Eight Things I would like to see happen in 2016
NXT Graduates booked right and set in the right direction
One of my biggest issues with the WWE right now is how they book NXT talents who get their main roster call up. There are a bunch of NXT graduates that have found themselves lost on the main roster with poor booking, weak storyline's and a lack of direction. Bo Dallas, Adam Rose, Becky Lynch, Tyler Breeze, even Adrian Neville have all found themselves in this category and it's extremely frustrating. As someone who has been watching NXT from say one, someone who has watched all of these superstars improve, develop and make such an impact it's so frustrating seeing where they are right now. Back in he's NXT days, Bo Dallas was one of the most promising talents around. He was one of the biggest talents on the NXT roster and now we hardly see him and when we do he's one massive joke. He had no direction when he was called up and has adapted the perfect role of a jobber. The same can be said for Adam Rose and I hate to say it but I fear that Breeze could find himself in the same place this time next year. He is without a doubt one of my favourite superstars in all of the WWE. He's got a great character and is a phenomenal wrestler but looking at he's first couple of months on the main roster things are not looking good at all. Neville is another example. Don't get me wrong he has competed in some great matches but the direction he has been going in and is yet to be apart of a captivating storyline/feud of the standard we saw from he's NXT days. In twenty sixteen I'm hopeing that the WWE focus more on using their NXT graduates properly. Debuting them just because they are ready isn't enough if there is no solid plan. Call them up because there is a place for them, something for that superstar jump right into and prove why the future is so bright. Throughout last year the WWE proved that they don't know what to do with NXT superstars who get the call up, that needs to change this year.
Bray Wyatt used properly
I honestly don't remember the last feud/storyline that Bray Wyatt found himself coming up on top of at the end. He is without a doubt one of the best all round performers of today. He has incredible mic skills that no one can touch, he's fantastic in the ring, and has one of the most interesting and captivating characters and while he has competed in a handful of solid and entertaining storyline's and matches he is lacking some serious momentum. He's easily one of the most promising up and coming stars and will be a massive part of the future of the WWE but the WWE just aren't using him properly what so ever. The storyline's have at times been way too overly dramatic and he's win/loss record is terrible. For two thousand and fifteen what the WWE need to do is take it back a little. Go with the less is more vibe, and just calm down a little. Focus on one or two big elements of he's character and go with those for a while. He and the Wyatt family clan have recently shown once again just how extreme they are brining back the ECW feel we all love and miss today, and if they focus on him being this massive extreme wrestling, cult leader and actually push him to start working in the main event picture they could be onto something amazing. He more than deserves to be in the main event picture and chasing after the WWE Championship. Later on in the year I would love to see him go on to win the money in the bank with the help of the Wyatt family. The WWE could work on a great storyline with a crazy, extreme, cult leader as the champion.
Upgrade Divas Championship
The divas championship and the diva name itself is still one of the most degrading, embarrassing, derogatory things in the WWE. The fact that female talent are still named "divas" in two thousand and sixteen and forced to chase after a championship that looks as though it was designed to accompany a doll is ridiculous. With NXT spending twenty fifteen improving and changing the perception of women's wrestling it's time the main roster followed in the same footsteps. If NXT can call their championship a women's championship and introduce the female talent/matches as women then the main roster can do the exact same thing. A change in name and title seems like such a basic, little thing but it would make a massive difference and prove a big point. It's time that the WWE started working a lot harder on improving and developing the "divas" division and there's no better way to take a big step forward than upgrading the championship and renaming the division. A more respectful title that represents the women properly and what they stand for is exactly what they need and deserve. Personally, I love the idea of Sasha Banks (who is very vocal about being named a women's wrestler instead of a diva) win the championship and the following night do an Alundra Blayze and binning the divas championship. I think I actually mentioned the same thing when Charlotte won the title as well.
Seth Rollins returns as a baby face to take on Triple H
One of the most devastating things to happen in two thousand and fifteen was easily Seth Rollins' major knee injury. It was extremely bad timing and very unexpected. It's safe to say he was the hottest thing in the WWE with big storyline's and matches left right and centre. As a big Rollins fan I can honestly sit here and say I have missed him a lot since he has been absent and waiting for he's return seems to feel like it is never ending. However, he is well and truly on the mend and we can expect to see Rollins back in action at some point this year. Predicting when may be a little difficult but personally I'm hopeing he is back in time for SummerSlam for the obvious reasons. He will most likely be missing Wrestlemania witch is to be expected anyway so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will be back in time for the second biggest pay per view of the year. Now, Rollins has been working as a phenomenal heel over the past couple of years, there's no denying that at all but I'm one hundred percent expecting to see him return this year as a baby face. Before he's injury we could see for months that there were cracks beginning to show between Rollins and the rest of the Authority, particularly growing issues between Rollins and Triple H. Since Rollins has been out of action we have seen Hunter focus a lot of he's attentions on Roman Reigns and if we go right back to the night the tournament to determine a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion was announced, Triple H actually attempted to get Roman on he's side as the new "top man" creating a solid storyline and potential feud between Hunter and Rollins when the Architect makes he's return. We could expect to see Triple H talk he's way out of the situation claiming that it was what was best for business and he needed a new man to step in but to keep Rollins on side he would simply say that no man would have been better than Rollins on the top spot. A couple of weeks past with more crack beginning to show and eventually Rollins turns on Hunter setting up a one on one between the two at SummerSlam. Now, even if Rollins isn't back in time for SummerSlam a feud between these two is without a doubt on the cards and something to expect to see. Despite being a major Rollins fan I wouldn't want to see him jump right into the championship picture and instead focus more on a feud with Triple H and make he's way back up to the championship picture. Of course a Shield reunion is always something I would want to see as well! Roman Reigns VS Triple H at SummerSlam with a returning Rollins interrupting the match to shockingly turn on Hunter would make me a very happy girl.
Consistency with diva storyline's and characters
Now, I don't know if I come from another planet but the WWE honestly make booking it's female talent well look like mission impossible. Last year NXT proved yet again that booking female talent is just as simple as booking it's male talent. Throughout twenty fifteen women of NXT were treated almost the exact same. We had regular women's matches weekly with women main eventing episodes of NXT on several different occasions including a live event. The storyline's were gripping and entertaining and had the fans on their feet every single week. In the Summer of last year the WWE promised a change in the division up on the main roster after calling up three of NXT's top female compositors in Sasha Banks, Charlotte, and Becky Lynch creating a divas revolution. But the revolution could not have been a bigger fail. In a couple of weeks time I will actually be writing a blog post where I talk in more detail about why I think the divas revolution was a fail so keep an eye out for that in the weeks to come. There were so many things done wrong last year with the main roster divas division. The booking was beyond repetitive. I have honestly lost count of how many tag team matches we got last year. It will take one more divas tag team match and I think I will just go insane! There was a lack of story development, I found it difficult to get into and storyline because their was no consistency and the writing was so dramatic and "total divas like". They focused way too much on drama and didn't pay enough attention to both the storyline's and the female talent. For example, Paige spent most of the year feuding with the Bella's in the exact same storyline. If they mimicked what NXT have been doing with their talent, keeping storyline's basic and minimalistic yet still entertaining and interesting then they will be heading in the right direction. What the WWE also need to focus on is consistency with characters in the divas division. As it currently stands, I have no idea who on earth is a heel and who is a baby face. During the Charlotte VS Paige feud I had no clue who I was supposed to be booing and who I was supposed to be backing. Are Alicia Fox and Brie Bella heels or baby faces? Why are team B.A.D slowly becoming a failed, awkward version of the New Day? The WWE really do need to focus on their divas division and start paying more attention to storyline's and characters.
One of the changes I'm writing about today that I'm most passionate about is without a doubt reducing RAW to a two hour weekly show. A three hour wrestling product every single week is a heck of a lot (and a painful one for us British viewers) and I would be almost perfectly fine with the idea of a three hour show if the were using their time properly but the past year has proven that their not what so ever. Every single week are left sitting through boring, repetitive segments and promos, predicable matches, pointless backstage interviews, and a million commercial adverts. If we take a look at the actual wrestling you probably only actually get around an hour or so and that's it. Taking a step back and cutting out an hour is without question one of the best moves the WWE could make next. NXT is living proof that shorter shows can mean betters shows and an all round better product. Every week NXT are giving just one hour to put on a great show and almost every single week I personally am left fully captivated and entertained by the talent. The show is kept to a small handful of matches but all have relevance and generate some kind of reaction. I never feel like I have to use one of the matches on the card as a bathroom break. Everything has some kind of meaning behind it. The segments and backstage interviews are all fitted in perfectly, they all have a place and once again they have meaning behind them. RAW could really benefit from going down to a two hour show. It would mean that the WWE would have to be tighter and more sensible with bookings. They would have to pay more attention to build ups to pay per views with shorter time and it would mean that we wouldn't have any pointless three minuet matches here and there. Everything will go back to having a purpose. Cutting down to hours means the fans are able to pay attention more and generate more interest in RAW itself and live specials/pay per views.
Baron Corbin becoming NXT Champion
Throughout two thousand and fifteen we saw Baron Corbin better himself month after month as he slowly become one of the hottest talents on the NXT roster. It may have took him a while to really get going but he ended the year on a massive high with things looking very strong heading into the new year. He spent the last thew months of twenty fifteen competing in much stronger and longer matches against big name opponents like Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. The highlight of Corbin's year was without a doubt he's huge victory over Crews at NXT Takeover London. I wasn't expecting the win at all but it was such a big one for Corbin and such a major deal for him. Whether you like him or not he is one of the top, main event stars in NXT right now. Yes, he still has a long way to go. He has a lot of improvements to make with he's character development. I still feel like he's holding back and has a lot more that he needs to show to make him a stronger heel and a better all round WWE superstars but I'm going to be talking more about the improvements Corbin needs to make in an up and coming blog post so keep an eye out for that. Back to what I want to see this year and that is of course Corbin becoming NXT champion. I was predicting Joe to be the next NXT champion with Balor dropping the title at Takeover London but after Balor retained the championship my attention went straight onto Corbin. Picking up a victory over Apollo Crews was a massive jump forward and both Corbin and the WWE/NXT sent a big message. There is no doubt that he is going to be coming after the NXT championship and he has earned the right to be put into the championship picture. By the time the next Takeover rolls around he should have shown more improvements in he's character, mic ability, and wrestling ability. Taking on a superstar like Balor forces Corbin to seriously up he's game and if he wants to come across like a legitimate threat to Balor and the championship then he is going to have to work really really hard in the up and coming months. Looking at the current NXT roster I do think that Corbin is the most likely next NXT champion. He's beaming with momentum and has come a long way in the past year keeping in mind the improvements he still has to make. It will also be really refreshing to see a new NXT champion crowned that hasn't come from the independent scene. NXT could benefit from sending the message out that you don't have to be a former indie talent to make it big in NXT and becoming champion.
A divas Royal Rumble.
If I could introduce one new thing to the WWE it would without a doubt be a divas Royal Rumble. Over the years we have seen three women enter the actual Royal Rumble match up all of witch having a moment in the spotlight but never have we ever seen the women of World Wrestling Entertainment given their own Royal Rumble match. A chance for every diva to earn the opportunity at facing the divas champion at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. One of the main reasons we haven't seen this done before is most probably because we've only ever seen the Divas Championship defend at Mania once, that of course being back at Wrestlemania thirty when AJ Lee was forced to face the entire female locker room in one match and I think we can all agree that was one disaster of a "match" to say the least. However, with a roster now full of amazing female wrestlers and thanks to the four horsemen and NXT as a whole there is a new found level of respect and demand for Women's wrestling. With the attention women's wrestling has generated over the past year or so the time could not be more right to introduce a divas Royal Rumble. The argument would of course be that there isn't enough divas on the roster for a Rumble but me being me I disagree and I do think there is a solution. We don't have an empty female locker room to say the least it's just that the WWE seem to be obsessed with throwing certain divas in our faces week in and week out. If they were to go for a divas Royal Rumble we could expect to see the obvious faces like Paige, Naomi, The Bella's and Alicia Fox as entrants but this could be the perfect way to allow up and coming NXT divas to be introduced to the WWE universe such as Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, and Carmella for example.This wouldn't be an official debut but simply an opportunity. We could also see familiar faces that we all know like Emma and Eva Marie. They could use it to call divas like Bayley up to the main roster and surprise returns would be just as effective and add that classic unpredictability that you get in a Royal Rumble (unpredictability being something that is missing in the division.) With divas like Maria Kanellis rumoured to maybe making a return to the WWE at some point in the future (despite TNA rumours) this really could be the excitement and unpredictability injected into
the divsion that it's missing not to mention a step forward in proving that men and women in the WWE are working as equals with equal opportunities. After all, Wrestlemania should mean just as much to the divas as it should the superstars right? When it comes down to booking a potential divas Royal Rumble I would go for the obvious but most popular choice; we have a bunch of returns and debuts with the end result seeing Bayley the new girl, Paige the popular one, Naomi the underutilised one, and Sasha Banks the fan favourite as the final four. Sasha and Naomi work together to take out Paige and Bayley (still working as part of team bad) but when Naomi's back is turnt Sasha goes right back into the boss mode and takes out Naomi winning the rumble. Or to keep fans sweet we see Sasha take Naomi out much earlier and the final two come down to Sasha and Bayley. With their history it's bound to be a popular choice and the end result would go down well either way. With Sasha as the winner She could easily feud with Naomi for Fastlane gaining momentum before facing Charlotte at Wrestlemania were hopefully she would become the first diva to win the divas championship at Wrestlemania.
Baron Corbin becoming NXT Champion
Throughout two thousand and fifteen we saw Baron Corbin better himself month after month as he slowly become one of the hottest talents on the NXT roster. It may have took him a while to really get going but he ended the year on a massive high with things looking very strong heading into the new year. He spent the last thew months of twenty fifteen competing in much stronger and longer matches against big name opponents like Finn Balor and Apollo Crews. The highlight of Corbin's year was without a doubt he's huge victory over Crews at NXT Takeover London. I wasn't expecting the win at all but it was such a big one for Corbin and such a major deal for him. Whether you like him or not he is one of the top, main event stars in NXT right now. Yes, he still has a long way to go. He has a lot of improvements to make with he's character development. I still feel like he's holding back and has a lot more that he needs to show to make him a stronger heel and a better all round WWE superstars but I'm going to be talking more about the improvements Corbin needs to make in an up and coming blog post so keep an eye out for that. Back to what I want to see this year and that is of course Corbin becoming NXT champion. I was predicting Joe to be the next NXT champion with Balor dropping the title at Takeover London but after Balor retained the championship my attention went straight onto Corbin. Picking up a victory over Apollo Crews was a massive jump forward and both Corbin and the WWE/NXT sent a big message. There is no doubt that he is going to be coming after the NXT championship and he has earned the right to be put into the championship picture. By the time the next Takeover rolls around he should have shown more improvements in he's character, mic ability, and wrestling ability. Taking on a superstar like Balor forces Corbin to seriously up he's game and if he wants to come across like a legitimate threat to Balor and the championship then he is going to have to work really really hard in the up and coming months. Looking at the current NXT roster I do think that Corbin is the most likely next NXT champion. He's beaming with momentum and has come a long way in the past year keeping in mind the improvements he still has to make. It will also be really refreshing to see a new NXT champion crowned that hasn't come from the independent scene. NXT could benefit from sending the message out that you don't have to be a former indie talent to make it big in NXT and becoming champion.
A divas Royal Rumble.
If I could introduce one new thing to the WWE it would without a doubt be a divas Royal Rumble. Over the years we have seen three women enter the actual Royal Rumble match up all of witch having a moment in the spotlight but never have we ever seen the women of World Wrestling Entertainment given their own Royal Rumble match. A chance for every diva to earn the opportunity at facing the divas champion at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania. One of the main reasons we haven't seen this done before is most probably because we've only ever seen the Divas Championship defend at Mania once, that of course being back at Wrestlemania thirty when AJ Lee was forced to face the entire female locker room in one match and I think we can all agree that was one disaster of a "match" to say the least. However, with a roster now full of amazing female wrestlers and thanks to the four horsemen and NXT as a whole there is a new found level of respect and demand for Women's wrestling. With the attention women's wrestling has generated over the past year or so the time could not be more right to introduce a divas Royal Rumble. The argument would of course be that there isn't enough divas on the roster for a Rumble but me being me I disagree and I do think there is a solution. We don't have an empty female locker room to say the least it's just that the WWE seem to be obsessed with throwing certain divas in our faces week in and week out. If they were to go for a divas Royal Rumble we could expect to see the obvious faces like Paige, Naomi, The Bella's and Alicia Fox as entrants but this could be the perfect way to allow up and coming NXT divas to be introduced to the WWE universe such as Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, and Carmella for example.This wouldn't be an official debut but simply an opportunity. We could also see familiar faces that we all know like Emma and Eva Marie. They could use it to call divas like Bayley up to the main roster and surprise returns would be just as effective and add that classic unpredictability that you get in a Royal Rumble (unpredictability being something that is missing in the division.) With divas like Maria Kanellis rumoured to maybe making a return to the WWE at some point in the future (despite TNA rumours) this really could be the excitement and unpredictability injected into the divsion that it's missing not to mention a step forward in proving that men and women in the WWE are working as equals with equal opportunities. After all, Wrestlemania should mean just as much to the divas as it should the superstars right? When it comes down to booking a potential divas Royal Rumble I would go for the obvious but most popular choice; we have a bunch of returns and debuts with the end result seeing Bayley the new girl, Paige the popular one, Naomi the underutilised one, and Sasha Banks the fan favourite as the final four. Sasha and Naomi work together to take out Paige and Bayley (still working as part of team bad) but when Naomi's back is turnt Sasha goes right back into the boss mode and takes out Naomi winning the rumble. Or to keep fans sweet we see Sasha take Naomi out much earlier and the final two come down to Sasha and Bayley. With their history it's bound to be a popular choice and the end result would go down well either way. With Sasha as the winner She could easily feud with Naomi for Fastlane gaining momentum before facing Charlotte at Wrestlemania were hopefully she would become the first diva to win the divas championship at Wrestlemania.
So that is my list of eight things I would like to see happen in two thousand and sixteen. There is still plenty more I would love to talk about so if you would be interested in a part two let me know down in the comments bellow.
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