I get that WWE wanted to save Kurt Angle's in-ring return for something special. You know, like Wrestlemania or next month's Survivor Series.
Unfortunately, in a moment of panic, that special moment has been wasted. Again.
Think back to January, when someone on the Smackdown Uncreative team (maybe Road Dogg himself) decided that Mickie James' grand return to the main roster entailed her donning the La Luchadora costume to screw over Becky Lynch, leaving Mickie beholden to Alexa Bliss.
Bad move, and one in a series of bad moves that WWE has made in recent years.
Nine months later, Angle is being thrust into the main event at TLC as Roman Reigns has been sidelined with a viral infection, the same kind that also KO'd Bray Wyatt, forcing Uncreative to pull AJ Styles from Smackdown's South American tour, and insert him to replace Wyatt vs. Finn Balor, also at TLC.
There are plenty of guys on the Raw roster that could've been plugged into those two holes. Kane was added at the last minute, as we noted before, because apparently Raw's #1 prima donna, Miz, needs to be protected when he doesn't have to. Kane and Braun Strowman were added to the TLC match to create more obstacles for the Shield, but that was wrong-headed booking, anyway, more proof that Vince McMahon is just plain nuts.
Given that Miz has antagonized Angle from the get-go, in a way it makes sense for the Hall of Famer to be inserted here, but it also illustrates the glaring lack of another main event level babyface to compensate for Reigns' absence. Still, though, that's not the direction I would've taken were I booking this.
No, what you do instead, insofar as I'm concerned, is even out the playing field, and remove the handicap advantage Miz has. Have Kane turn on Strowman before the match, and join Team Shield, saying that his attack on Reigns on Monday was just business. You get the two monsters out of the match that way, and Miz is left with Sheamus & Cesaro in a scenario where it'll be pretty obvious who's jobbing.
Too many times over the years, WWE Uncreative has left gaping plot holes in their storylines that you could plow right through. This is not about shocking the fans anymore, anyway. This is more about plugging up a hole that just opened, but with the wrong piece.
As for Styles replacing Wyatt? Let the two former leaders of Bullet Club have at it in a Raw vs. Smackdown showcase match that would likely steal the show. With rumors of more talents being unhappy with the way things are going---and the fingers of blame likely being pointed at Vince---more changes are likely. More logical changes, that is. As I wrote before, even though Kane is going to be a short-term filler on Raw, Smackdown will be looking for something in return unless Kane was a free agent as of October 16.
The deeper the hole, the harder it is to dig out. You'd think McMahon would understand that by now, but he doesn't. His loss.
