10 Impulse Reactions Following WWE Battleground 2017
6. All Filler, No Killer
Mike Kanellis burst unannounced onto the main roster alongside wife Maria at SmackDown Live!'s last pay-per-view back in June, but his WWE run already has the worrying stink of a tenure doomed to failure.
With Maria as his dynamic mouth piece and a bombastic entrance theme that stood a chance of achieving 'Glorious'-like cult status amongst fans, Kanellis appeared to have the best possible chance of succeeded, but the sickly sweet introduction has so far only left in a vanilla aftertaste.
Complaining about the organisation's mandated 50/50 booking philosophy is becoming futile (more on that later), but the entire roadmap of Kanellis' first programme seems careless even by WWE's disorganised standards.
After missing the first edition of the show after their grand debut, interruptions from Sami Zayn (himself hardly a big money player on the blue brand) couldn't have made the loved up performer look any less important. Maria is sensational as an indignant heel, but she was given little to work with between the vignettes and her husband's (again, unannounced) debut victory over Zayn on the go-home show.
The mantra of the company remains established - nobody wins, nobody loses, stuff just happens. Mike and Maria tried the same plan as the first match but Sami was wise to it and picked up a victory. The pair both have wins, but far more importantly, both have defeats. Fans don't back losers and they won't back these.