Last Minute Wrestlemania 29 Predictions

Wrestlemania 29 is upon us and like last year World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has proven that even “reactive” booking can produce a pretty compelling card. When you think of Wrestlemania, in the past, you would normally view it as the culmination of rivalries and overarching storylines from throughout the “WWE Year” (marked by the Post-Wrestlemania episode of Monday Night RAW to the next Wrestlemania). This year’s Wrestlemania at first glance is exactly how an ESPN correspondent described as “hasty booking”, however this year’s Wrestlemania actually delivers exactly what it’s supposed to.

The reason many probably view the event as evidence of “hasty booking”, as opposed to the regular way WWE has done things in the past in which two superstars have been set in rivalries that culminate at Wrestlemania, this year’s Wrestlemania can be seen as a culmination of each individual superstars journey. For example, the match between The Miz and Wade Barrett isn’t predicated on a rivalry between these two but rather on the idea that they are both reaching the ends of each of their struggles. Ever since Wrestlemania 27, The Miz has been trying to prove he is still a main event talent and with the help of Ric Flair he seems closer than ever to regaining his status. While on the flip side you have Wade Barrett who, since returning has been engaged on his “Barrett Barrage”. The question of this match isn’t to settle the rivalry, but rather can Wade continue his barrage, or will the Miz make Wade another stepping stone on his way to regaining his spot at the top? Everything from the WWE articles to the promos, don’t really indicate a hateful rivalry with their opponent, but rather an exposition about how their year has been and how a victory at Wrestlemania 29 will help put some sort of capstone on it.

With that in mind, here are my bold predictions about how this event will fall into place:

1.) Fandango vs Chris Jericho
Prediction: Fandango
The company wouldn’t invest this much time in a character’s debut only to have him lose to a returning top performer, who hasn’t really done much in terms of establishing himself in his most recent run. Chris Jericho has done a lot in the past, but in this case I believe this match will be used as a vehicle to build Fandango.

2.) Intercontinental Title: Wade Barrett vs the Miz
Prediction: The Miz
Since The Miz began being backed by Ric Flair he has been on a role, not to mention building a pretty solid following from fans. His character development shows real growth from his fall from main event status last ‘WWE’ year. Plus a Wade Barrett loss against someone like The Miz, can provide a great vehicle to renew his Barrett Barrage.

3.) Tensai, Brodus Clay and The Funkadactyls vs The Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins
Prediction: The Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins
This was a close one to predict. The obvious choice in this match would be Team Brodus Clay, however if past Wrestlemanias are to be taken into account, in recent years, anytime WWE has done a multiple person tag match at Wrestlemania, the good guy team has lost. So if the trend continues, then it should follow, that Team Rhodes Scholars should take the win.

4.) Mark Henry vs Ryback
Prediction: Mark Henry
Mark Henry is in need of a way to set himself as a top monster in the company once again, while Ryback is more embroiled in his rivalry with The Shield. I don’t think WWE would drop the momentum they have built with The Shield, in favor of Ryback building towards another world title shot. So the logical decision would be to have a match that might build Mark Henry back to where he was prior to his injury.

5.) Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show vs The Shield
Prediction: The Shield
The Shield is the top faction in the WWE right now. Since debuting they haven’t lost a match and at the same time, haven’t revealed too much information as to what their purpose is in the WWE other than to bring “justice” to the product. I see them winning at Wrestlemania and also one of the members of the other trio becoming a member of The Shield, by the time the match ends.

6.) Team Hell No vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston
Prediction: Team Hell No
The company has a good thing going with Team Hell No. Daniel Bryan and Kane are easily two of the company’s top performers. Having them lose their titles, would essentially mean they have lost their momentum which could lead to a pretty epic continuation of their rivalry, but really I would think we would have to see more cracks in their teamwork, before that could occur. Not to mention, assuming Ziggler and Langston were to win, what logical direction would they take that storyline?

7.) Brock Lesnar vs HHH
Prediction: HHH
I felt like this one was a “no brainer”. When they added the stipulation “if HHH loses, he will have to retire from WWE competition”, you could already tell HHH has a strong chance of winning. You would assume, if this were truly HHH’s swan song there would be much more fan fare. I remember when it was announced if Austin loses he must retire, if HBK loses he must retire, or even if Ric Flair loses he must retire, there would was so much more remembering (or what felt like a wrapping up) of their careers. The last few weeks don’t feel like a wrapping up of HHH’s career, but rather a build up to a longer rivalry. If this really is HHH’s last match, then WWE could have done so much more in terms of hype.

8.) CM Punk vs The Undertaker
Prediction: The Undertaker
You simply cannot beat Undertaker at Wrestlemania. The streak has gone on too long and if anything, at this point aside from being a great performer, it is a large part of the Undertaker’s legacy. I love the stuff CM Punk has been doing in order to antagonize (and build hatred for himself from the fans), but this really is one for Punk to lose.

9.) Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger
Prediction: Jack Swagger
I like the social commentary they created for this match. The idea that Swagger represents the demographic of Americans against illegal immigrants and that Del Rio is the hero of immigrants was basically the perfect set up for this rivalry. It’s been fun watching these two, week in and week out build this rivalry on this premise, and with Zeb Coulter increasing the tension with his great promo work, this match is truly one not to miss. If we’re to continue with this idea of social commentary, knowing that America still hasn’t just opened it’s borders and handed out some form of universal asylum to immigrants, it could be said that Swagger could take this one (if we’re just following the idea of social commentary), but I wouldn’t be too surprised if Del Rio takes this one, just to make a statement of perseverance to those who are rallying for the rights of immigrants.

10.) The Rock vs John Cena
Prediction: John Cena
Of all the match ups I kind of felt this was both an obvious choice but also one that, if it were to go the other way, it wouldn’t be too much of a shocker. At first, I thought Cena might lose this one again, setting him up for a much-needed character change or “heel turn”, but then he did an interview where he was asked directly if he would consider a “heel turn”. He responded by explaining about all the charitable works he does and how much his good guy status allows him to be able to be such a role model to kids and allow him to actively do all his charitable works. So of course, with that in mind, a “heel turn” would be out of the question because it would in turn shut down a lot of the charitable things he has been doing. If he were to lose, it wouldn’t mean he would have to be a bad guy, but if he were to win, it would put a capstone on his losing year. Plus, The Rock doesn’t have any new movies coming up so there’s no point of him remaining with the company because he doesn’t have anything else to promote. Update: Guess I spoke too soon. The Rock’s next film “Pain & Gain” comes out April 26, so I guess we will see The Rock at the next pay per view, “Extreme Rules”.

Final Verdict: I think this year’s Wrestlemania will really capitalize on the idea of pulling one over on smart fans. When they began to recruit more and more indy talent to the company, the WWE executives had to have noticed a shift in the fan base. There have to be more internet savvy and indy based pro wrestling fans watching WWE now a days, and the WWE could totally capitalize on this by pulling more swerves and having large-scale surprises occur on the company’s biggest stage, Wrestlemania. In all, I think people will look fondly back on this show as one to remember.

WWE: Top 10 to look forward to in 2013

10.) New Crop of Main Event Superstars

The end of 2012 saw a crop of younger talent rise up and show that they can put on WWE level main event caliber matches. Dolph Ziggler, The Shield, Antonio Cesaro, and Ryback are just some of the people that come to mind, as those who could carry the company in storylines against some of the company’s more tenured top performers like John Cena, Chris Jericho, The Big Show and Kane. With this new crop of superstars coming into their own against the company’s main event superstars, it begs the question, which superstars will continue moving up the ladder as a main event superstar and more importantly, knowing there isn’t much space at the top of WWE, who will be losing their top spot to these superstars on the rise?

9.) General Manager Storyline

Are the rosters still frozen or are there just a division between the main brands (RAW/Smackdown/Main Event) and developmental (NXT)? Either way the General Manager Storyline is being carried into 2013 and with how many shuffles there were in 2012, it can only mean (with how these WWE storyline trends normally work) that a longer term General Manager will be named in 2013. Not just for Raw but also for Smackdown. A long term shuffle will have to happen in 2013.

8.) The Tag Team Division

The division grew exponentially mid last year. Superstars combined in alliances people weren’t expecting (Team Hell No), others combined in combinations that were (well…) expected (Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara), others combined in pairs that were flat out perfect (Team Rhodes Scholars), and others came into their own as the tag teams everyone always knew they had the potential to be (The Prime Time Players). With the division in the state it’s in now, who knows what else we could expect from it in 2013.

7.) The Divas Division

The tag team division really became a spectacle once again last year, but what I think a few critics missed, was the developments in the Divas division. The end of 2012 saw the division slowly making some changes like longer more athletic matches, but with the news that Sara Del Rey has been added to the backstage crew (in hopes that she could help develop the Divas division) and the possibility of AJ making a play at the title, 2013 may be a great year for the Divas division.

6.) Anniversaries

2013 marks
-20 years since Paul Heyman took control of ECW from Tod Gordon, since the Shockmaster debuted, and since Monday Night Raw was established. It also marks 20 years since the deaths of both Kerry Von Erich and Andre the Giant.
-30 years since the first Starrcade
-50 years since Vince McMahon Sr. formed the WWWF.

5.) What will McMahon do next?

In order to help garner more favorability for Linda McMahon’s Senate bid, Vince McMahon had the WWE product go PG, retooling the product and tailoring it towards children. With Linda loosing the race and the announcement that she doesn’t plan to run again in 2014, it begs the question, where will McMahon take the WWE product next? Will he take this opportunity to usher in a new Attitude Era or will it continue to be a roughly PG program. Vince has already said that he wants the product to become edgier as it moves forward, but who knows what edgy means as it pertains to pro wrestling (is it CM Punk and Paul Heyman making fun of a Jerry Lawler’s Heart Attack, or May Young giving birth to Hornswoggle)?

4.) Wrestlemania 29

With last year’s Wrestlemania harkening the end of an Era for the WWE, Wrestlemania 29 marks the first Wrestlemania of the new Era for the WWE. Nothing has been announced for the event so far, however promo images have shown the Rock, John Cena and Brock Lesnar, which can only mean that these three superstars play some sort of prominent role in the event. Not to mention, the looming presence of the Undertaker and his streak, casting a shadow over the event. One of my favorite articles from WWE.com in 2012 had to be “Most Wanted Wrestlemania 29 Dream Matches” which listed: Rock n Sock Connection vs Team Hell No, CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar, Ryback vs John Cena, AJ vs Trish Stratus, and Undertaker vs Triple H vs Shawn Michaels, as the most wanted matches of Wrestlemania 29. Normally rumor lists and wish lists have no real bearing on the actual card for the event, but you have to think if the company that organizes the event releases the list, then it deserves a definite glance.

3.) New and Returning Superstars

Evan Bourne, Mark Henry, Ted Dibiase, Fandango, and several others, what’ll happen when these superstars return to action? Will they slowly be re incorporated into the product from the mid card, until they finally return to top form in main event status, or will they make a sudden impact, reclaiming the top spot that they had abandoned? On the flip side, who will be the next crop of superstars to break away from developmental status and become the next big superstar? Will Kassius Ohno finally debut and reform the Kings of Wrestling with Antonio Cesaro, or continue his storied rivalry with CM Punk? Will The Ascension debut with their original leader Ricardo Rodriguez at its helm? Are Richie Steamboat, Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt, poised to enter WWE as the new Legacy? If all that wasn’t enough, there are also the mysterious announcements from superstars of the past, claiming returns to the company in 2013 (example: John Morrison said he would be back in the WWE in 3 months). It’ll be interesting to see what the roster will look like at the end of 2013.

2.) The Rock and Lesnar

They aren’t new superstars, returning superstars or even out of their prime legends, they’re the first batch of limited appearance contract superstars (that weren’t already a part of the WWE (i.e. The Undertaker or Triple H)). With only a handful of appearances left and a guaranteed appearance at Wrestlemania 29, it begs the question as to what can we expect of these two contract superstars as we enter 2013? The Rock is already slated to challenge for the Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble, but what about Brock Lesnar? Where does he fit into the equation just in time for Wrestlemania?

1.) Faction Warfare

Factions are back! The Shield! AJ, Langston and Ziggler! The new Dangerous Alliance (Punk, Lesnar and Paul Heyman)! The 3 Man Band! Random wrestlers are banding together for purposes not fully explained and are decimating some of the company’s top performers (or at least providing some great entertainment). In 2013, what would be better than when these various groups finally clash? What can we expect when the The Shield take on The 3 Man Band, or The new Dangerous Alliance takes on AJ, Langston and Ziggler? Finally but most importantly, who will be the next to join (or even form their own group) in this looming faction warfare? 2013 will definitely be the year for factions!

WWE Merchandise of the year: Daniel Bryan’s “Yes! Yes! Yes!” T-Shirt

http://shop.wwe.com/Daniel-Bryan-YES-Authentic-T-Shirt/W04097,default,pd.html

The best piece of WWE merchandise this year is the Daniel Bryan “Yes!” T-shirt.   This T-shirt in the simplest definition is nothing more than a way to promote World Wrestling Entertainment and one of its central competitors, however there may be a lot more to this shirt than what they originally intended.  Could this shirt be one of those rare pieces of WWE merchandise that goes beyond the label of pro wrestling fan gear, and becomes something more akin to a daily fashion statement, an expression of easily translated positivity, or simply put, something even non pro wrestling fans can enjoy?  When deciding whether or not this shirt fits in that category, first we need to explore the origin of the “Yes!” T-shirt.

The “Yes!” T-shirt was created in response to the fan support for WWE wrestler Daniel Bryan, following the events of Wrestlemania 28.  At Wrestlemania 28, Daniel Bryan had lost the World Heavyweight Championship to then challenger Sheamus in 18 seconds, following a kiss from WWE Diva AJ Lee.  Bryan was a well-respected performer who was known for putting on consistent competitive matches.  Fans felt slighted and more than let down by the 18 second match up that Bryan and Sheamus had been allocated to.  The Monday Night Raw that followed the event, the fans voiced their opinion as well as their support for Bryan.  Throughout the night, from beginning to end and even in situations that didn’t merit it, the fans chanted “Yes!”.  They chanted “Yes!” at various times, just to fill the silence gap.  Daniel Bryan even addressed the audience when the show went off the air, and encouraged crowds to continue cheering “Yes!” in hopes that it would cause the marketing groups to make a T-shirt.  With that, the “Yes!” chants carried on for months.  It became such an issue, that there were reports of WWE actually muffling (or going so far as editing out) the fans chanting “Yes!” from the broadcasts.  Realizing the potential to capitalize on the trend, WWE created the “Yes!” T-shirt.  Both in support of the earning potential they saw in Bryan, as well as a way to appease the fans.

Aside from having one of the more interesting origin stories, this T-shirt works on several levels that pretty much encourage positive reactions and attitudes.  First, the shirt is red.  A study was done in October 2010, that posited “Are women who wear red more attractive to men?”.  The study was simple.  They gathered a control group and monitored their responses when confronted with women who were wearing red versus women who wearing another shade.  The results showed conclusively that men were more physically attracted to women who were wearing red.  More interesting, in a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it was also proven that women also find men who wear red more sexually desirable.  In fact, seven studies were done about wearing red and it’s relation to attractiveness, and they all had similar conclusions.  “Red is an indicator of sexual receptivity,” writes Andrew Elliot, professor of psychology at the University of Rochester and one of the authors of this study.  Many believe the reason, for this receptivity, can be traced back to our primate ancestors.  For example, male apes are more attracted to female apes when the female ape’s butt turns red, thus indicating the female is ready to mate.  In any case, the fact the shirt is red, is one of the big things this shirt has going for it.

The other thing this shirt has going for it is the positive logo.  “YES! YES! YES!” in big letters right across the front of this shirt.  People normally equate things in life to good or bad, or positive or negative.  The word “Yes” has always been used as an expression of affirmation.  It denotes agreement or acceptance, and when combined with an exclamation mark (like the Yes’s on the shirt) it signifies great excitement, pleasure and joy.  Not to mention, its printed three times.  It’s somewhat widely believed that “three” is a lucky number.  In writing, most writers feel a rule of three could be used to increase and magnify the effectiveness of a statement (three bears, three ghosts visiting Scrooge, etc.).  There is a Latin phrase, “omne trium perfectum” (everything that comes in threes is perfect, or, every set of three is complete).  To have the statement “YES! YES! YES!” on a T-Shirt could be seen as a perfect expression of joy, excitement and positive affirmation.  In other words, this statement goes beyond the pro wrestling fan.  It’s a statement everyone can relate to, in its simple overall expression of positiveness.

In conclusion, no other piece of WWE merchandise has ever expressed so much in such simple terms.  It allows people who aren’t pro wrestling fans, to become enamored in it’s not so complicated positive message.  If the main goal of WWE merchandise is to get attention on the WWE product (as well as boost sales of those products), this shirt definitely allows for a bridge of the gap between non fans and hardcore pro wrestling fans.  To think, this shirt was first made to appease the fans, and now it could be used to create new ones, which is why the Daniel Bryan “YES! YES! YES!” T-Shirt is the best piece of WWE merchandise this year.

Monday Night Raw (11/12/12): “Signs of Life”

Finally!  This episode felt like a return to form for World Wrestling Entertainment.  Ever since a little after Summerslam (after the Ryback reveal), it felt like the WWE had dipped in quality (a lot like how it was prior to the CM Punk Pipebomb), but other than the Vickie/AJ/Cena storyline, this was one of the better Monday Night Raw’s in recent memory.  To give you an example of how good this Raw was, if you only saw this episode of Monday Night Raw during the build up to this Sunday’s Survivor Series, the current storylines would make perfect sense.  In other words, you didn’t even have to watch any of the other episodes during the build up for the pay per view, this one summed it all up and also created new variations for the storylines to build upon.  That’s what the episodes sorely lacked, worth while storyline development.

The epsiode was filled with great matches and was probably the best pre-Pay Per View Monday Night Raw in a while.  The only two downsides were the Divas #1 Contender match and the AJ/Vickie/Cena Storyline.  The Divas match wasn’t really a bad match, as much as it was what you would expect fromt he WWE Divas division.  You could tell that the company isn’t investing as much as they should in the division.  Think about it.  The biggest thing going on in the division is a surprise attack on one of the contenders that happened 2 months ago.  In other words, nothing else has happened to shake up the division than this attack 2 months ago.  Not to mention, it seems like the focal point of the whole division is Layla, Eve and Kaitlyn.  What happened to the rest of the division?  Are there no other Divas that would step up to challenge the champion?  The Divas match was bad, but by far the worst storyline WWE has going right now is the AJ/Vickie/Cena “controversy”.

This week Vickie revealed incriminating audio, that she believes is proof positive of an affair.  There are so many things (just) bad about this storyline (which I went over in the last post).  If WWE is trying to prove that they aren’t trying to copy the TNA storyline involving Dixie Carter and AJ Styles (who were involved in an affair controversy over the summer) they are sure doing a bad job.  This almost follows exactly with TNA’s storyline, but knowing WWE they will probably wrap it up better.  The whole thing is full of holes, the two biggest ones being putting Vickie in a power position and the second is the video evidence.  First, Vickie pressures the board to remove AJ from power for abusing her power for personal gain, so much so the board puts AJ on probation.  In response Vickie is put in charge and she immediately uses her power for personal gain, and the board doesn’t do anything at all (makes total sense).  The second hole, Vickie presents a video from two different angles showing AJ entering a door with a shiny “0″ on the door, with the other angle showing Cena picking up a newspaper from a door next to a door with a shiny “0″ on it, and she claims that’s evidence enough of an affair.   This whole storyline should just end soon, so the product could get better, and the only way I could see this ending in a way that would make fans happy, would be if Dolph Ziggler was revealed as the superstar AJ was having an affair with.

With those two negatives, the episode definitely presented a few great positives.  The main event between John Cena and CM Punk, perfectly established the rivalry going into Survivor Series.  The match wasn’t as amazing (it was built for TV), but it was entertaining.  The best part of this match was the ending staredown between Cena and Ryback, in which they both grabbed Punk’s heavyweight title, and Punk stared worryingly from behind murmuring “That’s my Title.” (haha!).  The tag team division was once again presented some of the best in ring action of the night.  The eight man tag match between the Prime Time Players teaming with Primo and Epico against International Airstrike teaming with Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara, was probably the best match of the night in terms of in ring action.  Team Hell No proved once again that they truly are the most entertaining duo in the WWE right now.  Their latest backstage promo showed another dimension to their tag team development.  Another great element that made this episode great, was the return of “RAWactive”.  This episode fans chose Team Foley’s final member, with the Miz coming out on top (which was no real surprise).

The product overall showed two signs that it might be exiting the “PG Era”.  The first sign, there were two promos that were reminiscent of the Attitude Era, in the CM Punk promo and the Antonio Cesaro promo.  The Antonio Cesaro promo could be summed up as insulting America while carrying a satchel.  This would normally be no big deal, but he did this on Veterans Day after they had played a video discussing WWE’s involvement with the National Guard.  The second promo, in which CM Punk and Paul Heyman interrupted Jerry “The King” Lawler’s return by mocking Lawler’s heart attack, was nothing more than just great “bad guy” work.  It was a scary serious incident, that CM Punk was allowed to use as fodder to build his “bad guy” status.  If WWE was trying to portray itself as upstanding, they wouldn’t allow one of it’s talents to mock a heart attack survivor so thoroughly on national television.  This is definitely a sign that it might be leaving the “PG Era”.  Finally, the second symbol of a possible departure from the “PG Era”, Ryback’s “super” squash match of Brian Maddox.  This was a massacre.  Ryback has had some great squash matches, but this was a super squash match.  The only reason I listed it as break from the “PG Era” was it had blood.  Brian Maddox’s mouth was bleeding (it might be blood pills, or it could have been from the impacts (probably impacts, blood pills look worse)).  Monday Nigth Raw’s are normally bloodless, so for Maddox to bleed from the mouth just speaks volumes as to how brutal this beating was.

Overall, this episode of Monday Night Raw showed progress for the product.  I really felt WWE was at an overall low point two weeks ago, with last week being a minor improvement, but this week showed a definite return to form for a majority of the product.  If the WWE could continue this momentum (and quickly wrap this AJ/Cena/Vickie angle), then the possibilities are endless once again for this amazing company.

Quote of the Night:
(Antonio Cesaro to Jerry Lawler)
Cesaro: What do you speak?  You speak Memphis?
Lawler: I speak English.

Monday Night Raw (10/29/12): “Are you Serious?”

What is happening to the WWE on screen product?  Talk about a dip in quality.  I thought World Wrestling Entertainment was entering a new Era with Wrestlemania 28.  They kept announcing “End of an Era” match, new talents have been signed, new champions, and quality has returned to the WWE product, but it’s incredible how a lot of that fell apart these past few weeks.  This episode was just the epitome of the crumbling of this new Era.  It feels like the WWE has gone back to how it was prior to the “CM Punk Pipe Bomb”.  John Cena is still the top of the company, Vickie Guerrero is in a position of power, CM Punk is more of a goofy angry heel (think “Rey Mysterio rivalry” Punk), and there’s a lower echeleon of wrestlers that are on top but you could feel aren’t performing at their best.  Maybe its the storylines or maybe its the turns of the gimmicks, but it feels like the real top notch stuff this year started at Wrestlemania 28 and ended around Summerslam (the Ryback reveal Monday Night Raw).

In terms of the highlights (or really low lights) of this episode, there’s really only three to point out:

3.) The Tag Team Division continue to take center stage.  The best matches of the night were the tag matches.  Be it Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio versus Rhodes Scholars, or Team Hell No versus the Primetime Players, the Tag Team Division really shined.  Aside from Kofi Kingston versus Antonio Cesaro, the tag matches were really the ones worth checking out.  They were all fast paced and well thought out, in that each team kept to a theme and also worked styles based on those themes.  For instance, Team Rhodes Scholars worked to slow down the pace and ground Cara/Mysterio, because it was presumed they had a thought out strategy that involved working against the style of their opponents.  In terms of other tag style matches taking center stage, we learned more about 3MB (the three man band) with a special behind the music feature, and they also competed in a match against Santino and Ryder.  A defnitie highlight of the night had to be the the ones involving the Tag Team Division.

2.) AJ hired back as a Diva amidst a John Cena controversy.  Okay, this was the most “what?” storyline the WWE has going.  A recap of events, AJ gets replaced by Vickie Guerrero after stepping down from the position of General Manager of Raw.  Vickie has evidence that AJ is having an affair with an on roster superstar.  On this episode Vickie revealed that she was going to reveal evidence of this relationship with AJ’s mystery superstar, John Cena.  The evidence turned out to be video of Cena and AJ at dinner as well as Cena and AJ entering an elevator together.  Apparently this wasn’t all the evidence Vickie had, and she promised to reveal more next week.  Vickie also decided to hire AJ as a diva and put her in a match against Beth Phoenix.  After Phoenix lost the bout, Vickie had the match restarted and AJ ended up losing.  Out of anger, Vickie decidedly fired Beth Phoenix for not being able to beat AJ the first time around.

First off, hasn’t this been done already.  In WWE’s top competitor, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, Dixie Carter and AJ Styles were caught in a similair storyline in which Christopher Daniels and Kazarian claimed to have evidence that Carter and Styles were having an affair.  The storyline went up and tapered.  Did WWE just take an idea from TNA, and even go so far as having two people with the name AJ?  Second, let me get this straight Vince McMahon and the Board put AJ on probation after they feel she is getting too personal in her actions as the Gerneral Manager.  Fast forward, McMahon and the Board put Guerrero in charge, (like the next episode) she immediately acts on personal impulse, and no action is taken.  No probation or anything, it;s just regular that Guerrero would act this way.  Finally, since when was it weird that AJ was fraternizing with a superstar.  Hornswoggle, Primo, CM Punk, Kane, and Daniel Bryan, are all superstars AJ has made out with (in fact, she almost married Bryan).  How is it weird that she is in a relationship?  Not to mention Vickie and Dolph Ziggler’s oddball managerial relationship.

There are just too many holes in this storyline.

1.) Mick Foley returns to announce at Survivor Series, Team Foley versus Team Punk.  Another oddball storyline established at this Raw.  The show opens with Punk discussing his match at Hell in a Cell.  The first thing he makes clear is that he had no connection to the referee that made the call.  This brings out Mick Foley.  Foley is angry at Punk for not truly experiencing Hell in a Cell, and decides to challenge Punk to a Survivor Series match at Survivor Series.  Punk accepts and they both form teams throughout the night.  Team Punk (or the bad guy team) consists of The Miz, Team Rhodes Scholars, Alberto Del Rio and CM Punk, while Team Foley (or the good guy/fan favorite team) consists of Kofi Kingston, Team Hell No, Randy Orton and Ryback.  The show ends with both teams brawling in the middle of the ring as Punk and Ryback have a staredown.

This was another storyline that didn’t make much sense on a few levels.  First, Foley has a rivalry with Punk?  The two confronted each other once!  How was that enough to cause a friction between the two, strong enough for them to have a main event match?  Second, what’s with these teams?  It’s pretty obvious they are doing a “good guy versus bad guy” thing, but the rosters of both teams are riddled with small inconsistencies.  For instance, The Miz is on Team Punk.  In the “CM Punk: Best in the World” DVD, didn’t he say that one of the straws that broke the camel’s back before his ‘pipebomb’ was Miz headlining Wrestlemania 27.  Finally, this was such an anticlimactic build up.  There were no surprises (who didn’t see Ryback coming?).  It really felt like their could have been a better build to what could be a great storyline, but instead it literally seems like the writers just said, “These guys are fan favorites, they will be Team Foley, and these guys are heels (bad guys), they will be Team Punk.”  Not intricate.

Overall, in comparison to how the product was before Night of Champions, hopefully WWE could do better than this.

WWE Magazine November 2012: Does the Cover spoil ‘Hell in a Cell 2012′?

This week was a pretty shocking week for pro wrestling (10/14 to 10/20/12).  Two pro wrestlers passed away (RIP to Brain Damage and Mike Graham) and in terms of storyline, both TNA and WWE witnessed major twists in their storylines.  In Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, the Bound for Glory pay per view event (their Wrestlemania) saw four title changes (Tara won the Knockouts Title, Chavo Guerrero and Hernandez won the Tag Titles, Rob Van Dam won the X-Division Title, and Jeff Hardy captured the Heavyweight Title) and in a great twist in the Aces and Eights storyline, Devon was revealed to be a member of Aces and Eights.  With TNA Wrestling putting on a great showing, World Wrestling Entertainment seemed to respond with some major twists in their storylines also.  It seemed like each of their shows featured some sort of major change to the product.  Monday Night Raw saw Ryback sign the contract to face CM Punk at Hell in a Cell, (Wednesday Night) Main Event saw Kofi Kingston win the Intercontinental Title from the Miz, and Smackdown saw the Barrett versus Sheamus rivalry continue, but with the Big Show sending a message to both Sheamus and (Money in the Bank briefcase holder) Dolph Ziggler at the show’s close.  With all these changes, one thing remained constant, the release of the latest issue of WWE Magazine.

The latest issue of WWE Magazine from a fan’s perspective has the same great articles, graphic designs and mini articles, but what makes it very different are the advertisements for various WWE events.  The articles all discuss various elements of the WWE that are becoming more important in the on screen product (Antonio Cesaro has an interview, WWE13 has a two page spread, and with the new WWE show on ION (“Main Event”), they also have a review of old WWE programming, are among some of the articles), but the advertisements are predictive of where the product is heading and who we should expect to see at the next major WWE events.  Alongside advertising, the ”Hits”, ”In Betweens”, and “Misses” of this magazine are:

Hits – (Out of all the great articles, definitely check these out.)

1.) The Front Cover and Advertisements – The front cover is possibly a big spoiler for the upcoming events of Hell in a Cell 2012, while the inside of the magazine features two very telling advertisements, one for Survivor Series and the other for Wrestlemania 29.  Starting with the two advertisements, the first advertisement is a for November’s pay per view, Survivor Series.  The advertisement has a photo of the Miz, so it could be speculated that The Miz will play a large part in the upcoming lead up to the show.  The second advertisement is a lot more telling, and it is for Wrestlemania 29.  On the back page, other than information about the event and the logo for the show, the advertisement features the images of The Rock, John Cena and Brock Lesnar.  Talk about spoiler.  The fact that these three men are featured in the advertisement can only indicate one thing, these men will be the marquee names featured at this event.  It means, by Wrestlemania 29 (or earlier) Brock Lesnar will have returned to action, The Rock will have made some sort of impact at the Royal Rumble that will keep him with the product, and John Cena will remain at the top of the WWE Roster.  Those two advertisements were very telling for the upcoming pay per views, however in terms of the upcoming Hell in a Cell pay per view, the cover may hold the biggest spoiler yet.  In large letters the front cover reads “The Ultimate Survivor Series Squad!” with the names CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Kane, and The Miz, and a photo of all five men taking up the cover.  This could be a massive spoiler.  If you look at all five men, currently everyone except Dolph Ziggler (the MITB case holder) has a world title, all the competitors with titles have their titles on the line at Hell in a Cell, and in Ziggler’s case, has threatened to cash in his briefcase and take the World Heavyweight Title of Sheamus at Hell in a Cell.  Essentially, each man has the possibility to become a World Champion by the end of Hell in a Cell.  Unless all four title holders lose all their titles at Hell in a Cell and Ziggler either cashes in and loses or chooses not to cash in and holds his briefcase (none of them have their titles in the photo), I believe the cover of WWE Magazine is trying to tell us that “The Ultimate Survivor Series Squad” is a squad comprised entirely of World Title holders.

2.) “The 10 Most Powerful Divas in WWE: Not Named McMahon” – I felt this was a pretty good list, that was fairly accurate in ranking WWE Divas, who both weren’t named McMahon and also didn’t work for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (otherwise, we would have seen Gail Kim, Victoria, and Mickie James on this list).  The real highlight other than the descriptive list, is the interview with the “No.1 Most Powerful Diva: AJ”.  This interview seemed like a great look into who AJ is outside the gimmick.  A lot of the questions are centered around her new GM role on Raw, the changes she has had to adapt to (mainly the lack of in ring competition on her part), and also the skills necessary to be the Raw GM.  It’s a good list coupled with a great interview.

3.) “101 Things in WWE That We’re Most Thankful For” – This was an odd but awesome list.  It’s a non sensical, weird criteria’d, mix of great things in the WWE as well as quotes from various superstars about what they’re thankful for.  Among the aweosme things listed are “Mae “89 Years” Young”, “Puppet H”, “Raw Roulette”, “The Road Dogg”, and many other interesting things.  It really is a weird eclectique mix of things that are awesome about the WWE.  Among the superstars who gave quotes as to what they were thankful for, were AJ, Ryback, The Miz, Paul Heyman, Tyson Kidd, and various others.  The quotes pretty much have same tone, in that they are thankful for the opportunites they have been given and also for the lives they have lived while working in the pro wrestling business.  The quotes are great and the things are great, but it’s just a weird awesome mixed list.

4.) “The Ultimate Survivors” – This was another interesting list from WWE.  In honor of Survivor Series, the WWE Magazine staff asked several members of the WWE roster as well as one alumni member who they would choose as their fantasy Survivor Series squad and why.  Each superstar seems to submit groups that fit some sort of theme or motif that defines their decision as to who they chose for their teams.  Among the more interesting factions you have, Rey Mysterio’s Fantastic Five (consisting of Rey Mysterio, Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Savage and Chris Jericho), Kofi Kingston’s Odd Quintet (consisting of Kofi Kingston, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Giant Gonzalez and Bobo Brazil), William Regal’s Hard Men (consisting of William Regal, Harley Race, Antonio Cesaro, Johnny Valentine and Wade Barrett), and my personal favorite Edge’s Pseudo Rated-R Gobbeldy-Stars (featuring Edge, Fake Undertaker, Fake Diesel, Fake Razor Ramon, and the Gobbeldy Gooker).  There are seven other interesting teams and also one statistical team of who would be the best Survivor Series team based on past Survivor Series match results.

In Betweens – (Interesting reads, if you’re more of a “smart mark”.)

1.) “Fantasy Warfare: Rick Rude versus Dolph Ziggler” – If there was any more perfect match up between a WWF wrestler and his mirrored persona in the current WWE landscape, I couldn’t think of a better pairing than that between the “Rude Awakening” Rick Rude and the “Show Off” Dolph Ziggler.  I’ve always seen Dolph Ziggler as the PG Era version of Rick Rude.  A great wrestler who seems overly confident in his actions.  The breakdown of this match is spot on and worth a check out for long time fans.

2.) “Raw Power” – Every magazine usually features some sort of “out of gimmick interview” with a WWE Talent, and this issue that interview is with Ryback.  For those who don’t know Ryback has been with the WWE since the first Tough Enough (Ryan Reeves), was part of the first season of NXT (Skip Sheffield), and even became a roster regular as part of the Nexus until the faction dissolved.  The interview is entirely out of the Ryback character.  He discusses everything from training, who he is backstage, to even how greatful he is to the WWE for not quitting on him.  Good interview overall.

3.) “A Visual History of the NWO” – Anyone who grew up in the 90′s, or witnessed the genesis and eventual oversaturization of the New World Order of Pro Wrestling, should appreciate this graphic.  This incredible chart breaks down the roster of each era/break away faction of the NWO as they appeared in World Championship Wrestling.  This chart really gives ayou a great view as to how large and almost out of control the faction actually got (it went from 3 to 25 members before splitting into multiple groups).  It was also great seeing the inclusion of The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono, as well as many other almost forgotten members of the NWO like Stevie Ray or the Harris Brothers.  Another thing worth checking out for fans of that Era of Wrestling.

Misses – (Sometimes articles either send the wrong message, are oddly written, or were just flat out weird.  These are those articles.)

1.) “Superstar Motivation Words to Live By” - These graphics seemed like a great concept but the execution looked all wrong.  The concept is simple, mini posters featuring various superstars with advice from each superstar about life in general.  First off , the quotes are actually great quotes.  They’re good general advice about life, that you actually picture the gimmicks of each superstar saying.  The real issue with these posters are the graphic designs or images themselves.  You literally have shirtless muscled athletes, suited professionals and AJ posing towards the camera, set among a backdrop of books blended with an audience.  They did a great job blending the superstars with the backdrop, but it’s such an awkward looking concept.  You literally have Kofi Kingston posing like he’s thinking of the song “I Believe I Could Fly” with several books and the Monday Night Raw crowd behind him, or Heath Slater sticking his tongue out playing air guitar with large books behind him.  It looks so strange, it doesn’t feel natural to tear them out and hang them in an office setting or on a wall.  I think the only poster that looks like ”it fits” and is logical for their character, is Damian Sandow’s.  The rest could have been thought out a little better in terms of graphic design.

Overall, this issue is pretty good.  There’s a lot of great lists that bring back memories of the Attitude Era, and interviews that really show how appreciative the superstars are of their positions and the opportunities they’ve been given.  The posters were odd, but they do offer great advice. The ads and the cover are really something to look into, and even the articles I didn’t list are also worth checking out (I beleive Cody Rhodes is the first superstar to admit that if the current Cody took on “Then” Cody, that he would probably lose, in the article “Then and Now: Cody Rhodes”).  If anything, this magazine really serves one of it’s purposes, which is to get you hyped up for upcoming WWE events, but most importantly Survivor Series 2012.

Monday Night Raw (10/8/12): “So…why did Vince McMahon make an appearance, again?”

There was a major uproar before tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw as Vince McMahon removed 10 year head creative writer of Raw, Brian Gewirtz, from his position as top creative writer.  He apparently even told the producers, “I want results or I want resignations.”.  With that bit of news, this epsiode of Monday Night Raw was both entertaining but in the long run mediocre.  Don’t get me wrong, it was good enough to keep the audience’s attention, but in terms of storyline development it wasn’t that captivating.  If last week’s episode of Monday Night Raw had the feel of a filler episode, this week’s Raw once again had the same feel.  This episode really didn’t add any new dimension to the storylines.  It’s weird.  The past three episodes of Monday Night Raw have really felt like a real dip in quality, but with the removal of the head of creative, there is hopefully a window for improvement.  If anything there were at least five highlights to tonight’s show:

5.) John Cena’s opening promo.  John Cena opened tonight’s Raw with one of his more entertaining promos he’s ever delivered in a long while.  The crowd was pretty vocal tonight, both in favor and against Cena.  It seems like he pulled out all the stops in this promo.  In other words, he tried to get the crowds favor in any way he could.  That element is really what set this promo apart from past promos.  He talked about Antonio Cesaro’s nipples, he asked AJ out on a date, talked about In-N-Out Burger, and then got serious to make a case about why he deserves a shot at CM Punk at Hell in a Cell.  This promo was good in reaffirming Cena’s spot on the main roster.  He was only gone from television for a week, but he made it seem like he was gone from the product for much longer.  When his promo finished and he began his walk to the back, Ryback came to the ring for a match, and the fans got a possible precursor to a future rivalry, as Ryback and Cena crossed each other’s paths.

4.) This should be a Wrestlemania match: Wade Barrett versus Sheamus.  In one of the better matches of the night, Wade Barrett took on Sheamus.  This was a good match.  It was hard hitting and both competitors really seemed to work well with one another.  If WWE were to market this correctly, they could make this match a much bigger deal than a mid card (1st hour main event) match.  They actually predicted this match as a Wrestlemania match in the June issue of WWE Magazine.  Until Big Show and Tensai interferred, this could have been a match of the night caliber match.  If anything, if Sheamus were to lose the World Title prior to Wrestlemania and Barrett continued his Barrett barrage targeting Sheamus, these two could compete at Wrestlemania in the second ever Belfast Brawl or even just an old fashioned gimmick “Ireland versus England” match.  They could even hype it up, using examples from the past, like Regal versus Finlay.

3.) Match of the Night: Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio versus Team Hell No. Once again, Team Hell No delivers an amazing performance with equally amazing performers Dolph Ziggler and Alberto Del Rio.  In the recent slump in show quality of Monday Night Raw, the one constant is the entertainment value and match quality of these four wrestlers.  It’s been pretty much demonstrated this past few weeks that any match or vignette involving one of these four (as well as anything involving Cena or Punk), will be worth viewing that week.  This match was a great example of that statement.  The athleticism alone is pretty astounding (Del Rio’s spill to the outside was just fluid), but the entertainment value was great.  Team Hell No always delivers in terms of entertainment value.  The more they seem to argue, the more compelling of a dynamic they seem to convey.  WWE is right in pushing these four talented indiviuals.

2.) Larry King knows entertainment.  Larry King really knows how to both take a joke as well as deliver one.  When the announcement came that Larry King was going to be the special guest for tonight’s Raw, all I could think of was, “what can Larry do for the WWE?”, but his appearance was easily one of the better celebrity guest appearances ever.  His segment opened with Larry introducing his wife, Shawn, and before he could announce his first guest out came The Miz.  After a short back and forth, Larry announced, that one of the best things about begin at the WWE, is that he could change guests at the drop of a hat, and he welcomed his next guest, Kofi Kingston.  This moment was hilarious.  Kofi Kingston is now out on the set.  Larry began interviewing Kofi, with the Miz just sitting there wondering what just happened.  The Miz, feeling insulted, began lashing out at Larry pointing out his many divorces (he’s been married 7 times) and saying that this wife will be just another divorcee.  Shawn King, obviously shocked and insulted by The Miz, throws her drink right in Miz’s face, prompting Miz to begin to get ready to assault the Kings.  However Kingston was still on set, and defended the Kings.  Larry bows and walks away.  This segment was good and Larry did great, but he really shined in his backstage promo with Daniel Bryan and Kane.  This segment was very entertaining and it really showed how much of a comedy side Larry actually had.  This is one of those promos you have to see for yourself (video above).

1.) Did Vince McMahon really do anything?  Vince McMahon, the President of World Wrestling Entertainment, made a much anticipated appearance on tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw, but what did he actually accomplish in this appearance, that an AJ Lee, a Stephanie McMahon, or a Triple H couldn’t have done?  Other than giving Punk an ultimatum on his decision for his Hell in a Cell opponent, he didn’t provide closure on storylines, he didn’t provide any twists in terms of storylines and he didn’t make any type of long term impacts on the product.  He was really just this week’s WWE Legend that Punk had an issue with.  With that, his state of the WWE address was really more of an avenue for which Punk could slap McMahon and McMahon could challenge Punk to a match for tonight’s main event.  Did anyone else feel slighted that McMahon didn’t even attempt to fix the AJ GM situation?  Or did anyone else notice that AJ didn’t even make a single appearance on television, even if she was last week’s hot topic?  Even the match with McMahon was a little less than amazing.  It was great to see him in the ring and it was great to see his chemistry with Punk, but McMahon was right, in this situation Punk was not a Stonecold or an Andre.  This was really just a match between McMahon and Punk, and nothing really else.  Nothing big really happened except they each got caned and McMahon did his regular oddball spots (which is pretty amazing for CEO).  I think the ending was really the only storyline changer, which was basically McMahon telling Punk he has to decide between Ryback and Cena, only one of them can be his opponent at Hell in a Cell.  It was weird.  The Owner of the company is there, after last weeks GM disputes, Heel factions running wild and the company’s Heavyweight Champion is attacking legends, and the only problem that was given any attention was who Punk’s opponent is going to be at the next Pay Per View.  The company definitely missed a great storyline opportunity here.

Oh yeah and this also happened (CLICK HERE to see the fan cam perspective: looks like the guy kind of deserved it):