A Night of Returns (RAW October 30th, 2017)

If you've been following Monday Night Raw for a while, you'd know that many favorite wrestlers have been making there return to Monday Night Raw in the wake of a backstage infection. For that reason it was an eventual night that natural makes wrestling fans exited and on the edge of there seats for the future. Lets go down the list.

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First we have Stephanie McMahon making her return to Monday Night Raw to chew out General Manager Kurt Angle for allowing the Smackdown Live roster to invade the Raw locker room. Stephanie hasn't been heard from since last years WrestleMania where Seth Rollins defeated her husband Triple H. So the reason for her return was to chew out Kurt Angle and make him the captain of team RAW for Survivor Series. Realistically speaking, Kurt is being used to fill in Roman Reigns shoes since he's still out sick. But ya know what, that's ok because he's the perfect replacement right now. He's a fan favorite WWE veteran, and he now has a reason to wrestle again. Stephanie was the perfect person to do make this decision. It all makes narrative sense. 

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Next we have Nia Jax making her return after a month. It was rumored that she walk out on the company due to mismanagement of her character, which audiences agree with. She a fan favorite and always gets the short end of the stick every time an opportunity comes around. Well if Emma, Summer Rae, and Darren Young taught us anything it's that if you really are done with WWE, they will make a social media announcement about it. Anyway, she was introduced by Alicia Fox, who is going to be captain of the RAW women's division for Survivor Series. She beat Bayley and was Alicia's first pick for the women team. Personally, I liked it. This segment put fans at easy on Nia Jax's status in the company, show cased her dominance, and established future plans for her. An overall great way to build back her momentum. 

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Next we have Daniel Bryan makes a surprise return to RAW. Kurt Angle was naturally alarmed thinking the Smackdown roster was planning another raid. However, Daniel said he was simply there to make peace, but Kurt won't by it. The rest is a bit random. Kurt leaves the room, the lights go out, and Kane (Daniel Bryans former tag team partner) attacked Daniel, and thats were the segment ends. While I do see what they were going for with this segment, building heat between rosters before Survivor Series, it just felt random and as fan service. So narratively speaking it felt flat. But still, it's always good to see Daniel Bryan. 

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Next we have Samoa Joe. His return to the show was solid. He came back unannounced and cut a great promo reminding everyone he's a badass. He went on to have a squash match with Apollo Crews, and finish the segment of by chocking out Titus O'Niel. After months of absence due to injury, he came back and made a simple statement, he means business.

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Finally, we have Braun Strowman. His return was easily the best of the night and they wisely saved it for last. After team Miz betrayed him at TLC by throwing him in the back of a garbage truck, he ironically returned by coming out of the back of a garbage truck. He slowly rose from the trash and went on a rampage, absolutely destroying Miz, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas. While the segment started cheesy and cartoonish, it's conclusion left you with an adrenaline rush. It was silly-action-pack fun that all wrestling fans could enjoy. A rock solid finisher to Monday Night Raw. 

Why Neville vs Enzo Amore was the absolute worst idea

As of now, Enzo Amore is feuding with Kalisto for the Cruiserweight championships on 205 Live. And most people aren't a fan of that, such as myself. This is all because of Neville's absence on the show. This is the consequences of backstage heat, drama, and politics. Here's the backstory...

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Neville first signed on with the company in 2012 and joined the NXT roster. He displayed excellent acrobatics and technical skill. He would be known as the main that gravity forgot. He was well received well by the audience and would later become NXT tag team champion and the NXT champion for awhile. Eventually, he would make his way to the main roster in 2015. Although Neville proved to be a great talent and a fan favorite, he wasn't utilized by the WWE as a main event star and would just be a filler wrestler. He would however find opportunity in the new Cruiserweight division on Monday Night Raw. He would defeat Rich Swann for the Championship at the 2016 Royal Rumble. He would go on to achieve a winning streak for half a year as champion. He not only showed himself to be a dominant force in the division, but also used his pre-existing status to elevate the reputation of the division. He made the Cruiserweight division relevant. Then Enzo came into the picture.

Before being drafted to the Cruiserweight division, Enzo was tag team partners with Big Cass. Since they were drafted to RAW, they got over with the fans easily but failed to achieve the Tag Team Championship multiple times. What it all came down to was Enzo being the one who usually came up short in the end. Cass would then go on to turn heel on Enzo, which would send Enzo on a loosing streak until Big Cass injured himself in a match. Enzo would float around for a while before being drafted to the Cruiserweight division. He would eventually defeat Neville at the pay-per-view No Mercy for he Cruiserweight championship, which is where the issue beings.

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The results of the match were completely backwards realistically. Neville had established himself as a dominate and talented force in the Cruiserweight division and as a member of the WWE roster. Enzo on the other hand, not so much. He was a rag doll, a punching bag, and on a losing streak. Making Neville loose to Enzo undermines everything he's achieve and established over the past 6 months. The decision to make Neville drop the belt to Enzo ultimately came down to company sales. Enzo's character is much more marketable to children and younger fans, much like the kid friendly John Cena. In this case, showmanship was valued over talent. This currently doesn't sit well with the fans who express a lot of resentment towards the WWE. So does Neville apparently. It's been reported that he's been absent from active competition and refuses to wrestle. It's turning into CM Punk all over again.

Why Asuka vs Emma isn't working

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Asuka is one of WWE's finest athletes in the women's division. She's finally made her TLC and the crowd welcomed her with open arms. She had here match against Emma and... it was a bit disappointing. The following night Emma challenged Asuka to a rematch and... it was also a dud. Now your probably wondering why isn't this feud working? Well let me give you some backstory.

First we have Asuka. Before debuting in WWE's subdivision NXT, Asuka was one of the hottest wrestlers on the Japanese indie circuit. Her in ring skills are a clear example of that. She signed with NXT back in 2015 to positive reception. She would eventually win the NXT Woman's Championship. What people didn't expect was for Asuka to go on and make WWE history for longest winning streak, previously held by the one and only Goldberg. That's a huge achievement, especially since this all took place in a WWE subdivision. With her in ring talent, well developed character, and new winning streak, Asuka had finally gotten over with the fans. 

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Now let's take a look at Emma. She's an Australian wrestler who spent a good amount of time on the indie circuit before being signed on to NXT. Her gimmick at he time was... a clumsy dancer; doesn't quite say badass pro wrestler. While she was accepted by the crowd, she would go on to win any championships or break any records. She eventually made her way up to the main roster, before Raw and Smackdown became separate rosters. She kept her dancing gimmick, which again, just doesn't really resonate with wrestling fans. A year later, she would return to NXT because her run on the main roster wasn't working for her. It was back to the drawing board for Emma. She would later change her name to Emmalia, only to change back to Emma when she returned to Monday Night Raw the night after WrestleMania. She would appear on and off TV, but now with a twitter gimmick. Once again, not really resonating with wrestling fans. 

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The 50/50 booking of Asuka and Emma didn't work because it creates an inconsistency in the characters. Asuka is a badass who does little walk but all the walk. Emma does all talk and little walk. Being scripted, it's important for professional wrestling booking to make sense and being somewhat realistic. Emma being on the same level as Asuka doesn't make any sense. So when fans watch Emma on the offensive for both the pay-per-view match and rematch, they roll their eyes and become disinterested, because all they really wanted was a squash-match. In a perfect world, a squash-match with Asuka winning would be perfect and simple story telling. It would be a great showcase for Asuka's skills at her TLC debut. Emma in this case was a sacrificial lamb no matter which direction they took this storyline, she just doesn't resonate with fans. 

UPDATE: Emma has just been released from her WWE contract. This is the latest in a long line of wrestlers who have been leaving or fired from the company. 

Welcome to Suplex City News

Hello and welcome to Suplex City News. Here, we are all about discussing WWE storylines. The best, the worst, and the down right mediocre.

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It's no secret that Pro Wrestling is a scripted sport, but that's ok. We don't watch super hero movies because they are real, we watch them because they are fun, larger than life, exciting! That's modern pro wrestling in a nutshell, it's the worlds manliest soap opera.

When you hear Pro Wrestling, you immediately think of the WWE, the undisputed pro wrestling empire. They've dominated the business for unparalleled decades and have given us some of the greatest story lines in the sport. The Undertakers legendary Streak, Daniel Bryan's triumphant WrestleMania victory, and legendary superstars such as Triple H, John Cena, Chris Jericho, and The Rock. Even if you haven heard of these guys, you've probably heard their catch phrases, iconic moments, and memes.

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But not everything they do is perfect, and as fans it is our job it point out bad decisions and mistakes. Without the WWE's former rival show, WCW, they don't have to try like they used to and it shows. The company's reputation and popularity has decline in recent years for a multitude of reasons. Mediocre storylines and bad booking have lead to low attendance turn outs for Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live. 


An article from Sportskeeda.com states "Recently, a trend that has been noticed is the audiences warming up to the heels and anti-heroes of the company. CM Punk got a massive break with his infamous pipebomb in 2011, which endeared him to the fans. In the recent Wrestlemania as well, the fans were seen cheering for the heels."

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On this blog we will discuss which story lines are working, which story lines are falling flat, which ones were dead on arrival and why. 

But why is this important you might ask? Well because it helps us get invested in what we are seeing, it gives us a reason to care about what's happening to our favorite wrestler. Wrestling storylines can make us laugh, cry, and leave us speechless. In a day and age where fans can directly communicate to the ones pulling the strings, it more important than ever to be vocal about it.