by Hanley! » Jul 25, '18, 3:33 pm
I think you're being very kind to some of those performers and angles, John.
It is a problem that Nia Jax is a babyface fighting heels that are half her size. That's a stupid booking decision to begin with; Jax should never have been cast in that role. It's a problem they created for themselves for no reason. You know what else sucks about Jax though? Everything. She's awful. She has no right being on the main roster yet, let alone working title matches on pay per view.
You say that Chris Benoit was a much better wrestler than Steve Austin, but Steve Austin was a freaking terrific wrestler. He didn't have the same technical style as Benoit but he was a great worker in his own right. Bliss is not. I used to be a Bliss fan/defender on NXT when she was used more as a manager or midcard heel. Because that's a better role for her. In a division with quite a few genuinely talented wrestlers, she's not nearly good enough in the ring to be their biggest female star. They started a "women's revolution" and then went and found themselves a Diva to lead it. Until she can put on an above average match, she doesn't deserve to be in the spot she's in.
I personally can't stand Carmella. Last I saw of her, she was completely inept in the ring. Fair enough, she won't be at the top of the division for long, but they shouldn't treat their divisions or titles like that. If she's a low level talent, don't book her on top of everyone else, even for a few months. It just makes the whole show seem like a joke.
Deciding when to pull the trigger is one of the problems with Bayley and Sasha's feud. The other problem is that the feud has sucked, both characters are completely unlikable now, and I'm not sure anyone even wants to see the match anymore. And they had one of the best WWE matches of the decade when they were back in NXT! It takes talent to turn people off them this badly.
I don't like being harsh on the women's division, because I really want it to work. I'm a fan of women's wrestling done well, and it's something that I'm not getting from New Japan so it's one of the few real draws WWE could have for me now. And a couple of years ago, Becky, Bayley, Banks, Charlotte and Asuka were some of my favourite performers in the company. I'd love that to become the case again. But I'm not going to give the company any points for creating "revolutionary" new matches for the women, if the division sucks. It doesn't have to suck either. They could turn things around tomorrow. They just choose not to.