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411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Are We Excited For The Shield Reunion?
Welcome back to 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 Steve Cook & Tony Acero.
1. You are excited for the reunion of the Shield.
Steve Cook: FACT – I’m always excited when one of the best in-ring trios in wrestling history gets together. Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose & Roman Reigns have been magic from the first time they teamed up. From a storytelling perspective, it’s an interesting time to do it. It makes perfect sense too. Rollins & Ambrose are all about being the Hounds of Justice, and they don’t see Braun Strowman cashing in on a diminished Reigns as being fair. Attacking Strowman on Monday night was doing what was right. It leads to a number of interesting possibilities as well, namely if Strowman will recruit some of his friends to even the score. I don’t see the downside here.
Tony Acero: FICTION – This is really really tough to answer, and it’s probably the hardest one of the week for me, to be honest. The thing is that I’m not exactly unexcited about the reunion of The Shield. We never did get a real one, so there’s something there and it’s also crazy to think that in many ways, seeing them resulted in a nostalgic pop over everything else. Yes, we’ve been fans long enough to call The Shield nostalgic. This little nugget aside, it just seems so oddly placed considering what Seth Rollins has been doing over the past few weeks. Like, sure, they’ve been pals while Dean has been gone, but it doesn’t seem so streamlined of a friendship for them to care about Reigns…reign. Maybe I wanted more drama to lead up to the moment. Maybe I wanted more intrigue. I don’t know, but seeing it didn’t get me nearly as excited as I thought it would. Truly, it will be the follow up that will change my mind, and the follow up that I’m more worried about than anything else.
2. Becky Lynch is miscast as a heel.
Steve Cook: FACT – I don’t doubt that Becky can do the job in the role. The Internet tells me she did a great job as a heel in the early days of SHIMMER. The reason she’s miscast in the role in 2018 is the fact the WWE Universe doesn’t want to see her doing it. The customer isn’t always right, but occasionally you have to throw them a bone. The Brooklyn crowd wouldn’t have booed Becky if she walked out onto Fifth Avenue and shot somebody. We’ll see what happens when she goes to less-smart mark friendly markets, but it’s tough to classify her turn as anything other than a bad idea.
Tony Acero: FICTION – No redhead is ever miscasted as a heel. I jest, but realistically, this is something that you can just tell Becky was waiting for. Most wrestlers love to be heels, and as per usual, a good heel is best when she is justified. It’s a shame that they totally ignored the reality of Summerslam’s crowd when Becky said that they cheered Charlotte after her win, because they most certainly did not cheer her at all. But that little revisionists history aside, Becky has done great in the role and I’m looking forward to what else she can do while being a heel.
3. Miz & Maryse vs. Daniel Bryan & Brie Bella is a good next step for the Bryan vs. Miz feud.
Steve Cook: FACT – Miz won at Summerslam thanks to his wife handing him a chain. Wrestling 101 dictates that Bryan’s wife, who also happens to be a wrestler & who happened to be Bryan’s inspiration for coming back, would take exception to this. It’s just basic human psychology. Maybe you don’t want to see Brie & Maryse wrestling, but this is the logical next step for the Bryan/Miz story. If Brie didn’t try to do something about Maryse, we’d be talking about how unsupportive she is.
Tony Acero: FACT – OK, here’s the thing; I want so badly to put fiction because I have zero desire to see either of The Bellas on my television again, but at the very least, Brie is somewhat tolerable. The only reason why I say Fact here is because if we are to stretch this feud all year and even to WrestleMania (and Lord, if they were able to do that, it’d be great), then we need some stopgaps that may not be all that pleasant. Look, if I’m the WWE and I see this ready-made feud of Miz v Bryan, I have a notion to create something magical and long lasting. It’s a booker’s dream. The story is there, how can we make it last long enough to mean something and still be worth something come Mania season? Well, we included the misses. I’m not a fan of the notion, but it screams laziness and clichéd writing, but I also see value in the possibility of this adding a chapter to a long-lasting story that has plenty of depth.
SWITCH!
4. Trish Stratus vs. Alexa Bliss is a good match to book for WWE Evolution.
Tony Acero: FICTION – The day this match was announced was the day that I soured on the PPV as a whole. While I appreciate the tie-in of old and new, and the ability to see some of our long time favorites, they effectively eliminated stories leading into said PPV. I don’t fantasy book; I hate doing it, but the reality is that this could have EASILY been something created via story that created anticipation for the match outside of just nostalgia. This bothers me to no end, because it seems like all we’re really going to get here is a few thrown-together matches with no actual investment from fans outside of the idea that some older ladies will be there and some nostalgic moments will be present. PEOPLE DON’T PAY FOR THAT!! I just don’t understand how they don’t get this, and how they don’t realize that stories sell moments, and moments sell tickets. It’s not good booking; it’s lazy booking.
Steve Cook: FACT – Its the pretty blonde that everybody sold short in the early 2000s versus the best version of that today. Makes perfect sense to me. What else should they do with Trish? Feed her to Rousey? Nah. Putting her with one of WWE’s best heels right now makes perfect sense. The haters of this idea want her to face Sasha Banks or some other face that grew up watching her. That’s ok, but putting Trish against a despicable heel will get a better reaction. Alexa is the best person to make sure Trish gets a tremendous response.
5. Chris Jericho is right when he says that, “Great Matches Don’t Matter. Personalities & Character, That’s All That Matters.”
Tony Acero: FICTION – While I get where he is coming from, I can’t fully agree with Jericho’s assessment. One look at NXT Takeover will alter the mindset completely. I also feel like G1 would have something to say about this as well. I will not disagree with the reality that personalities and character matters. It matters immensely. Without these characters, you’d have no story or attachment. But the entire point of falling in love with these personalities and characters is to see it all culminate in what we all consider a GREAT MATCH. For whatever reason, the WWE and seemingly Jericho have come to the conclusion that wrestling is the byproduct of what they are doing as opposed to the result. A result is the ultimate goal and realization of said goal. A byproduct is what happens while you’re working towards said goal. I don’t understand why they constantly mess these up…
Steve Cook: FICTION – Jericho isn’t 100% wrong here. Personalities and character are definitely more important than great matches. I’m more likely to watch a Jericho New Japan match than some random G1 match that Larry & Dave gave a bunch of stars to. That’s because I’m more invested in Jericho and his persona over the years than random NJPW guys I don’t know as well. The thing with me is you need to be capable of having a great match. It’s not going to happen every time. But I need to at least believe that your match won’t be the drizzling shits. Jinder Mahal did good character work. His title run didn’t work for me because he never had anything close to resembling a great match before or during the title run. If I don’t believe there’s a chance of seeing greatness, why should I waste my time watching the match?
6. You’d be perfectly happy never having to watch Alberto el Parton in another major promotion every again.
Tony Acero: FACT – This is not said with spite or malice. It’s simply based off of the reality that I haven’t seen him wrestle since the last time he was in the WWE, and I haven’t missed him in the slightest. This allows me to deduce that if I never see him again, for a major promotion or otherwise, I’ll be perfectly happy. Not much else to say about that, now is there?
Steve Cook: FACT – It’s not that Alberto isn’t a good hand. I’ve enjoyed most of his performances that I’ve seen. The most recent ROH show I attended featured Alberto vs. Roderick Strong, and the main reason we made the trip to Dayton was to see that match. He’s a good wrestler. Would I lose any sleep if I never saw him again? Nah. That’s why I don’t blame AAA for not booking him for TripleMania. They have enough other things going on that they don’t need him. WWE doesn’t need him. Impact Wrestling is in no rush to book him. Nobody seems to be falling over themselves to book Alberto. I don’t know enough about what’s really going on in his real life to comment about all that. All I can say is that I won’t be heart broken if I never see another one of his matches.
