Facts from WWE Extreme Rules, Sunday 4th May 2014

Some reactions to last night’s pay-per-view. Spoilers abound throughout, as does enthusiasm about good professional wrestling. 

Question: what are your predictions for tonight’s Extreme Rules?

It’s come round very quickly, but tonight it’s Extreme Rules! What’s going to happen?

Question: is this a changing of the guard in WWE?

After Wrestlemania, there was talk about how this was a new generation of WWE talent taking over. Undertaker lost his streak; the New Age Outlaws and Kane were squashed by the Shield; and Daniel Bryan defeated the Authority to become the face of the company.

And last night’s RAW seems to consolidate that view.

There were vignettes for Adam Rose and Bo Dallas; Emma and Summer Rae featured in another mixed tag and got big cheers; Cesaro is the new Paul Heyman guy; Lana introduced the Bulgarian Brute Alexander Rusev, who dispatched Zack Ryder; and perhaps most amazingly (but wonderfully) Paige won the Divas title on her debut, pinning AJ Lee.

At the end, as the stable formerly known as Evolution retreated in the face of Bryan and the Shield’s dominance, they looked old…old and tired…and the once-invincible bullies were helpless.

I am excited for what’s coming up on WWE. I hope this fantastic and sparkling promise for the next 12 months comes to fruition.

Facts from Wrestlemania 30, 6th April 2014

The wrestling fan’s ersatz bank holiday weekend, Wrestlemania 30 was last night, and I had a lot of thoughts about it. Spoiler, obviously.

Question: has CM Punk left WWE forever?

Everyone in the entire world seems to already know this, but just in case – stories suggest that CM Punk has walked out on WWE, hence his absence from Monday Night RAW.

There’s always the wobble over whether this is real or kayfabe, but, like the Daniel Bryan/Royal Rumble saga, this is also being covered by mainstream media; and although WWE are sticking to their “no comment” line – as they did over the weekend – they don’t need to, there’s enough hysteria (and, obviously, interest) being whipped up without them having to do anything.

Question: what did WWE expect to happen at the Royal Rumble?

@tholzerman Interesting re Bryan. Yep, if he's in and doesn't win, he overshadows whoever does – but if he's NOT in and doesn't win

— Carrie Dunn (@carriesparkle) January 25, 2014

@tholzerman the same thing will happen. I don't know how I feel. Am so confuse.

— Carrie Dunn (@carriesparkle) January 25, 2014

I hate to quote myself, but I was right, wasn’t I?

Thing is, if I could predict this, why couldn’t the WWE?

Question: what was your WWE Best PPV match of 2013?

Idly watching WWE’s latest home DVD release – Best PPV Matches of 2013 – was an odd experience for me.

To be honest, give me a show or compilation with Renee Young presenting and you can guarantee I’ll watch – she’s smart, she knows her stuff, and she has a real personality – a terrific addition to the WWE’s reporting team.

But even with Young doing the links between matches, it seemed a bit strange to me to watch PPV matches in isolation – out of the context of their PPVs and their broader storyline. Although I saw all last year’s WWE PPVs, watching them back in this setting was like watching them for the first time, entirely free of the baggage I brought to them initially.

Obviously MY best PPV matches of 2013 would mostly involve the Shield, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, but I understand and appreciate that this has to be evened out to appeal to people who aren’t ladysmarks, so of course you’ve got John Cena v the Rock and Alberto Del Rio v Rob Van Dam as well.

Fact: Monday Night RAW can be amazing just for half an hour

You might have seen on Twitter today that some of the folk in the British wrestling community have been posting only nice tweets – none of the negativity and bitching that we normally get on there.

And in that spirit, I’ve revised the blog I was going to write today.

Facts from Friday Night Smackdown, Manchester Arena, Tuesday 12th November 2013

As always, a brief round-up of my reaction to the episode of Smackdown that’ll air this Friday, and which we saw filmed last night. Spoilers abound. (We also saw Main Event matches but I don’t care about that because if it’s not on Sky Sports, it doesn’t really exist.)

Question: do WWE know what their fans want?

After today’s post from reader Mike, I thought I’d respond and put forward a few of my own thoughts on the plummeting PPV buyrates – and basically I’m starting to question whether the WWE powers-that-be know (or care) what the fans want.

Summerslam was a damp squib because of:

• The lack of titles being defended on the card

The failure to defend belts on the main card means a lack of glamour and attraction; throwing away the Shield and their duo of titles on the pre-show is ludicrous. AJ could have defended her title against Kaitlyn; Dolphin and Langston could have been the pre-show.