Welcome to the very first edition of Hyped or Hate It, a brand new Wrestling Inc. feature where our staff discusses one match from an upcoming PPV/PLE card that has us excited for the show, and one match that can probably see us within the kitchen mixing one other drink. We’re kicking things off with this weekend’s event, WWE Clash in Paris, an interesting five-match card with 4 singles contests crowned by a four-way for the World Heavyweight Championship. There’s an argument to be made that the construct to most (if not all) these matches has been lacking; there’s one other argument to be made that the variety of high-profile one-on-one contests raises the PLE’s hype ceiling, especially since three of them are happening for the primary time ever.
Which match has us pumped for the August 31 event, and which one are we dreading as an alternative? It is time to gauge the WINC staff’s hype and hate levels for WWE Clash in Paris!
Hyped: Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
With the speed that he wrestles it’s hard to say anything but hype in terms of a Roman Reigns singles match, and that is much more the case considering his opponent at Clash in Paris might be “Big” Bronson Reed, presumably with Paul Heyman in tow. I even have been on record to say that I didn’t think the story until now had been as much as scratch, with the one discernible developments coming in the shape of several Tsunami splashes and the stealing of some shoes. But that does not change the indisputable fact that there’s effectively no way a match between Reed and Reigns doesn’t find yourself good on the very least.
Reed is one in every of the rare instances where a giant man can move like someone half his size while also retaining that big man feel, a personified bulldozer who just screams immovable object. Reigns has proven to be top-of-the-line staff either because the dominant heel or, and that is where I feel he’s supremely underrated, working from underneath because the impervious hero. One only needs to take a look at his bouts with Brock Lesnar or his acclaimed feud with Braun Strowman throughout the late 2010s for evidence of that fact.
If I were to map out the bout, I might have the latter iteration of Reigns stood opposite Reed. Each guys have proven to be spot-monkeys after they wish to be, with Reed leaping off of the WarGames cage – albeit to great consequence – and Reigns not with the ability to have a look at a chunk of kit in a venue without recalling not less than one time he has been put, or put another person, through it by some means. The ingredients are there for this to be a sleeper classic, demolition derby of man and muscle, and I’m all the best way here for it.
Written by Max Everett
Hate It: John Cena vs. Logan Paul
With recognizing that Logan Paul is a freakishly good athlete who has taken to skilled wrestling higher than any of his haters would have expected, we hate that “The Maverick” goes one-on-one with John Cena for quite a lot of reasons. Considered one of the largest reasons is the one which’s being echoed across the web amongst the IWC: this seems like a wasted match on Cena’s retirement tour.
Following Clash in Paris, Cena could have just nine dates left throughout the remaining of the 12 months, with six of those already being announced that include other premium live events and his final match at Saturday Night’s Predominant Event on December 13. The cries of the IWC about his match with Paul is something Cena himself brought up during his last promo on “WWE SmackDown.” Along with addressing the actual fact many fans think it is a wasted match, he brought up other names who he’d prefer to face, that we’re sure fans would agree on, like AJ Styles, Jacob Fatu, Dominik Mysterio, and more. It made sense within the promo, however it also seems like Cena highlighted the actual fact this positively seems like a waste.
Along with this sense like a wasted match, it also still barely reeks of Cena’s failed heel run. He and Paul teamed together back in May at Money within the Bank and now, they hate one another (though Cena has mentioned he respects Paul as an athlete) enough to have a match on a PLE. It is smart that WWE is probably going using Paul, who gets mega heat, to babyface Cena’s character back up, but that is probably not something that should be done. Fans were cheering Cena throughout his heel run anyway.
The less dates left on the tour, the louder the cheers, especially in places like Paris where fans have not gotten to see Cena in awhile. You need not use Paul as a heat magnetic in any respect, and a fan-favorite like Fatu or Styles could have taken his place. At this point of Cena’s retirement tour, WWE needs to appreciate fans need not necessarily see him go up against a heel. Fans just want those remaining dream matches, with a little bit of construct and story behind them.
All other thoughts and feelings about Brock Lesnar aside, we also really believed that he was going to be Cena’s next opponent, and Paris seemed a possible location for that match because of any potential negative crowd response within the US. While “The Beast Incarnate” could still thoroughly make an appearance in Paris to cost Cena the match or beat him down after, the strong setup to that match at SummerSlam makes Cena’s match against Paul, now, feel a bit strange and definitely flat — possibly because it isn’t nearly as big of a match after the large return by Lesnar.
Written by Daisy Ruth