HAVE A GREAT ONE EVERYBODY

As I sit here writing this in my Father Christmas hat, eagerly awaiting my presents to be delivered on Christmas morning, I have already been immersed in the Christmas spirit for close to three months already, ever since I walked into my local shopping centre and heard the sounds of ‘Rocking Around The Christmas Tree’ blasting out to the annoyance of most. Regardless of it not even getting to Halloween yet I couldn’t help but give a small dance to the horror of two girls caked in make-up and the amusement of a store assistant. Now we’re in the Christmas month and the mince pies and fizzy pop is flowing like wine at the feeding of the five thousand, I can happily say that I am in my element.

Of course, I do take a moment to ponder on what type of a year I’ve had and it has to be said it’s been pretty awful. Don’t get me wrong, nothing truly tragic has happened in my life. I haven’t lost anyone in the family for the time in many years but where the main problem lies is that nothing major has happened either. They say that you make your own luck and like most of you wonderful minions, I have worked my particulars off – both of them if you’re wondering – to make my luck better than it has been. Despite hours upon hours of hard work, I’m still sitting here hoping 2014 will be my year. But saying that I was sitting in this exact seat last year, wishing the same thing. I like to stick to theory that if you keep going and don’t give up then something good will happen.

Of course with Christmas comes New Year’s and those New Year’s resolutions we all make but can’t ever stick to. I’ve made them in the past as I’m sure you have. To lose weight, stop eating so much rubbish, do something we haven’t before and the list goes on and on. Personally, I have two New Year’s resolutions. The first being to finally learn to play a musical instrument without losing my temper with it. The instrument I have my eye on is a Ukulele as I once tried to play a guitar but after two months of struggling to learn to strum two strings it unfortunately met with the sole of my shoe in a very nasty purpose filled accident. The second is to do something I never have before. Be that say yes to more things or live a little more. I want to do something I never have and the first pinpoint in that quest will be to make my sisters birthday cake complete with little fondant people from television shows she loves.

I’m sure all you good people are pondering over what yours will be and some of you will even be sneering at the thought of promising yourself to do something knowing damn well you have no intention of following it through. I think we should. It gives us something to work towards and a great sense of self pride when we complete it. Everyone reading this should just try to do one thing they never have before or the one thing they’ve promised themselves to do for years. It doesn’t matter what it is. If you’ve always wanted to parachute from a thousand feet then throw yourself out of a plane and think how wonderful it is to be alive. If you’ve been yearning to tell that certain girl or guy how you feel about them then do it, take that leap (it’s just a shame I don’t follow my own advice). Just do something. Personally, I’m still contemplating whether or not to go that holiday camp audition I mentioned a while back. I’ve prepared an audition piece and everything but it’s just finding the nerve to actually go.

I have actually already begun this and before New Year – aren’t I a good boy? Maybe Santa will leave me an extra under the tree for foresight and effort this Christmas. Because this year, I took the leap and actually attended my first acting audition in years, in the complete knowledge that I would never ever get the part offered. So hey, it’s a start right? Though I think Christmas is much more exiting when you have children in the house and I can’t wait until I have some of my own. The judge has ruled that I can no longer invite random ones into my house (that for all of the humourless, was a joke – come on it’s Christmas).

Whilst we’re wondering what our New Year’s resolutions will be, I wonder if Vince McMahon has made his and if he’ll keep to them. If not and Vince if you’re reading this then allow your Wrestling God to suggest a few resolutions you could keep to which could boost business all around. You never know maybe by this time next year, McMahon will have taken note of these suggestions and we’ll see them implemented on WWE television and we can tuck into our Christmas pudding with a smug grin knowing that we were responsible for 2014 in wrestling – not that we’ll ever be credited for it.

I could mention a long list and keep you here for the next hour whilst I dust off my soap box and wax lyrical about where WWE are going wrong. But let’s be honest, it’s Christmas, you have better things to do and I still have presents to wrap whilst trying to get a sneak peak at what my family have brought me – you all do it! Instead of writing a list which you’ll all be slashing your wrists at by the time you get to the end I’m simply going to mention one or two things and see if we can spot them on WWE programming in 2014.

The first is the long awaited and much talked about John Cena heel turn. Yes, before you pepper me with messages telling me this has been throw around and rejected several times by Vince McMahon and John Cena, let’s not forget that McMahon is a man of great integrity even though he doesn’t show it half of the time. More than anyone in WWE Vince knows that the company has to move forward or risk sliding backwards. It’s an effect which WWE suffered during the Monday Night Wars and one they may face again if they don’t soon do something about the Cena situation.

We all know the reason Vince doesn’t want to turn Cena and it’s the same reason why John Cena is so opposed to turning himself. When it comes down to it, neither is bothered about what is best for business, just how much they can line their pockets with from the sizable merchandise sales. When it comes down to it, John Cena can preach that he loves this business all he wants but unless he’s willing to prove it by doing what is best then as far those who hate him concerned, he’s only in it for the money. It’s up to the man himself to prove us wrong and for all the member of the Cenation who dispute this, then ask yourself why won’t Cena turn heel? Apart from the money situation there is no reason not to. The majority of the WWE Universe can’t stand him anyway and he knows that he’s done everything he possibly can.

Should Vince McMahon take his head out of his bank account for a few minutes then he would see that a John Cena heel turn, maybe at WrestleMania XXX combined with the recreation of a brand new NWO lead by Cena, then the merchandise sales would triple what they currently are. Suddenly, a heel John Cena would be cool to support even if his in ring output was still poor. Sales of NWO shirts would sky rocket and as long as WWE implemented some wrestlers under Cena who needed the exposure and don’t go to stupid lengths with the angle like WCW did, it could be one of the defining moments of this decade. Surely both Cena and McMahon know that if they could pull it off the financial rewards would be ten fold to what they already are.

The second resolution McMahon needs to make is the emergence and building of new talent. It came some way in 2013 before it cooled off and now McMahon has stopped the journey of his young stars completely until he finds someone he believes is good enough to carry the candle forward. What is ironic about this and slightly infuriating is that had he continued the Dolph Ziggler push in mid 2013 then Ziggler would have been a full time main event star by now, but like everyone else, McMahon lost interest in Dolph and relegated him to the curtain jerker position. What is even more baffling is that whilst Ziggler is treading water on the under card, Big E. Langston, one of the men who has shown the least sparkle since his debut has been given the Intercontinental Championship. What I’d give to live one day inside Vince McMahon’s head.

In 2014, McMahon must back his younger stars before the damage is done for good. Already, the company and its leader has shown it it’s more bothered about John Cena and its bigger stars by sacrificing the likes of Alberto Del Rio to them. It would be nice for 2014 to be the year of the new blood. When McMahon has to have a younger wrestler take on a main event star either have them go over the main event talent – which wouldn’t hurt the talent anyway – or have them go down in a blaze of glory instead of being enhancement talent for men like Cena. McMahon needs to remember when booking these stars in 2014 that this is no longer 1992.

There are going to be some minor changes to this blog in 2014. Yes, before you all ask I change regularly but you have to in order to stay ahead of the game. There is competition believe it or not and I would hate to lose viewers because I’m not modern or spontaneous enough for you. Most of the changes you won’t even recognise but they are all designed to make your reading experience better. The biggest change however will be to what I like to think of the monthly feature. If you’ve read every other blog this year then you will have heard me mention a few months back that the series ‘The Unforgettable...’ would be returning in January with ‘The Unforgettable: Rick ‘The Model’ Martel’. That statement remains true.

That so called episode of ‘The Unforgettable...’ has been written and completed reading for your reading pleasure. But thanks to time constraints and only one person voting on my poll which you can still see to the left side of this blog, January’s edition will be the last of ‘The Unforgettable...’ until I get some feedback from all of you. I have asked nicely for you to give me your thoughts via the poll, which will take you five seconds to vote on, but so far only one person has bothered. I don’t do this for my own amusement, I do it because the truth deserves to be heard and I love writing, especially about our wonderful industry. But if people don’t want to give me feed back on what they’d like to see then as far as I know, I could be wasting my time.

So take note of what is going to happen next. After ‘The Unforgettable: Rick ‘The Model’ Martel’ has been put up for you to read, the poll on the left will disappear and be replaced by another poll. This time it will be for you to vote on which of the former articles you would like to see return in 2014, as well as a few new ones. To choose from you will have the return of ‘The Unforgettable...’ series and ‘Fantasy Warfare’ to name but a few. There is no charge to vote so there’s no reason why you can’t do it. If you don’t then the regular monthly feature will disappear totally. You see it takes me a solid two weeks to write ‘The Unforgettable...’ as it did with ‘Fantasy Warfare’ and if people don’t vote for what they want to see I’m not going to bother writing it. I like fan interaction, so vote or lose the regular monthly feature. I can’t keep taking a huge amount of time out of my life to write the massive monthly feature if I’m not sure you want to read it or not.

For the things that will change however, there will be a lot which will stay the same. The layout remains for at least another year before I think about tinkering with it. Also staying in 2014 will be your pay-per view previews which seem to be the lynchpin of this blog and of course ‘Review Corner’ as our relationship with Fremantle Media Enterprises continues into its second year. I’ll be dropping in a few off the cuff blogs as well for the weeks when there is nothing else lined up such as ‘Review Corner’ or a pay-per view preview. Change is good. Let’s embrace it as we come down from the massive Christmas hangover and disappointment of the presents we received but we didn’t really want.

Almost finally we come to the most thought provoking part of this years Christmas blog. The time we spend remembering those who have left us in 2013. It’s never easy saying goodbye to people who you have spent so much time with over the years and even though we do not know them personally, we have spent years in their presence and our time watching them. When you do that with someone for long enough, they almost become part of you. People think this is a business which is heartless. In which we bay for blood when things don’t go our way and to be fair, it can be like that sometimes. The side of the business they don’t see however is this side. The side in which whilst we expect the very best for our money from those performing for our entertainment, we also feel it greatly when we lose one of our own.

It’s a touchy subject death. No one really knows how to go about explaining the feeling to others. We close up and go into our own shell especially when it’s a member of our own family. When we lose heroes, it’s more profound. People who don’t understand this industry read the news and think “another roided up wrestler died of a drugs overdose or suicide, who cares?”, well we care. All of us in our own way and if you don’t then you’re not a real fan. We felt it when Owen Hart died. When mourned when Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit passed on despite what rumours the press felt like spreading without the real facts. And it’s like that when anyone in wrestling dies.

Out of all the names in the following short obituary of recognition, for a WWE fan the biggest losses of the year were Paul Bearer and Doink the Clown aka William Moody and Matt Borne. I have gone over what effect Doink had on me as a child and the importance of Paul Bearer so I won’t go over it all again. Just to say that anyone who isn’t a wrestling fan reading this, your beliefs that we don’t care when we lose one our own are wrong. We care deeply, whether we liked them in the ring or not. And to all those names who left us in 2013, we thank you and we miss you. The pleasure was all ours.

And that’s all I have to say. Personally the year may have been uneventful, but inside the ring there has been some highlights we shall never forget. Matches which will live in infamy and moments which will transcend time. All that’s left for me to say is that you Wrestling God will return to action on January 4th 2014 so come back because I’m not going anywhere fast and we’ll have another unforgettable year together. It’s always been a puzzle to me, even after two years how to end a blog like this. And I can think of no better way than to simply say, thank you.

I know I’ve said it before, over and over until you’re probably sick of hearing it but without you guys there would be no blog. I don’t write for my own amusement, I’ve had enough of doing that. We end 2013 with 12,000 plus regular readers, more than I could ever have imagined when I began this prior to WrestleMania 28 nearly two years ago. I didn’t believe I’d even get one reader let alone 12,000. So give yourselves a big round of applause and know that you Wrestling God will be raising a glass to you. Because without you I may have just gone mad with no one to listen to my rants and raves; this is the blog for the people. And it’s the people who have kept it running.

So have a great one, get drunk, sing songs until you can no longer talk and then stuff yourself with turkey, stuffing and that sauce which tastes like sour vomit and throw up the three days food you’ve consumed in three hours and start over again. Because in January we’ll all be thrown back into the real world with our worries and stresses reaffirmed for another year and that’ll be less than fun. So here’s to us and may all your wishes come true.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year...

REVIEW CORNER: WWE BATTLEGROUND 2013 DVD AND BLU-RAY

 

A – Excellent

B – Good

C – Mediocre

D – Avoid

Release Date: January 6th 2014

Available From: www.wwedvd.co.uk

Price:

DVD £ 12.99

Blu-ray £ 13.99

(Prices from www.wwedvd.co.uk: high street prices will vary)

Format Reviewed: DVD

(Also Available on Blu-ray)

What It’s About:

WWE’s first annual Battleground pay-per view, held on October 6th 2013 from the First Niagara Centre in Buffalo, New York. Featuring a Battleground Hardcore Rules Match for the World Heavyweight Championship; The Rhodes Family’s fight for redemption against the now former WWE Tag Team Champions and Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan for the vacant WWE Championship. Whilst the Blu-ray edition features over seventy minutes of exclusive extras, the DVD edition features several extras including a six man tag team match from the following night’s Monday Night Raw.

Strengths:

Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam in a Battleground Hardcore Rules Match for the World Heavyweight Championship, is the match of the night by a county mile. RVD’s final match in WWE for now – he will return at Royal Rumble – kicks off with such a pace that it can’t fail to impress and doesn’t slow until the final well timed conclusion. Van Dam’s moonsault off of the barricade is pleasingly old school and his excellent slingshot DDT over the top rope and onto a steel chair is simply sublime. Rob Van Dam rolls back the years here and this has to be his best match in at least five years. If this was his final match for WWE – it’s not – then it would be a hell of a way to burn out. Alberto Del Rio plays up to his heel persona to perfection, peppering Rob Van Dam with vicious chair and ladder shots – which gets a huge reception when it’s introduced. It’s clear by the time this ends that Alberto Del Rio had so much more to give as Champion, before WWE sacrificed him to John Cena one month later. Apart from the welcome hardcore action the match does boast some great moves, including an expert Inzaguri onto a ladder and the challenger by Del Rio and the Five Star Frog Splash from the apron onto the ladder and prone Champion, which brings out the ‘This is Awesome’ chants. The tense near falls make you believe that RVD may actually dethrone Del Rio, whilst the final Cross Arm Breaker through a steel chair looks perfect. It’s nice in a match as good as this to have a decisive ending. The only small down point is the commentary which is still laughable at times. The worst part being Jerry Lawler stating that the crowd are chanting for chair when the audience can clearly be heard chanting ‘We want tables!’

Cody Rhodes and Goldust vs Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the match to restore The Rhodes Family to WWE’s roster, is a great tag team encounter in which, for once, everyone on display makes the most of their allocated time. Thankfully, realising The Shield were going to come out on the losing end, the commentators were informed to make sure the audience knew The Shield were responsible for The Undertaker’s absence, thus making them look like a hell of a hurdle for The Rhodes Brothers to leap. Cody Rhodes shows all the main event calibre talent needed for WWE to be comfortable in pushing him up the card when his time comes, with a solid showing including an excellent moonsault from the top rope which is pitch perfect. Goldust shines in his limited time in the ring – which was wise by WWE to use him sparingly – and The Shield selflessly, sacrifice themselves to make sure Cody Rhodes gets over in star making qualities which are beyond their years. In doing so, Reigns and Rollins look like stars themselves. The match comes as a huge relief after sitting through at least an hour of rubbish. It’s logical, tense and entertaining mixing in near falls – a thrilling two and a half count after a thunderous Alabama Slam – nostalgia spots – where Dusty Rhodes gets involved banishing Dean Ambrose with a ‘Dusty Elbow’ – and an excellent closing few moments in which the Crossroads and subsequent victory gets the biggest reaction of anything in wrestling all year. WWE should have sent this match on last for that feel good feeling.

Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan is inferior to their Night of Champions clash but is still made entertaining and watchable by both men’s efforts. Technically, the match is flawless but nothing really happens for the longest of times – at least nothing we haven’t seen before. It was a mistake showing Randy Orton decimating Daniel Bryan in front of Brie Bella in the highlight video package, as the silly bitch can’t even be bothered to feign tears of fear for her fiancé’s welfare, though thankfully that is the only low point of an otherwise fine bout. There are a surprising amount of rest holds in the bout but considering the two would face off again at Hell in a Cell a fortnight later, then they had to save it for a bigger occasion. These are forgivable and soon forgotten by well placed bursts of energy by both men. The suplex by Randy Orton to Daniel Bryan to the outside looks great as does Orton’s clothesline from the turnbuckle as Bryan is straddled on the top rope. Daniel Bryan is as good as ever but doesn’t do anything that sticks in the memory and whilst I can see why WWE booked the Big Show double knock out, no contest ending, I still don’t understand why WWE didn’t book this as a no disqualification match, seeing as neither man could win the vacant championship by count out or disqualification should the other decide to use weapons.

Zeb Coulter’s promo before The Real Americans take on Santino Marella and The Great Khali is very good and features a strong performance from the artist formerly known as Dutch Mantel. Coulter doesn’t falter or trip over his words and the stern look makes you believe every word he’s saying. The segment is followed by a sprawling and inspiring shot of Niagara Falls.

From the DVD Extras: the Battleground Kick Off Match fought between Dolph Ziggler and Damien Sandow is a decent, if not thrilling affair. Dolph Ziggler’s ‘10 Elbow Drop’ shows an awesome amount of energy from the former World Heavyweight Champion, though both men are wasted on the pre-show where virtually no one but the attending audience can see them. One wonders why WWE even bothered to make a special Money in the Bank briefcase for Sandow. The back and forth action is good and nothing here is horrible but its clear both have taken umbrage about not being used properly because this could have been so much better.

Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield (Monday Night Raw, October 7th 2013) is a lively six man tag team match, twenty four hours removed from Battleground. As they were the night before, Cody Rhodes, Goldust and The Shield are brilliant and Daniel Bryan leaves his mark on the match as well. Cody executes a thrilling springboard dropkick and Goldust appears to have gotten better with age. Daniel Bryan hits a sublime 180 degree German Suplex in a sequence which looks so agile WWE need to be questioned on why they are wasting him. Illogically, even though he’s been fired earlier in the Show, Big Show’s entrance music is queued up so he can storm to the ring and knock Triple H out in a good looking segment which also sees Big Show treat The Shield like jobbers.

Weaknesses:

The Real Americans vs The Great Khali and Santino Marella is a blah match in which Santino’s comedy as well as the man himself, has outstayed its welcome. The match is a bore and whilst there is some impressive athleticism on display, the bout is entirely forgettable save for Cesaro’s Swing on The Great Khali which is impressive. The Real Americans work well together as a team but this is no way for WWE to exhibit their skills. There really is nothing else to say about this match which was booked just to get Khali and Marella on the show. Worse, Jerry Lawler strikes again when, in his best travel advisor voice, invites foreigners to come to the USA and then sincerely adds ‘You don’t have to sneak across the boarder’. Lawler delivers this in such a way that it sounds like he believes everyone who goes to America sneaks across the boarder and is encouraging them not to.

Curtis Axel vs R-Truth for the WWE Intercontinental Championship is a pointless effort by both men and adds nothing to the division as a whole. The match is a Raw or Smackdown mid-card effort at best and looks more like a chore than star making mid-card effort. Neither man makes any effort to truly shine and for Curtis Axel, he needs to make more of his time than this if he wants to be part of WWE’s plans in 2014. A sign in the crowd reads ‘Paulrus’ complete with a picture of a walrus, that’s a nice way for WWE to promote its anti-bullying campaign and when Jerry Lawler is questioned about his role in starting the whole name calling thing, he admits it like its something to be proud of and then blames John Lennon. It’s just terrible.

A.J Lee vs Brie Bella is a lifeless scrap which even A.J can’t turn into something halfway decent. This match is a spectacular return to form for the WWE Divas Division which degenerates back to the usual divas match formula, playing out in front an indifferent crowd who don’t give a damn about this bout. Credit where credit is due, A.J does try her best with Brie and the work ethic never dies away but Brie is comical in her selling. Would it kill Daniel Bryan to give his beloved a crash course in how to feign peril? A.J’s showboating gets the biggest reaction of the whole match, which goes too long with too little to fill the time.

Kofi Kingston vs Bray Wyatt is yet another forgettable match. The reaction to Kofi Kingston’s entrance is tepid from the bored spectators though they do perk up with a rousing reaction for the still eerie Wyatt Family entrance. Sadly, that’s one of the best parts of this match. Whilst there are some impressive skills on show from Kingston, he’s too far gone to be pulled back from the edge in the audience’s mind. Before the end, the match becomes tiresome and the only memorable part is when Wyatt pulls off a disturbing upside down ‘Buzzard Walk’. If WWE had no plans for Kingston after this then it should have been a whitewash by Wyatt to make the family look a real threat. Can anything save Kofi Kingston now? It certainly is going to take a miracle.

C.M Punk vs Ryback is the usual predictable slog through Ryback’s wrist slitting routine. The bout begins with optimism but soon transgresses into something which could cure Narcoleptics. C.M Punk is the one who is indifferent this time around and seems jaded by WWE’s shoddy booking of him, whilst Ryback geninually looks like he’s plodding from planned spot to the next. The match is slack and uneventful and should have been booked by WWE so it hid the negatives because they’re on show here. The ‘Boring’ chants are wheeled out by the WWE Universe and when the match ends, you’re still waiting for something exciting to happen. At nearly 25 minutes, it’s far too long for Ryback to wrestle seeing as his arsenal consists of about four offensive moves before he enters repetition mode. The ending adds to the illogical feeling of the fight as Ryback, a man who has been built as a monster, is felled by a simple low blow.

As for the extras on the DVD edition: ‘RVD Contemplates his Future’, ‘Randy Orton Reacts to Battleground’, ‘Josh Matthews Interviews Daniel Bryan’ and ‘Renee Young Interviews Big Show’ are all a waste of space. WWE should be commended for trying to pack its DVD’s with more extras but these add nothing to the event or release. The first sounds like RVD is mumbling his words and that he cannot wait to leave the company, the second and third only exist to set up the Hell in a Cell Match two weeks later – everything here was said in the weeks following Battleground – and the last is laughable as Big Show simply shrugs off being supposedly homeless and broke with a smile. No one says anything of note.

DVD and Blu-ray Special Features:

WWE Battleground – October 6th 2013

Battleground Kick-Off Match

Dolph Ziggler vs Damien Sandow

Rob Van Dam Contemplates his Future

Randy Orton reacts to Battleground

Josh Matthews Interviews Daniel Bryan

Monday Night Raw – October 7th 2013

Cody Rhodes, Goldust and Daniel Bryan vs The Shield

Rene Young Interviews Big Show

Blu-ray Exclusive Extras:

Raw – September 16th 2013

Triple H holds the WWE Championship in Abeyance

Raw – September 23rd 2013

C.M Punk Returns to Chicago

Raw – September 30th 2013

Rhodes Family Summit

Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton: Face to Face

Smackdown – October 4th 2013

WWE Title Free Match

Alberto Del Rio vs Daniel Bryan

Conclusion:

Battleground felt like an inconvenience to WWE, the paying audience and at times to us watching it. Whilst it boasts three good matches, only one of which is included on the ‘Best pay-per view matches 2013’ release, the whole event is a vain attempt by WWE to squeeze more cash from us by fitting an event between Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell.

The event didn’t need to exist and this is for the completists only. Those buying this for riveting matches will find the occasional glimpse of hope but there’s not enough to warrant a purchase from the occasional fan. It’s a poor showing by WWE who would have been better served saving the best for Hell in a Cell and skipping over this completely.

Rating: D

Next Time in Review Corner: WWE Best Pay-Pay View Matches 2013 DVD and Blu-ray

Onwards and upwards...

TLC 2013 - HISTORY IN THE MAKING?

With the announcement of the supposed unification match for the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships between Randy Orton and John Cena, many have touted TLC 2013 to be one of the best and most important events of this year if not the last three years. So without wishing to drag this intro out any longer we’ve all got Christmas presents to wrap, on December 15th 2013 from the Toyota Centre in Houston, Texas this is WWE TLC 2013.

WWE Championship and World Heavyweight Championship Match

Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match

(WWE Champion) Randy Orton vs John Cena (World Heavyweight Champion)

Honestly, I have to say that I didn’t see this one coming. After John Cena and Alberto Del Rio’s short and largely uneventful feud I have to admit that I thought WWE would at least give the faux Mexican millionaire one last crack in a ladder match before they relegated him to the mid-card ranks. Isn’t gratitude a wonderful thing? On the flipside, I also thought that after Randy Orton’s match with Big Show at Survivor Series, Daniel Bryan would be back in the fold for what would have been an excellent TLC match. But no, WWE surprises us again and for the first time in many months by booking a rehash of a former feud but with a new twist.

I’m not going to sit and complain about Randy Orton vs John Cena yet again because I’m convinced that it will only be for one month. Let me explain. Even though both Championships are on the line and we will have a unified WWE and World Heavyweight Champion after TLC had come to an end, I am convinced that this is just part of the grander scale of WWE’s planning with The Authority and the outcome could go one of several ways. Those ways are going to be the focus of this section inside of going through the old route of recapping who has done what in the lead up to the event – which would be near impossible since I begin writing this almost immediately after the matches are announced.

The first way would be a simple Randy Orton victory, thus adding weight to The Authorities rule holding both World titles. It would be a statement of intent by the group which could then induct more members down the line in order to garner the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships to the group who would then hold all the power. In a sense, they already have the WWE United States Championship in the fold as Dean Ambrose and The Shield are affiliated with Triple H, Stephanie and co. That could be a very sensible way to go for WWE who, if they played their cards right could easily make the Intercontinental Championship important again by recruiting someone with clout in their ranks and then making the gold their priority. People would look at the I.C title as vital to the company if Triple H made it his priority to add it to the stable.

Away from what could possible happen if The Authority headhunted each Championship in the company, the second string to this particular bow would be Daniel Bryan. Now I know everyone thinks that Bryan is done with the storyline in which he tries to stop The Authority and John Cena seems to have taken his place – which is what WWE didn’t need to happen – but I couldn’t disagree more. I believe that should this be the beginning of something much larger then a Randy Orton victory would almost certainly mean a Daniel Bryan Royal Rumble victory and the culmination of this feud at WrestleMania XXX. It would be a brave move by WWE putting two men in the main event who were kind of untested in pulling a six figure box office draw, but its something that needs to happen.

The match would be taking place at WrestleMania XXX. WrestleMania I sought to seek out a new path for the company to travel down and what better what than for the thirtieth anniversary to make the event about the future of the company again. Regardless of whether Hulk Hogan returns to the company or not. Triple H lobbied tirelessly to get his WrestleMania 18 match with Chris Jericho put on last instead of The Rock vs Hulk Hogan because he thought that the Championship belonged on the main event of WrestleMania. Despite that being stepped on in recent years I believe it should be true of WrestleMania XXX and regardless of whether of the company book John Cena vs Hulk Hogan or not, it should be the WWE Championship which goes on last here in order to prove that the company are looking forward and not backwards.

I’m sure after months of keeping them apart, Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan for the gold would be a huge selling point for the event, especially when Daniel Bryan dethroned Randy Orton and put an end to The Authority. It’s the classic ‘good guy wins out’ story and one WrestleMania XXX would benefit from ending on.

The next option is the least likeliest of all. A John Cena heel turn. Yes, it’s been mentioned before but hey, you never know. WWE still have the power to surprise us and what better way to enter 2014, a new year with new hopes than to have a new outlook for the company. It wouldn’t even be hard to pull off either. With Randy Orton’s losses to Daniel Bryan in the past months, WWE could plant in the mind of the audience that Triple H doubts Randy Orton can get the job done without help and when the times comes to really step up. The story from there could stem to Triple H turning to Cena, making him an offer he couldn’t refuse to join The Authority.

At TLC, as Randy Orton goes to grasp the gold, Triple H could low blow him, nail him with a sledgehammer and pedigree him in the ring, allowing John Cena to climb the ladder to the gold. When John Cena feigned shock and came down from the ladder he could display that annoying smirk and shake Triple H’s hand. There would be justification for the turn and offer made to Cena. After all, it’s John Cena who nearly almost always wins every big match. To get The Authority where it needs to be, John Cena would be the ideal man to front it, someone who is expected to win every match. And then a Randy Orton Royal Rumble victory, as a face of course, would set up a rematch at WrestleMania XXX where Orton got his revenge.

Of course the other option, should Cena turn heel would be the imminent arrival of Hulk Hogan back to the WWE. Whilst Hogan and his representatives have kept quiet on the subject, if a heel Cena were to hold the two top Championships then a heroic Hulk Hogan return in order to stop him and headline the event he headlined thirty years ago would surely put bottoms in seats. Of course, there is the question of what would happen afterwards, Hulk Hogan in 2013 is in no state to hold the top title but then WWE could find a way around that, they always do.

It’s a good idea but it’s not going to happen. WWE will never turn Cena heel and we know it, not just because of the financial issue, but also because of the fact John Cena is so opposed to turning himself that the company don’t want to upset him. They believe they can’t afford to risk losing him now.

The last option is the one I believe is most likely to happen. With Raw and Smackdown as good as merged now and wrestlers mingling between both brands, there is question whether two Heavyweight Championships are needed to carry the load. The answer is, no. Not considering how WWE have treated the World Heavyweight Championship recently. It would be miles better if the company took one step back to take three forward if you know what I mean. I believe this is the beginning of the company unifying both Championships into one and having a single WWF Championship to focus on. It can’t do any harm. The WWE Championship is the company’s top priority; it always has been so it makes sense to get rid of the other one.

Down the card it would do a great deal of good as far as star building. Instead of trying to find constant challengers for both Championships WWE only have to do so for one. Which means more talent get more time in order to progress and the Intercontinental Championship can once again become number two in the company. Just think of all the good it would do if WWE began again as it were. The likes of Alberto Del Rio, Sheamus and C.M Punk could be great for the I.C division in order to rebuild the Championship and the line of WWE Championship challengers, and of course, their own careers. A couple of heavy hitters winning the gold and losing it to new blood would be a real star making moment and one which would do more good than the current I.C scene is doing.

Whether people believe it or not, this really is the best course for WWE to take. There are not enough people to fill out two contender lines. Most don’t belong there anyway. A slow and steady rise up through the ranks, finally stopping at the WWE Championship is what has always worked best before and will again if WWE implement this change. It may be a way which is stuck in the past but it is a way which has a proven track record. And if we have to go back to those ways to make a more solid foundation for the future then so be it. It’s that or what we have already and that isn’t working.

So I do believe this match is a good idea for TLC 2013. Yes on a basic level it has been done before but this time with two added stipulations – TLC and winner takes all – the pair have a great start in which to put on a memorable show. In the end, without a John Cena heel turn, Randy Orton has to walk away unified Champion. There is no other choice. To keep the story going and The Authority rolling along with Orton as the hired gun it’s what has to happen. If John Cena wins then everything has been for nothing. There is nowhere the company can go with Cena as unified Champion and Randy Orton would look weak yet again. Plus, no one is interested in a story where the heel has to chase the gold. It just doesn’t work.

If Triple H ever had a hand in an outcome then it must be this one, and no pun intended, but he needs to stamp his authority all over this.

Winners Prediction: Randy Orton

3 on 1 Handicap Match

C.M Punk vs The Shield

It was the wrong decision to have C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan go over The Wyatt Family at Survivor Series, but it was the correct decision to have The Shield and The Real Americans triumph on what used to be the November classic. Had Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins lost the match then it would have surely taken a titanic struggle to re-build them in time for their proposed WrestleMania XXX bout with The Wyatt Family. Even though they would have been losing to the current WWE Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Goldust, it would have been a major dent in the trio’s image, coming so soon after too many television losses.

For the former Tag Team Champions and the current United States Champion, the victories mean everything to their still fledgling career. Even though losses will no longer harm the Tag Team Championships, it will do so to the United States Championship and as Dean Ambrose has done so much good work with the gold, it would be a hell of a shame to do that now. Especially with talks that Roman Reigns is set to turn face on The Shield after WrestleMania XXX is done and dusted with. So instead of going down the same channels, let’s focus on the face turn of Roman Reigns and take a look at how best to execute the turn.

Beginning in 2014, WWE need to get this feud with The Wyatt Family out of the way. Victories for both teams at TLC would begin the hype as they would then own the bragging rights over two of WWE’s top stars. The Shield need to comprehensively defeat C.M Punk at TLC without Punk taking the attitude he did with Curtis Axel at Night of Champions. On December 15th, C.M Punk needs to enter the arena with the attitude that he must make stars. He’s done it before and he can do it again. Then in the run up to the Royal Rumble, WWE’s must focus on the six man rivalry instead of allowing C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan to extract their revenge – that will open up a new avenue as discussed below. Just think how much more appealing both teams will be if they have major victories over former WWE Champions under their belt.

At the Royal Rumble, The Shield and The Wyatt Family must eliminate each other, even better if one member from each faction is one of the final four in the ring. That way WWE could book an all out war as the eliminated members come back for revenge and the two remaining members eliminate each other, building an even more stable stage on which to work the WrestleMania XXX feud off of. Depending on what happens in the supposed Unification match at the end of the night, maybe WWE could book one member of each faction in each Elimination Chamber match for both top Championships – if they’re not unified – and the two remaining remembers could battle it out in a Fatal Four Way or Triple Threat Match for the WWE Intercontinental or United States Championships. Whatever the company has planned they must keep the factions on top of each other and not allow the feud to die away. That’s a mistake the company has made far too often with far too many wrestlers.

Depending on whether the match at WrestleMania XXX is a success or not and which team is portrayed as face – I was convinced it would be The Shield, but then that would null and void a Roman Reigns face turn on his team mates – if any, WWE can then look at their options in turning Reigns face. One option could be to make Rollins and Reigns WWE Tag Team Champions again and have the six man match at WrestleMania an ‘All Titles on the Line’ affair where whichever wrestler who gets a single pin on a champion takes that Championship. If the champion gets the fall he retains his Championship. That way one scenario, Roman Reigns could be the man to lose one half of the WWE Tag Team Championship thus having Rollins and Ambrose turn on him, blaming him for the slip up.

The next night on Raw, Reigns could lure his comrades into a false sense of security and turn on them to what would surely be a huge reaction from the fans. A feud with Rollins and Ambrose would have to ensue but WWE could use that to their advantage as well as the advantage of the company, should they give Reigns the WWE Intercontinental Championship and then have him unify it with Dean Ambrose’s WWE United States Championship. Like the WWE and World Heavyweight Championship, it could open up a more solid foundation and more serious challengers should there be only one major undercard title to vie for.

I don’t see many more scenarios where WWE could turn Reigns face other than have his partners turn on him. Maybe the only other option would be to do with Triple H and The Authority. Should Triple H, as he did with Big Show, order Reigns to do something that he doesn’t agree with only for Reigns to snap and spear Triple H, that could possibly be the moment that not just turns him face but defines his career in the WWE. It would be a moment to remember certainly.

As for C.M Punk, well he’s had it rough in past months. Ryback sucked almost all of the life out him during their dreary feud, and his revenge on Paul Heyman could have and should have been so much more. WWE missed a trick with this angle particularly going into WrestleMania XXX. C.M Punk should have beaten Ryback at Hell in a Cell, only for Paul Heyman to either disappear or to be saved by Brock Lesnar at the moment before Punk got his hands on him. That would have set up a rematch at WrestleMania between Lesnar and Punk in which Punk would have finally defeated ‘The Beast’ and gotten his revenge on Heyman. For once, it wouldn’t have mattered the outcome was see through and predictable. Had WWE played this right then people would have ordered WrestleMania XXX in their droves, just to see Paul Heyman get his comeuppance and be redeemed. That is the type of story you need to sell WrestleMania with when there is hardly anything else going on around it. That way, whilst you bring in lapsed fans – who only order WrestleMania for the nostalgic feeling and don’t watch WWE the rest of the year – with the promise of Punk’s revenge you also begin to sell them better stories, wrestlers and matches thus brining them back into the fold and upping your weekly television ratings.

But WWE didn’t do that. Instead of a prolonged feud in which people had to wait for a feel good pay off, we were fed something which resembled pig swill and a rushed feud which we were willing to buy into. Now it’s ruined. Should C.M Punk and Brock Lesnar face off again there will be very little interest in Punk and Heyman’s interaction. Which is a shame. After his dreary Ryback feud, WWE seemed to panic that they had no point of interest with Punk and pushed him head first off of the diving board into what seemed to be a senseless feud with The Wyatt Family. In truth, the feud which led to the match at Survivor Series was okay, there was nothing truly horrible about it and the match on the night fell into the same category. But it always seemed like a filler rather than something which would grow and grow until it became something WWE could finally rely on to sell numbers.

I am convinced however that WWE booked C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan to face The Wyatt Family to create another option should everything they planned go awry. Now that John Cena and Randy Orton are seemingly locked in a feud until WrestleMania, WWE are planning to turn C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan into another profitable feud with one of them in the heel role. It could work. Should Daniel Bryan be brainwashed by The Wyatt Family then C.M Punk could endeavour to turn him back to the light thus portraying both men as the face but with one who has been turned by The Wyatt’s. Or Punk could just turn heel again. Whatever, we already know the pair would tear the house down at WrestleMania and as they only competed in singles match on two pay-per view events in 2012, there is a whole ton of mileage left in a feud of that nature.

The best thing is, neither man needs a Championship to make it top an Undertaker match or the main event of the show. WWE would be wise to seek out this avenue if they have nothing else better planned for C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania XXX. This is going to be one the defining events of WWE’s future. Something people look back on and judge. They need the best talent possible.

As for TLC, The Shield needs this victory badly. They may have triumphed at Survivor Series but losing a three on one battle to C.M Punk, just one man, would be disastrous. To look like three men, one of whom is a Champion, who can’t beat one man even if he’s a former WWE Champion and one of the best wrestlers in the world today, could just about sink all the credibility The Shield have. On the other hand, a victory over C.M Punk, especially after all of the television losses to people lesser down the card than them, would do them the world of good. We could begin to believe in the trio again and that’s best for everyone involved.

Winners Prediction: The Shield

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

(c) Big E. Langston vs Damien Sandow

I still stick by the statement that WWE shouldn’t have made Big E. Langston Intercontinental Champion. Not because he hasn’t shown any initiative or foresight in the ring, because in the last couple of months he has begun to come into his own. Simply because, in the past, WWE have used the Intercontinental Championship as a star maker. They never relied on the name to make the title, rather than allowing the title to make the name and that’s how it should always be.

It’s no secret that in recent years the Championship in itself has been buried on the undercard so much that it’s no longer the attraction it used to be. It may still be the same Championship which Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat feuded over in their still excellent match at WrestleMania III, but it is in name alone. At this point in 2013, there is literally nothing the Championship can do for any star and it will continue that way until WWE do something to restore the gold to its former glory. Of course, that is easier said than done when so much damage has been done. WWE put the Championship on Langston, in the hope that it would do for him what it did to all those who came before. WWE did this without realising the gold no longer has that power because of their shortcomings.

WWE, at this point in time need a name holding the gold that could remake its prestige. Granted, there are not that many wrestlers in WWE who have the power to do that, but they would, if the company were to unify the Intercontinental and United States Championships. That way, as discussed, wrestlers would have to work their way up one set of ranks instead of two – where there are not enough wrestlers with prestige to compete in both divisions. Should the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships and the Intercontinental and United States Championships be unified then there would be two male singles Championships and two alone. It would create a more solid base as the likes of Alberto Del Rio and C.M Punk could rebuild their reputations and that of the belt. It’s a fool proof plan which will take some time to implement but it has to be done soon.

As far as Big E. Langston is concerned, he is beginning to show potential and against the right opponent can pull out something which resembles a wrestling match. It may not sound like much but it is a huge step forward from what we began with when Langston was introduced to the WWE Universe as Dolph Ziggler’s bodyguard, in a role reminiscent of Mr. Hughes in the early 1990’s. It wasn’t a role which was advised to be given to anyone. It took wrestlers like Diesel a good while to get over it and that was when the company had the patience to wait and build new stars. In the current climate when Vince McMahon’s patience runs ever shorter, Langston should have been introduced as a direct threat t Dolph Ziggler, even if the whole thing did have a dumb storyline to it linking to some faux history between the pair.

It was because of Langston’s build that WWE penned him into the role he played for so long. Had they introduced him as a face who was hell bent on making it to the top, then he would have had a much better beginning than he actually got. Now, with very little ring time in his first few months in the company, Langston is playing catch up to the rest of the roster, but the good news is that he cottons on fast. Langston’s matches have gone from unbearably dull to quite pleasing depending on his opponent. It’s without an opponent of great quality, where Langston struggles.

Which begs the question of whether it was a good idea for WWE to put any kind of Championship on him in the first place? There have been moments of inspired brilliance where this solution was concerned in the past. WWE have put Championships on untested wrestlers and it’s worked, but they were wrestlers who already had enough talent about them to carry off the plan. Whilst Langston has something, he is a former NXT Heavyweight Champion after all; he still doesn’t have the full package. He can’t make other people look good and still relies on them to help him get across. That my friends, isn’t Championship material. I would much rather have seen a slow and steady build from Langston to the gold, rather than a drop in the ocean.

Had WWE kept the Championship on Curtis Axel until WrestleMania and then put it up for grabs in a ladder match or an elimination match, for Langston to come out on top, it would have been a much more memorable moment when he lifted the gold. Plus, people would have been so irritated by the heelish Curtis Axel as champion; they would have taken the roof off of the stadium when Langston made that final pinfall. We would have recognised that Langston had worked for the gold and as WWE like to put it, paid his dues. That way, we’d have been much more likely to back Langston when his moment came.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Big E. Langston and the Intercontinental Championship won’t flourish under the association with each other, because they may do. What I am saying is that once again WWE have gone about this all wrong. Everyone involved would have been much better rewarded had the company stuck to tradition, and who knows, WWE may have had a new mid-card star. I guess for the end product, we’ll have to watch this space.

I feel really sorry for Damien Sandow. At Money in the Bank just a few months ago, the sky looked to be the limit for the faux scholar. After months of jobbing to everyone and anyone on WWE’s weekly programming, Sandow looked to finally be earmarked for success. Many people thought he was World Heavyweight Champion elect. And then came the aftermath. Instead of building Damien Sandow to a point where we could believe he would successfully cash in the briefcase – even if the company never intended to crown him – WWE resorted to type and returned to form. I can’t even remember a victory Sandow had on television after his Money in the Bank victory, that how little he mattered to WWE.

So why give him the briefcase if you’re not going to award him at least the opportunity to reach for the stars? Knowing the outcome now, it would have been a much better idea for Cody Rhodes to win the Money in the Bank Ladder Match and then tie the victory in with his storyline sacking. For him to come back to the company in a blaze of glory, overcome the odds and then finally, after months of torture cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase to become World Heavyweight Champion would have been a fairytale ending. But we rarely get any of those in wrestling.

Another gripe I have with WWE is that their storylines are planned out at least four months in advance, which means they knew that they were planning to spin a Championship unification story at the end of 2013. Knowing this, why crown a new Money in the Bank winner, just to have him embarrassed and humiliated when he failed to cash in the Championship? Wouldn’t it have been easier to change the rules and have the Money in the Bank briefcase contain a number one contender’s contract for SummerSlam? It’s illogical decisions such as this which make me question WWE’s thought process where mid to upper card talent are concerned.

I can safely say that the end of Damien Sandow’s credibility came when he unsuccessfully cashed in against John Cena, only to be embarrassed by World Heavyweight Champion. It’s been a long time since I have seen such a show of disrespect by the company towards one of their stars, but this updated that. It was shocking. When Damien Sandow lost the match – in which John Cena had already been supposedly beaten up – you could almost see a sea of obscurity come and swallow him up. Now, I firmly believe there is nowhere left for Sandow to go. He’s been beaten, humiliated and buried beyond comparison. Normally a face turn may shed some of that weight but there’s no way, though some still cheer him, the WWE Universe would buy Sandow as a face.

Could he make it as a mid-card player still? It’s possible. But WWE needs to begin booking him some victories. Constantly losing to anyone who comes his way isn’t doing his cause any favours. And TLC isn’t going to be any different. So soon after crowning Langston Intercontinental Champion, WWE have no intention of removing the gold from around his waist. The company have big things planned for Big E. and they are willing to sacrifice anyone below him to achieve those goals which means Damien Sandow is staring at the bottom of the barrel with nowhere left to go.

I suppose WWE could book a draw or a Sandow victory via count out but if that happens then it necessitates that Langston get his revenge, so he’ll have to win at some point. If the shoe was on the other foot and it was Langston who was the heel then it would be easy to hand Sandow a victory by disqualification but that has been well and truly ruled out, unless WWE suddenly spin an ‘anger management’ story on Langston. I don’t see any way out of this for Sandow which will end well. At this rate, Sandow may be the first name on WWE’s ‘Future Endeavours’ list in 2014.

Winners Prediction: Big E. Langston

3 on 1 Handicap Match

Daniel Bryan vs The Wyatt Family

I struggled to think what I could put here, as I feel I’ve said mostly all of it in the other 3 on 1 Handicap Match preview. There is only so much one can say about split matches which involve the same storylines, so don’t expect this segment to be miles long.

The Wyatt Family are the main focus here as in recent months, the word I’ve associated them with the most, is ‘illogical’. The gimmick had and still does to some degree, great potential. But it’s the usage and booking of them that has really ground my gears. The Kane storyline which we were fed leading into SummerSlam was bad, we all know that. After such hype, that all WWE could think of for the trio was a feud against spoke volumes about where their priorities were. Thankfully, we were only subjected to one match between Bray Wyatt and Kane before the Wyatt Family dragged Kane out of SummerSlam and straight to the set of ‘See No Evil 2’. Hands up whose looking forward to that. No one?

The logical thing to do would have been for WWE to allow The Wyatt Family to move on with a big feud until Kane returned and then follow up the first story to a sensible conclusion. Did we get that? Of course not. For all the time it took Glen Jacobs to film his movie, it appeared that The Wyatt Family had all but disappeared from our televisions. When they did turn up they appeared not be hunting out more victims, but biding their time until Kane returned. It was ridiculous. To occupy them, WWE fed the unhinged Family Kofi Kingston. Yes, that celebrated main event star who has won so many WWE Championships...oh wait, I’m getting Kingston confused with someone who actually matters in wrestling in 2013.

Just like they did with Kane, The Wyatt Family defeated Kofi Kingston and dragged him away in a scene reminiscent of Kane’s departure at SummerSlam. Now this is where we’ll stop the timeline and for just one moment, contemplate what could have been. Instead of Kofi Kingston, a little more thought and a little sense to actually look at what you had gotten planned for later down the line would have told WWE to put C.M Punk in Kofi Kingston’s place and allow the storyline to play out like The Wyatt Family had kidnapped Punk and Kane. Neither man needed to appear on television in order to sell the story, just simply stay at home.

Next, after his WWE Championship feud against Randy Orton, WWE could have shot a small scene on Raw where Triple H either hires The Wyatt Family to do away with Daniel Bryan for him or mention to them that to get in his good books, he wants Bryan dealt with. Then The Wyatt Family could have done the same to Daniel Bryan and dragged him away. Meanwhile, on television, The Wyatt Family come out and brag that they have made a huge splash on the company by targeting its top stars and they’re not done yet. When questioned where they have taken Bryan, Punk and Kane all they simply had to do was laugh and walk away until someone was introduced to the storyline who threatened legal action against Triple H unless he made The Wyatt Family return their hostages.

Live on Raw, Triple H would have marched to the ring, under protest – joined by The Wyatt Family – and demanded that they return Daniel Bryan, C.M Punk and Kane or face losing their jobs. The Wyatt Family would then point to the titan tron where one of their home made videos would show Kane (who would have grown a huge beard – which would be fake), C.M Punk and Daniel Bryan chained to a wall in one their barns, wearing the creepy masks. They would look and be wearing exactly what they were abducted in or their clothes would have been replaced by potato sacks. To the watching audience, three of WWE’s favourite sons would have been kidnapped and held hostage. When The Wyatt Family refused to release their prey, they would have informed Triple H that if he fires them then the WWE Universe will never see the trio again.

Over the following weeks, The Wyatt Family would air more spooky vignettes where they tried to brainwash their victims, only for the three to refuse to co-operate. Where the story would go from were would depend. WWE could put together a band of avengers to try and release the three or they could have written it into the story that The Shield, the so called ‘Hounds of Justice’, sought revenge even though they didn’t like Kane, Punk and Bryan in the interest of Justice. That could have kicked off the feud between the six men. When Punk, Bryan and Kane were released at the end of the year, they would have sought redemption against The Wyatt Family.

That would have been an excellent story, played out to unforgettable effect and surely would have not only stuck in the memory but made The Wyatt Family look like monsters who children should be afraid of. The vignettes may have looked like a hostage video and no doubt WWE would have received some complaints for the execution of them, but if you don’t take risks, you’re never going to reap the rewards. Something in wrestling today needs to be unforgettable and risky and this would have been the perfect choice. On top of all of that, we wouldn’t have had to see Kane on television for months and Bryan and Punk would have been able to rehab injuries and their bodies before another torturous schedule befell them.

What did we get instead? A wholly cringe worthy confrontation at Hell in a Cell between the returning Kane and The Wyatt Family, a couple of Chokeslam’s and then a Kane heel turn which came out of the blue the next night. It was simply unsatisfactory. Everyone The Wyatt Family has carted away so far has returned with ease, with no explanation of where they were taken or how they escaped. This includes Daniel Bryan, who is the most recent victim of the inbred family.

The Wyatt Family need to win this match for the same reason The Shield need to prevail in their outing. If they don’t, it will render all three of them unimportant and their following actions will not have as much clout. WWE have messed up The Wyatt Family’s debut and their subsequent run up to the end of 2013, they surely cannot afford to do it again.

Winners Prediction: The Wyatt Family

WWE Divas Championship Match

(c) A.J Lee vs Natalya

The WWE Divas Division has been a rollercoaster in 2013. We’ve gone from Eve Torres to A.J Lee as the figurehead of the division and from bad to good to bad again. It began middling at the beginning of the year, picked up big time during the middle and now we’re marching towards the end, it’s dropped again. This is thanks to several factors. The first is that WWE have no desire or inclination to push the division anymore and are only concentrated on their dreadful Total Divas ‘reality’ show and the second is that they have no challengers worthy of stepping up against A.J to challenge for the gold.

That’s the main problem. WWE have many females on its roster, but they have very few who can actually wrestle a good match. The Bella Twins try but fail almost every time and the rest of the women, with maybe the exception of Natalya, are in the company just to further their careers in other fields. Be they acting, modelling etc, they’re only there to use wrestling as a stepping stone. I mean look down the roster and who have we really got? Naomi and Cameron, The Funkadactyls, are a parody on Flash Funk’s dancers right down their costumes. Nikki and Brie Bella are only where they are because of who they’re dating. Alicia Fox appears at random intervals and then disappears again and Eva Marie does what exactly?

There’s no stability in WWE’s divas division, nothing the company can build a meaningful feud on and nothing the fans can really buy into. It’s no wonder that at this present time, A.J – the heel – is so popular with WWE fans. She’s the only real thing about the division which by December 2013 should have shed its blonde bimbos and hired some real wrestling talent. Fans can identify with A.J because she’s not the biggest or the toughest person, but she has so much talent that it’s almost like a watered down fairytale ending. I really do hate to think where the Divas Division will go when she finally relinquishes the title.

A.J has been a rock in WWE’s Divas Division. Someone the company can rely on and in recent weeks she’s even risked her health to make sure that she’s the one who people can point at and say ‘she deserves it’. A.J hasn’t sought fame and fortune from appearing on a reality show which really does give its participants a leg up the ladder. She’s ground out success from nothing. At first WWE didn’t know how to use her as was evident by her 2012 and early 2013 usage, but finally they’ve gotten it right. A.J is the best female wrestler in the WWE and the company must protect that even at the cost of their silicone sluts.

From what I’ve heard backstage, A.J is a wonderful person to be around. She lends her hand to the publicity side of the company and I’ve seen no end of pictures of her with small children and young girls who idolise her. And why not? I’d rather have children idolise someone like A.J and want to be her than want to get their boobs enhanced at eighteen and have so many face jobs it looks like they’re constantly surprised. At last, WWE have found someone female fans can get behind. Someone who is real and someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to be the best. In WWE’s female division today, that’s a very rare commodity.

Natalya has disappointed me somewhat. She’s taken the easy way out by appearing on Total Divas and whilst her in ring output remains just okay, she was someone who I would have out money on to turn the offer down and like the rest of her family, work her way from the bottom. Was the reason Natalya took the offer because WWE offered to pay for her weeding to Tyson Kidd? Possibly. She just didn’t strike me as someone to take a leg up when she had all the talent she needed to succeed. And for those who would argue that having the talent doesn’t always necessarily guarantee success, I would say look at A.J today. Talent has won out.

I don’t believe that Natalya is Divas Championship material anymore. Her impact on the company has been virtually zero and WWE cannot justify putting the gold on her. For that reason and the reason that WWE need to hand A.J a victory after Survivor Series, there can be only one winner.

Winners Prediction: A.J Lee

TLC 2013 Kick-Off Match

Dolph Ziggler vs Fandango

As if WWE weren’t insulting Dolph Ziggler enough by leaving him off of the main body of pay-per view events since SummerSlam and booking him on the pre-show constantly until we can’t believe in him as a serious contender to the World Heavyweight Championship anymore, WWE are now seemingly trying to put Dolph Ziggler in the same category as The Miz as attained. It boggles the mind why the company don’t believe that a man as talented as Dolph Ziggler can’t once again make it to the big time.

The reactions he gets from the WWE Universe are beyond anything most people get. It should be a clear sign that Dolph is the man we want to spend out money on to see at the top of the card. It should also be clear to WWE that we no longer want to see the same tired old matches, playing out the same way. I firmly believe that should this be the late 1990’s and we were in the middle of the Attitude Era, then Dolph Ziggler would be a prime candidate to be pushed to the top of the tree.

In a time when pay-per view buy rates are down and television numbers are at a low, it makes perfect sense to give men like Dolph Ziggler – men who have the talent to make the company better in the future – all the time they need in order flourish. It’s how John Cena came to be the man he is today and its how men like Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan became the stars and legends they are. If a plan was ever full proof then it’s this one. Dolph Ziggler would be a huge star if the company only gave him time and put the machine behind him.

I’m not going to bang on about this match a whole lot because quite frankly, it’s got hardly any appeal. Dolph Ziggler is more over with the fans than Fandango could ever be and just because they sing his theme music, it doesn’t mean they like him. For anyone who has failed to grasp the irony of this, the fans are switching into their sarcastic mode when Fandango’s tune comes from their lungs. If they can’t force WWE to axe him then they can at least greet him in their own unique way.

This one is very simple. WWE have wasted enough talent over the years because of others beliefs about them. Dolph Ziggler can’t be another. If WWE don’t do something with Dolph Ziggler soon, then it’s going to be too late and Dolph Ziggler could be one of the most tragic wrestling wasted opportunities there has ever been.

Winners Prediction: Dolph Ziggler

TLC 2013 looks a sparse card on the surface but as this blog is written in advance then we can expect more matches to be announced before or on the night. Without a doubt, the biggest match on the card is the supposed unification match of the WWE and World Heavyweight Championships and after the events of Triple H pedigreeing Randy Orton, I’m certain the eyes of the world will be upon TLC on December 15th.

Like they do every month, WWE have given themselves ample opportunity to build new talent and that’s clearer nowhere else than the two handicap matches. Should the company be serious about The Wyatt Family and The Shield taking the next step up the food chain then expect it happen at TLC. If the six men don’t heavily feature in the company’s plans in 2014 then Daniel Bryan and C.M Punk will whitewash them with very little effort.

TLC 2013 has a lot to live up to. Last years event was on of the best of the year, featuring the stunning six man TLC match between The Shield vs Ryback and Team Hell No. If this year is to compete then the company must take chances without limiting themselves to what they are and are not willing to do based on who and what Vince McMahon is prepared to believe in. One thing is for certain, there will be no tender loving care this time around.

Onwards and upwards...