Welcome to the very first edition of Hyped or Hate It, a new Wrestling Inc. feature where our staff discusses one match from an upcoming PPV/PLE card that has us excited for the show, and one match that will probably see us in the kitchen mixing another drink. We are kicking things off with this weekend’s event, WWE Clash in Paris, an interesting five-match card with four singles contests crowned by a four-way for the World Heavyweight Championship. There’s an argument to be made that the build to most (if not all) these matches has been lacking; there’s another argument to be made that the number of high-profile one-on-one contests raises the PLE’s hype ceiling, especially since three of them are happening for the first time ever.
Which match has us pumped for the August 31 event, and which one are we dreading instead? It’s time to gauge the WINC staff’s hype and hate levels for WWE Clash in Paris!
Hyped: Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
With the rate that he wrestles it’s hard to say anything but hype when it comes to a Roman Reigns singles match, and that’s even more the case considering his opponent at Clash in Paris will be “Big” Bronson Reed, presumably with Paul Heyman in tow. I have been on record to say that I didn’t think the story until now had been up to scratch, with the only discernible developments coming in the form of several Tsunami splashes and the stealing of some shoes. But that doesn’t change the fact that there is effectively no way a match between Reed and Reigns doesn’t end up good at the very least.
Reed is one of the rare instances where a big man can move like someone half his size while also retaining that big man feel, a personified bulldozer who just screams immovable object. Reigns has proven to be one of the best workers either as the dominant heel or, and this is where I feel he is supremely underrated, working from underneath as the impervious hero. One only needs to look at his bouts with Brock Lesnar or his acclaimed feud with Braun Strowman throughout the late 2010s for evidence of that fact.
If I were to map out the bout, I would have the latter iteration of Reigns stood opposite Reed. Both guys have proven to be spot-monkeys when they want to be, with Reed leaping off of the WarGames cage – albeit to great consequence – and Reigns not being able to look at a piece of kit in a venue without recalling at least one time he has been put, or put someone else, through it one way or the other. The ingredients are there for this to be a sleeper classic, demolition derby of man and muscle, and I am all the way here for it.
Written by Max Everett
Hate It: John Cena vs. Logan Paul
With recognizing that Logan Paul is a freakishly good athlete who has taken to professional wrestling better than any of his haters would have expected, we hate that “The Maverick” is going one-on-one with John Cena for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is the one that’s being echoed around the internet amongst the IWC: this feels like a wasted match on Cena’s retirement tour.
Following Clash in Paris, Cena will have just nine dates left throughout the rest of the year, with six of those already being announced that include other premium live events and his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13. The cries of the IWC about his match with Paul is something Cena himself brought up during his last promo on “WWE SmackDown.” In addition to addressing the fact many fans think it’s a wasted match, he brought up other names who he’d like to face, that we’re sure fans would agree on, like AJ Styles, Jacob Fatu, Dominik Mysterio, and more. It made sense in the promo, but it also feels like Cena highlighted the fact this absolutely feels like a waste.
In addition to this feeling like a wasted match, it also still slightly reeks of Cena’s failed heel run. He and Paul teamed together back in May at Money in the Bank and now, they hate each other (though Cena has mentioned he respects Paul as an athlete) enough to have a match on a PLE. It makes sense that WWE is likely using Paul, who gets mega heat, to babyface Cena’s character back up, but that’s not really something that needs to be done. Fans were cheering Cena throughout his heel run anyway.
The fewer dates left on the tour, the louder the cheers, especially in places like Paris where fans haven’t gotten to see Cena in awhile. You don’t need to use Paul as a heat magnetic at all, and a fan-favorite like Fatu or Styles could have taken his place. At this point of Cena’s retirement tour, WWE needs to realize fans don’t need to necessarily see him go up against a heel. Fans just want those remaining dream matches, with a bit of build and story behind them.
All other thoughts and feelings about Brock Lesnar aside, we also really believed that he was going to be Cena’s next opponent, and Paris seemed a possible location for that match due to any potential negative crowd reaction in the US. While “The Beast Incarnate” could still very well make an appearance in Paris to cost Cena the match or beat him down after, the strong setup to that match at SummerSlam makes Cena’s match against Paul, now, feel a bit strange and definitely flat — possibly because it’s not nearly as big of a match after the huge return by Lesnar.
Written by Daisy Ruth
