Wednesday, MAY 6 – 4:34 PM (CT)

-Stephanie McMahon recently told the WWE superstars that they are welcome to pitch ideas for their characters, that there was no glass ceiling, and that they were eager to create new stars. A lot of questions immediately popped into my head upon reading this news, but the one that repeated itself over and over was, “Is this an excuse for the creative team not being that creative?”

Let’s face it, the creative team will sometimes give the fans a disappointing product. They will go back to the well and produce the same ideas and the same television over and over again. So, is this Stephanie being genuine or is she throwing in the towel? I would like to think she is sincere and it is a legitimate challenge for everyone to elevate themselves.

Of course, there is a protocol that ideas need to be presented in a professional manner. If someone rubs somebody the wrong way, it is likely even if they had the best idea imaginable, it would probably be overlooked. Unfortunately, I am skeptical. A lot of lower to middle card talents are told not to do certain things in their matches in fear of overshadowing the main event(s) later in the show.

Looking at this in a positive light, WWE seems to be moving forward with pushing different talent, so maybe this is an opportunity for those who have been overlooked to shine. I’ve said this a million times, but John Cena, Shawn Michaels, and Triple H are in positions where they will always be over. Triple H could lose his next ten matches and he would still be over.

As a result, those at the top of the card should use their stroke to get others there too. That is how the business progresses throughout the years. Imagine a fan today who tunes in to see Michaels or The Undertaker; this is probably the same fan who tuned in to see Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage back in the day. When Cena, Triple H, Michaels, and Batista are retired, somebody needs to step into those spots.

In my opinion, there is room for a lot of main eventers in WWE. For example, when Michaels faced Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XIX, the match went on in the middle of the show, but it was a main event level match. Wouldn’t it be great if a pay-per-view card consisted of six or seven main event level matches even though only two will be for the big titles?

Coming out of the draft, it is hard to argue anyone but The Miz being the most entertaining performer on Monday Night Raw. The Miz has cut two promos in the last two weeks with John Cena as his primary target. Cena is currently in a program with Big Show, but WWE should really continue to have The Miz cut promos and perhaps get involved in the Cena vs. Show pay-per-view match.

If Cena beats The Miz in their first match, which is unfortunately what will probably happen, it all but kills the feud. A babyface going over a heel cleanly in their first match together makes it difficult to book more matches. Furthermore, if Cena beats Miz, Cena doesn’t elevate himself any more than he already is, and the opportunity to elevate Miz has been squandered.

Imagine Miz defeating John Cena in their first match together. He could do it cleanly or through other methods. Say he beats Cena cleanly; Miz himself and the announcers can use that bit of information for a long time and Miz will be instantly elevated. If he beats Cena via cheating, he can say how he outsmarted him. Either way, Cena is going to want his revenge, but Miz will have that win under his belt.

I chose to focus on Miz here, but this formula would work for a lot of guys waiting to break through the glass ceilerrrrrrrrrrrr, make the most of their opportunity to be elevated. If WWE truly wants to make new stars, they need to tell their current stars to get on board and be willing to make them. Using creative ideas of talent is one thing, letting the cream rise to the top is something completely different. Let’s hope WWE does both.

Monday, MAY 4 – 10:30 AM (CT)

-My week has jumped out to a not so great start. First of all, I lost my checkbook. Who loses their checkbook? Well, me I guess. I write checks for two bills. One of them is to a personal party, but the other one needs to get on board with direct withdrawal. Secondly, somebody stole my chair from my desk at work. That's irony for you; I work at a jail and somebody that works here stole from me.

-Anyway, I could go on about my day or even my weekend, but this is a professional wrestling site, so let's talk about Ric Flair. We all know Flair's asking price for appearances and he is obviously making great money on the independent scene. I was not so sure about ROH bringing him in, but I saw both sides of the argument. Those in favor said ROH needs a big name that will attract new viewers. Those not in favor said ROH should focus on the talent they already have.

Well, after seeing a mere advertisement for ROH on HDNet with footage of Flair, I was immediately on board. Then I watched the show and I actually felt like a kid again watching Flair open the broadcast with a subdued, but very good Flair promo. Ric Flair was not there to put over Ric Flair, Ric Flair was there to put over ROH and specifically, their champion Jerry Lynn.

I mentioned this in the ROH Hitlist, but Flair's appearance on the show made the show look major league. Flair will always be old school and ROH is as old school as it gets in this day and age. If Hulk Hogan or even Steve Austin went to ROH and put over their talented roster, it would not mean as much as Flair doing it. When Flair said he respects and appreciates ROH and their roster, I completely believe him.

While the segment with Flair put over ROH and produced the best mic work of Jerry Lynn's career, the man who came out of the segment looking like a huge superstar was Austin Aries. Aries came out and played the perfect heel to both Flair and Lynn. He played the arrogant heel but still managed to mention he respected both Flair and Lynn. That was well done.

Beyond that, Aries confidently put himself over as the top guy of ROH's past and the top guy of ROH's future. He mentioned he was a former ROH Champion and he was gunning for Jerry Lynn's title in an attempt to become the first two time ROH Champion. The best part of the segment for me was Flair saying, "I love your attitude" to Aries. It almost felt like a shoot moment to me because I think it was Flair basically saying, "I see a lot of myself in you."

So, with one segment, ROH established that Flair could make future appearances by naming him the "ROH Ambassador." They also set up a likely program pitting Lynn against Aries for the ROH Championship. Later in the show, they announced a rematch of last week's show that will see Bryan Danielson taking on Tyler Black to determine the number one contender for the ROH Championship.

With the awesome main event of Aries vs. Roderick Strong, ROH now has four people who can claim they belong in the title picture. Aries, Danielson, Black, and Strong would all make strong challengers for Jerry Lynn. Aries is the lone heel here so he will probably stand out from the group a little bit. Nonetheless, ROH did a lot of things right with their first show of the second set of tapings, and the thing that got the ball rolling in the right direction was the inclusion of Ric Flair.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: