WWE Raw: Just a few thoughts... (28/10/2013)

WWE Raw - Monday 28th October 2013

I just thought I'd address a couple of issues that I started thinking about after watching Raw this week. Probably nothing crazy or anything you haven't already read or thought yourself but just thought I'd throw it out there anyway...

Shawn Michaels / Daniel Bryan segment
So, just in case you didn't know, Shawn Michaels superkicked Bryan at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, costing him the match and the WWE Championship. After seeing this, along with HBK's conflicted look, I felt that the explanation would be that he was looking after his best pal (HHH) after Bryan delivered a running knee to WWE's COO. I really hoped that this wouldn't be the explanation and that it would be a full-on heel turn (if you're going to do it then go the whole way?!).

Unfortunately, it was the case and HBK explained that he was looking out for HHH as he had done for him in HBK's darkest days. So, does that mean that Michaels was ALWAYS going to do this and we shouldn't have voted for him? I don't know. There are a lot of people saying that this heel turn (from Michaels) was 'great' and it worked. I completely disagree. For me, I didn't feel that this was a heel turn at all. Michaels gave valid reasons for why he did what he did, was conflicted throughout until Bryan wouldn't shake his hand, got a little shitty that Bryan wouldn't shake his hand and backed it up with the 'I'm Shawn Michaels, dammit?!' but there was nothing of any huge aggression in it. It was a babyface explaining that he kind of messed up; not a full-on heel turn. HBK is too 'nice' nowadays (ever since turning to God) for me to buy him turning heel. A little pointless then...

Besides, it's not as if HBK is going to be around for that long to make a heel turn worth it. He'll go away and come back in a few months time loved more than ever?! Oh, and to the people who think that there will be a HBK vs Bryan match in the future: You need to take your hands out of your pants...

The Wyatt's attacks
The short of it is that The Wyatts attacked Daniel Bryan (after the HBK segment) and CM Punk a little later on Raw. In both cases, Bray Wyatt would say that 'the Devil made him do it'.

At Hell in a Cell, Paul Heyman described himself as the 'Devil' and 'Satan of the WWE'... so does two plus two equal four here? Is Paul Heyman going to be behind The Wyatts? I don't see it myself; The Wyatts are a mysterious, 'devil's rejects', hill-billy group that has a more-than-adequate mouthpiece in their leader, Bray Wyatt. Heyman is great, and a genius, but it just doesn't fit. Bring them to the main event scene, but let them do it under their own steam.

My first thought was that the 'Devil' could be Triple H in this situation. If you like, a modern version of 'The Higher Power' storyline of 1999 when Vince McMahon was revealed as the ultimate leader of the Corporate Ministry. Back then, The Undertaker was mysterious and all-powerful; who better to be the only one to have any control of him than the boss himself. So why not here, too? The Wyatts don't need to be part of The Authority (or whatever Triple H and co are calling themselves) but simply do their dirty work in putting Bryan and Punk in their places.

Kane
Hell in a Cell saw the return of Kane. He came to the ring to gain revenge over the guys that had 'kidnapped' him two months ago - aiding Miz in the process as he was taking a beating from Rowan and Harper (there's a lot of Wyatt family in this post eh?). Once he had cleaned house, he turned and delivered a Chokeslam to Miz. Now this was just a standard 'Kane's back and he's just reminding everyone' return, but should we have seen this as a heel turn? If so then WWE need to realise that to turn someone heel they should probably think about using a well-loved babyface to get the point across, not Miz; someone that people really couldn't give a crap about!

Then, on Raw Kane would defeat the jobber-treated Miz in about ninety seconds before calling Stephanie out. He would then seemingly berate her for the pain and suffering that she had put others through in the last couple of months, concluding that it was, in fact, best for business. He would then offer his services to her ('...the monster is yours to unleash') before giving her his mask.

Conclusions
I like that there seems to be new storylines starting/brewing but there are a few unresolved things that I think will be left behind. For starters, Daniel Bryan has been launched into the main event, been screwed four pay-per-views in a row and seems like he will move onto The Wyatts for the meantime? He still hasn't had the payoff that he deserves. Neither have the fans. As it stands, he has proven that he is the B+ player that Triple H and Stephanie have labelled him. He needed to win the title without any screwing or controversy, with a lengthy reign of some sort. Instead he is a two-time champion with a combined reign of about a day. As for the fans; they have paid for four pay-per-views now in the hope of seeing their hero claim the big one. I'm hearing of figures of $200 dollars being paid over that time and there has been no payoff, just continual screwjobs. I'm not saying these people should have refunds as screwy finishes are what you expect in wrestling from time-to-time, but four in a row is a bit ridiculous! By now the babyface should have prevailed otherwise he is a complete loser that we should throw on the scrapheap!

I don't see why I should care about him when he hasn't proved the heels wrong.

Kane's return says to me that when he was taken away (by the Wyatts), he was brainwashed to their way of thinking? Maybe this explains his change of attitude along with Bray Wyatt's 'Devil' talk - maybe Triple H? My hope is that Kane's allegiance to Stephanie doesn't result in him being her hired gun against Big Show. That match is old news and has been done to death over the years. Slow, crap matches, too.

At Survivor Series, Orton needs to be in an elimination match (to give him and the WWE title a rest for a month) and it should be Triple H vs Big Show. I don't see any other way to go unless they're serious about replacing Bryan with Show for a pay-per-view or two. Seems a step back to me, though...

Despite these thoughts, I'm still really into what's going on in the WWE. There are new storylines brewing and there a lot of unanswered questions (Kane's role? Wyatt's 'Devil'?) to be getting on with...

@jimmosangle