When Cody Rhodes transformed into Stardust last summer I thought it was a massive step backwards. It was a knock-off of the near enough two decade old Goldust character and a gimmick it was impossible to envisage WWE taking seriously. In other words it was exactly the sort of thing that was going to keep Cody tethered to the mid-card. He wasn't exactly on the cusp of main events before the change but he was even further away after it.

Cody made the best of a bad situation. Which is hardly surprising as the Stardust character was apparently his idea to begin with. He changed up his entrance and in-ring mannerisms, going out of his way to try and establish Stardust as a distinct entity. Even more impressively he switched up his move set, something WWE performers are generally not encouraged to do. These changes helped to establish Stardust and make the change easier to accept.

What A Good Looking Man

We found out on the studio-bound post-Royal Rumble episode of RAW that Fast Lane will feature the first ever (televised) match between John Cena and Rusev. It was unexpected. Despite the two men having a bit of a shout at one another the previous evening on the Rumble fallout show nobody had expected their match to occur until WrestleMania 31. Because a man with a year-long unpinned and unsubmitted streak seemed like the perfect person to throw up against the mighty Cena at the biggest WWE event of the year.

The decision to bring the match forward to Fast Lane is probably designed to make that show seem more worthwhile, encouraging Network subscriptions and pay-per-view purchases. To a lesser extent it might be about making the first edition of what is likely to become an annual event memorable. And it should work. Cena v Rusev is a WrestleMania-level match, a big addition to a B level card.

Fast Lane's a definite for Rusev and Cena. I'll think they'll go to 'Mania too.

 

One of the few consistent stories WWE’s told over the last few months has been the one concerning the marital problems of Tyson Kidd and Natalya. It’s been a prominent part of Total Divas and has been a regular, if minor, aspect of the pair’s appearances both on the main roster TV shows and NXT. All the signs indicate that it’s not something that’s going to come to much outside of Total Divas, which is a waste because WWE could do something memorable with it if they wanted to.

Note Tyson's complete lack of interest.

It’s been pretty well established that part of the problem is Tyson having a problem with Natalya getting the spotlight when he doesn’t. There have been times where he’s posed in front of her after she’s gotten a victory and he’s frequently not bothered going to ringside for her matches, while she accompanies him for all of his (unless a storyline reason prevents her from doing so). There’s also been the more highlighted stuff with Tyson being “overly friendly” with Nikki Bella when she’s been competing against his wife.

For most people extreme snowstorms are life-threatening ordeals. I imagine WWE management felt differently on Monday night. The severe weather that hit the north-eastern United States caused the governor of Connecticut to announce a travel ban, effectively cancelling RAW. That effectively granted WWE a reprieve, something they were much in need of after the hostile evening they’d experienced at Royal Rumble the night before.

They made the most of the opportunity, doing some expert damage control on the standing of Rumble victor Roman Reigns. The show was constructed around five sit-down interview segments and a couple of announcements for Fast Lane. They were interspersed with links from Michael Cole, JBL and Booker T. It was a smart approach that made the most of what the company had at its disposal. If only that were true of their booking approach in general.

Slightly more questionably the decision was also made to air the two biggest matches from the previous night’s Rumble. That means that people tuning into RAW were treated to the triple threat WWE championship match and the Rumble itself for free. Monday saw WWE finally hit their goal of one million subscribers for the WWE Network so I’m sure they’re pleased with the decision to air those matches. The likelihood is that they convinced a number of people that the Network was worth a look. But it wasn’t the greatest idea with regard to customer satisfaction: everyone else had had to pay $9.99 for the event. Or £9.99 if in Britain. Or a staggering $54.99 to watch on regular pay-per-view. I’m sure refund requests have been sailing WWE’s way since Monday night.

The state of your briefcase, mate.

The first of the interviews was with Seth Rollins. He told Michael Cole that he thought his Rumble performance spoke for itself. He felt he deserved to be in match and that he did everything he could to win and become champion. I agree with him. Rollins did deserve to be in the match and he made the most of the opportunity. He took the pinfall but that didn’t matter. ‘The Future’ left the show looking like he belonged at the top.