Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: WWE Suffering Growing Pains with Move to Network

1. WWE Network Hits and Misses

No transition is seamless. And you had to expect that the move from the pay-per-view model that WWE was built on for decades to the WWE Network would be difficult.

Some of the company's stumbles, though, are its own fault.

It set fire to a number of bridges on Monday when the WWE Network's launch in the United Kingdom was delayed for a second time. U.K. fans were gearing up to explore the massive pay-per-view archive, the stockpile of NXT shows and all the original specials the service had to offer.

Then came the stomach-punch of an announcement, just minutes before launch:

WWE offered no explanation. There wasn't even a "sorry" anywhere in the message.

Vince McMahon did apologize to U.K. fans in a WWE.com video on Wednesday, citing having to work out deals with potential partners as the reason for the delay.

You can't announce that a service is set to start when the legal side isn't finalized. That's doubly true when you already pushed back the launch date in the same region just two months ago. 

Jim Ross summed up the situation perfectly on his blog when he wrote, "How anyone would want to promote something that isn't a solid 100 percent firm is reckless. These matters, if accurate, are the things that get people fired and disappoint consumers, neither of which is a good deal."

WWE didn't help its relationship with Houston fans, either. As PWTorch's James Caldwell details, Last Tuesday, during the SmackDown tapings, Big Show asked the crowd to send Daniel Bryan a birthday message by chanting "Yes!"

That footage of fans cheering was then turned into a WWE Network ad, promoting the fact that the service would be available for free during November. That's a cheap, unsettling tactic. 

And, as Caldwell says, it's desperate:

"

@gregmparks Now I know how really desperate they are to sell the Network using a chant for D-Bryan and photo-shopping VKM on the big screen.

— James Caldwell (@jctorch) November 1, 2014"

Combine that with the rug-pulling the company did with the U.K. fanbase, and WWE is angering fans better than any heel in the business right now.

On the plus side, WWE did make good use of the network. Rusev vs. Sheamus for the United States Championship aired on a network-exclusive special. 

Raw briefly featured a calendar of WWE Network shows. WWE continues to promote its new special on great rivalries.

Creating content fans don't want to miss and showing them how much the service has to offer is the key to attracting subscribers. Desperate ploys are not.

2. The Tag Team Champions Reeling

It's hard to view Goldust and Stardust as a threat despite their status as champions. The non-title losses curse has hit them hard.

Since winning the titles at Night of Champions, the Rhodes brothers are just 4-6 as a team. They lost in six-man action the very next night after becoming champs. They fell to the lowly Los Matadores on the Halloween edition of SmackDown.

In singles competition, Stardust has been asked to lose aplenty as well. He has had four televised matches on his own since Night of Champions. He lost every one of them:

• vs. Jimmy Uso: Superstars—Oct. 2
• vs. Jey Uso: Main Event—Oct. 7
• vs. Fernando: Raw—Nov. 3
• vs. Jey Uso: Main Event—Nov. 4

It'd be hard to make the champions look less threatening. Goldust and Stardust shouldn't be going into their next title matches as underdogs, but they will. Their foes have run over them recently.

That's sure to gut the impact of either Los Matadores or The Usos knocking off the champs. 

All match statistics from CageMatch.net.

3. Written in the Moves

WWE posted another mashup of entrance themes, Cantbreaksteelmashes merging Stardust and Darren Young's songs together.

The result is a fun blend of grooving hip-hop and symphonic music. It's enough to make one want to see Stardust pair with Young once he returns.

4. WWE Masterful at Exits

When a wrestler is set to miss time, no one is better at dredging drama from their departure than WWE. Randy Orton joins a list of men who stepped away from the screen in dramatic fashion.

The set of The Condemned 2: Desert Prey awaiting him, WWE needed a way to write Orton out of the current storylines.

What WWE Creative came up with was to have Triple H play the mob boss and Seth Rollins be the gangster. Orton refused to play nice with The Authority, a big Survivor Series bout coming up or not, and continued to attack Rollins after their match.

Triple H then instructed Rollins, Kane and company to leave The Viper flattened on the ring steps.

The image of a woozy, bloodied Orton lifting his head up from the steel is going to stay with the audience for a long time. It was a fantastic way to allow him to leave. Rollins gets another vile act on his resume, and Orton will be seething with rage when he comes back.

This success is nothing new for WWE.

To account for Dean Ambrose's absence, Rollins drove his head through a stack of cinder blocks. When Cody Rhodes needed time to get hitched, WWE inserted him into a great story of him fighting to get his job back. It resulted in his best promo to date.

A guy struggling to get airtime, like Zack Ryder, may be best off asking for a few weeks off and hoping WWE dreams up another powerful departure.  

5. What Is Up with Xavier Woods?

It's understandable when the company can't find a good idea to get a Superstar going, but it's hard to explain why it would throw away a promising idea for a head-scratcher.

WWE repackaged the struggling wrestler back in July as a sharp-dressed motivator. He challenged Big E and Kofi Kingston to take what was theirs. It was the most compelling we had seen Woods.

The gimmick fit him snugly.

Then this just-formed faction went away. They stopped appearing on TV, no reason given. Fans waiting for Big E, Kingston and Woods to stomp back onto Raw and SmackDown can stop now.

Woods has changed personae again. He looks to be a merging of James Brown and a preacher.

What is WWE thinking here?

This is not only a gimmick that is going to be tough to get over, but it forces WWE to rethink what it's going to do with Big E and Kingston. A trio that featured those men as united and extra aggressive with a charismatic leader was a fun, intriguing idea. Even if they are a part of this preacher shtick, it won't be nearly as set up for success as what they had going earlier.

The new day that Woods is promising looks to be the one that Fandango brought us in 2013.

6. Sami Zayn's Hit List

Zayn continues to slide over from the NXT ranks to the main roster. He took on Tyson Kidd on Tuesday's Main Event, his second time taking a swing in WWE's big leagues.

That match was electric in spots and showed off Zayn's storytelling ability. He was impressive in the loss, sure to make fans unfamiliar with his work curious about him. 

For those wanting to relive some of his career highs or see what folks are buzzing about Zayn, check out the following bouts:

• El Generico vs. Kevin Steen: Final Battle 2010 (Unsanctioned Fight with Honor)
• El Generico vs. Kevin Steen: Final Battle 2012 (Ladder match)
• Sami Zayn vs. Jack Swagger: NXT—Sept. 4, 2013
• Sami Zayn vs. Cesaro: NXT Arrival
• Sami Zayn vs. Adrian Neville vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Tyson Kidd: NXT Takeover Fatal 4-Way

7. Throwback Promo of the Week: Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon

Keeping the surprise-guest train rolling on Raw, McMahon appeared on Monday's show. He announced that if Team Authority lost at Survivor Series, they would lose control of the WWE.

His time on screen was brief, as he let Triple H and Stephanie McMahon have the spotlight.

There was a time, though, when Mr. McMahon was the tyrant at the helm of the empire. He was WWE's top heel and a man who brought out the best in others as their foil.

As Survivor Series 2001 neared, Heyman had the stage, McMahon in front of him and the opportunity to draw on his real-life issues with McMahon.

Heyman talked of McMahon's takeover of the wrestling business with words as sharp as a machete. His telling of the rise of WWE is a dark and powerful one. "You took Hulk Hogan's blood and built Titan Towers," he grumbled.

Seeing Heyman fire verbal missiles like that makes one hope that he soon shows up to Raw as well.

8. Breaking Down a Successful Raw 

Monday's Raw was a reminder that one of the keys to success is the simple strategy of "let the wrestlers wrestle."

An engaging episode was built around progressing stories, building up Survivor Series and to the U.S. title match that followed the show. It also leaned heavily on in-ring action.

Compare the Nov. 3 card to what we saw on the more sleep-inducing Oct. 6 edition of Raw.

The Raw on Oct. 6 featured a total of eight matches, only two of which went over the five-minute mark. There was a total of only 39 minutes and 33 seconds of actual wrestling on a three-hour program.

The Nov. 3 show spent far more time in the ring. There were 10 total matches, five of them going for more than five minutes. The total ring time adds up to an hour and nearly seven minutes.

That may still not be the ratio of wrestling to non-wrestling fans are looking for, but it sure made for an improved Raw. Wrestling fans, not surprisingly, want more wrestling.

That showed in the ratings. The Oct. 6 Raw earned a 2.63 rating, while Monday's Raw pulled in a 2.84 rating and, as James Caldwell of PWTorch points out, "just edged the September 29 episode for most viewers of the fall season."

Match statistics from ProFightDB.com.

9. Booking Suggestion: Curtis Axel

Axel is back, returning to action on Tuesday's Main Event, Ryback nowhere to be seen. WWE has clearly moved on from that partnership. That leaves Axel in danger of dropping off the WWE map.

The tag team division is the ideal home for him. It allows him to focus on his strength—producing in the ring.

Credit: WWE.com

A story that would best showcase him centers around the search for a new tag team partner.

Have him say that he has unfinished business in the tag division. He wants to wear tag team gold again. He recruits Superstars to team with them, but he is unhappy with how they perform.

Should they suffer a pinfall or not tag in frequently enough for his taste, Axel will attack them. All his alliances are volatile; he's a bully of a partner.

Eventually, he finds someone rugged enough to hang with him in Erick Rowan. He has a monster-and-master type of relationship with the big man until their team runs its course. 

10. Lanny Poffo on Randy Savage and the Hall of Fame

Raj Giri recently interviewed Poffo for Wrestling Inc. The most notable quote from it provides insight into how The Macho Man viewed the WWE Hall of Fame (h/t Squared Circle): 

The argument against the legitimacy of the Hall of Fall for a long time was that Bruno Sammartino wasn't in it. That argument now shifts toward Savage, his absence hurting its credibility.

It's a politics-fueled institution that Savage apparently didn't mind not being a part of.