THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR: HERE'S TO YOU ALL

Can you smell it? It's not another C.M Punk pipe bomb or what the Rock is cooking. It's...yes...it's mince pies and tinsel. You know that type of tinsel that just smells like Christmas? Christmas doesn't have a smell but if it did then that's how the odour would come across. Christmas isn't just a time for unwrapped presents and those bloody awful jumpers you get that look like Rudolph had thrown up all over them. Christmas is a time for family. It's time for reflection and it's a time to look to the future. A new start. As it's Christmas and New Year rolled into one, your next fix won't be until January 3rd. The extended Christmas break gives us all a chance to recharge out batteries and come back a fresh. So note it down. January 3rd. Until then though, I would like those who log on to read this good will message to vote on the poll to your left. Tell me whether you'd like to see more posts about TNA in 2013.

It’s what we’ll all be doing. Looking to the next year. Seeing how best to get through it. Planning how to make our dreams come true or how to get a better life. Shortly before we collapse in a drink fuelled stupor or run to the toilet citing too many mince pies for the state of the bowl afterwards. We’re not the only ones who will be looking on the next 365 days and planning how best to spend them. Vince McMahon will be as well.

Who remembers WWE Christmases of old? Anyone? I knew it. For those of you old enough to remember Christmas time in WWE, then you’ll recall a magical period of transition. I remember Survivor Series 1993. In those days Survivor Series was the final pay per view before Christmas. The images of Father Christmas standing in the ring with snow pouring down around him will be always be a special one for any wrestling child back in the day. We don’t get that these days and it’s a bloody shame.

The Future and Beyond

Still, as Vince ponders on his plans for the next year and prays to God that the Rock bring in untold revenue so he doesn’t have to see another parade of low pay per buys. I’m here for the last time before the big day to give Vince a hand and put some ideas into his head for certain wrestlers. That way at least we know WWE can’t have any excuse for doing nothing yet again. If you like this is the prediction part. I prefer to see it as an offering of peace to a company that I have rightly criticised for the past eight months.

C.M Punk

The reigning WWE Champion’s rollercoaster ride will come to an end in 2013. Ok, that’s no big surprise, we all know it had to happen sometime and the days are long since gone when WWE Champions reigned for four years.

Nonetheless though, C.M Punk has been mightily impressive as WWE’s figurehead in 2011 and 2012. Before the Championship changes hands though Punk will go through an exciting and prosperous feud with the Rock. It’s not yet know if the feud will last until Wrestlemania 29 but certainly their match at Royal Rumble will be one of the most watched in recent history.

Punk’s career will take two paths after Royal Rumble. Either the ‘Straight Edge Saviour’ will defend the WWE Championship against the Rock again at Wrestlemania 29, where he will lose on the grandest stage of them all or C.M Punk will be bestowed with one of the greatest honours in WWE. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29. Should WWE decide to book this match for the WWE Championship I’m not sure that ‘the Streak’ will come away in tact.

It has been bandied around WWE now that the ‘respect’ angle which WWE hung on Punk is aimed towards a clash with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29, in a match which will be billed as ‘The Reign vs The Streak’. If WWE are to follow through on their story and promise C.M Punk will end the unprecedented streak the Undertaker has built up to the chagrin of many of the WWE Universe. Thinking about it, this would be the logical way to go with Punk even if it does upset some onlookers because let’s be honest, everyone watching would be forced to respect Punk if he pinned Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29.

As for who will end the reign is still clouded in mystery. If WWE want to go with the Rock vs Punk at Wrestlemania 29 then it’ll be the Rock. If WWE change their mind about the streak ending then it’ll be the Undertaker. If it’s neither of these then I will plump for Ryback sometime in 2013. If it’s not WWE’s latest powerhouse then I can only shudder at the thought of John Cena being WWE Champion yet again in 2013.

The Rock

It was promised in 2012 that the Rock would be WWE Champion again before he presumably retires from wrestling in the no so far flung future. Many may think that the ‘Great One’ doesn’t deserve to walk back into WWE and take the gold without warning but they’re wrong. The Rock has done more for WWE both during his time as a main wrestler and during the past few years when he’s been away in Hollywood.

Without the Rock Wrestlemania 28 would have been a failure at the box office, thanks to WWE’s failure to create any stars to face Cena on the big event. It’s because of the Rock that Wrestlemania 28 was so successful at the box office and he’ll be the reason why Wrestlemania 29 most likely sets new records as well.

Apart from his feud with Punk which has been documented to the hills by now, the Rock can be expected to make an appearance at either Survivor Series 2013 or SummerSlam 2013 which at the present moment is being talked about being held in the United Kingdom. The Rock won’t enter those events as WWE Champion but 2013 will herald a new age in WWE. It is my belief and I may be wrong, this is only a prediction, that the Rock will defeat C.M Punk for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29 and then either drop the gold at Extreme Rules or vacate the WWE Championship.

The Rock’s involvement in the WWE Championship picture will bring a fresh look to the main event of WWE’s shows and it’ll make a nice change to see someone other than John Cena and C.M Punk trade the gold. The Rock though could add more than just a fresh face to proceedings. If the Rock was to agree to lose to Punk at Royal Rumble then the Rock would make Punk look even stronger than he already is. If that’s the path WWE go down and the Rock isn’t the one who defeats Punk for the gold, whoever does, hopefully someone new, then said person will look a million dollars and be known as the man who did what John Cena, Ryback and the Rock couldn’t do. That could make someone’s career and it’d all be thanks to the Rock.

However, WWE don’t promise such big things and drop them like hot shit an a whim. If WWE promised the Rock the WWE Championship in 2013 to get him to sign a new deal then the Rock will, at some point in the new year be WWE Champion once again.

Ryback

It’s hard to imagine Ryback surviving in WWE beyond December 2013. The guy has had one half decent match and shown us nothing else since. It’s still possible that Ryback will be WWE Champion in 2013 but as an extremely limited worker who has been shown up numerous times by his opponents, I’m confident Vince McMahon will see that Ryback is a flop and send him packing.

Before that happens though early plans, as you’ll have heard, for Ryback are to have him face Big Show at Wrestlemania 29 in what will be one of the most boring and dull matches in Wrestlemania history. I can’t see this being any better than Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon at Wrestlemania 26 or Batista vs Umaga at Wrestlemania 24. The sole reason WWE are fixed on booking this match, isn’t for the advancement of Ryback, but so Ryback can have the ‘Wrestlemania moment’ when he picks Big Show up and Shell Shocks him in the middle of the ring. The only snag there is that Ryback couldn’t get Tensai up for Shell Shocked. I doubt he’ll ever be able to lift Big Show up for the move.

2013 won’t be prosperous for Ryback and the only thing I can see the year doing for the man formerly known as Skip Sheffield is exposing every single floor left that he has. If WWE don’t start to hide those flaws effectively then they’ll have let another potential star slip through their fingers. And they don’t have that many left to play with.

Brock Lesnar

It has been said that Brock Lesnar will sign a new contract in WWE after Wrestlemania 29 and remain with the company until early 2014. If Lesnar does this then 2013 will be the year of Brock Lesnar again. I would expect Lesnar to regain the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 29 instead of the Rock who could be the man that the former ‘Next Big Thing’ takes the gold from. Either that or Lesnar will be the one to end Punk’s epic reign.

If Lesnar doesn’t sing a new contract then WWE will turn to Bill Goldberg to be the next man to come in and lift ratings. And they’ll need it. The Rock is back off to Hollywood and when Punk does finally drop the gold he too will be off to different shores in order to heal wounds and a tired body. Whilst Goldberg could be yet another short fix for WWE, Brock Lesnar is the one on the front of the Wrestlemania 29 poster and therefore will feature heavily on the event.

There are several possibilities for Lesnar in 2013. Signing a new contract and becoming WWE Champion is one of them. The other is a feud with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29 which would be Lesnar’s final match in WWE if a new contract wasn’t signed. Regardless of who Lesnar faces at Wrestlemania 29, the biggest event in wrestling history will be his last appearance in WWE should he decide that coming back wasn’t the right decision for him.

As much as a Lesnar vs Undertaker match at Mania would be huge business, I am of the belief that Brock Lesnar will face Triple H at Wrestlemania 29 where ‘The Game’ will extract his revenge for SummerSlam. Looking at the rest of the roster this is the only logical choice for WWE to go with, seeing as Triple H has yet to gain revenge on the man who supposedly retired him from the ring.

Either way, I firmly predict that Brock Lesnar will be a UFC Fighter again before 2014 rolls around. Which is a shame because WWE could have done something special with him this time around.

Alberto Del Rio

Poor Alberto. What can you say? The outlook is bleak for the so called self made millionaire. After his damaging losses to Sheamus in 2012 it’s hard to see anyone taking Del Rio seriously in 2013. If WWE were to remodel the character and do something groundbreaking with him then maybe he could scrape back some of the dignity that has been stripped of him in 2012.

Regular readers will be familiar with my suggestions on what WWE could do with Del Rio but seeing as that isn’t going to happen then maybe WWE should turn him face and see if there’s any way back to the top for him that way. Realistically it’s going to take another year or two before the WWE Universe can look at Alberto and see him as a serious contender to any Championship. The most sensible option would be to have a face Del Rio challenge Antonio Cesaro for the WWE United States Championship. Maybe this would raise the profile of the Championship whilst rebuilding Del Rio. This is a last resort.

The fact that WWE have announced plans for every other big name for Wrestlemania 29 except Del Rio has to be worrying for the man once loved and revered in Mexico. If WWE continues like this then you can expect Alberto Del Rio to be thrown into one of Wrestlemania’s usual rush job tag team matches. And that would be all but the end.

A face turn is the only logical solution for Del Rio in 2013. After he’s dumped Ricardo then maybe he can make his own way in WWE. The signs though, don’t look promising.

Randy Orton

There’s only one place Randy Orton is going in 2013 and that is straight back to the top of the mountain. Before the final bells ring on 2013, Randy Orton will either still be or will have been World Heavyweight Champion. WWE plan to make Randy Orton a major figurehead once again in WWE and the decision is welcomed by all in the WWE Universe.

Randy Orton belongs at the very top, fighting for the major Championships in WWE. The man has the ability to make stars as well as put that special slant on anything he touches. Those who lose to him are elevated by association and those who beat him are given a major career boost. There aren’t that many wrestlers you can say that about today.

All this will come after the major heel turn WWE have planned for Orton, which hasn’t come before time. Languishing too long in the nice guy role, Randy Orton was born to be a heel. His work in 2009 was superior to anything he’s done outside the ring since he turned face. A Randy Orton heel in 2013 could be the best thing about the company and fingers crossed, in his new capacity, Randy Orton will be able to make at least one new star on his rise back to the summit.

The Miz

I genuinely fear for the Miz. A face turn has been mooted in the hallowed halls of WWE yet we’re still to see anything in the dying embers of 2012. The Miz has gone as far as he can in WWE as a heel and there is literally nothing left for him to do in the role. The man with the gift of the gab must be turned face if he’s to do anything more with his WWE career otherwise it will grow stale and outdated quickly.

2013 could be the year of the Miz if WWE plucks him from the dull chat show they’ve invented to keep him busy and give him something meaningful to do. A feud with Antonio Cesaro could put both men and the United States Championship back on track or a face Miz vs a heel Randy Orton would propel Miz back into spotlight. However if WWE sit back idyll do nothing with him, then the decline of awesomeness will be the cloud that hangs over the remainder of next year. 

Dolph Ziggler

Without wishing to infringe on one of TNA’s pay per view name, Dolph Ziggler is bound for glory in 2013. After a bumpy ride in 2012, WWE’s newest star is riding high after his victory over John Cena at TLC 2012, finally putting the bumpy ride he’s had this pat year behind him.

Dolph Ziggler will rise further up WWE’s rankings and food chain, defeating two or three more of WWE’s top names before he finally cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase and is crowned World Heavyweight Champion either before or at Wrestlemania 29. Whilst Ziggler’s Championship reign won’t last the whole of 2013 as C.M Punk’s has, Dolph Ziggler will be a star name in WWE by the time the final bell tolls on 2013.

Sheamus

2012 was meant to be the year of ‘The Celtic Warrior’. However uninteresting storylines and an oversight on WWE’s behalf put the kibosh on all of that. After a demoralising and repetitive feud against Alberto Del Rio which just seemed to go on forever, Sheamus was all but done as World Heavyweight Champion.

In 2013 an attitude change is needed as is a heel turn for ‘The Great White’. A more aggressive and sinister Sheamus would make for much better viewing and open up a whole load more avenues WWE could take him down. I predict that before the end of 2013 Sheamus will be World Heavyweight Champion again, only the next time it happens, WWE will have a clear idea of where they’re going with him.

John Cena

I foresee WWE yielding on the John Cena heel turn in 2013 and finally giving the fans what we’ve been waiting for, for so long. A John Cena heel turn would blow the box office roof off and all the worrying WWE do over whether to turn him or whether not to turn him will be rewarded by huge pay per view numbers to watch a heel Cena.

If the Rock isn’t the one to end C.M Punk’s epic WWE Championship reign then you can be sure that John Cena will be. It’s almost written in the stars that John Cena and the Rock will clash again in 2013, and a rematch with Cena a heel would surely cap off a perfect year for a man who is regularly booed out of arenas around the world.

It’s Not All Bad

If you’ve been with me since the beginning then you’ll know that I don’t complain about WWE without good reason. It has its faults and it has its problems which desperately need ironing out. Most are a quick fix and for a company with limitless resources, should have really been put to bed by now. There are though some good points from the year. As the old saying goes. When WWE do things bad then they’re really bad. When they do it well then you can’t beat it.

For everything WWE did wrong this year, there were a few shining lights in the abyss for WWE to put 2012 down as not completely wasted. Not all of them happened in the ring and not all of them are totally noticeable without looking hard or twice. Little things like Jerry the King Lawler still being with us when it could have been a tragic situation. That has to be looked upon as a triumph in anyone’s book. It’s thanks to the WWE medial staff that he’s alive and kicking today. There’s one thing WWE got right which, in the grand scheme of things outweighs most of what they did bad.

How about John Cena standing up to Vince McMahon and telling him he’s become out of touch with the audience he expects to tune in and his product. After years of kissing McMahon’s arse, Cena finally got something right and you never know, might have changed Vince’s outlook on 2013.

Then there’s C.M Punk’s WWE Championship reign which can be looked upon as nothing other than an outright achievement. It’s not easy in 2012 to keep something the same and still keep it fresh and watchable. Okay Punk has had his moments where it looked like it could all come crashing down around him but on the whole this has to be looked upon as a golden time in WWE. The first maybe for years. C.M Punk has really come into his own in 2012 and WWE is all the better for it.

We’ve had some cracking pay per view events in 2012, with Money in the Bank, Extreme Rules and Over the Limit leading the pack. These pay per views have given us some of the years greatest encounters in the ring such as the outstanding Punk vs Daniel Bryan feud in which there wasn’t a bad match out of the bunch. John Cena vs Brock Lesnar was a tremendous effort from both the clueless one and the returning monster. The Rock vs John Cena wasn’t a cracking match but you can’t deny that seeing the Rock in his first singles match since 2003 was a breath of fresh air. Undertaker vs Triple at Wrestlemania 28 was unbelievable for two men in the twilight of their career. Triple H vs Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam was one of the top storytellers this year. Plus the odd gem from Raw and Smackdown which has pleased the eye.

All the advances made in character by WWE this year may not outweigh those they ignored, but the long term future will be better for it. Team Hell No have given us some of the best tag team material in years. With Daniel Bryan and Kane’s natural comic talent I’m all for Team Hell No reigning as tag team Champions for the foreseeable future.

On the subject of Daniel Bryan, for me, the yes and no man has been one of the outstanding stars of the year both in and out of the ring. His feud with C.M Punk was out of this world and he’s taken to dropping down the pecking order to lend his talent to the WWE Tag Team Championship Division like a duck to water. A lot of things may be unclear about WWE’s doubles division, but one thing isn’t. The Tag Team Championships will be in a much better place when Team Hell No split, than they were before the duo joined forces.

Antonio Cesaro has to take 2012’s best newcomer award. Consistency in the ring along with the approval of the back staff will see Cesaro in a much higher position on the card this time next year. A future main event player in the making, WWE may just have a money make in their midst’s.

The Miz has come on in leaps and bounds as has Dolph Ziggler. At the beginning of the year both men were mere cannon fodder for the likes of Ryback and Brodus Clay. Since the middle of 2012 both have been figured into WWE’s future main event plans and seem to be taking to it very well. The Miz is the obvious choice out of the two to reach the summit first but Dolph Ziggler can’t be far behind. With his natural skill and charisma WWE won’t keep him down for long. I expect the main event scene to be a lot better off when they both arrive for good.

Ryback has to take home the surprise of the year award. When I saw him squash local athletes at Extreme Rules and seemingly every pay per view until SummerSlam I really didn’t believe that the Goldberg wannabe would amount to anything. After several impressive performances in the WWE Championship scene Ryback has to be marked down as the one to watch in 2013. That is if WWE don’t get bored of him and decide to bury him with the rest of the roster.

A Time of Goodbyes

Of course, Christmas isn’t just a time for family and looking to the future. Christmas is a time for reflection on the year that’s been. It also can be time for farewells. No one likes saying goodbye. No one likes waving off a part of their life that’s been constant. Especially when it seems that part of your life has been there since almost the beginning. For me, that is what this Christmas consists of. Fear not, your Wrestling God isn’t going anywhere. But there is someone who is.

If you live in the United Kingdom or have lived in the United Kingdom in that past 22 years and you’re a wrestling fan, then at some point in time you’ll have brought a wrestling DVD with ‘Silvervision’ on the cover. Silvervision has been the supplier of WWE DVD’s in the United Kingdom for 22 years. They have given us exemplary service and unparalleled quality with each release and now, the sadness of many fans, Silvervision are shutting the doors on their WWE department.

It was reported some time ago that WWE had refused to renew their contract with Silvervision after 22 glorious years and were looking for a new company to produce WWE DVD’s in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t the best move WWE could have made because most wrestling fans in the U.K buy their WWE DVD’s from Silvervision because they’re cheap and reliable. Of course Silvervision released the DVD’s into the shops, but most shops in the U.K put a price tag of £20 on the pay per views and £30 on box sets to make their money when Silvervision only charge a very respectable £10.99 for pay per views and £17.99 for box sets.

Silvervision will cease producing WWE DVD’s on December the 31^st and their final release NWO: The Revolution is already available to purchase. This isn’t the sad part for me. Silvervision accepted payment by Credit Card or British Postal Order. For those around the world, a British Postal Order is a form of payment for those who don’t have a credit card. Now if the new company decide they don’t accept Postal Order as a form of payment then those who don’t own a credit card, me for example, are going to have pay the extortionate prices of the shops. There is also no guarantee that a new company who don’t know anything about wrestling won’t decide that the three disc box sets are too dear to produce and decide to make cuts to the pay per views and box sets which means we don’t get the whole DVD.

Wrestlemania is usually a three of four disc DVD set in the U.K which encapsulates the whole event, plus extras, plus the entire Hall of Fame ceremony. Say this new company decide that a four disc pay per view DVD is going to be too costly and decide to scrap the Hall of Fame, the extras and cut the pay per view down to three hours so it fits on one disc. Silvervision were so reliable with each release that you knew you’d get exactly what was advertised in America.

The last point that goes with Silvervision, for those who don’t know around the world, is that Silvervision release Tagged Classic wrestling DVD’s. These DVD’s combined two separate old pay per views on two discs that were very high quality. For Example. SummerSlam 1996 and 1997. Now Silvervision are done with WWE we’re not going to get anymore tagged classics. Not because they don’t make the money because they do. But because a DVD production company that don’t know the importance of these DVD’s for wrestling fans aren’t going to bother delving into the back catalogue of WWE because they don’t know the importance of the events. Silvervision could do this effectively because they were transferring the events from the VHS tapes they originally produced.

We can’t change these things. I guess we can only adapt with them. It is sad day though in wrestling. Silvervision has been a part of my life since the very beginning. They’ve been producing wrestling videos and later DVD’s since I was born and I know their absence will leave a huge hole in my life. As sad as that probably sounds. I have gotten my huge order of Silvervision DVD’s in while stocks last and I suggest you do the same.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Silvervision and its staff for 22 years of dedicated and loyal service. We’ll miss you.

The Big Day Approaches

Little things get on my nerves this time of year. Stupid booking decisions by WWE that could have been so easily remedied. Queues in the shops for presents that you haven’t yet brought, or getting home and settling in for Christmas and only realizing on Christmas Eve night that you’ve forgotten something important. The crap on the television that never seems to go away or the Christmas Carols that, let’s be honest, everyone is fed up of by Boxing Day. If I hear Jingle Bells once more I may just strangle someone with them. And the child who gets the John Cena shirt under their tree on Christmas Day and proceeds to walk around the street doing the ‘You Can’t See Me’ hand gesture to everyone who passes.

I hate it when I’ve been buying a magazine for an extended period of time and it comes to Christmas and the last edition before the big day, doesn’t even wish you a Merry Christmas. It just ends the same way it ended in August or May. I’d at least like to be wished a happy Christmas for spending my heard earned money out all year. Maybe that’s just me.

Before I wrap all of this up and wish you a happy time on the big day I would just like to take a moment to do something I don’t do enough and something no one else does enough. Say thank you. Back in March, when I had a burning need to write the truth instead of the sugar coated crap that every other website were peddling out, I’ll be honest, I didn’t think anyone would care. Maybe I thought that everyone would be programmed into the WWE way of thinking and they’d be no call for someone like me. Nine months down the line I couldn’t have been more wrong. And I couldn’t me more thankful.

I enjoy this. Honestly I do. There has never been a time I’ve sat down and though “Oh Christ, I have to write something.” Not once. My life is complex. Believe it or not. I’m a writer who is trying to get something commissioned and an actor whose waiting for his big chance and who wants to entertain people. This past year I must have had thirty rejections from various people because even though they liked what I sent them, people don’t like commissioning new writers. It’s a sad fact. These executives, who pretend they know what’s good, glance over people like me in favour of re-commissioning second and third television series that no one wants to watch. I’ll get there in the end you just see if I don’t.

Through all of that, you’ve been there. When I felt like getting something off of my chest, talking to people who understood what I felt and sometimes this blog hasn’t all been about wrestling. You’ll have noticed my little digs to certain people and companies outside wrestling. And you listened. No one else would have done that.

I tried voicing my opinions on a bigger stage but no one wanted to listen. Because they’re closed minded or because some people simply don’t like the truth. Over these last nine months I’ve come to realise that maybe I’m better off here, talking to you. As the big day approaches and whilst you still want to listen and still want the truth, this is where I’ll be. Giving you what you ask you for as together we go onwards and upwards.

What I’m basically trying to say, is thank you.

Whatever your Christmas wish this year, I hope it comes true. Personally I’ll be wishing that by this time next year I’m not single anymore. I’ve had enough of the single life and it’s not as much fun as people say it is. Then again neither is finding someone you like and then realizing they actually prefer someone else. There is this beautiful woman I have my eye on, I don’t know her name but I know she lives in the next village and maybe 2013 will be the year I actually muster up enough courage to speak to her instead of actually just staring at her and then looking elsewhere when she returns my gaze. It’s funny, because it’s only at this time of the year that you realise how much you really like someone. Something about Christmas makes us think about the future and those we want to be with the most. And I really, really like her. But rejection on a packed bus would be the epitome of embarrassment and I’m not sure if I could take that. However she is worth it. Way out of my league, but worth it. I guess there really are people worth getting your heartbroken for.

So go and have enough mince pies to feed a small African country, enough booze to drown an entire city and sing songs long into the night until those bells being to chime. Whatever Santa may leave under your tree this year, enjoy it, because we only go around once and after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...

 

TLC 2012 - GLORY TO THE NEW BORN KING

As the dust settles on the final WWE pay per view of the year, we can now take the time to reflect on what has been and what is to come. With Christmas fast approaching and the anxiety running rife with what we’ll find under the tree this year, we can finally take stock on what presents Vince McMahon and company have given us and what we’d have preferred instead.

So my loyal minions, for the last time in 2012, from the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn New York, this was WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2012.

Six Man Tag Team Match

TLC Match

The Shield defeated Ryback and Team Hell No

To coin a phrase from Daniel Bryan, ‘yes, yes, yes!’ Out of all the possible outcomes to this match, WWE couldn’t have booked a better finish. The fact that the Shield walked out of Brooklyn with their hands raised high means that Vince and the WWE bigwigs are finally getting behind three new talents and pushing them to max instead of burying them to allow wrestlers like Ryback to take their place. For such a sensible booking decision, WWE deserves a giant pat on the back.

That’s not to say that the good work can be attributed all to WWE and their bookers, far from it. Because all six men deserve the plaudits just as much. Yes, that even goes for Ryback. Even though the loses of the encounter can walk away proud its really the three new upstarts that deserve the spotlight for this match. It would have been so easy for the three to walk into TLC with a nonchalant attitude and put in an average performance. Luckily though that didn’t happen. Reigns, Rollins and Ambrose went out with a purpose and showed WWE why they should be backing them over Ryback. Based on this performance from the Shield, WWE can have every faith that if they book the trio right and provide them with the correct feuds at the correct time, then all three men will flourish. You never know, the Shield could be the beginning of a turnaround in WWE’s development and stat making system.

So where to go from here? Next stop is the WWE Tag Team Championships. It’s the next sensible move for WWE to make with the trio and even though only two men can hold the gold, WWE could either repeat the storyline they heaped upon the three man trio of Demolition in the early 90’s and have them share the gold or go with Reigns and Ambrose for Tag Team Champions and have Seth Rollins defeat Kofi Kingston for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Either way, the plan cannot fail and with the heat and interest surrounding the Shield at the moment it can’t fail to do the WWE Tag Team Championships and the WWE Intercontinental Championship good as well.

The Championship victories will have to wait though. Because the next stop on WWE’s calendar is of course the first step on the Road to Wrestlemania. The Royal Rumble. An event which could do the Shield a lot of good as long as WWE aren’t planning to use the event as Ryback’s revenge in a singles match or three on one. I imagine that the Shield will be involved somehow in the WWE Championship Match between the Rock and C.M Punk, but should WWE get the booking absolutely right then the Royal Rumble match could be the foundations of something truly special. Hopefully by now the Shield have surpassed WWE’s normal Royal Rumble booking for undercard wrestlers in which minutes after they enter they are then again ejected by someone higher up the food chain. Sending the trio out within the first ten participants, eliminating some bug names along the way and having them last until the end where they’re finally ejected by Ryback after a historic beat down would look great for Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns and would also be sufficient revenge for Ryback.

After the Royal Rumble, WWE need to begin instigating feuds for the trio with other stars. As stated before Ambrose and Reigns would profit greatly from a feud with Team Hell No and Seth Rollins already has the star qualities to string a feud together with Kofi Kingston. Ideally all three men would capture their respective Championships at Wrestlemania 29, adding weight to the fact that C.M Punk’s new stable are a force to be reckoned with.

Team Hell No impressed me greatly at TLC and even Kane played his part to perfection. Although Daniel Bryan looks like he desperately needs a shave. For those that missed the pay per view, then you could have been forgiven for thinking Bryan had just come in from the streets to compete.

Of course Daniel Bryan was the stand out star on the losing team and sold like a trooper for the Shield whilst making the trio look good when they were trapped in his submission manoeuvres. The TLC match was a breath of fresh air for the duo who have been bogged down with defences of their WWE Tag Team Championships on recent pay per views and used as cannon fodder at Survivor Series. Many didn’t expect them to take their game up a level so close to the end of the year, but credit where credit is due, the tag team who were beginning to run dry have spun a new angle on their imploding tag team.

Kane and Bryan are of course headed for a split. If that isn’t obvious then you need to go back and watch the last four months of WWE programming again. However with such possibilities still to e tired and tested with Team Hell No it would be a shame to split them so soon. I know the tag team has been in existence for three months now but should WWE keep the gold around their waist until Wrestlemania 29 then the possibilities are endless. Even though the duo will have to defend the WWE Tag Team Championships again Team Rhodes Scholars again, most likely at the Royal Rumble, if the duo can get through that feud then the inauguration of a feud with two members of the Shield could shed new light on the WWE Tag Team Championships.

At the moment it’s hard to see where WWE will take the pair after the impending split. A singles feud for Kane and Bryan doesn’t sound too appealing especially after their so-so match at SummerSlam this year. Daniel Bryan should by right take his place back at the top of the card and maybe when WWE realise that he’s the man they need to inject life into the main event scene they’ll actually do something productive with him. Kane though is going to be in big trouble when doesn’t have Daniel Bryan to rely on. Because in the ring, Kane has been the weak link of Team Hell No and when forced back into singles competition the opportunities will be severely limited.

Ryback is a man of two sides. When he’s put into high profile main event singles matches and expected to perform, he fails miserably. Yet when put into a match of this calibre with five other men who can hide his flaws with perfection, the artist formerly known as Skip Sheffield actually looks rather good. All that time and money invested into the wrecking machine had gone to waste before TLC 2012 and I suspect will again in January when he challenges C.M Punk for the WWE Championship before the Royal Rumble. Maybe the best way WWE can go with Ryback is put him in a tag team.

The money, time and effort it has taken to promote him will have been wasted but maybe that’s better than just allowing him to fade away into the abyss once more. Quite frankly he stinks as a singles wrestler. Yet when there’s someone by his side to take the brunt of the match out of his hands and help hide his flaws he could pass for an average talent who could have many years left in WWE. I don’t see a future for Ryback should he stay as a singles star. He just doesn’t have what it takes and WWE must see this by now. His performance at TLC compared to his dire efforts at Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series were night and day. Vince McMahon has conceded defeat before. Perhaps it’s time he did it again.

Let not take any credit away from Ryback here though, because his performance at TLC was very, very good and even if it goes no further than a quick run at the top of the card, then Ryback can look back on his WWE career as something he put his all into. Indeed his presence in the match made the Shield look even stronger and their victory even bigger. Despite the fact that he’s a lousy singles wrestler, Ryback really did put in a shift on December 16^th and we must commend him for that. His impending WWE Championship Match with an injured C.M Punk should settle his status in Vince McMahon’s mind once and for all and open up other routes for him to walk.

I’d give this match an ‘A’ grade for the effort and the action. The six men involved did a thrilling job for me in putting three new wrestlers over and continuing their push. In the absence of WWE Champion C.M Punk, the Shield were thrown into the deep end. A task which they more than managed to keep their head above water and swim their way up our estimations and the WWE ladder. Bravo to all involved.

World Heavyweight Championship Match

Chairs Match

(c) Big Show defeated Sheamus

I have been critical if Big Show over the last few months. And quite rightly so. He’s shown me nothing that suggests he should be World Heavyweight Champion and really all he’s accomplished is stealing away the spotlight from other, younger wrestlers who could have prospered from it more. I will now though concede that TLC 2012 was once again a night Big Show could be very proud of himself. A man of his size and considerable weight wouldn’t normally be able to do the things he did in his Chairs Match with Sheamus, yet Big Show once again put his body on the line in order to get something out of the capacity crowd in the Barclays Centre.

It was a struggle, I imagine, to conjure up something inventive to do with a simple chairs match. After all, everything that could have been done has been done in previous years. WWE pleasantly surprised me by produced me by producing a specially made gigantic steel chair which looked like it buried Sheamus under its massive frame at one point. The highlight of the match though, where Big Show was concerned at least was when he voluntarily allowed Sheamus to hoist him up for ‘White Noise’ only to then be plunged through a cluster of standing chairs. For man whose body is beaten and bruised and as large as Big Show’s it was a brave and thrilling move to make. A move which made the crowd pop and livened up the match.

I still won’t concede that Big Show deserves the World Heavyweight Championship, but his performance at TLC was very, very special indeed. Now the final pay per view of the year is over, WWE have to find something else to do with Big Show now. I don’t see how another Sheamus vs Big Show match for the World Heavyweight Championship can be green lit when Sheamus has failed to pin Big Show in their last three pay per encounters, which just leaves one avenue. Dolph Ziggler. Now Ziggler has retained his Money in the Bank Contract, it’s surely time WWE took the next step and booked him to cash it in. Whether WWE could get a realistic feud out of Ziggler and Big Show remains to be seen. But I don’t see any other challengers ready to step up and play David, to Big Show’s goliath.

Sensibly, Big Show can’t stay World Heavyweight Champion forever and the smart money would have been to have Show drop the gold back to Sheamus at TLC. An outcome which would have done Big Show no harm at all considering his performance in this match, but would have done an immense amount for Sheamus who has begun to flounder under WWE’s booking. The Celtic Warrior has become an unimportant factor in WWE as we wrap up 2012 and this comes just one year after the Irishman was preparing for his first Royal Rumble victory and historic, if brief Wrestlemania 28 World Heavyweight Championship victory.

How the mighty have fallen indeed. Sheamus was a bright prospect in WWE last year. He was Triple H’s school pet backstage and had big things planned for him. However all that only means something if the booking team and the writers have a dynamic storyline for their latest prodigy. That is where WWE fell down with Sheamus, because they had the man they wanted to push but lacked the goods with which to push him with. They had the body of the car but forgot to put the wheels on. The only notable moment of Sheamus failed World Heavyweight Championship victory was his match with Big Show at Hell in a Cell in October. Apart from that, Sheamus and WWE have failed miserably. The warning bells should have rung for WWE when they had no other choice to but to book Sheamus to defend the gold against Del Rio on four consecutive WWE pay per views. It was clear the matches and feuds were going no where and the only purpose it served was to diminish Del Rio significantly.

One does wonder why WWE even thought about pushing Sheamus when they had no story or feuds for him to take part in. I’m convinced that if he hadn’t have been the apple of Triple H’s eye then maybe ‘The Great White’ would have been shuffled with the rest of the pack by now. Where do WWE go with him from here? Another pay per view match with Big Show is out of the question and with Randy Orton temporally unavailable due to an injury sustained at the Tribute to the Troops taping, Sheamus is left with a question mark hanging over his head.

Once again though, we can’t allow what has gone before and what may come again to spoil a perfectly good effort and a decent match for all involved. Whilst you get the impression that WWE, Big Show and Sheamus have ridden their luck with this feud and you really can have too much of a good thing, with no other prospects on the horizon I get the horrible feeling that we’re going to get more of something we never wanted in the first place.

Money in the Bank Contract Ladder Match

Dolph Ziggler defeated John Cena

It’s getting boring praising WWE for everything they’ve done right in one night. Usually I’d be writing about how they’ve ruined another perfectly good chance to make a star. But I can’t. Because once again, WWE booked this match exactly right, barring the way it actually ended. Instead of allowing Dolph Ziggler to defeat John Cena off of his own back, with say, a Zig-Zag from the top of the ladder, WWE just couldn’t bring themselves to allow Cena to lose a match without being screwed out of the victory.

It’s a shame in many ways because a clean victory in which Ziggler put his body on the line to defeat Cena would have been a top class finish and even put Dolph higher up people’s estimations. Whilst the victory for Ziggler was warranted and long overdue, I just can’t shake the feeling that it could have been done a much better way. A way which would have been more beneficial to the future World Heavyweight Champion. A clean victory would have done John Cena no harm at all.

How may of you saw it coming, I cannot tell. When A.J made her way to the ring to thwart the efforts of the now annoying Vickie Guerrero and watched Cena scale the rungs of the ladder, there was only one possible outcome. A.J stood there for way too long looking useless. It stood to reason that she would topple the ladder with Cena aloft, to allow Ziggler time to retrieve the briefcase. That though is a minor gripe in what was another very good encounter, even though it featured John Cena. Because the walking merchandise stand had an opponent of superior quality to help him through the match, Cena actually came out looking good. Maybe Christmas time can really produce miracles in its wake after all.

Agreed, Cena went through his usual parody of moves which looked bad at best and disgraceful at worst, but there was the odd top notch spot which mad you sit up and take notice. The moment he lifted Ziggler and the ladder on his shoulders was impressive, even if his fall from the ladder when A.J appeared looked gangly, awkward and could have done him a great deal of damage. It strikes me that if John Cena had have injured himself performing one of his moves then it might knock some bloody sense into him and make him go back to the drawing board. The credit here though has to go to Vince McMahon for not allowing his bank balance to overcome his business sense and allow Ziggler to go over Cena in what could go down as Dolph Ziggler’s biggest victory yet.

Something struck me as strange after TLC went off the air though. After TLC ended, WWE.Com took to the action interviewing John Cena after his match. For a man whose girlfriend had just turned on him and who had just failed to secure a guaranteed World Heavyweight Championship Match, Cena was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Honestly, you have to go to WWE.Com to see how ludicrous and pathetic Cena looks. To convey the feeling of betrayal, shouldn’t Cena have been scowling and vowing vengeance on A.J? What did impress me from that interview though was Cena’s comments about Dolph Ziggler. Instead of going to town on WWE’s next star and making juvenile fun of him, John Cena resorted to putting Ziggler over again and made Dolph look like a star. For this Cena, a man who is famous for not sticking to rules or promos written for him, deserves a hell of a lot of credit.

Dolph Ziggler’s career has taken a ‘U’ turn in WWE in the latter stages of 2012. He’s gone from on top of the world at Money in the Bank, to falling into the pack through SummerSlam, Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell, back to the top of the world at Survivor Series and sitting on a throne that should have been allocated to him sooner with his victory over John Cena at TLC. If we’re being honest most of us tuned into the pay per view expecting another John Cena victory and with good reason. Very rarely has John Cena or WWE allowed anyone new to go over and therefore almost pasted it into our psyche that when Cena is pitted against anyone who we expect to ascend the ladder, the outcome is always written in stone.

I like to think that Dolph Ziggler’s victory at TLC is a turning point in WWE. A new beginning where the company will refuse to sacrifice anyone with the slightest hope of making it to Cena and instead make the leader of the Cenation do the deed for the good of the company. It’s what has to happen to allow WWE to make new steps forward. It’s what needs to happen if the star making system in WWE is to be rejuvenated and overhauled.

WWE can use Dolph Ziggler as a trailblazer now. Already, deep in the bowels of WWE development heads are turning and a new dawn is approaching. Those who thought they’d never stand a chance in WWE are beginning to think anew. Out of every outcome at TLC 2012, this could be the one that changes the face of WWE for the better.

Hopefully, WWE will take Dolph and run with him now. Cashing in that briefcase is long overdue and hopefully if it doesn’t come at Royal Rumble it will transpire at Wrestlemania 29. Dolph Ziggler even has to be a major candidate to win the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match. An ideal situation would be for Ziggler to be the last man standing in the first pay per view of 2013, go on to Wrestlemania 29 to face the World Heavyweight Champion – lose and then cash in immediately after the match. That way when Ziggler won the gold the world couldn’t turn around and shout ‘Fluke!’ Because Ziggler will have done all of the work in the actual match and not allowed someone else to do it for him.

That would be the perfect way for WWE to treat Ziggler going into Wrestlemania 29. Continuous victories and some continuity that we can get behind is the key to unlocking a new star. If WWE weren’t willing to sacrifice Ziggler to Cena then I can’t see them being willing to sacrifice him to anyone else. At Christmas time, WWE’s future king has finally taken his rightful place on his throne. Aided by a good match and a refusal to go away when it would have been easy for him to give up when all looked bleak, all Dolph Ziggler needs now is some gold around his waist.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

(c) Kofi Kingston defeated Wade Barrett

I did hope that the way TLC was going, it might have been the night WWE reinvented the Intercontinental Championship. The night that the Championship that once made stars worked its magic again and started to become something meaningful. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. It wasn’t through lack of effort by Kingston and Barrett, I guess TLC was the first time I saw that maybe the Intercontinental Championship is beyond help.

In any other era of wrestling this match would have been a top draw. Had the participants not been up to scratch then the reputation of the Intercontinental Championship would have brought the people in their droves. Now though, the mere mention of said Championship seems to have the reverse effect. It may not drive people away from live events but it doesn’t help reel them in either. You can look for blame wherever you wish, but the only place your gaze will fall in the end, is the desk of Vincent Kennedy McMahon. And the reason? It’s his company. Everything goes through Vince. There isn’t anything that goes on television without his stamp of approval. Somewhere along the line the Championship that once meant more than the WWE Championship has slipped through his net.

Kofi Kingston, I’m afraid, isn’t the answer. As good as Kingston is, he’s become the proverbial comfy furniture. Something you know is always going to be there but ultimately, after a while, becomes samey and never adds anything new to your life. It shouldn’t have come to this. Kofi still has all the right factors to burst up the ladder. Even if it will take an earth shattering effort by WWE to get him to that point. For that to happen though, WWE have to be willing to push him and get behind him. At the moment, they’re not. There’s nothing about WWE that makes me think they’re ready to do so and without a willingness from the very top to make a change. Kingston is going to stagnate fast.

Wade Barrett would have been the perfect challenger two years ago. As leader of Nexus the Championship would have done Barrett some good. As a singles star, the British born grappler is more accustomed to the higher tear of wrestling elite. You may not think it to look at him now but Wade Barrett is WWE Championship material. Next to Daniel Bryan he was the standout star of the first season of NXT and had his paths not have crossed with John Cena so early in his career, who knows where he’d have been.

Had WWE so wanted to, they could have re-introduced Barrett as a vengeful machine who made a ‘B’ line for the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship. Barrett could have been introduced as a man who was bitter over his injury costing him the top spot and came back with one thing on his mind. Had he have stepped back onto WWE’s shores and took on John Cena, beating the hell out of him and pinning him clean in the ring without hardly any offence from Cena.

Barrett could then have turned his attention to Sheamus doing the same on Smackdown which would have necessitated a feud between the two. A feud which would have replaced Sheamus vs Big Show. WWE could have done so many things with Wade Barrett upon his return. More modelling him with an English mafia look and dumping him on Superstars for weeks. First impressions are hard to get a second shot at and Wade Barrett is already on his third. Unfortunately I don’t think WWE or the Englishman is going to get a fourth and no amount of good performances or Intercontinental Championship losses are going to change that.

WWE Divas Championship Match

(c) Eve defeated Naomi

Finally, something I can berate. I was getting soft with all the praise going around TLC 2012 that I almost forgot how to be a complete and utter bitch. You can always rely on the Divas Division to bring you right back down to earth.

This was an opportunity squandered. The ‘Santa’s Helper’ Battle Royal to determine the Number One Contender to the WWE Divas Championship on the pre-show was a good way to start again. Not the perfect way. But a good way nonetheless. A chance to get a fresh face into the mix and show the wrestling skills of the limited number of actual female wrestlers that still exist in WWE.

The winner of the battle royal, Naomi, could have been granted a month to build herself up under the watchful eye of WWE Divas Champion Eve and then create a feud going into the Royal Rumble or even better Wrestlemania. It would have given the Divas Division a little more spice. Something for the WWE Universe to get their teeth into. I’m convinced that a built up feud would have done much better business than a rushed job which served no one purpose, just like the Divas Championship Match was.

Instead of a new opportunity it actually turned out to be a reason for WWE to book Eve on the show. Another wasted opportunity gone awry. Instead of dedicating the time this farce took to another match, WWE decided to squander the meaningless Championship once again. Because of booking decision such as this one, the WWE Divas Division is sinking faster than the Titanic and no matter what ideas WWE come up with for it, they always seem to be just plasters, temporarily being applied over the cracks instead of a permanent rebuild which would fix them.

There is no one left for Eve to have a really sizzling feud against, even if she could string two moves together. Kharma and Beth Phoenix were WWE’s best hopes of making something new from the Divas Division and now they’ve allowed their two best female wrestlers to slip through the cracks the company has lost direction here. Just look at all the females who could actually wrestle that WWE have allowed to walk away.

Gail Kim could have been another saviour. Along with Kharma and Phoenix, Kim could have set the Divas Division alight. Yet WWE re-hired her and then did nothing with her. Kim and Kharma had a thrilling feud in TNA and given the chance could have done in WWE. Mickie James was canned because of an alleged affair John Cena. Instead of reprimanding her for whatever they thought she did wrong – it takes two to tango. Cena wasn’t reprimanded – they allowed her to walk away. Had WWE kept Beth Phoenix, Kharma, Mickie James, Gail Kim and hired in a few other females wrestlers from abroad – Japan has a thriving women’s division and there’s even an all female wrestling promotion in Japan – then they could have had a smash hit on their hands.

It really is an easy fix. And it could still be mended today. If WWE axed the fake tits which don’t belong in a wrestling ring on a rated PG product and hired some actually wrestlers then they’re be an increase in interest in their Divas product. As it is, Eve vs Naomi was a substandard effort and outing. None of the competitors got over in the slightest and it only served to kill a little time on an otherwise fine pay per view.

WWE United States Championship Match

(c) Antonio Cesaro defeated R-Truth

On the episode of Smackdown that went before TLC, Antonio Cesaro defeated Sheamus via countout in what was a commendable effort by the two. Showing that he can hang with the main event players, Cesaro seemed better than this match at TLC. Stepping into the ring against Truth, Cesaro knew in his mind that he belong higher up the card. And he would have been right.

I wrote everything I could about this match in the TLC preview. I really don’t see what else I can add. The match itself was almost an exact rerun of their Survivor Series encounter and had this been the main feature on the show then most would have walked away feeling hard done by. For a Championship and wrestler WWE expect great things from in the future then the company are really going to have to do better than this. Nothing special, nothing outstanding came from the United States Championship Match at TLC and I can’t imagine it did anything to make people want to buy a pay per view where the gold is being defended in the future.

Antonio Cesaro needs to drop the United States Championship and move on, quickly. His skills and wrestling technique speak of a man capable of much better things. Not every talent has to be built up from the bottom upwards. Ryback wasn’t and it didn’t even take WWE a whole year to bump him into the main event spot. Cesaro should be where Ryback is now and Ryback should be United States Champion. A simple swap would sort everything out. Would it have really killed WWE to take the former Ring of Honor star and introduce him at main event level? Cesaro has more skill than Ryback, he’s a better wrestler than Ryback and yet he’s being left behind while WWE concentrate on a much lesser talent.

I guess it just goes to prove that advanced wrestling ability isn’t the main thing in WWE today. If you have muscles that look like a bull’s bollocks then you’re guaranteed to get a push even if you can’t fight your way out of a paper bag.

R-Truth on the other hand should seek employment elsewhere. In any other organisation in any other country, Truth would be a star. New Japan Pro Wrestling would welcome him with open arms because underneath the lackadaisical efforts he’s taken to putting in, there is a wrestler waiting to break out. Surrounded by a superior wrestlers who would show him up before they began wrestling, Truth would be forced to put in his finest effort. An action which I’m sure would warrant some rave reviews.

In WWE, Truth is out of his depth as far as he has nothing to work for. He knows as much as we do that WWE aren’t going to make him United States Champion let alone WWE Champion and when that benchmark has been removed from your goals what else is there to work for? Going through the motions, is how best I’d describe R-Truth in recent months and even when he had Tag Team gold around his waist it still wasn’t enough to kick him into gear.

Antonio Cesaro vs R-Truth for the WWE United States Championship was merely designed to push Cesaro further in WWE. Booked without a though for the challenger, WWE need to have a serious look through their roster and do a little spring cleaning.

Number One Contenders Match

WWE Tag Team Championships

Tag Team Tables Match

Team Rhodes Scholars defeated Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara

Who wants to start making the ‘Farewell’ banners for Rey Mysterio? I’ll lend you some paint if you like. The number one contenders match for the right to challenge WWE Tag Team Champions Team Hell No, was never going to be Rey Mysterio’s night. Very rarely does a wrestler the calibre of Mysterio regress in the twilight of his career. Yet that seems to be the case for the masked man. For those who fondly remember his debut in 2002 will have had their memories shook violently by Mysterio’s latest stint.

The kind of performances and booking Mysterio gives and receives hark back to his debut in the company. When he was opening pay per views and having meaningless matches against Chavo Guerrero. The fact is that those matches in 2002 were getting Mysterio no where and yet ten years hence, Mysterio finds himself right back in the same hole he was originally in. For a man who has had numerous knee operations, taking time out of singles competition would have been a blessed relief. Tag team action would be seen as a welcomed rest. To have a partner there for you, taking the strain from your injured body was a relief. However Rey Mysterio has found that having a tag team partner has been nothing but the stone around his ankles as he’s plunged into the river.

Sin Cara should have been a star by now. Maybe if anyone else have had been given the role to portray then the name Sin Cara would be in the main event spots. Yet after WWE insisted they get a Mexican who spoke no English to do the mask, when there many better options in Ring of Honor, it all seemed to go, as we say in England, tits up. The warning signs were there when after his big debut he botched so many moves it was impossible to take him seriously again. It could have been nerves, it could have been an unprofessional nature that made him rush every match. We’ll never know. What we do have knowledge of however is that Sin Cara quickly went from one of WWE’s hopefully to a WWE zero.

I know WWE were desperate to put another tag team together, involving one of their headline stars, but what quite drove them to put Rey Mysterio with Sin Cara still baffles me to this day. I believe the plan was for Mysterio to make Cara more popular by association. However after a few tag team matches it was like Midas in reverse. WWE should have been quicker and spotted that Cara was doing Mysterio more harm than Mysterio was doing Cara good. But they didn’t. They allowed it to fester and now Rey Mysterio has been tainted. Read into his absence from live events – which WWE have pulled him from – what you will. I see it as the beginning of the end.

Team Rhodes Scholars were a dull little outfit when first put together. There’s no denying it. Cody Rhodes had so little credit I’m amazed he could withdraw money from an ATM machine and Damien Sandow was the laughing stock of WWE backstage. There was no belief in Team Rhodes Scholars at the very inception of their team and for all tense and purposes Rhodes and Sandow were slung together to make up the numbers in the Hell in a Cell WWE Tag Team Championship tournament. Somewhere along the road though the pair have become one of the most reliable tag teams in WWE.

Damien Sandow is a cracking wrestler who should be at the very top of the WWE Intercontinental Championship division by now and if there was any justice in WWE Cody Rhodes would be WWE Champion by now. Those though are not the cards that have been dealt the duo and instead they’re showing their class in the tag team division. No one in WWE thought that pair would be as popular as they’ve become and I believe that Rhodes and Sandow can go far in WWE as long as they’re kept as a tandem.

I don’t see them as WWE Tag Team Champions any time soon, largely because of the fact that the Championship will most likely be going to the Shield. Conversely Team Rhodes Scholars could be the rarest of things. Star challengers. Most challengers to Championships come and go and then have to make do with a spot when and where. Rhodes and Sandow though have been a constant part of the Tag Team Championship picture since their creation. WWE even went as far as putting the duo in the Survivor Series Elimination Match which Rhodes had to pull out of thanks to Kane’s carelessness.

Thankfully just as it looks like Rey Mysterio’s days are numbered in WWE, Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow have found their niche and a working formula that will see them endure and continue for at least another year. After their WWE Tag Team Championship match against Team Hell No which I would expect to be at Royal Rumble, Team Rhodes Scholars could be employed to help the other tag teams underneath them gain some ground. The team are of a standing in the company now that a victory for minor team over them would do the victors many a favour without damaging Team Rhodes Scholars imagine.

Finally WWE have found two men who they can rely on to deliver the goods and possibly carry the Tag Team Division when Team Hell No disperse to other corners of the company. It’s the first time in many years that we’ve been given a tag team to get excited about and that can only be looked upon as a good thing.

The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Brooklyn Brawler defeated 3MB

Really? I mean...really? You’re telling me that this is the very best WWE could come up with for the Miz? After all that bullshit about stripping him of the WWE Intercontinental Championship to revamp him into the main event, WWE gives us this?

There is a chance that Vince was planning on booking Orton vs the Miz before the Viper got injured, but even then, wouldn’t it have just been a better idea to book a face Miz against a heel Del Rio? I’d have liked to have seen that. In fact it could have even stole the show as match of the night had they been granted fifteen minutes to work their magic. Anything but this tripe. Giving Miz the Brooklyn Brawler as a tag team partner was the very bottom of the barrel as far as I’m concerned.

Those not in the know, the Brawler – real name Steve Lombardi – was a wrestling character in the late 80’s and early 90’s who never won a wrestling match. And before you tell me the reason he was included here save your breath, I already know. Just because the event took place in Brooklyn, New York still isn’t a good reason to book one of WWE’s worst ever wrestlers on a 2012 pay per view. Today Lombardi serves as a road agent in WWE and is much better off behind the scenes. It took me a few seconds to realise who he was. I though Popeye had been hitting the smack, hard.

It was plain to see the pissed off look on Miz’s face as he made his way to the ring. All that promise and hope gone for now. To my recollection it’s the first match Miz has wrestled in which he really didn’t look like he cared. Both Miz and Alberto Del Rio really need to take their careers by the scruff of the neck and stand up to Vince McMahon, demanding that WWE do something productive with them. What’s the worst that can happen? Neither man can be buried any further than they already are being and seeing as both could help WWE in the future then Vince is more likely to listen to either of them than say Jinder Mahal.

If the Miz’s push doesn’t start soon then WWE are going to have to come to terms with the fact that the Miz is going to be listed on the opportunities lost list. And that will be a great disservice to a man who has more talent in his little finger than some of WWE’s top guys do in their whole body.

Pre-Show

‘Santa’s Helper’ Battle Royal

Divas Championship Number One Contender Match

Naomi defeated Alicia Fox, Layla, Natalya, Cameron, Rosa Mendes, Aksana, Tamina Snuka, Kaitlyn

Thankfully, if you missed this then you didn’t miss much. Naomi was the surprise winner in a match where WWE abandoned the Kaitlyn storyline. So much for consistency. I think WWE would have done better actually having Kaitlyn win the Divas Championship before they cast her adrift, that way they would have had a complete storyline before moving on yet again.

Everything I have to say about the Divas division can be read above. Although I will say that seeing all the Divas battle in Santa outfit and other various was more off putting than it was sexy. I have no idea the tone WWE were going for in this match but its safe to say that they didn’t quite match it.

WWE TLC 2012 was a superb pay per view event. Not always in the ring but the overall outcomes of matches did more for the future of WWE and the rising stars than any pay per view this year. A superior effort by all involved, Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2012 can be noted down as one of the top five pay per views of the year thanks to victories granted to the Shield, Dolph Ziggler and another fine effort by Sheamus and Big Show in what should have been, by all rights, a disaster.

Those who should have been higher up the card were cast aside with a ‘Bah Humbug’ and naught but coal in their stockings and in some cases WWE didn’t even bother trying to push wrestlers that could have done with a big boost to end the year on. Those aside though, WWE deserves a lot of credit for the final pay per view of the year, the outcomes and bookings as much as the in ring product. If they can produce them this well at odd times during the year, there’s no reason they can’t do it every month.

Even though the night was an unmitigated success for the Shield, it’s the man who finally took his place amongst WWE’s elite that really claimed the evening and Dolph Ziggler will be the most talked about wrestler as the year once again rolls over. For a man who has been passed over time and time again for other, less talented, individuals, Dolph Ziggler is the new born king once again. And it’s about time too.

Onwards and upwards...