Henry's World

It's been a little while since I posted my latest blog update, and no Universe Mode posts have gone up in the interim. I decided I owed you guys an explanation, so here is a brief summary of my future plans for the series. Universe Mode will officially return to the blog one week from today on Monday, August 1st. Every belt will stay the same when the series returns. Smackdown's pay per view The Great American Bash has been cancelled; I'll explain what happens to the blue brand on the 4th. I'm also planning on taking this time to add the latest graphics for WWE's brand split onto the wiki, so look forward to that. Hope you're looking forward to Universe Mode's return. -Henry

Imagine, if you will, that you're running the biggest wrestling company in the world. Your fans are fed up with your current product, so you decided to give things a bit of a shake up by splitting your roster in two. Your split wasn't exactly well done, and leaves a lot of fans feeling down heading into your upcoming pay-per-view. How do you fix that problem? The answer, ladies and gentlemen, is WWE Battleground 2016. What can I say about this show? This was, top to bottom, a fantastic show, built quite well and with several amazing moments throughout. There wasn't anything game-changing; no belts changed hands, no bombshells were dropped and only one new face debuted, but what a face it was. It was an intriguing decision to have the Women's tag match open the show, with the match itself seeming like a bit of a throwaway. That was, of course, until the Hugster herself made her main roster debut, helping former nemesis and 4 Horsewoman Sasha Banks defeat Charlotte and...

The WWE Draft is over and done with, with some shocks and a lot of good picks. Let's run through this monumental event, pick by pick. We finish with the WWE Network half of this draft. (Note: For this portion of the draft, I've left out my analysis for most of the picks. Most of these picks weren't incredibly important, sorry guys). Round 7, Pick 1- Raw selects Golden Truth Grade: C Round 7, Pick 2- Smackdown selects The Usos Grade: B Smackdown scores one of WWE's top teams in the seventh round, a major steal. Round 7, Pick 3- Raw selects Titus O'Neil Grade: C+ Round 7, Pick 4- Smackdown selects Kane Grade: B- Smackdown scores again, getting a solid veteran late in the draft. Round 7, Pick 5- Raw selects Paige Grade: B+ This is a great pick. Paige is one of WWE's youngest, having accomplished a lot in her short WWE career. Great value as well. Round 8, Pick 1- Raw selects Darren Young Grade: C Round 8, Pick 2- Smackdown s...

The WWE Draft is over and done with, with some shocks and a lot of good picks. Let's run through this monumental event, pick by pick. We start with the Smackdown Live! half of the draft. (Note: This post is done almost entirely in kayfabe. I have included my non-kayfabe thoughts at the bottom of the next post, for those interested). Round 1, Pick 1- Raw selects Seth Rollins Grade: A It's easy to see why this pick makes so much sense. Rollins is a two time WWE Champion, and one of the top wrestlers in the company. He was also the first man to hold the the WWE and US titles at the same time. At only 30 years old, Rollins is the kind of guy you can build your brand around. The only possible concern with Rollins is his knee, having just came back from massive surgery at Money in the Bank. It's taking a risk, but Stephanie McMahon and Mick Foley scored big with their first pick. Round 1, Pick 2- Smackdown selects Dean Ambrose Grade: A+ Dean Ambrose was the hot...

Hey guys, it's Henry. I got a few things I want to share, and I encourage everyone to read the full post, as it's pretty important. As you may have noticed, the Universe Mode series has been taking some steps backward. Although the series has been very successful, and I've loved seeing how much my blog has grown, I'm not having fun and each post has become a chore. That was Main Event was cancelled, several weeks have been missed and a few posts have been a day or two late. The biggest problem I've encountered is that the Universe Mode series has completely taken over my blog, not just in the amount of posts but the time it consumes. You may not realize this, but each post takes about 1 and a half to 2 hours to make. I certainly have that amount of time, but it uses up all the time I'm willing to work on my blog. After all, this blog is not the central aspect of my life, and I don't want to be working on it all the time. The time I do spend working on the ...

First off, apologies for missing NXT this week. It's not something I want to make a habit of, but the truth is that it's hard to find motivation to post that show when it's such a long time in between their pay-per-views. On this episode of Smackdown, opportunity is in the air. There are three number one contender's matches taking place, with the main event seeing Edge and Christian face Cesaro and Tyson Kidd. Universe Mode Smackdown July 8th, 2016 Location: Phoenix, AZ The Hardy Boyz vs The Rhodes Scholars We opened with a match-up between two teams looking for some momentum. Rhodes and Sandow both embraced their evil side, using eye rakes and sneaky tactics to stay in the match. The Hardys hung tough, refusing to give up, and were rewarded when a Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combination kept Rhodes down for the count. Winners: The Hardy Boyz AJ Lee vs Ivelisse Relative newcomer Ivelisse got a big opportunity against a former Diva's Cham...

This episode of Raw is a very special one. Not only are there five big matches planned, but the main event is the Women's Title Match between Nia Jax and Chyna, marking the first time women have main evented a Universe Mode show. On with the show! Universe Mode July 4th, 2016 Raw Location: New Orleans, LA CM Punk(c) vs Mark Henry- Intercontinental Title Match Punk has refused to allow John Cena a fair chance at the IC belt, walking out of their match last week, but instead offered a chance to anyone else in the locker room. Mark Henry accepted, and found himself in a title match to open Raw. Punk outwrestled his massive challenger early on, but Henry landed a few power moves and quickly asserted his dominance. Several big headbutts, a World's Strongest Slam and a big splash all connected, but nothing seemed to put the champion away. Finally, Henry grabbed a chair, intending to bash Punk in the skull with it. The ref stopped Henry, and in the comotion, Punk ...

Happy 50th! Today's post is the 50th post of Henry's Universe Mode, a definite milestone. To celebrate, this edition of Smackdown has 5 big matches, with four of them title matches. Enjoy! Smackdown will host The Great American Bash on July 17th. After the events of King of the Ring, Smackdown GM Teddy Long has offered Batista another shot, and so The Animal will face Randy Orton for the WWE Title in the main event. Only one man will be left standing, as it will be a Last Man Standing match. Universe Mode July 1st, 2016 Smackdown Location: Memphis, TN Tyler Breeze(c) vs Rey Mysterio- Light Heavyweight Title Match NXT's Tyler Breeze traveled to Smackdown for this week, putting the Light Heavyweight Title on the line against Smackdown's Rey Mysterio. Both men went in with something to prove: Breeze, that he could defeat the absolute best, and Mysterio wanted to finally win the big one. It was Breeze who dominated the majority of the match, nearly fi...