wrestling / Columns
High Road/Low Road 11.20.09: WWE Title Match At Survivor Series
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!
A brief explanation of the column: Sat takes the High Road (positive view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related “stuff” while Chad Nevett takes the Low Road (negative view).
Batista’s Heel Turn:
High Road: 88%
Low Road: 04%
Both Roads: 08%
Sat: The result is really not that shocking considering the fact that this heel turn was long over due.
Chad Nevett: Last week’s column was the hardest one yet since I actually really like the heel turn. Hopefully that didn’t show up in the column too much.
WWE Triple Threat Match at the Survivor Series
High Road:
I am looking forward to this match at the Survivor Series. All three guys have had great matches against each other, so I would have to assume that the same will be true in a triple threat match.
Low Road:
They’ve also had mediocre matches together and the triple threats that Cena and Triple H have been involved in together haven’t always been the best. Past performance suggests that this is not a guaranteed quality match.
High Road:
The one thing that I like about this match is that all three guys can say that they have an advantage over their opponents. John Cena has WrestleMania victories over both his opponents. But, HHH has a victory over Cena a few weeks back on RAW and Shawn Michaels had a victory over John Cena in England a few years back.
Low Road:
Is that your way of pointing out that we’ve seen these three fight one another in numerous iterations? With these three having faced one another so many times, of course they’ve all defeated one another. That’s not a positive, that’s simply pointing out that this is something we’ve seen before in some form or another.
High Road:
I am looking forward to seeing something besides Randy Orton and John Cena. That feud dragged on for too long, so this triple threat is refreshing to see.
Low Road:
Triple H played a big role in that feud recently, so the prospect of Triple H and John Cena in a match together, even with Shawn Michaels, isn’t all that enticing. With so many up-and-comers hitting their head against the glass ceiling, yet another triple threat involving main eventers often featuring in the title picture isn’t ‘refreshing.’
High Road:
Shawn Michaels and Triple H have not competed as opponents for a long time now. I think the last time they had a single match was back in 2004 at Bad Blood. I think that this match can lead to dissension between the two leading to another single match in the future.
Low Road:
That makes this match a plot point, not something good necessarily for the actual match. While it may lead to an interesting feud between Michaels and Triple H, that, again, doesn’t mean this match will be anything better than average.
High Road:
You look at RAW and there really was no logical way to go besides having a triple threat match. The main complaint on RAW is that there are four guys on top and everybody else is below them. This is a serious problem because eventually somebody is going to have to be moved up. I think the WWE has figured this out with the efforts to elevate Kofi Kingston. So, I think this triple threat match can buy the WWE some time to elevate some new talent to the main event level.
Low Road:
Except they’re not elevating anyone except Kofi Kingston when what RAW needs is more heels. There’s Randy Orton and… is there any other main event heels on RAW? Why not use the Survivor Series to give someone like the Miz, who has a history of feuding with Cena so it won’t be as drastic a jump, a title shot? Or even a face like MVP who has been sitting outside the main event for a long time now, just waiting for a way in?
High Road:
When I was writing this column an interesting thought came to mind and that is that I can’t recall there ever being a triple threat match with all of the wrestlers being baby faces. This match not having a heel in it will have a huge effect on the dynamic of the match and it should be interesting to see. The other thing that will be interesting to see is the crowd reaction for all three competitors and to see who they are favoring.
Low Road:
Three faces means that most of the match will be waiting for the inevitable heel turn by either Triple H or Shawn Michaels. While suspenseful, it makes most of the match filler for that ‘twist’ and, if it doesn’t come, people will feel cheated. It’s almost a guarantee that DX will split because of friction here, giving the match a sense of moving from point A to point B than being worthwhile in and of itself.
Are you taking the High Road or the Low Road?
Simply write “High Road”, “Low Road”, or “Both Roads” in the comment section.
E-Mails:
These are all of the e-mails that we received this week. We do not respond to the actual e-mail, but the reply to your e-mail will be below.
Sat: One email this week and that was for voting purposes. Let’s go the comments.
Chad Nevett: Come on, people, I like e-mail. Send us more e-mail!
Comments:
Below are the comments for last week’s columns and our responses. Every comment will not be included because it makes our lives a lot easier. The comments section was last looked at on Tuesday Morning Pacific Time.
The Gold Standard Writes:
Low Road. What was the point for him going to Smackdown only to turn heel. I thought it was because Smackdown needed main event faces since Jeff Hardys departure and I was perfectly fine with CM Punk and Jericho as the top heels on Smackdown. I dont care about Batista really and I just feel him turning heel not only guarantees the inevitable world title reign he will bitch about receiving but knocks of CM Punk who was perfect in his role and now reduced to feuding with referees and facing midcarders with no point of direction.
Sat: Batista going to SmackDown to replace Jeff Hardy was something I ignored deliberately. And I see Batista definitely replacing Punk as the top heel which is definitely a mistake.
Chad Nevett: The biggest downside is how CM Punk gets displaced, though, considering Batista isn’t in the title picture and neither is Punk, I don’t think big Dave’s heel turn is really responsible for that. If we’re to believe the rumors, of course.
KanyonKreist Writes:
Both roads.
High because it’s been a long time coming; in my amateur opinion, Batista should have turned around two years ago, possibly during Flair’s farewell tour. I think that with a few more tweaks – maybe a series of endorsements from Mr. McMahon – he’ll have to chops to carry the top-level heel role.
Low, however, because they did it as the single most OBVIOUS heel turn in as long as I can remember. Mysterio’s over-the-top passiveness, acting initially like a door mat and saying spineless stuff like “I never would’ve tried to win the World Title if I knew you’d get mad” doesn’t make me (or apparently anyone) root for Rey in this angle. We get it: Mysterio = nice, Batista = mean. There are just more interesting and effective ways in which they could achieved Batista’s heel status.
Also, I disagree with Chad on his last point; never have your heel fight the odds and come out on top if he doesn’t already have established heat. Who WON’T cheer for a guy who can demolish every other dude out there?
Sat: The one worry I have is that people are going to start booing Mysterio because honestly he is acting way too nice.
Chad Nevett: Monster heels have gotten booed since forever because they demolish everyone in their way, particularly the faces that we all love. Now, those heels tend to get their heat because they begin that way with the audience having no knowledge of them other than as monsters, so the reaction to Batista could be different. But, if done with the right amount of overwhelming force, I think it would make him a bigger bad guy.
Hitmanstud Writes:
High Road if it means Morrison gets a spot as a top face and maybe even a feud with each other.
Sat: The Batista heel turn pretty much guarantees that Morrison will be a World Champion real soon. I actually see him winning Money In The Bank this year.
Chad Nevett: Is Morrison ready yet? I like him a lot, but I saw CM Punk being champ as Morrison’s ticket to the main event since he was the only guy who seemed to have Punk at a disadvantage. Morrison taking on anyone else right now would be assured a ‘Morrison loses, but looks good’ result for a while.
The Great Captain Smooth Writes:
Both Roads. Low, because we don’t really know how Batista’s health will hold up and it might not get a chance to go anywhere. High, because we really haven’t seen Batista as an established main event heel yet. I do think he will need to turn face once more in order to let him go out on a high note with fans.
Sat: I definitely see him turning to a baby face, so he can leave on a high note. I honestly think that this time around he will stay healthy with a reduced schedule.
Chad Nevett: He began as a heel (or, at least, people first noticed him as a heel), so I could see him going out as a heel, coming full circle.
Guest#9762 Writes:
High Road, not a fan of Big Dave and wasn’t happy when they put him on SD! but he needed a change. He’s been a face since the Evolution split, feuded with all the top heel’s for almost 5 years (when he’s healthy) and there isn’t anything more for him to do as a face so I think the heel turn was the right move
Sat: I agree. The same would be true for John Cena, but John Cena is such a cash cow, it does not make sense to make the switch.
Chad Nevett: Agreed. Though, I do think he was in a position with his character where he could have challenged faces without it seeming too out of the ordinary.
Comment Board Poster Writes:
Have to go high road simply because I’ve always preferred my monsters to be bad-asses. I hate a roid freak that comes out all lovey-dovey. You are here to kick ass. Act like it.
Sat: Batista being all “lovey-dovey” was definitely awkward to watch.
Chad Nevett: I kind of liked Batista when he was friendly with Rey Rey, but in a cocky ‘I could beat you up any time I wanted’ smirk thrown in from time to time.
Guest#8365 Writes:
High Road.
– His slow, plodding style more suits a heel.
– When he’s injured, he can still show up and cut heel promos.
– With his Evolution background, it would make sense for him to build a heel stable around him and create new stars.
– He can be matched up against Smackdown’s athletic midcard, creating some good David vs Goliath matchups.
Sat: It would be nice to see a heel stable with Batista as the leader, but my main worry would be that it might be too similar to Randy Orton and Legacy.
Chad Nevett: Legacy worked because it was the Evolution idea taken to its next logical step. Batista in a stable doesn’t make as much sense, if only because he doesn’t need or want other people to protect him the way Orton does. Plus, he, you know, walks alone…?
Anonymous Smart Mark Writes:
Gonna go High Road on this one. As the heel, he doesn’t have to work an exceedingly physical style, since the babyface is the one who has to do the miracle comebacks. He can slow things down and work smarter in the ring. As far as his character goes, working the current “calm monster” character is good for him, as it lets him keep his promo work low-key, which is better for both his character and his promo work. In terms of business, this easily sets up a feud with a big babyface in the future, especially for the World Heavyweight Championship; while I’m not personally a fan of Batista, he’s still a good draw, and a good feud with the right babyface could draw a good amount of money AND elevate the babyface to a higher level (imagine if Batista, holding the WHC, feuded with John Morrison and dropped the title to him at a big show like SummerSlam or WrestleMania).
All in all, this is a good thing for both Batista and WWE in general, as it gives SmackDown a main event level heel they can plug into the world title picture any time they need to, and it gives Batista a chance to play the heel for the first time in years (something that ANOTHER popular-with-marks-but-not-with-smarks wrestler could use).
Sat: I agree. I am really enjoying his promos as a heel.
Chad Nevett: I didn’t get to mention yet that his delivery of “I’m gonna rip your head off” was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. The best delivery of a line Batista has ever given.
Melissa Writes:
High Road-dave was becoming a joke, he needs to re-invent himself and a heel turn could be just the thing and it does promote new people into top face on SD! Though my fear is its a short term thing and he will turn face again and this will all be pointless
Sat: If it short term, then this is a low road, no doubt about it.
Chad Nevett: Like I said above, I could see him ending his career as a heel and I hope he does. It suits him well.
Guest#9089 Writes:
The only thing to look forward to for me, is a fued with Morrison. Like him or not, Batista is a big name that crowds want to see; Morrison is a brilliant worker who could drag a good match out of Batista and who needs to move on and up after Dolph Ziggler…
Sat: I see Morrison and Batista potentially starting a long term feud after WrestleMania. I would be shocked if it happens before then.
Chad Nevett: Morrison needs to go through CM Punk before he can take on any other main event heels, I think.
Guest#2858 Writes:
High road.
No matter what his role, there is something incessantly unlikeable about Batista, therefore adding gravitas whenever he plays heel. His pragmatic approach to looking after number one has so far been effective,and I for one can’t actually recall being as interested in big Dave as I am presently.
Sat: The main problem people stopped being interested in Batista is that he was getting title shots all the time.
Chad Nevett: There is an irony in that this turn was caused by Dave not winning the belt and his first feud after doesn’t involve the belt. Kind of funny.
HBK’s Smile Writes:
I’m going High Road with this one. I was getting very tired of Batista on Raw (even though he was gone a lot of the time, he never seemed fresh when he returned). Given the choice of heel Batista on Smackdown or face Batista on Raw, I take the current incarnation.
I think the current program with Rey is the most compelling he has been in a real long time, quite possibly since his initial face turn almost five years ago. It also lends a feeling of unpredictability to Smackdown, where we really don’t know what direction things are going in. That’s something Raw has lacked for a long time (due in part to Batista himself).
Sat: While it is a compelling program, it is dependent on Rey Mysterio’s health. Rey Mysterio has been the last few WrestleMania and I could see him leaving for surgery after Survivor Series to try to make it back for WrestleMania. Only time will tell.
Chad Nevett: I expect there to be an injury angle at Survivor Series to both put over Batista as a monster heel that just tears people apart and allow Mysterio to take time off for surgery. I think that will be just as effective in selling the turn as a longer program would be. Quicker, more shocking.
http://www.twitter.com/411mania
http://www.twitter.com/411wrestling
http://www.twitter.com/411moviestv
http://www.twitter.com/411music
http://www.twitter.com/411games
http://www.twitter.com/411mma
http://www.twitter.com/satuncletrunx
Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at [email protected] or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week’s column.
