by Andrew on Tue Apr 04, 2017 1:27 am
Don't get me wrong, I do get where you're coming from in regards to Taker. I would argue that up until a couple of years ago, he was still having pretty good matches. Age and injuries have obviously taken their toll on him, and it was time for him to hang it up. Vince has been coaxing him into working "one more match" for a few years now, and it's probably been a few matches too many, but he's more than earned a send-off and retirement tour. Again, he was still putting on good matches through to around 2012, and even his 2013 match with Punk was pretty good. But yeah, it's time, no question about that. I wish the match could've been better, but at least he got his moment post-match. On one hand I'm sorry to see him go, but on the other hand, I do think that it's good that he is calling it a day.
As for Reigns, I totally agree. HHH recently responded to a question about Reigns by saying "isn't he already a heel?", but the fact of the matter is, no, he's not. Not technically, anyway. He's getting a heel reaction, though it's tough to say how much of it is good heat, and how much of it is the infamous "X-Pac heat". The bigger issue is that he's not being presented or booked as a heel, especially when they continue to try and mask the boos. I don't think anyone's buying the spin they're trying to put on the mixed-at-best reactions. If they went with a fully-fledged heel turn, they could ride those reactions and make the most out of them. If they're concerned about merchandising sales, just look at the nWo and how much merch they sold back in the day, despite being the heels. They continue to bungle his push and character.
HHH can still go in the ring (unlike Taker), but I do think he needs to step back from the spotlight. Finally culminating the feud with Rollins was necessary though, and I'm glad he put him over, as he should have. The thing is though, I think both he and Stephanie are overexposed in on-screen authority figure roles as well. One of the reasons Smackdown's angles are better is that we have top heels clashing with face authority figures, which feels refreshingly old school. The heel authority figure has been around since the late 90s, and HHH and Stephanie do it in a way that makes most of the people they bully look weak. I guess you at least need one of them there to balance out Shane on Smackdown, but their act is stale.