Column: Studs & Duds of WWE (5/11/14- 5/18/14)

Hello, fellow wrestling fans. Quinn here and this will be my first (of many weekly) articles that highlight between which wrestlers have been studs, and which have been duds - hence the title "Studs and Dud's of WWE". Now, I want y'all to be vocal (through your fingers) about this and I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you about what you think. Lets get down to what's best for business, right? *Slow clap for bad pun*

STUD - Bray Wyatt

Ok, since following Bray from NXT-main roster spot, it's been incredible watching his character grow and watching the buzzards grow in size. It's also nice to not hear any "Husky Harris" chants from the crowd. Every week, his promo's get that much better, his wrestling is continually more interesting to watch and every week he reminds me a mixture of Raven/Mankind/Undertaker. Raven for the cult-like persona, way he dresses also. Mankind/Undertaker for how he delivers his promo's (Mick moreso on that) the overall creepiness that both those HOF produced with their characters over the past 2 decades. 

Bray can effortlessly be put into an angle with Bryan, to working with Cena, to dummying jobbers and he looks good while doing it. He's able to captivate crowds (even when crowds are seemingly dead of energy). I feel as if, in due time, he will become a major baby face for the company and with his character, very little needs to change because of how well he performs in that role. Would definitely be interested in seeing him extend the "Wyatt" name and have his brother Bo come in as a hidden member, or something along those lines. Wyatt family idea could really take off, given that it's written well and produced well.

DUD - John Cena

I'm sure I will receive hate for having him here, or maybe it may not even be a surprise to any of you. Mick Foley made a good point in his blog and wrote something along the lines of how Cena dresses himself and presents himself in stories or segment promos, that he's always trying to sell us something, with all the gratuitous merchandise he covers himself in. I get that he's WWE top dog - no real argument considering all the make-a-wishes, media, presses, signings, sales of merchandise etc - But wrestler wise, he's somewhat irrelevant now and needs a readjustment to his character for the next 10 years he has with WWE. I say that length because WWE is his life and until medical professionals tell him that he can't wrestle anymore, he will continue. The man wrestled with a torn triceps for crying out loud seemingly nothing fazes him. 

His character though is in need of a change up and Vince should gamble on a major heel turn with him. Those saying it's not capable obviously choose to ignore the infamous Hulk Hogan turn at Bash At The Beach '96. I think it would be a perfect shock factor that will get everyone talking and maybe people to actually cheer Cena as a whole, rather than a 70/30 split of "LET'S GO CENA, CENA SUCKS" chants. It probably won't happen and I'll just sit here twiddling my thumbs away, but I CAN DARN WELL HOPE, OK?!

STUD - Daniel Bryan 

OH MY GOSH. I INCLUDED THE WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!! WHO WOULDA THUNK THAT?!?! Well actually, it was a rather easy decision, given Daniel Bryan's recent ascension to main event/top star status. 

If you really look back at Daniels' journey through the WWE alone, it's quite remarkable the amount of ridiculous story-lines and segments he was put through (and currently in now). From the embarrassing times as an NXT rookie, to being somewhat of a jobber to the higher-up talent *at the time* to being the YES man that seemingly everyone (at first) found annoying and obnoxious. Everything in between, he's been used well in little situations, since the real emergence of him when he came back to team along with John Cena, Brett Hart, Chris Jericho, Edge, R-Truth and John Morrison to take down The Nexus (still love their theme song) at Summerslam, 4 years ago. 

It's remarkable to think 4 years ago at Summerslam, he was a mystery partner and received a fairly good pop upon his return to headlining Summerslam last year, "winning" the WWE championship. Bryan has busted his ass since coming in Summerslam 2010 and since then, has slowly climbed his way to the peak of the mountain in WWE. Him winning the title (at Wrestlemania 30) is actually incredibly significant because it's now opened the door for the younger talent to step up and take the torch from the older folk at WWE and it's time for them to become the stars of today and tomorrow. It's showing that you don't have to have "the look" to be the man. 

Bryan's in-ring work alone makes him entertaining to watch and to FINALLY see him be able to defend the titles (until this recent neck injury. GET WELL SOON D-BRY) makes him that much more entertaining as an individual. 

DUD - Alberto Del Rio

Oh Albertoooooooooooooooooooooooooo oh what happened to your character. I was pretty interested with ADR when he first debuted and thought how awesome it was to have another Latino star come in. I find those wrestlers always bring a great deal of ingenuity with both their in-ring work, as well as their mic skills. One of the greatest that have ever lived had both exceptional mic skills, as well as mat skills (Rip Eddie Guerrero) and since Rey had cool down from being an active wrestler due to all the injuries, I was generally interested in how he'd adapt. 

At first, he played his part to a T and was the most ideal heel in how he presented himself to the general audience and was even a greater heel as a champion. I feel as if his downfall came when he was made to be a babyface. It felt forced, rather than a natural transition into a face character. From what he said, to how he reacted to the crowd, it never seemed to have had that natural slide into the face character. Understanding that his contract is to expire this year (I believe) and it was mentioned that he didn’t have intentions on resigning, maybe he’s just looking to cool off and wait for the expire and have a final send off, me thinks.


STUD – Seth Rollins

This guy is just pure entertainment, whenever he’s in the ring (or outside for that matter). His movement and transition from in-ring wrestling to outside brawler-type, it always makes it entertaining to watch Rollins do what he does best. Since the debut of The Shield on the main roster November 2012 at Survivor Series, I found that the group always had a unique swagger to them. For me, Seth has been the most entertaining to watch in the ring. This is not discrediting the in-ring work of Ambrose or Reigns (both have impressed me on numerous occasions) its just Rollins is able to adapt to various wrestling types between the ring and wrestlers. I’d LOVE to see what sort of high-octane style Rollins could bring in say, a Money-in-the-bank ladder match. Ambrose had a great match, as did the other participants at last year’s MITB ppv (notable spot where Ambrose put the ladder on his head and shoulders and began to rotate, taking out guys left and right, only to be stopped by Swagger/Cesaro and they had a unique spot where they lifted the ladder from Ambrose on opposing ends, and Ambrose himself did a rolling-chin up and nearly tasted victory, before ultimately being dumped to the floor) Just go watch it if you haven’t because it was awesome.

OK, back to Rollins.

I’d like to see Rollins develop even more so with his character. I feel as if his mic work could us a tad bit of work, but it’s certainly workable and his wrestling work speaks for itself. I also feel that to have his character build up, a title run is in order, either the US title and the Intercontinental title would be a best fit for him, as of right now. Who knows, given that Daniel Bryan won the title, he’s now opened the door to other guys that may be smaller than the bigger superstars of today, in the future (farther, rather than nearer) we could see a future world champ. But as of right now, I’m entirely ok with what he’s doing with himself, as well as with The Shield.

DUD – Tag team division

This one is a doozy of what bugs me. It’s unfortunate that seemingly right now, there is more focus on gimmick teams (3mb/Los Matadores) and they have no focus on a solid tag team of The Uso’s. I often forget when they come on tv that they’re the champs, and it’s not because they’re a bad team by any means. In fact, they’re one of my favorite in the last few years. They work well together and can make themselves (or their opponents) good as gold in the ring. They have the personalities, the talent, the charisma, the whole nine yards and it seems that since their climb to gold, they’ve been given barely any exposure or used in the right ways regarding programming.

The lack of teams right now is also slightly alarming. Eric Rowan/Luke Harper, Rybaxel (don’t get me started on this group), Uso’s, Rhodes Brothers. Those are the groups that, when the attention does come, they’re the main group of guys. I don’t consider 3mb or Los Matadores because it’s apparent that the fans don’t really care for those two squads. I’d mention Shield but they’ve left the tag-team division and have had no interest with them, since dropping the titles. Maybe (when the group splits) a Rollins/Ambrose team could emerge, which would be rad. I haven’t looked into NXT crop of teams, if there are any so I can’t voice an opinion on them, however the team known as The Ascensions looks promising, granted that writing utilizes the talent, more or less.

 Maybe this is just the bitter fan in me, but I enjoyed the times in the early 2000’s where there was focus on all departments regarding all titles. European, Hardcore, Tag Titles, Intercontinental, Women’s, just all titles had meaning, and it’s unfortunate that nowadays, there is such a lack of focus regarding the titles we have now. Perhaps I should save that rant for another article, but for now, I’ll enjoy what’s being produced, from a week-to-week basis.

Thank you readers for reading what’s been conjured up in my head for some time. It’s nice to be able to get it out and type it out. Things may be subject to change, but I look forward to reading all the feedback that the IWC will most surely provide.

Stay Classy,

Quinn

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect WrestlingNewsSource.com or other columnists*