It’s been a long year and we’ve had to sit through a lot to get to this moment. The final WWE pay per view event of 2012 is upon us. TLC has been a highlight in recent years, 2011 was a particular highlight and the match that the pay per view took its name from has always been a star attraction and star maker for any wrestler lucky enough to be hand picked to take part.
On December 16th 2012, WWE’s future once again steps up the plate to show why they are the next generation and why the future starts here. And all it takes is a little TLC.
Six Man Tag Team Match
Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match
The Shield vs Ryback and Team Hell No
Things never go to plan in WWE. Not even when those plans have been laid so finely that you think they can’t possibly go wrong. Thanks to WWE pushing C.M Punk to his absolute limit – resulting in the knee injury which rules him out of TLC 2012 – Vince McMahon had to have a total rethink and now we have what could either be the making of ‘The Shield’ or one of the quickest burials in WWE history.
I realise that WWE were rushed into an announcement concerning the TLC main event but they really could have done better than this. Not because the Shield can’t hold their own, because they’re more than capable of doing so. But because this match is now going to boil down to Ryback’s revenge which only means one thing. Vince McMahon is more than likely going sacrifice the Shield to Ryback. More on that later. Had WWE really thought about it then Randy Orton could have done a quick heel turn on Ryback and been added to the Shield’s team, seeing as he’s already sticking up for them and WWE could have made this an eight man tag team TLC match and sacrificed Orton to Ryback instead of the Shield.
Doing this would have allowed WWE to protect the Shield and having Ryback pin Orton would have looked great for Ryback and done nothing to hurt Orton’s image. WWE could have even filtered a feud out of Orton vs Ryback to stretch until Elimination Chamber and given Randy Orton the chance to try and make something of the man WWE hopes to make into a permanent main eventer in the future.
WWE do have the perfect opportunity to take the next step with the Shield should they decide not to sacrifice them to Ryback. Seeing as C.M Punk will at some point between his knee healing and Royal Rumble defend the WWE Championship against Ryback, presumably on Raw then WWE have no need to make the Shield look weak. Ryback extracted his revenge against Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns on Raw so WWE has no good reason to book yet another destruction. Instead, should WWE be serious about the trio who stars will shine bright on WWE’s shores if allowed to prosper, the company should book the Shield to win the match either with Punk in a wheelchair at ringside or via power bombing Ryback from the top of the ladder through an awaiting table at ringside. If the three have done away with Kane and Bryan before hand then this would formulate a star characteristic for the cluster of new blood which would in turn place them in good stead with the WWE Universe.
New wrestlers who we can believe in is just what WWE needs right now. It’s going to take a while before they’re anywhere near the WWE Championship picture and the odds are WWE will lose fascination with at least two before the push is completed. We have to hope now that doesn’t happen. All three men have shown more than enough since Survivor Series to be kept in the higher-archy of WWE’s plans.
Team Hell No have been given a new lease of life being inserted into this match and owe C.M Punk a huge thank you, even though his knee injury wasn’t voluntary. Looking at the floundering tag team division in WWE, I couldn’t possibly see who the giants of the wrestling business would place as number one contenders to the doubles gold which Kane and Daniel Bryan current occupy. With Cody Rhodes injured Team Rhodes Scholars are out of the equation and with something bizarre going on with Rey Mysterio that has caused WWE to pull him from all live events – which usually signals the departure of a wrestler – the tandem of Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio are also absent from the tag team division. Had the WWE Tag Team Champions not been injected into this match then WWE would have most likely left them off of the pay per view completely.
To tell the absolute truth, Kane and Daniel Bryan seem to have run out steam, at least where opposition concerns. WWE have nothing left to book them with and seeing as there have been unforeseen complications with one half of both tag teams in prime position to challenge Team Hell No, I Imagine WWE are kicking themselves for failing to make any new teams which could sensibly step into the gap left by Team Rhodes Scholars and Mysterio and Cara.
If Rhodes is still unable to compete in January and Mysterio is on his way out of the company after ten years, then WWE have two months to find Team Hell No new challengers. Preferably not in the guise of the frightful Prime Time Players. I say two months because Kane and Daniel Bryan will compete in the 30 Man Royal Rumble Match on the event of the same name, so that let’s WWE out of booking them on the undercard of the first of the big four pay per views if 2013. However I do see Kane and Bryan eliminating each other in the Rumble match which would go some way towards the pair’s eventual split and feud once the Tag Team Championship have been dropped. Elimination Chamber will be a different story. If WWE books the pair in one of the Elimination Chamber Matches then we’ll know Vince has taken the easy route of making another tag team to challenge to oddball Champions. Whilst Bryan belongs in the WWE Championship picture, Kane, in 2013 does not.
I am glad that WWE have seen sense in doing everything they can to hide Ryback’s flaws in the ring. A specialist match like this should be to everyone’s tastes and doesn’t take a mastermind to pull off. Even the worst wrestler, except John Cena it turns out, can take a match like TLC and use it to their advantage. However without an opponent the quality of C.M Punk I can’t see how WWE will hide any of Ryback’s flaws. In fact Ryback is the biggest name in this match as far as marquee wrestling names go. That’s as much a tragic fact as it is the truth. In other circumstances Ryback would be the man who would be expected to carry the Shield through the encounter but knowing how limited Ryback is then Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns will need to be the ones who carry Ryback.
WWE though have booked themselves and Ryback into a hole. Ryback is no longer the brutal wrecking machine that WWE tried to portray him as. Too many losses on too many shows has put that image to bed along with the sight of Ryback failing to lift Tensai up for the Shell Shocked. I would like to know how WWE think Ryback will be able to lift Big Show up in their proposed Wrestlemania 29 match – which has been touted only for the prospect of Ryback having is Wrestlemania moment when he Shell Shocks Big Show – when he couldn’t even get Tensai up first time of asking.
I think that by now it’s fairly obvious that WWE are going to sacrifice ‘The Shield’. Again, another great example of how not to get wrestlers over so soon after their debut on the main roster. And WWE wonder why they fail at making stars. I’ll tell you now, if Ryback is allowed to dismantle the trio of Rollins, Reign and Ambrose without any sensible offence by the three then it’s going to take a massive effort by the WWE creative team to get the three over again. The backstage know nothings got it right on Raw after Survivor Series when Ryback did run through them but the three came back stronger and destroyed old Skip. I have a horrible feeling that WWE will give Ryback the green light to waste them at TLC.
WWE could abstain booking Ryback to destroy the trio who have so much promise, in a single match or sneak attack and instead save his revenge for the Royal Rumble Match. It would look a hell of a lot better if the Shield dominated a large part of the Royal Rumble Match, eliminating some big names and then Ryback enters and after a beat down of the supposed wrecking machine, Ryback makes a comeback and eliminates the Shield. That could be classed as revenge for Ryback. No one expects the Shield to win the Royal Rumble Match which means we expect them to be eliminated at some point. Being eliminated by Ryback after doing away with several big names would do the Shield, little to no harm at all and it would also be an effective way of ending this revenge angle with all involved looking good.
I know that the chances of WWE booking the storyline to pan out like this is very slim, but we can all see how it would be better than having Ryback destroy each member of the Shield in a singles matches in less than a minute. That course of action would do maximum damage to Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns. After a year where WWE made no stars at all, it can’t afford to allow these three to slip through their fingers. I’m taking bets though on WWE booking all three members of the Shield to face Ryback the night after TLC on Raw in a three on one handicap match. I also expect, in typical WWE fashion, Ryback to squash them like the local jobbers he used to lay waste to on a weekly basis. If this happens then WWE should hang their heads in shame. None of the trio should be made to job to Ryback in a match. All three men are going places. Ryback is banging his head on a brick wall.
As we approach the time of good will to all men, we can at least be thankful that this is the end of this feud and that we won’t have to watch Ryback plod his way around another main event, not knowing what to do. After all if Punk demands that he and the Shield be protected at every turn or he’ll walk out of WWE then Vince would have no choice but to shelve Ryback and concentrate on the quartet of impossibly gifted athletes.
Winners Prediction: Ryback and Team Hell No
World Heavyweight Championship Match
Chairs Match
(c) Big Show vs Sheamus
The premise of a Chairs match is one of the most pointless in wrestling today. For those not familiar with it or if this your first TLC pay per view then allow me to clarify. The basic rules of a chair match are that you’re allowed to use a chair. I know. Mind blowing. Revolutionary. It’s a weak concept as matches go and WWE really should have done something to add to the stipulation before now. What you basically get in your bog standard Chairs match is two people hitting each other with Chairs.
With the wealth of creative talent in WWE, you would have thought that someone could have come up with something better than this. Something like the participants must use the chairs as the final move before a pin is made. That way the wrestlers could come up with some truly innovative ways of using the chair instead of just slugging each other over the head with it. If that stipulation was added then Sheamus could use the chair and combine it with the Brogue Kick if he were going over or for a rapid flow ending to the match, Sheamus could go for the Brogue Kick with chair, miss, Big Show could duck and then turn hitting the WMD Punch into the chair for the win if he were going over.
You can already see how much better that finish would look. All the other specialist matches in WWE have a zest to them. Something that makes them anticipated. Ladder matches, you must climb the ladder and retrieve the Championship / briefcase from above the ring. Tables matches are only won by putting your opponent through the table. Cage matches, you have to escape the cage. Elimination Chamber matches are fought under elimination rules. Hell in a Cell matches are the only exception. Hell in a Cell is the only specialist match that can get away without a specific niche to it because it’s usually barbaric.
This feud has been hit and miss. The back and forth build up on Raw and Smackdown has been less than pleasing, harking back to WWE’s slapdash ‘anything will do’ approach that has doomed so many feuds from the off. In the ring though it has surprised at Hell in a Cell – after a third viewing and even though it held its own at Survivor Series it was no where near the pairs Hell in a Cell effort. The third and hopefully final match in the series, usually tagged ‘the rubber match’ should hopefully give us something to talk about, even if we doubt, which most of us do, it’ll be any good when the final bell sounds. It’s very rare in WWE for lightening to strike twice, especially with a wrestler as limited as Big Show. The only exceptions to the rule of ‘lightening striking twice’ in recent memory are Randy Orton and Christian in 2011 which delivered in every match on pay per view and of course the unforgettable C.M Punk vs Daniel Bryan feud.
Considering one decent match doesn’t make a memorable feud it’s hard to believe that anyone reading this will remember this feud five years from now. Unless WWE decide to repeat it then we’ll be forced to relive it all over again. However, thanks to little activity since Hell in a Cell and diminishing returns at the box office, I can’t see WWE wheeling out this feud again any time soon.
It has become blatantly obvious why WWE put its supposed second most important Championship on the Big Show. To enhance Sheamus’ reputation and make him look like a giant killer. There is only one snag in this little plan. Project Sheamus has failed miserably. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a mosey through the facts. WWE has put so much money into Sheamus, this is evident by his blink and you’ll miss it World Heavyweight Championship victory over Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 28 and the subsequent reign that followed. Sheamus was World Heavyweight Champion for six months and didn’t manage to whip up half of the interest that C.M Punk has. His repetitive and dull feud with Alberto Del Rio did nothing for either man and only succeeded in harming Del Rio. This alone is proof that WWE have run out of ideas for ‘The Great White’.
Sheamus has been given every opportunity by WWE to turn his character into something memorable and something that the fans can buy into. It really wouldn’t have taken much imagination to play on the stereotypical Irish trait of aggression and become one of WWE’s top draws by portraying a human wrecking machine. One that could have even been a match for Brock Lesnar in six months time.WWE should have latched onto the fact that Sheamus is incapable of getting himself over and instructed him on what to do. Even though there have been glimpses of the aggression, Sheamus and WWE have never followed through on it.
Had WWE directed Sheamus to go out and attack Big Show with a chair repeatedly, then gradually the WWE Universe would have seen Sheamus as someone who poses a serious threat to the World Heavyweight Championship and someone who could theoretically carry WWE into the future. Sheamus could then have gone onto destroy other top line talent citing the rage he felt of not being on top anymore. This would have put a different slant on Sheamus and also made the World Heavyweight Championship look more important than it currently does. It would have also made this Chairs Match stipulation a lot more solid. Because WWE have based this match solely on the ending to the Survivor Series Match between the two, where Sheamus attacked Big Show with, yes, a chair.
One has to wonder now if even a ruthless aggression streak would help Sheamus. Maybe it really is too late. As I stated earlier, Project Sheamus has failed to launch and now maybe should be shelved. The lack of enthusiasm that he elicits from the audience is worrying as is his lack of passion for the business. Looking at Sheamus in the latter half of 2012 I can’t help but think he too wishes that this was all over and WWE would do something else with him. Maybe it’s time that WWE admitted defeat with ‘The Celtic Warrior’ and put their efforts into flogging this dead horse into someone who can take the ball and roll with it.
The Big Show has become and enigma in the past two months. Just when you think he’ll never amount to anything in the wrestling business he pulls out a performance as good as the one at Hell in a Cell. Still, I stand by my decision that one good performance doesn’t warrant a Championship reign and judging Big Show on the fact that he’s been dormant in WWE since 1999, then I can say that he still doesn’t deserve the gold he currently wears.
This match and the Big Show could have been used for so much more than another attempt to get Sheamus over. As bad as Big Show is, he does carry a real threat to anyone smaller than himself. WWE could have used this imposing figure to advance Dolph Ziggler in a way that John Cena can’t and won’t. Had WWE used Big Show as a fall guy for Ziggler and have had Dolph attack Big Show in the lead up to TLC, WWE could have then had Ziggler kick out of a chokeslam and WMD Punch, put up a real heroic fight against Show before Big Show finally retreated with his World Heavyweight Championship looking worried for his reign. Having a giant and Champion the size of Big Show run away from Dolph Ziggler because he couldn’t defeat him would have made Ziggler look a million dollars. The disqualification or count out ending to the match would have been glossed over by the fact that Dolph Ziggler would have finally become a serious contender.
Winners Prediction: Sheamus
Money in the Bank Contract Ladder Match
Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena
I think we could all see where this was heading the moment John Cena made a mockery of Dolph Ziggler on the Hell in a Cell pre-show in October. For those that didn’t see it, during Cena’s question time, Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero – who WWE should have removed from Ziggler’s side long before now – marched to the ring and began instigating the whole Cena / A.J love story. An injured Cena then ejected Ziggler from the ring with ease making him look a complete tool.
The fact that Cena was genuinely injured made the whole angle even more bizarre and demeaning to Dolph Ziggler and the members of the audience that had stuck with him throughout the highs and seemingly never ending lows of 2012. WWE made it look like Dolph Ziggler couldn’t even get the better of Cena even when the human merchandise machine was injured. WWE should have had Ziggler go to the ring at Hell in a Cell and beat Cena down so bad that he re-injured the elbow – in the storyline of course.
Dolph Ziggler has been fighting an uphill battle since Hell in a Cell. After SummerSlam and Night of Champions, two pay per views on which the future World Heavyweight Champion should have been granted victories over Chris Jericho and Randy Orton, WWE came on leaps and bounds with Ziggler booking him to be the sole survivor at Survivor Series and booking him in competitive matches on Smackdown with the likes of Kane, who Ziggler managed to make look good.
This would have been the last feud any of us would have chosen for ‘The Perfect One’. John Cena has been in WWE for ten years and made absolutely no stars. Why WWE suddenly believe Cena will make Ziggler a star at TLC is more than baffling. Still, things looked great after Survivor Series when Ziggler attacked Cena and supposedly injured the leader of the Cenation’s knee. However Cena failed to sell the knee on the Smackdown following the attack and on the November 23rd Raw where Cena beat Ziggler down so bad that it couldn’t have failed to diminish Dolph’s star.
Should someone ask Dolph Ziggler in a few years time what his lowest point in WWE was then I would put good money on him saying November 23rd 2011. The day all of the good work Ziggler and WWE did, was undone. The truth is what we deal in here, and the truth is that on November 23rd, John Cena made Dolph Ziggler look like a pussy. Instead of playing the victim for Ziggler to help get him over, Cena did what he’s done to every other upcoming talent in WWE. Buried him. Failing to sell the knee only devalued Ziggler more. It was as if WWE and John Cena were saying to us all, if you insist on cheering those we don’t think have a chance then we will bury them until you think like us.
There’s a train of though going around the WWE Universe that if we, the paying public cheer for those WWE doesn’t deem fit for a headline run, then it could have a damaging effect on said wrestlers career. If you look at Dolph Ziggler in 2012 then you could argue that statement is correct. The WWE Universe were solidly behind Ziggler at SummerSlam and No Way out yet WWE insisted on booking him to lose on both shows. Should this turn out to be the truth, then Vince needs a kick up the arse. We will pay to see and cheer who we want and not who we’re told to like. That’s like Vince and WWE saying to us ‘You can’t have your own opinions, you have to like who we tell you to like.’ And that is pathetic.
I don’t believe anyone who will tune into this match believes that John Cena will do anything to aid Dolph Ziggler’s career in this match. He’s incapable. Which is why WWE have made this a ladder match. Even though John Cena can’t hide his flaws in matches like these either, at least we won’t have to sit through yet another John Cena singles match in which you could write what moves he’ll do and in what order. This gives WWE the perfect chance to book Cena to lose at TLC and make Ziggler look good doing it.
The one concern that most of us have, is that for some reason WWE have chosen to put Ziggler’s Money in the Bank briefcase and contract up for grabs. This could be looked upon as one of two things. Either WWE are going full throttle with the Ziggler push or they’re going to use this match as an excuse to take everything Ziggler has worked for away and give it all to Cena. Looking at what could come after, it seems more likely that WWE would book a face Cena against a heel Sheamus in 2013 for the World Heavyweight Championship than carry on the Sheamus vs Big Show feud. Maybe I’ve seen one too many John Cena matches and one too many similar situations where WWE have chickened out of putting the heel over.
TLC could be the beginning of a great push for Ziggler. Survivor Series could only be one small step. A victory over John Cena at TLC would be the catapult that Ziggler needs, even if Cena fails to aid him on the journey. Dolph Ziggler is talented enough to get himself over in the match and mask at least a proportion of Cena’s misgivings. A talented enough wrestler would be able to survive this encounter with his reputation intact as long as WWE don’t book a hokey finish and make him fall to the diabolical STF submission. I’m not convinced about anything where John Cena is concerned though anymore.
If WWE do take the Championship shot away from Dolph then you can believe that Ziggler’s push in WWE is over and his prospects of being in the main event in 2013 are slim to none. To do this would be paramount to shooting yourself in the face for WWE. It has to be obvious to Vince that his main event scene in bare to the bones and that helping Ziggler get over instead of burying him is the way to go forward. No one is going to believe in Dolph if he loses to Cena at TLC.
I concede that WWE could have done more to get Ziggler over in the build up to this match. The beat downs he’s received from Cena combined with the heelish actions and cowardice tendencies don’t bode well. Dolph would have entered TLC in a much stronger position if WWE had have allowed him to have the upper hand in all the beat downs and at least pin Cena twice in tag team matches leading up to December 16th. Had this happened and Ziggler beats Cena on the night then he’d have been set up for a monstrous run in 2013. The man who defeated John Cena en route to the World Heavyweight Championship. What a glorious moment it would have been. Sadly though I don’t see that happening.
Going on previous years and countless storylines which have always ended the same when Cena is given someone of lower standing in WWE – anyone remember the hash he made of the Miz at The Bash 2009? – I have to expect Cena to embarrass Ziggler and Ziggler to pack up all his talent and take the beating that’s coming. Because that’s what WWE thinks wrestling should be in 2012. The younger guys should look at the lights for idiots like Cena no matter how detrimental it may be to their career, their image or their future. When you think like that then maybe we shouldn’t be to surprised that WWE’s main event scene is like it is today.
But, I’m going to stick my neck out on the line with this one. I’m plumping for a Dolph Ziggler victory. WWE knows what it has with Dolph and has spent so much time and money pushing him it would be the dumbest move since creating a character called Eugene to throw it all away now. So there it is. Dolph Ziggler to beat John Cena at TLC 2012. And if this happens, then maybe WWE really have seen the error of their ways and are taking steps to right their wrongs.
Winners Prediction: Dolph Ziggler
WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
(c) Kofi Kingston vs Wade Barrett
Three hundred and sixty five days ago, Wade Barrett’s prospects in WWE were ten times better than today. Deep in the bowels of WWE Headquarters it was Wade Barrett’s name being thrown around as the prime candidate to take the Money in the Bank briefcase at July’s pay per view event. Had Barrett been fit enough to compete then it would have been the Englishman who claimed one of the prizes that hung above the ring on that fateful night and not John Cena or Dolph Ziggler.
Had Wade Barrett not suffered an injury in February on Smackdown, during a battle royal, then it’s a safe bet that we could have had our first English World Champion in 2012. Still, Wade was dealt the cards that saw him take yet another step backwards and instead of headlining events and stepping into the shoes of the British Bulldog, the former leader of the Nexus is trying to keep his head above water in the Intercontinental Championship division after too long spent languishing on WWE’s ‘to do’ list.
I get the impression that WWE felt obliged to put Wade Barrett in this match at TLC, because they really don’t have anyone else to challenge Kofi Kingston and they have no more ideas for Wade Barrett. After appearances on Superstars and then his sudden interjection in the Survivor Series Elimination Match, WWE have once again rushed a push that could have been gradually. Yes, his feud with Kingston is a step up from beating down jobbers on a show no one really watches anymore, but you have to question the actions of a company that see fit to rush what could have been an intriguing feud and not let it flow over time. However had WWE had the brains to book Barrett and Kingston in longer segments at Survivor Series, the paying audience could have brought into this match more than they have.
It’s safe to say that we can all see this feud going nowhere. Kofi Kingston has spent so much time in mid card its almost impossible to imagine him headlining any event anymore and Wade Barrett has so little heat that even if he were to pin Kingston to become the new WWE Intercontinental Champion at TLC, it’s going to be a reign that goes out before its even lit. Let’s face it. Apart from Kingston who would Barrett have to defend against? There are now so few contenders that we’re willing to pay to see in WWE that the WWE Intercontinental Championship division may as well not exist.
Once again though your Wrestling God is here to give WWE an escape route out of the corner they’ve willingly backed themselves into. If WWE wants Wade Barrett to succeed in WWE in 2013 then this could be the path for all to walk. See what you think. So, sick of all the injustice for wrestlers who aren’t American in WWE, Wade Barrett decides to take matters into his own hands. Forming an all British / English faction who rip through WWE and leave no one standing in their wake. The faction would be the perfect chance for WWE to bring Paige up from NXT obscurity, rescue Drew McIntyre from 3MB and add a few British undercard wrestlers to the stable to give them a boost. Helmed by Barrett the faction capture the Intercontinental Championship, the Divas Championship, the United States Championship – which would be renamed the United Kingdom Championship or something along those lines and the WWE Tag Team Championships. The final goal would be the World Heavyweight Championship, which would ideally be held by Sheamus.
After Barrett and the British Faction fail to convince Sheamus to join their group Barrett draws the battle lines between the faction and Sheamus. Finally resulting in Wade Barrett, who by the time he gets to a match of this magnitude would be on fire in WWE, against Sheamus for the World Heavyweight Championship. Barrett would capture the gold and the British faction would have so much heat they could be as big as DX given time. It would be a convenient and sensible platform for British wrestlers a reason to exist in WWE, instead of being a card filler. It’s guaranteed to work. If anyone remembers the ‘Anti American’ Faction which existed in WWE in 2003 then you’ll remember how much heat each of the members got. American’s hate nothing more than English people taking over their product and banging on about how much better England is than America – by the way, I’m an Englishman and I can tell you that that is not true. America is by far superior.
Should WWE be unwilling or even stubborn as we know they can be about doing something like this then I can only imagine how much worse things will get for Barrett. Once WWE’s future World Heavyweight Champion, now cannon fodder to fill out a card on which WWE don’t have any more contenders. This is by far Wade Barrett’s worst stint in WWE since his debut on NXT and yes, that does include his treatment at the hands of John Cena.
Sometime’s you get so comfy with a wrestler plying his trade a certain level that you either can’t imagine them anywhere else on the card or you just get plain bored of them. Kofi Kingston has fallen into that category and WWE hasn’t even noticed yet. The whole point of throwing Kingston back into the singles spotlight was for WWE to push him a serious wrestler who one day could challenge for the WWE Championship. Yet what we actually got was almost an identical package to his 2010 Intercontinental Championship run. Talk about history repeating itself.
WWE hasn’t done Kingston any favours by failing to build challengers who could give him a run for his money, because should Kingston retain at TLC and the Barrett feud runs dry, which it will quickly, what else is left for the Intercontinental Champion? The scene is looking as a bare as the United States Championship division. Of course maybe that’s WWE’s answer. After Wade Barrett, I don’t see how WWE can put off unifying the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship.
In an ideal world they’d be enough challengers to fill both divisions effectively and the two would have a separate divide. Both Championship divisions would have their own intriguing storylines to set them apart from each other and avoid the pair clashing in style and image as they so often do. The sensible money would be to unify the two Championship in a feud which would culminate in the Unification Match at Wrestlemania 29. Antonio Cesaro is the perfect foil for Kingston and with WWE riding high on both men you can bet they’d find enough time to promote such a feud. With the two division merged, the list of challengers for the Intercontinental Championship would flesh out more and WWE could exploit some untapped talent from the U.S Championship division to give a fresh new feel to the Intercontinental Championship division.
But, that’s the long fix. For the Intercontinental Championship to matter again in WWE it’s going to take two or three years heavy promotion, planning and thought. If WWE are willing to put that much effort into something they allowed to get so flabby then the rewards would be there but not for some time. It’s sad that a Championship with the history of the Intercontinental Championship has fallen so far, so quickly. Unfortunately for WWE, there is no quick fix.
Winners Prediction: Kofi Kingston
WWE United States Championship Match
(c) Antonio Cesaro vs R-Truth
Do you ever get the feeling that you’re banging your head against a brick wall? That no matter how hard you try to get your point across no one listens? And if they do they shrug off what you say and replace it with their own false ideal? That’s how I’m starting to feel with the United States Championship division.
After the belt died a horrible death around the waist of Santino Marella, things finally looked they would change when Antonio Cesaro defeated the class clown on the SummerSlam pre-show. A new life should have been given the Championship and limitless horizons should have been its future. WWE could have done so much with Cesaro and the United States Championship. They could have had him come out the night after SummerSlam and brag about how much the belt meant to him – that would have gotten across that someone in WWE cares about the division. WWE could have Antonio Cesaro berate the company for what they’d done to the Championship – that would have made people sit up and take notice. WWE could have had Cesaro defeat Randy Orton and John Cena in singles matches in consecutive weeks after SummerSlam, in matches which Cesaro would have dominated allowing his opponents hardly any offence and then pinned C.M Punk on Raw in a non title match – this would have made the then new United States Champion look an imposing and undefeatable figure and done no harm to the image of Cena, Orton or Punk. The options that could have come from such encounters were limitless.
Randy Orton could have been made to be so angered from the loss to Cesaro on Raw that he instigated a feud with the United States Champion, which would have see ‘The Viper’ challenge Cesaro at Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series in a feud which would have put both champion and belt on the map. After defeating Orton in a feud and retaining his Championship, people would have begun to take notice and interest in the U.S Championship. Once that feud had died away Cesaro could have come out on television, stopped Raw and announced that he’d pinned Randy Orton, John Cena and the WWE Champion C.M Punk and that now no one could stop him. That would have been dynamite. I hope after all of that you see the possibilities that WWE ignored.
Instead of a red hot United States Championship division, Antonio Cesaro has been Champion for four months and WWE have done absolutely nothing with him. Vince knows that he can’t waste this opportunity and with the WWE Universe seemingly behind Cesaro, surely Vince should get his arse off of that seat he occupies in Titan Towers and do something about making Cesaro a star. So far Cesaro has defended against a parade of WWE’s failed pushes and jobbers and it’s done nothing for either the Championship of Cesaro.
Once again, WWE have some how seen fit to book a rematch from Survivor Series. A match may I add which played out to few cheers and a long periods of silence. Why would you book a second match when the first wasn’t up to par? Especially when WWE have an array of other challengers lined up waiting for an opportunity to strike when called upon. It’s these kind of lazy decision that have landed the United States Championship in the rut it’s in today.
R-Truth is done in WWE as far I can see. He has no momentum, no heat, no one cares about him and it doesn’t matter how many time he shouts ‘Little Jimmy’ we still don’t care about him. It is a shame in many ways because Truth did possess the makings of a star. Then WWE booked him into a hole and now they couldn’t dig him out of it with a million spades. It’s frustrating because before Truth came to WWE he was a regular hit in TNA even going on to become TNA / NWA World Heavyweight Champion. That is an achievement that Truth can be proud of for the rest of his life and a bigger achievement than he’ll ever reach on WWE’s roster.
I really don’t know what the answer is with R-Truth. What do you do with a man who doesn’t seem to have the passion for the business anymore? A man who the company have no intention of getting behind or pushing? Maybe, and it’s only a slight chance, Truth could be big in WWE in a few years. A steady push up the ladder with the effort from the man himself may yield rewards. I don’t believe WWE have any intention of going that far though. Frankly Truth would be better asking WWE for his release and finding something which he can put his whole soul into.
Winners Prediction: Antonio Cesaro
Number One Contenders Match
WWE Tag Team Championships
Tag Team Tables Match
Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio vs Team Rhodes Scholars
I don’t see why WWE have allocated one of the speciality matches to this particular encounter, when it could have done so much more for either the WWE Intercontinental Championship Match or the WWE United States Championship Match. A tables match would have added an extra element to two matches that we’ve seen before on free television. As far as star attractions go on a pay per vie already heavily loaded, this match isn’t up there with them.
Team Rhodes Scholars looks like they’ve just been thrown together again, so soon after Cody Rhodes has returned from a pretty nasty injury. It might have been advisable for Rhodes to take an extended leave of absence as we’ve already seen what happens when one rushes back from injury. Undoubtedly, Damien Sandow has been lost on television without Rhodes and instead of WWE giving him an advantage over the rest of the field by attacking Mysterio or Sin Cara they’ve simply just had him go out to the ring and look for an apprentice. Alan Sugar and Donald Trump, he is not.
When Cody Rhodes went down with that injury caused by Kane on a taping of The Main Event, there’s no doubt that Team Rhodes Scholars suffered from his absence. WWE see Cody Rhodes as the better man in the team and they just didn’t know how to handle Sandow because in reality no one in WWE believes that the supposed weaker member of Team Rhodes Scholar’s has what it takes to make it on his own. If Damien Sandow wasn’t in a team with Cody Rhodes then he would make a brilliant foil for wither Kofi Kingston or Antonio Cesaro in the singles division and one day could reach the heights of the summit with the WWE Intercontinental Championship strapped around his waste. Unfortunately for Sandow WWE don’t see him going any higher and therefore will keep him at certain level until they decide to dispose of him.
With Cody Rhodes out, WWE should have been hot on Sandow, allowing him to hold the court for Rhode’s return and possible another WWE Tag Team Championship match at Royal Rumble. A match which would have taken place at TLC no doubt, had C.M Punk been able to compete on the pay per view. WWE should have granted Damien Sandow to defeat Kane, Rey Mysterio, Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara in singles matches in the run up to TLC to allow Team Rhodes Scholars to look dominant coming into the show. But making a wrestler or team look like real challengers doesn’t seem to be high on WWE’s list of things to do at the moment.
Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara are going nowhere fast. The feud and implosion which was talked about in the middle of 2012 doesn’t seem to be coming forth and with WWE recently removing Mysterio from live events and house shows, then one could be forgiven for thinking that WWE are planning Mysterio’s exit from the company. It’s not usual practice for a name as big as Mysterio to be removed without good cause and the only cause WWE would use to take a wrestler off of live a live event marquee would be injury. Seeing as Mysterio is competing at TLC then injury isn’t the cause.
I know it’s jumping the gun slightly to assume Mysterio is leaving WWE in the near future, but if that is the case then surely it would make sense to have Sin Cara as the man to rid WWE Rey. Should WWE initiate the feud between the two and have Cara put Mysterio out of WWE it would do for Sin Cara’s career what WWE has been trying to do for him since his debut. Being credited with the downfall of a WWE stalwart would do wonders for any career. WWE could then begin to build on that and make Cara a masked menace who is a serious threat to the WWE Intercontinental Championship.
Apart from the avenue, I struggle to image what lies next for Sin Cara. He’s certainly not the finest wrestler WWE has on its roster and judging by the state of his career now, if Cara isn’t in WWE’s plans for 2013 then he’ll most certainly be one of the top candidates on the ‘Future Endeavour’ list. Can you really see Cara challenging for any type of Championship in the current state he’s career is in? Me neither.
The winner of this match gets a WWE Tag Team Championship match at some point in the future. And whilst a tables match may not have been the most sensible choice considering Cody Rhodes’ injury and the carelessness of Kane, there’s no doubt this should be a gripping encounter. For me though there’s only one winner and that’s the team which were in the middle of feud with the Tag Team Champions when injury dictated otherwise.
Winners: Team Rhodes Scholars
Pre-Show
‘Santa’s Helper’ Divas Battle Royal
WWE Divas Championship Number One Contender’s Match
Alicia Fox vs Layla vs Natalya vs Kaitlyn vs Cameron vs Rosa Mendes vs Aksana vs Tamina Snuka vs Naomi
The one redeeming feature of this match is that unless you watch on You Tube, we don’t have to sit through it. Thank God for that. Although I will concede that WWE have to be given credit for their determination in trying everything can to get the Divas Division back into public domain. Even though it’s clear that it isn’t working. And if they were that bothered about getting the division up and running again wouldn’t they have put this on the main body of the pay per view? After all, how can an audience get involved and interested in a division which they cannot see?
Looking at the match type, a Battle Royal is the best way to go. Especially when they have a line up of flimsy, shallow slappers who aren’t interesting in the slightest. Layla, Tamina and Natalya are the only competitors out of the whole bunch who can actually wrestle, unfortunately though I doubt either of the trio will walk away with the victory.
As far as a number one contenders match goes, it is the perfect way to determine the next challenger for a Championship that is beyond saving. That I cannot dispute. However when the division is in the state it is in, maybe WWE would have been better served devoting the time to building up another feud that will make them money or giving the air time to the underrated tag teams who seem to have dropped off of the edge of the WWE Universe.
Winners Prediction: Kaitlyn
I will grant you the fact that the line up is pretty solid at the top of the card. Cena, Ziggler, the Shield. All designed to lay the foundations for 2013. WWE’s judgment will be called into question once again should John Cena prevail over WWE’s brightest prospect and if Ryback runs through the Shield like they’re not even there Vince McMahon will have once again built up our hopes just to dash them.
TLC 2012 looks a strong contender for pay per view of the year in writing. But we know that in WWE, something which looks good could just be a turd dressed up in tinsel. The eyes of the world will be on WWE on December 16th and once again, the company has left themselves with more questions to answer than needed. With the lack of other star names such as an injured Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio and the Miz absent without reason, it looks like WWE have opted to build TLC 2012 around the future of their company. It’s a wise decision but one that is going to take a of TLC to pull off.
Onwards and upwards...
