope is he leads a Yes Movement on Smackdown as their General Manager or something. We will find out soon enough…

Randy Orton – No idea what is going on here, but Randy Orton is another former WM main eventer currently on the sidelines. Can’t blame the writers for this one. He is always a good character for the show and is usually in the better matches on pay-per-view.

Seth Rollins – Wrote about this a few weeks ago, but Rollins was a beast throughout 2014 and 2015. When he went down as WWE World Champion, you saw how much he meant to the company. Plans were altered in a big way, and it was evident he was the prime focus of both Raw and Smackdown. Once he left, very few filled that void. Unfortunately, the writers did their best with Sheamus, but come on. It was scrambled last minute plan trying to replace Rollins. Of course, that was doomed to fail from the beginning.

Cesaro – King of Swing. Every time you think he grabs momentum and is going to the top, something gets in the way unexpectedly. This time, an injury. Too bad.

Tyson Kidd – Same as above. These two were impressing me more and more each week in the tag team scene. As someone who was against this pairing, it was a blow to the division.

Sin Cara – Minor injury but one nonetheless. It caused WWE Creative to push Kalisto as a single’s competitor and lead him to the United States Championship. May be a blessing in disguise.

Nikki Bella – The longest reigning Divas Champion in WWE history? Yep, also hurt and can’t wrestle right now. The women’s revolution was thrown for a loop and had to make drastic changes. Stables broke up, face and heel turns were made, and a new champ was crowned. Did the best with the hand dealt.

Hideo Itami – Remember him? I certainly do. If not for his injury, it is my belief he was the one to beat Kevin Owens for the NXT Title back in July. In Tokyo, Japan. Not meant to be though, as somebody attacked him in a parking lot before an NXT show. Finn Balor and his “club” perhaps? The story line was intriguing. The reality was not. Hideo Itami needed surgery and was going to be missing a lot of time. Still out to this day.

Sting – The Stinger was probably finished inside a WWE ring anyways, but hey, with John Cena out, who else was going to battle The Undertaker at WM32? The long awaited dream match is still there…but Sting is injured and will instead headline the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016. Well deserved.

The League Of Nations Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus, Rusev, and Wade Barrett have been listed as having some sort of injury in recent months. Not that the stable was ever going to be a force (it wasn’t), still! Injuries are injuries, and all four men are talented in the ring and serve their role properly.

Finn Balor – Oh, and now you can add Finn Balor to the injury list. Goodness gracious. Early reports are it is fairly minor. As the reigning NXT Champion though, this is the worst possible timing imaginable. Without getting into spoilers, he has a huge match coming up at NXT Takeover: Dallas and is sure to be a star come Mania weekend. Their live WWE Network specials depend on him. I can’t even fathom what the writers for WWE (or NXT) are thinking.

Truth be told, I probably forgot a few wrestlers. If so, my apologies. Long story short, yeah, it is easy to rip on the writers and blast the show. That is very easy to do. However, if the Golden State Warriors lost their starting lineup and some key bench players, guess what? They would start to lose. Same with any team or show. You lose your core guys/gals, the product suffers. The point of this column was really just to provide a little bit of perspective that as exciting as the Road to WM could be, injuries are not helping the writers one bit. That is unfortunate, but as Snitsky would say, it’s not their fault…

Self Promotion

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