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IS WWE TRULY ONTO SOMETHING HERE?
There's been a lot of discourse about the Wyatt Sicks since they debuted and "murdered" 10,000 WWE extras and Chad Gable, who was magically not murdered the following week. There was talk of whether the group could work without the late Windham Rotunda while using his memory to establish and propel the group forward. There was talk whether a more supernatural-centered group could work in the Paul Levesque WWE, given that so much of the creative has been far more rooted in the type of reality that Jim Crockett Promotions and other old school promotions succeeded with as compared to the days of The Undertaker's casket being set on fire and then he rises from the dead and ascends to the heavens (Yes, this really happened.)
However, last night's latest "video" featuring Erik Rowan discussing the loss of his brothers - Brodie Lee and Bray Wyatt on camera, Jon Huber and Windham Rotunda in real life - was perhaps the most interesting and poignant of the videos thus far, as he pondered how to go forward without them and who would care about him without them. As he said, he was "just" Rowan. It was something that stuck to the ribs after the segment was done. It humanized Rowan at the same time it made you wonder exactly what he would be “willing” to do for the Wyatt Sicks.
This has now started to develop into something a lot deeper and more interesting than monsters from the Firefly Funhouse invade and madcap madness ensues. Instead, WWE is going for something deeper, something more scarring - psychological damage and hurt and trauma. Forget the sheer might of Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger was far scarier, because he could use your own fears and trauma against you. The idea of the Wyatts using their trauma and broken-selves to empower themselves as they torment others…man, that leaves some interesting possibilities creatively.
Whether WWE can navigate the proper strategy to use such topics to make these characters not just viable, but interesting without making the audience reminded of their own sadness and trauma should be interesting to follow. The Walking Dead and other series often explore these traumas and how they drive and/or strangle characters emotionally - most recently seen with Rick Grimes in The Ones Who Live, but this type of exploration has never been done in professional wrestling, certainly not in WWE.
Whether this crashes into cartoon territory eventually or not, WWE created something compelling in the moment last night.
ET TU, ZELINA?
It is not a shock that Zelina Vega has been trending since Raw, since her use and creative direction was dropped like a rock off The Brooklyn Bridge last night, submerging her momentum and killing it cold with a loss in under a minute to Sonya Devile. If that was designed to set up a program for Vega for Summerslam, that would be fine, although clunky, but the implication last night was that Vega was injured and would be off TV for a period of time. There’s no reason to do an injury angle and then have her return like Jean Grey rising like The Phoenix (X-Men, people) ready for vengeance in just a few weeks.
All of this is head-scratching unless there’s something going on behind the scenes that we aren't privy to as of this writing. When you look at how strong Vega’s promos and in-ring work in recent weeks have been - and how her segments have drawn viewers in the quarter-hours, often the best quarter of those weeks, this is pretty mind-melting insane. Even in pro wrestling, which has upside down logic much of the time, it makes little sense for the company, again, to drop the momentum that Vega and the creative team built for her on camera.
It’s not the first time this has happened, either. The ball was dropped after the Backlash PPV in Puerto Rico as they never followed up on that story at all. The 2023 Money in the Bank Ladder Match saw Vega get huge reactions for her spots and the tease of getting the briefcase and a year later, she wasn't even in the MITB match. Vega was a major part of a lot of LWO moments over the last year, showing great acting chops - remember the Santos Escobar turn? - but again, nothing, as she's relegated to being a supporting character.
Over the last few months, Vega has proven to be a great babyface foil for heel Liv Morgan. There's no arguing that Rhea Ripley's return is important, but no return should be important enough to snuff out the momentum of a character that had been getting over and clicking with fans live in the arena and on social media - something that was readily apparent overnight as fans threw up their hands in confusion and disgust. There's always another chapter, unless the writers don't want there to be, and at this point, you have to at least question whether Paul Levesque and his team want there to be. You also have to question why they wouldn’t, especially since there’s momentum and potential money on the table.
For all the praise Levesque and his team have gotten since Vince McMahon was exiled, this is an absolute swing and a miss for them, unless they are course-correcting ASAP. We've seen what happens when a company fumbles momentum for talent too many times. It's always the talent who suffers. In this case, it's the talent and the fans that WWE have told to get behind Vega who suffer instead. All involved deserve better - especially Vega, who already suffered the indignity of being cut from wrestling on a NYC Smackdown episode on 9/11 after the company specifically used her real life story of her father passing to promote the taping locally. It seems like every time WWE sets something up for Zelina, in the end they shrug and move away from it. The real question is WHY? It can't always be bad timing, not when it's obvious something was clicking.
SPECIAL SUMMERSLAM REFEREE SETH ROLLINS, PLEASE STAND UP
As the back and forth between Drew McIntyre and the most underrated actor in professional wrestling, Adam Pearce, went back and forth with McIntyre remaining suspended, the announcement next week that CM Punk will return on Raw - and I am guessing here, preparing to argue for McIntyre to be released from his suspension so they can fight like real men do at Summerslam, it made me wonder how Seth Rollins could figure into all this….
Rollins hates Punk, for reasons we all know and don’t need to recount here. He also hates Drew, since Drew cost him the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania AND Money in the Bank.
Drew is throwing around referees and officials and showing all sorts of disdain, so if no one wants to be the Zebra in the middle of the madness between Punk and Drew, who better than Seth Rollins to be the man in the middle of the ring.
WWF could play off some of the same themes that made the 1997 Summerslam bout between Bret Hart and The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee with Rollins, who hates both men, torn between the two of them as he would prefer they take each other out.
All we need is a reason for Rollins to want to do this - and perhaps Pearce guarantees him, in writing, that Rollins gets the first shot at GUNTHER if he defeats Damian Priest at Summerslam. Rollins has a promised shot from Damian, but if GUNTHER wins, he’s got nothing guaranteed. Having to get through that match in order to earn that guarantee gives Rollins a reason to call it down the middle like Bill Alfonso and can lead to teases of Punk and Drew trying to get under his skin.
It could also take what most believe to be a guaranteed Summerslam showdown for two and make it something that now includes three compelling characters, and for once, without doing the tired Triple Threat tropes that we've all witnessed an infinite number of times before.
CHAD & THE CREEDS, MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
Kurt Angle 2024 now has his Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin. This should be FUN.
Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.
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