Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles

I'm seeing a lot of excited chatter about Dean Ambrose vs AJ Styles for Smack Down's first PPV Backlash and the excitement is entirely focused on Styles beating Ambrose to be the new World Champion. Coming off a major win over John Cena from Summerslam, people are now clamoring for Styles to take the belt off of Ambrose, who conversely had one of the most underwhelming matches at Summerslam. Ambrose has been labeled as boring or lazy shortly after being called out by Stone Cold Steve Austin for resting on his laurels and that he needed to step up and show some passion. It's actually gotten bad over on Wreddit where people are wondering why Ambrose is the current champ and why does he deserve the title. They're forgetting why he got the championship in the first place.

Dean Ambrose has been working hard, nearly nonstop, since last year. When Seth Rollins was injured, he was pulled from the B-Show tour to headline the A-Show tour. When Roman Reigns needed time off for surgery, he stepped in to feud with HHH. He had a brutal but forgettable loss against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 32 and had silly but victorious wins over Jericho. When it came down to decide who to give the championship to amidst Reigns' suspension at Money In The Bank, they gave it to Ambrose over Rollins. He defended the title in a triple threat at Battleground and successfully defended it against Ziggler at Summerslam. Ambrose got the title because he deserved it for all the hard work he put in, for miraculously staying injury-free, and it was also a reward for the fans for sticking by him and never turning on him like they did with Reigns. WWE needed a genuine top babyface to be their next champion. And that trust carried over when he was separated from Rollins and Reigns at the draft and when he brought the title home to Smack Down.

Styles, just 7 months after debuting at the Royal Rumble, is now in the position where he's deservedly earned the title shot. There's no mistake that WWE wants to capitalize on Styles' momentum and make him the new face and champion of Smack Down. As for Ambrose, the reason he hasn't stepped up is because he has gotten comfortable and confident as champion. He didn't take Ziggler seriously and dominated him. There's a slow build they've been doing for both men that most people are overlooking. Ambrose overcame Rollins and Reigns to get to his spot. Styles overcame Cena to get there too.

I do see WWE pulling the trigger and having Styles win at Backlash. He's another guy that deserves it. To date, Ambrose has held the World Championship title a little longer than when he had the IC title (64 days). And he's currently on track to be the longest reigning champ this year (it'll be 83 days at Backlash). I'm happy with whoever wins honestly. Just a little saddened to see how Ambrose's first title reign is not well received 2 months later. Not that I'm going to let Wreddit change my opinion but damn man. Wrestling fans are never happy.

Weekend Recap (8/5/16 - 8/7/16)

Friday (8/5):

• Ate at Monta Chaya for dinner with Joel, Pam and their daughters and Va! We walked to get Boba tea but it was closed and then walked over to Lee's Sandwiches to see it was closed too. Hanged out at Big 5 Sporting Goods before going home.

Saturday (8/6):

• So we got a house now! We got this this lovely home. Now we have to wait for it to close. We did a morning inspection on the house with a couple of inspectors and I made a lot of notes.
• Ate at this Poke bar called To See Roll for lunch. Really good stuff.
• Went to IKEA to drop off the paperwork and talk with Vince's parent's. We stopped by at Trader Joe's to grab some ingredients to make some BBQ meatballs. I was in a super hangry mood.

Sunday (8/7):

• Went to Costco and 168 market to make pork rib Sinigang
• Watched a few episode of "Stranger Things" on Netflix
• Decided to get started on packing a few things

What to expect for Monday Night RAW & Smack Down Live!:

Not sure what to expect honestly. RAW's 2nd week did a few new things, such as an intergender tag team match and a last minute US title match. Other than that, it sort of settled back into familiar territory while still setting up storylines and matches for Smack Down. RAW announced that GM Mick Foley invited GM Daniel Bryan to come down to the show, probably for the Orton/Lesnar incident last week, where Orton RKO'd Lesnar on RAW and the next night, Lesnar returned the favor and F5'd Orton on Smack Down.

Speaking of Smack Down, last week's episode was a big improvement. The started showing the talents' stats on screen before they get into the ring, Renee has her own freaking desk now of trying to flag people down for a backstage interview, and best of all JBL toned it down for commentary, letting Mauro call the shots and Otunga doing well, something. Their 3rd week will be tough because a chunk of their talent (Cena, Styles, Crews, and... Rowan??) are on the the Australia/New Zealand tour this week, so there will be a split roster tour this week.

There was a strong topic on r/SC last week when Meltzer mentioned how Ambrose "felt more like a champ than Seth and Roman ever did." He helped the audience cared for Ziggler by putting him down, which was somewhat heelish but didn't betray Ambrose's babyface character. Now it's making it seem like people want Ziggler to win over Ambrose, which was almost never considered when he became a contender 2 weeks ago.

43 Days

It's been 43 days since Dean Ambrose became the WWE World Champion. Even saying that aloud sounds unbelievable but for a good reason. No one believed that Ambrose would ever get to be in the top guy spot where his fellow brethren, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, stayed at. He was viewed as a great utility guy; to help build interest and hype for a match and to take the loss in the end to put his opponent over. WWE held The Shield in high regards and was proud of its 3 Superstars, and yet the treatment they gave to Rollins and Reigns was never extended to Ambrose. WWE has a saying in the Performance Center that perfectly summed up what happened with Ambrose in the last year: "You're not here to fill a spot. You're here to take a spot." And that's exactly what he did.

Ever since MITB, Ambrose was viewed as a transitional champion. Skeptics couldn't buy him as a long-term champion like Rollins and Reigns, let alone a main eventer. In the final week leading up to Battlground, he had 3 successful title defenses and proved to be the best of The Shield. That is arguably a way more satisfying payoff for him and for his fans compared to his cash-in, and it built him up as a legitimate main eventer. And on Smack Down, where he was Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan's #1 pick, he was treated as a big deal alongside John Cena, AJ Styles, and Randy Orton. Even a transitional champ doesn't get this kind of treatment.

In less than 3 weeks from now, he and Dolph Ziggler are one of the headlining matches for Summerslam, which includes Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for the WWE Universal Championship, and the brand-vs-brand match with Randy Orton vs Brock Lesnar. It's remarkable considering that just last year, Ambrose and Reigns were in a filler feud with Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper. Now he's finally earned WWE's trust in making him both the face of the company and a true babyface champ who doesn't get booed by the fans.

I actually don't mind whether Ambrose drops the title at Summerslam or at the Smack Down exclusive PPV, Backlash. As a fan, it was truly a wonderful payoff to see Ambrose become a champion and end his story with The Shield. I can't wait to see where else he goes from here.

Weekend Recap (7/29/16 - 7/31/16)

Friday (7/29):

• Ate at Sen of Japan for dinner. Their sushi selections were much smaller and more expensive from the last time we ate here.
• Went to Desert Breeze Dog Park for a Corgi meetup. I have never seen so many Corgis in person. Even though there was about 20+, it's still a lot. Vince talked to a couple of owners to get some info on where they adopted their Corgi or who there breeder was.

Saturday (7/30):

• Checked out 2 new houses today with Lorraine and Vince's parents again. We liked the first house we saw and Vince's parents put an offer on it. I hope we get it.
• Went to Tropical Smoothie for lunch
• Went to Costco and Trader Joe's to do some grocery shopping. Cooked an odd dish of chicken and pork belly tomato coconut curry.

Sunday (7/31):

• Web stayed home the whole day
• Only went out to U-Swirl to get some fro-yo
• Watched the end of "Preacher," which was revealed to be a prequel so that the second season will start following the comics.

What to expect for Monday Night RAW & Smack Down Live!:

Last week, RAW won in the ratings war. Coming off from Battleground, it had a better presentation, better use of their roster, a new WWE Universal Championship title introduced, and it saw a surprise title change with Sasha Banks defeating Charlotte. Smack Down, unfortunately, paled in comparison with their smaller roster and lack of titles for their NXT-infused Tag Team and Women's division to compete for. The best way I can sum it up is that RAW came off new and exciting whereas Smack Down came off like a shorter RAW. It also didn't help that JBL jumped ship to Smack Down's commentary table and horrible clashed with the wonderful Mauro Ranallo and the very blank David Otunga.

Both shows added 2 new matches for Summerslam with a surprise: Raw has Seth Rollins vs #1 contender Finn Balor for the new WWE Universal Championship title. People assumed Reigns would be going after Rollins for the title again. It was made very clear that WWE is still upset with Reigns and are going to cool off on pushing him again. Meanwhile, Smack Down has Dean Ambrose vs #1 contender Dolph Ziggler for the WWE World Championship. Yes, Dolph Ziggler has earned a legit title shot for the title. I'm excited for Ziggler, I still have a soft spot for him for what he did in Survivor Series 2014. The big problem is trying to build up Ziggler, who's had a number of losses and lackluster feuds for the last 2 years. Not to mention that he has lost in his previous matches against Ambrose for the IC contendership and for MITB.

One thing is for sure, WWE's PPV quality has been consistent post WrestleMania. And going by the leaked PPV schedule, there is going to be even more brand exclusive PPVs coming up along with more call ups from NXT to pad out the rosters. WWE is having one hell of a transition period into the New Era.