The May 5th, 2014 edition of Monday Night RAW began with a 20-Man Battle Royal for the United States Championship. Having battled in a 3-on-1 handicap match the week prior, not to mention the hellacious six-man tag match at Extreme Rules the night before, it should come as no surprise that Dean Ambrose lost the belt. The odds were more than against him.
Missed opportunities aplenty, the WWE made a mistake. Thus far I’ve avoided giving any SPOILERS, but this is where that ends.
SPOILERS to follow.
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
WWE picked Sheamus to become the new United States Champion, and although the former World Champion is certainly talented and charismatic, picking him to be the new title holder AND the way they went about it made for a missed opportunity.
The Battle Royal
By having the title change hands in a Battle Royal, it keeps us from getting any sort of serious feud between Dean Ambrose and the new champion. It means that although Dean Ambrose is angry about losing his belt, the focus of his frustration is directed at Evolution. Remember the great feuds between The Rock and Stone Cold? How about Triple H and The Rock? Jericho and Triple H? At one time or another, those all included the Intercontinental Title changing hands. Why not build up tensions between Dean Ambrose and the new United States Champion by having them square off in a match where a pinfall or submission was involved? Sure, Sheamus eliminated Dean Ambrose from the match to win the belt, but the damage had already been done by countless other Battle Royal contestants.
Because Ambrose had held the United States title belt for 350 days, whoever was able to wrestle the belt from him should’ve gotten a serious “rub” by dethroning someone who nearly made it a full year. But winning a Battle Royal? That just makes it seem like luck.
Sheamus
I like the idea of Sheamus being a champion, because he’s got good in-ring skills and he’s entertaining with a mic in his hand. How much better would it have been if he were going up against Bad News Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship? What about building up some chemistry between Sheamus and another competitor and having them form a tag team in a division which could seriously use some star power? There were better options for Sheamus than just the United States Championship.
They also could’ve established Sheamus as the fourth member of EVOLUTION and pushed the angle that direction. Imagine the heat Dean Ambrose would have with Sheamus at that point? Far more effective than Ambrose just getting frustrated because Triple H stacked some odds against him and he wasn’t able to win a Battle Royal.
Other Potential EVOLUTION Members
When the original EVOLUTION was formed, the idea was that they had guys who were “established” veterans, and they had young guys with tons of potential. It helped put over Randy Orton in a big way, and this would be a great spot to bring in a new member and give them a bit of a push right away. Some potential names:
- Titus O’Neil – What says “Millions of Dollars” quite like being a member of The EVOLUTION? And what better way to show that Triple H’s leadership is effective than to take Titus O’Neil and make him a champion? I was disappointed to see the guy get eliminated from the Battle Royal.
- Big E – The night after losing the Intercontinental Title to Bad News Barrett, WHY NOT turn Big E heel and put him into EVOLUTION?
- Dolph Ziggler – Talk about a guy who has been idling for a while and wasting tons of talent and would add a different “look” to EVOLUTION, Dolph Ziggler and the group would benefit quite a bit from this. The guy is an amazing worker and could be the one to perform most of the big spots in tag matches. He’s also a former World Champion, which can’t be said for anyone else on this shortlist.
- Tyson Kidd – He hasn’t been on television more than a handful of times in the past year, but he HAS been on Total Diva’s, meaning that people who watch that E! show are already familiar with him. Fans of Bret Hart have that connection to him. He could have some great discussions with Nattie on Total Diva’s about the alliance with EVOLUTION, potentially arguments. All that, AND he’s a great worker.
It’s being reported by various sources that Batista is going to be taking some time off this spring/summer to promote Guardians Of The Galaxy, so why not get one of those guys into EVOLUTION, build up some steam and momentum for them, and when Batista gets back, have some in-fighting among EVOLUTION members to even further put them over? It’s a win-win situation.
The Bulgarian Brute
Although I wouldn’t pick him to be a member of Evolution, primarily because Lana does a great job as his valet while adding some great eye candy, Alexander Rusev would be a great United States Champion. Now that WWE is starting to associate Rusev with Russia (even dedicating his Extreme Rules match to Putin), how great would the heat be if a guy who “now resides in Russia” to hold the US Championship? Having him win the Battle Royal could’ve been great, as would have him beating Dean Ambrose in a one-on-one match where Ambrose is still “selling” injuries from the night before.
Continued BRhodes Tension
They’re obviously building up some tensions between Goldust and Cody Rhodes, so why not continue to do that by putting the belt on Goldust? Obviously Cody is the one with the brighter future, so why not build up some jealousy of his older brother because he’s got the gold?
Another SHIELD Member
Why not have Triple H force Dean Ambrose to defend the belt against one of the other members of The SHIELD? Imagine Dean Ambrose telling Seth Rollins or Roman Reigns that he wants them to lay down for him so he can retain the belt, and they refuse? It doesn’t have to split up the group, but it can add some serious tension to them, and add to the speculation that they might split up. Plus it would give one of the other members the opportunity to have a trial run with a singles championship.
