It doesn't come as a great surprise, but once again WWE took the sadness of a genuine tragedy in the industry and cashed-in, attempting to create a forced moment out of something that shouldn't have happened. With a renewed focus on the women of WWE beginning last summer, the days of the Bellas at the top of the food chain should be over and done with. Brie Bella got a title shot at Fastlane purely because her husband had to retire due to injury. All of the possible support she would get from the crowd comes from that and nothing else. Whereas her sister Nikki improved and improved to the point of being a more than capable in-ring performer, Brie is every bit as poor as she has been for years. This also brings up the admittedly complex question of the obsession with creating 'moments' in wrestling. I have no problem with it in theory. Many performers will point to a 'WrestleMania Moment' as the pinnacle of their careers, and it really is the 'moments' that stand out best sometimes. But when the company begins trying to create these for anyone and everyone, their impact is certain to be diluted. Brie Bella had no place in a championship bout so close to WrestleMania in 2016. If it was a case of putting in a placeholder until Mania then sure, but the timing of it still causes eyebrows to be raised skywards. Brie was unsuccessful, and it is likely that she will be done with the company sooner rather than later. This was yet another exercise in pointlessness.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
