Previewing The 2017 Elimination Chamber Men's Matches

First match to talk about will be Dolph Ziggler vs. both Apollo Crews and Kalisto. This might be another instance of the WWE trying to get too fancy with a feud. This match could easily have been just Ziggler vs. Crews. It might not be too interesting, but this PPV is featuring an Elimination Chamber match. That is the big selling point right there.

Or is the WWE planning something more with this match? The odds are against the heel. They could pull a swerve and have Apollo Crews turn heel and help Ziggler win. Ziggler is no stranger to having some muscle at his side. You can also say this heel turn for him has been a bit forced or that he might be trying too hard. Maybe the WWE will give him a sidekick to help him. As for Crews, he hasn't really done anything important in the longest while. A heel turn might at least give him a chance to show a different personality, which might help him.

Who wins this? There are a lot of possibilities and a lot of things to consider. I just brought up the heel turn option. Ziggler is the one being pushed, so he should win. At the same time, two faces would look bad if they lost this match without major shenanigans, although Apollo Crews and Kalisto aren't exactly too important. I will say Ziggler wins.

Randy Orton faces Luke Harper. Forgetting the Royal Rumble win for Orton, this match was just the logical step in the storyline Orton has with Bray Wyatt. Randy Orton drives away Bray's top disciple, then the path is cleared for Orton to turn on Bray. Randy Orton seriously did not need that Royal Rumble win.

Who wins this? I don't see Luke Harper in line to get a huge push moving forward. If he was, I might say he wins this. Since that is not the case, Orton wins.

American Alpha defend the tag titles against The Usos, The Ascension, The Vaudevillains, Breezango, and Heath Slater & Rhyno. Did I miss anyone? The tag division is probably something else I should try to take time out to talk about in this hectic Wrestlemania season. A lot has been going on in the last few weeks, including title changes. Is the WWE making good booking decisions? Are they developing teams properly? Well, there are a bunch of jobbers in this match. The WWE might have done better by just building a feud between American Alpha and The Usos.

I think this match might just come down to those two teams. One of them will win. The title reign of American Alpha is still young, so they should retain here. However, the WWE has had some questionable title changes in the last few months. It's not just with the Cruiserweight Championship. It would be nice to let more of these title reigns develop more. No need for reigns of doom, but a few months and successful title defenses would be nice. I will say American Alpha retain.

And the main event will be John Cena defending the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber against Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Miz, Dean Ambrose, and Baron Corbin. There is a lot I would have liked to have said about this match, including running down each of these guys, but I've already talked about a lot today and I'll just save time by talking about three guys. Keep in mind, the winner of this match likely faces the Royal Rumble winner, Randy Orton, unless some huge swerve happens.

If you're going by what Dave Meltzer's sources are telling him, Bray Wyatt is winning the title and facing Randy Orton. I can just end it right here and go make a sandwich. Whether the WWE does it or not, this is a terrible booking decision. It is amazing how the WWE could take what was my favorite storyline going on at one time and ruin it by just trying to do too much. I thought the way they had Randy Orton just join The Wyatts was bad enough, but this was just not a feud that needed to involve Randy Orton winning the Royal Rumble and Bray Wyatt winning the WWE Championship. I am not against Bray Wyatt finally winning a top title, but now is not the time for it.

Look at the incumbent. Look at the guy holding the title heading into the PPV. That would be John Cena. He just won the title a few short weeks ago. I wouldn't be too shocked if he lost it so soon. Moreover, Cena retaining would mean Randy Orton vs. John Cena. They just faced each other in a singles match this week. These two have never faced each other in a singles match at Wrestlemania, but I think a lot of fans can live with not seeing it. Going in this direction would also put the Orton/Wyatt angle in an interesting position. What happens there?

The last name I will bring up is AJ Styles. He held the title prior to Cena. A feud and match between Randy Orton and AJ Styles would be fresh and something I have seen some fans interested in. The main problem here is that it would ruin the Orton/Wyatt feud. I can have an easier time imagining Orton vs. Cena with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background than Orton vs. Styles with Bray Wyatt hovering in the background.

Who wins this? Because of all the crappy possibilities, I am not even going to take this seriously. I'll say Jinder Mahal beats up Baron Corbin before the match, takes his spot, and wins the title. Randy Orton just should not have won the Royal Rumble. I am a fan of Randy Orton. I don't own a lot of wrestling merchandise, but Randy Orton is one of the guys I have bought merchandise of. But it is just hard to get excited for this push for him when so many epic feuds could have been built with someone else winning the Royal Rumble. I would rather see John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the title. The feud between Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton just didn't need all this.

Previewing The TLC 2016 Undercard

Before I talk about the men's matches, let me update something I talked about yesterday. When talking about the women's matches, I said Alexa Bliss vs. Becky Lynch should have a stipulation for TLC. Later that day on Smackdown, they made it a tables match. Good move. It still feels like Smackdown needs to catch up with Raw's women's division, but this is a start.

Moving on to the men's matches, Kalisto vs. Baron Corbin is a feud I like. It is a non-title midcard feud. No former World Champions involved. It is pure midcarder vs. midcarder. I like how it has been treated these past few weeks. And it is a chairs match. The WWE could use good midcard feuds outside the title picture. As for who wins, Corbin is the one that seems to be on the rise.

Dolph Ziggler lost the Intercontinental Championship back to The Miz a few weeks ago and gets a rematch. It is a ladder match. I hate how the WWE has been tossing certain titles around recently. Remember how much emotion there was in Ziggler's title hunt these last few months. Then there was the big payoff when he finally won the Intercontinental Championship. You can't toss the title around like this and expect the fans to always be as emotionally involved. I was all for Ziggler heading into Survivor Series to defend against Sami Zayn. That did not happen. Now what? Toss the title back on Ziggler. That seems like what the WWE might do, but I don't like it. Build up your Champions to look good before losing the title. I don't mean that everyone needs to have a title reign of doom like New Day, but some of these title reigns just don't get a chance to get established before it comes to an end, and ending at the hands of the person that was just beaten for the title. I am not saying this kind of booking should never be done. You don't want to become formulaic, but this is just too much. I don't think it really adds anything to the feud or storyline. The WWE is just forcing things to be extended because of the brand split. Anyway, I would say Ziggler gets back the title and eventually drops it off to Baron Corbin.

The tag titles will be decided when Heath Slater and Rhyno defend against Bray Wyatt and Randy Orton. Bray Wyatt has been on the main roster for years and has never won a title. If he wins it here, however, it will be more about furthering a storyline than really putting him over. When will Randy Orton strike and turn on Bray Wyatt? One possibility is obviously to have Orton cost Wyatt the tag titles this Sunday. I do not think that is the way things will go. Have Orton help Wyatt win the tag titles, further proving his loyalty to him. Once Wyatt is manipulated to truly think he and Orton are partners, then Orton strikes. This storyline has not been set up as smoothly as it could have, but there is still potential to do something interesting heading forward.

Survivor Series 2016 Preview: Part 1

With the exception of Goldberg vs. Lesnar, Survivor Series is all about Raw vs. Smackdown. The multi-person tag matches revolve around that theme. Even the two title matches revolve around that theme. I will talk about those two title matches today. I will also get into a side effect of this Raw vs. Smackdown theme.

With all this inter-brand fighting that is supposed to be happening, that has impacted the feuds going on for each brand. Or has it? You have still seen those issues the last few weeks. In a lot of cases, people on the same team have been fighting each other these last few weeks. These personal issues will obviously boil over at Survivor Series, but it seems to be a bigger issue at times than the actual Raw vs. Smackdown rivalry.

I do not like what is going on. Of course, it is somewhat unavoidable. The Raw and Smackdown superstars have not been appearing on both brands to help push these matches properly. So what are you supposed to do to kill time? If all these wrestlers acted like they really were on the same page as their team members, would there even be any matches? Certainly not many.

It just makes it hard to buy into the Raw vs. Smackdown rivalry. Both brands just look dysfunctional. Dysfunctional behavior was one of the irritating things about The Authority. They just looked terrible and hard to get into with how there would be this inconsistent unofficial feud within the group. Hopefully, this will just end this Sunday and everyone can move on.

What is something the WWE could have done to keep things fresh while still protecting what the common goal of these teams should be? Aside from having some guys from the other brand show up for singles matches or traditional 2-on-2 tag matches, they could have done some feuds exclusive to just Raw and Smackdown. Have some feuds that don't revolve around Raw vs. Smackdown. I am not talking about Lesnar vs. Goldberg. Those two part-timers aren't going to help since they don't wrestle on Raw. And I am not talking about lower-midcard filler with the likes of Bo Dallas. I mean meaningful feuds that would lead to a match at Survivor Series. The focus of these feuds would be clear. There would still be some infighting with some of these teams, but it wouldn't permeate the shows like I feel it has.

Onto the matches. Brian Kendrick defends the Cruiserweight Championship against Kalisto and Dolph Ziggler defends the Intercontinental Championship against Sami Zayn. Not only can titles change hands, they can change brands.

If one title changes hands, it just seems obvious that the other will change hands. I cannot imagine Smackdown ending up with two titles. They don't have space for it. They also are getting all those cruiserweights. Moreover, that just leaves Raw at a huge disadvantage. The whole point of having the cruiserweight division on Raw is that they had that extra hour they needed to fill. The cruiserweight division just made it easier, although they were doing okay in the few weeks prior to the division being born. I also cannot see Raw ending up with two titles. That would be unfair to Smackdown.

The titles will either stay where they are or switch shows. I think there is a good chance the switch happens. People have been talking about unifying certain titles. I will talk about that if the titles actually switch brands and Raw ends up with the two midcard singles titles. Until then, Zayn wins the Intercontinental Championship and Kalisto wins the Cruiserweight Championship.

Brian Kendrick Vs. Kalisto For The Cruiserweight Championship At Survivor Series

Ziggler/Zayn won't be the only inter-brand match for a title at Survivor Series. Brian Kendrick will defend his Cruiserweight Championship against Smackdown's Kalisto. To sweeten the pot, if Kalisto wins, the division goes over to Smackdown.

There is a very real chance this move can happen. Tuesday is becoming a cruiserweight night. It would help if the cruiserweights were on Smackdown. I don't like how these guys in this division are treated like they are chained to it, but that's another issue. It is still a big shake up.

If this title changes shows, I think there is a good chance the Intercontinental Championship changes shows to balance things out. Sami Zayn can win it and actually take it to Raw, instead of coming over to Smackdown. There is still some time to see how things progress and to put more speculation into all the possibilities. I would say the WWE has created an intriguing situation here.

Previewing The Extreme Rules 2016 Undercard Title Matches

New Day defend the tag titles against The Vaudevillains. I have said before that New Day should have lost the titles already to other teams that had the momentum. I do not think they should lose it here. The Vaudevillains don't look like they are ready. Have New Day retain here and eventually drop it to Anderson & Gallows to give The Club some credibility. 

Kalisto defends the United States Championship against Rusev. Rusev looks monstrous again. They are even running an injury angle with Kalisto. Or is he really hurt? Can't even tell these days. Are they doing all this to make Rusev look dominant and give Kalisto a bit of an excuse when he loses the title? Or is this just to stack the odds against Kalisto so he can overcome them? Speaking of overcoming the odds, I see some fans dreading that the only reason Rusev looks strong again and might win the title is to drop it to Cena when he returns. That doesn't really make sense to me. Cena does not need a title to be pushed well. Beyond that, Alberto Del Rio was the guy that beat Cena cleanly for the title last year and retained it again against Cena prior to Cena's injury. Wouldn't it make more sense to give the title back to Alberto Del Rio so he can drop it to Cena, if the plan is for another United States Championship run for Cena? In any case, I will say Rusev wins the title at Extreme Rules.

The Intercontinental Championship will be decided in a fatal fourway. Miz defends against Cesaro, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. Cesaro just felt like he had the momentum when he returned last month. It felt like he would eventually win the title from Miz. Inserting Owens and Zayn certainly confuses things. These two could have had their own gimmick match at Extreme Rules. Make it a Last Man Standing match, or something like that. Owens and Zayn do have that history together. Leave the title to be decided between Miz and Cesaro, where Cesaro would win it. The WWE can still have Cesaro win it, then feud with Miz, while Owens and Zayn go back to killing each other, but I think a lot of Cesaro's momentum is hurt. I will say Miz retains.

No title is on the line, but I want to talk about Chris Jericho vs. Dean Ambrose. This is an Asylum match. WWE must like Dean Ambrose a lot to let him have his own match. He might just be the new Mick Foley. Foley got a few runs with the WWE Championship, but he was never the centerpiece. That will be the story with Ambrose. He will eventually win the WWE Championship, but he will not take the true top spot. Until any of that happens, he has Chris Jericho. They have been murdering the other guy's favorite inanimate object. Might as well try to murder each other in an extreme environment. Logic might say that Ambrose wins this match since it is his match, but he seems to have too much of the momentum. I can see Jericho winning this to make the rivalry more interesting and extending it.

How Goes Kalisto And His United States Title Reign?

Many fans would say John Cena helped the United States Championship. He elevated the title with his open challenges and the quality of matches he was putting on last year. Even his critics would praise him. He traded the title with the WWE Champion, Seth Rollins. The title just felt that important.

John Cena lost the title to the returning Alberto Del Rio. There wasn't a huge drop off. Del Rio won it in decisive fashion. The WWE tried to run some kind of gimmick between Del Rio and Zeb Colter. That flopped when the WWE ran with The League of Nations. Del Rio holding a title helped to give the group a bit more credibility. There might not have been regular open challenges, but the title still felt important.

Del Rio then traded the title with Kalisto. When it was all said and done, Kalisto was left still holding the United States Championship. The title definitely has been brought back down to mediocre levels. Kalisto did have that successful title defense against Ryback at Wrestlemania, but you cannot really say much else. He has been pushed as a tag-team wrestler with Sin Cara just as much as he has been pushed as a singles wrestler defending his title. I am not against one wrestler in a tag team holding a singles title, but what has been happening recently with the United States Championship shows why these kind of reigns should be short. Kalisto has two things going for him and the WWE isn't going far with either one.

Is he back feuding with Ryback? Ideally, the WWE should just have Sin Cara turn heel and have those two feud for the United States Championship. That would be a fresher feud. If they are serious about grooming Kalisto to be the new Rey Mysterio, he needs to break out on his own. He may be a great in-ring worker, but lack of individual focus on him will hold him back.

I do not think the WWE will be able to build him up to be the new Rey Mysterio. First of all, the WWE didn't really "create" Rey Mysterio. Mysterio was making a name for himself before the WWE signed him. He was having success in WCW. I'm not saying the WWE did nothing for him. He won a few World Championships in the WWE. Compared to Rey Mysterio, Kalisto does not have that kind of development pre-WWE. To make matters worse, the WWE was more efficient a decade ago when they had Rey Mysterio. Injury issues and the WWE becoming less efficient contributed to Rey being treated less spectacularly in his final years in the WWE. The WWE not being able to put proper individual focus on Kalisto is an example of inefficiency. Lastly, the WWE was willing to push Mysterio up the card. He went from winning Cruiserweight Championships to World Championships. How likely is it that Kalisto gets promoted? The WWE has a congested main-event scene, including part-timers and some guys currently injured. If they do not view Kalisto as an A-tier priority eventually, he will one day get lost in the shuffle for the sake of pushing some of these new NXT guys. And that's not how you make a new Rey Mysterio.

Previewing Wrestlemania 2016: The Undercard

The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal has never led to a serious push for either of the first two winners. Big Show, last year's winner, certainly already has his career made. He's going to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. Cesaro, the first winner, has had his career go up and down. He has gotten a number of titles and accolades in between depushes. I know about the rumors about Braun Strowman winning and getting a big push later on. Since that might hinge on what the WWE does with Roman Reigns and injury issues, I am not picking him to win. I could imagine someone in The Social Outcasts winning. Would that be an insult to Andre? A jobber winning this? Well, is putting this match on the pre-show insulting? The WWE might do some funny things with someone from the group winning. And I do not think anyone else currently in the match can really benefit from this. I'll go with Heath Slater.

The Dudley Boys face The Usos. This match does not feel big enough for Wrestlemania, but at least there are some feuds going on in the tag division that go beyond the tag titles. Since The Dudleys turned heel just a few weeks ago, logic might say they win this match and continue their push. I am going to go against logic and say The Usos win. The WWE has not pushed The Dudleys well since they returned. At the same time, The Usos have not won anything major since they reunited. I'll go with them.

Kalisto defends the United States Championship against Ryback. Ryback went a few years without ever winning a title. There was a time when he seemed credible enough to win the WWE Championship. That never happened, bu he did win the Intercontinental Championship last year. I would say he does not really need another title reign again so soon. On the other hand, how serious is the WWE in pushing Kalisto as the new Mysterio? Having him bring this up in interviews and talking about him like he is the next Mysterio doesn't mean as much as booking him consistently. If his title reign ends this Sunday and he gets sent back to the tag division with Sin Cara, I doubt he will end up as the new Mysterio. I will say he retains the title.

Another multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. Kevin Owens faces Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Zack Ryder, Sin Cara, Miz, and Stardust. Some of these guys are just extra bodies. This match should have just been between Owens and Zayn. I would say those are the two favorites to win. I would have Owens retain and lose the title later to Zayn in a singles feud.

The New Day take on The League of Nations in a handicap match. Just a few weeks ago, The League of Nations destroyed New Day and actually looked like great heels. They actually looked like a group the WWE was serious in pushing again. Since then, it feels like they have lost some of that intensity. I still hope the group ends up winning the tag titles. Until then, I will say they beat New Day. They should. 

AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho is a match that I do not think needed to happen again. This is the fourth match in a rivalry that is only two months old. This is a rivalry that featured them teaming up and eventually becoming contenders for the tag titles. This is a rivalry that featured the team splitting and one guy turning on the other. All in two months. You would think this kind of story takes a lot longer than this to develop. And yet, here we are.

I want to say a few things about how this feud has been developed since Chris Jericho turned heel. I have seen some fans criticize the WWE for taking so long to make this match official. They waited until the final Raw before Wrestlemania. I do not have a problem with that. The story is that Jericho was trying to avoid facing Styles again. Styles had to get Jericho to agree to it. This isn't bad storyline development.

The other part of this storyline that I want to bring up is the WWE bringing up "AJ Styles" chants. That supposedly annoyed Jericho. The issue I have isn't really the fact that Jericho is pretty over in his own right, even as a heel.This is about Styles. They obviously want the guy over. They are not burying his popularity. But how about they stop pointing out that fans like him and actually take advantage of what makes him phenomenal and develop his character better. Push him better. Fact is, I am not impressed by those chants. Maybe my memory is going bad, but I am sure I remember times when fans have reacted to wrestlers better. Those "AJ Styles" chants can be better. The WWE needs to put more work into AJ Styles. Smarks will cheer for him because he is great wrestler. Marks will cheer for him because he is pushed as a face. Beyond those fans that are either always criticizing the product or buying into it rather easily, how about the general audience? AJ needs to win those fans over. The WWE needs to do more than run a storyline about people chanting for him. He's not Daniel Bryan.

As far as the winner, it has to be Styles. Jericho is a jobber to the stars.

Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar is a big match, but not one of the likely two candidates to close the show, despite the presence of Brock Lesnar. Not to knock Ambrose, but this feels like the weakest Wrestlemania opponent Lesnar has had yet. It is a great push for Ambrose and will help elevate him, but Lesnar has faced guys with more star power or where there was something on the line in his other Wrestlemania matches. This is still a match many wrestling fans will look forward to.

And it is going to be a street fight. On the one hand, I like that the WWE has really made a storyline out of the match type. Hardcore legends have been utilized to push this feud. On the other hand, I think the WWE could have told a better story. Brock got mad at Ambrose for getting in the way of Brock getting a title shot. He attacked Ambrose in the parking lot the night after that. Just build on that intensity that was there. I feel how the WWE has handled the story these last few weeks has highlighted the match type more than the intense emotion that was there. Either way, should be a fun match.

The wildcard in this match will be The Wyatts. Dean Ambrose obviously has a history with Bray Wyatt. Brock Lesnar, moreover, was supposed to have a mini-feud with Bray. Bray was injured and that match got ruined. I doubt the WWE will have it end like that. They will go at it down the road. Will the WWE use this match at Wrestlemania to build up to that future match? The Wyatts don't have anything else going for them right now. Because there will be no disqualifications in this match, you can definitely imagine The Wyatts getting involved. Will it be a poor way for Dean Ambrose's feud with Brock Lesnar to end to just use this match as a stepping stone for another feud for Lesnar? That's another issue. Let's see how the WWE actually handles the match and what comes after.

Who wins? How often does Lesnar lose? Network specials aside, Brock Lesnar has not had a PPV win in a while. He lost at Fast Lane. He lost at the Royal Rumble. Is Vince McMahon going to be worried about Lesnar possibly starting to look weak? Some fans say that they cannot imagine Ambrose beating Lesnar cleanly. Well, can you imagine it with weapons involved? An extreme spot? It could happen. Of course, as I said, interference is likely. Cleanly or not, Lesnar has not won a big match in a while and I think he will win one here.

Previewing The Other Fastlane 2016 Undercard Matches

The Intercontinental Championship changed hands on Raw this week. Dean Ambrose lost it to Kevin Owens. That might make it more likely that Dean Ambrose wins his own match this Sunday, but that is a subject for next time. How about Kevin Owens getting the title back? For a guy that lacks the look and was having some people write his career eulogy after he lost his first feud against John Cena, he has done pretty well for himself in his first year on the main roster. He won a feud against Cesaro after moving on from Cena. He won the Intercontinental Championship soon after that. He entered a feud against Dean Ambrose. He lost the title to him, but has now gotten it back. In between that, he was getting a mediocre feud with Dolph Ziggler. I am not talking about match quality. I am talking about feud development. Well, a title is now on the line. These two will go at it again at Fastlane for the title. Since Owens just won it, I say he retains.

Did the title have to go back to Kevin Owens? He did just hold it a couple months ago. There were a few other guys in that match on Raw. There are other guys on the roster, despite all the injury problems. Dolph Ziggler hasn't held a title in a while. As I said, I doubt he wins it this Sunday. They could have taken the opportunity to kickstart a push for Tyler Breeze. I have seen some people say that Chris Jericho should have gotten it so AJ Styles could eventually win the Intercontinental Championship off him in their feud. Not a bad idea. There's always Miz. Kevin Owens is definitely not a horrible choice, but I don't think he really needed to be the guy to win it back. The WWE will probably not continue to feature him this well throughout his career, but fans shouldn't be complaining about how they push him for a while.

Onto the United States Championship. It will once again be Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto. This is a 2 out of 3 falls match. There is a pretty good rivalry developing here. They have already traded the title between themselves. Something to keep in mind is that Kalisto's partner, Sin Cara, is back. I am expecting Del Rio to get the title back. If the WWE wants to continue to push the Lucha Dragons as a team, it will be awkward with one guy holding a singles title. The New Day seem to be lacking a true direction at the moment. Could the WWE be saving them to continue that feud with Sin Cara and Kalisto? I think it is a possibility. I do not know how much further Kalisto can go in a singles push. The League of Nations will probably get involved here, helping Del Rio get the title back. There is another group without much direction. Four members and only one real feud for them recently. And it's against a midcarder for the United States Championship.

The last match I will talk about is AJ Styles vs. Chris Jericho. This match was made official on Smackdown this week. This will be the third encounter between these two. It will likely be the last in this feud. Styles will hopefully move on to something better for Wrestlemania. Might these two continue the rivalry down the line? That is another issue. Styles took the first encounter and Jericho took the second. It would make sense for the third encounter to be the end. And it will likely go to AJ Styles. He's the new star that just debuted. Jericho is a part-time jobber to the stars.

Some fans might be expecting a heel turn. Jericho snaps at his inability to beat Styles this Sunday and that continues the feud to Wrestlemania. If they were going to do something like that, they wouldn't have let Jericho beat Styles on Smackdown recently. Jericho has already proven he can beat Styles. Snapping at losing to him again would not make sense. I say this stays a face vs. face feud.

Even though I doubt this feud continues to Wrestlemania, I believe they could have developed it to be worthy of Wrestlemania. Have Styles vs. Jericho I on any Raw or Smackdown before Fastlane. Styles wins there. Have Styles vs. Jericho II at Fastlane. Jericho wins this one. That leaves Styles vs. Jericho III for Wrestlemania. And Styles would win that one. Build up to the matches better. It wouldn't have made AJ Styles' debut as amazing as it should have been, but it might have let a a feud that was developed a little better. This feud might end up just being a few weeks long. It could have gone all the way to Wrestlemania and led to a big match there.

Let me go back to talking about past debuts. I talked about Kevin Owens and his first feud against John Cena. Even though he lost that feud, his career did not take a hit. Moreover, that debut feud felt better than what you have with AJ Styles and Chris Jericho. I doubt it is only because a title was involved. They didn't just rush through their series of matches. It started with a promo between Owens and Cena. Owens can hold his own on the mic. That set up the first match, where Owens beat Cena clean. Owens, the top star of NXT at the time, beat the face of the WWE cleanly in his first match on the main roster. Again, things soon went downhill for him from there, but it was still a good debut and he has done well since.

AJ Styles is likely to win his debut feud, but this feud does not feel the same way as Owens vs. Cena. There was never that same in-ring segment to set up Styles vs. Jericho. AJ Styles debuted in the Royal Rumble match and was wrestling Chris Jericho the next night. And beating Chris Jericho cleanly really is not that impressive. Fans weren't reacting the same way to that as Owens beating Cena. There really was no big storyline or debut vignettes for Kevin Owens, but his debut was still better than what the WWE did with AJ Styles. 

Previewing Royal Rumble 2016 Undercard Title Matches

There was a title change at TLC last month. I feel like there will be another one at the Royal Rumble this year. And I don't mean just the WWE Championship. Every title is on the line this Sunday. I already talked about the Diva's Championship match. I will talk about the Rumble match, where the WWE Championship will be on the line, on Friday. How about those other titles?

The Usos get another shot at the tag titles. They were my pick to win the titles from New Day at TLC. That didn't happen. I will stick with them. New Day has held the tag titles for a long time now. It looked like Sin Cara and Kalisto would have gotten the push The Usos are getting. Sin Cara got injured. Kalisto recently ended up winning the United States Championship briefly. How likely is it that the original plan would have been for him to get his hands on the tag titles? Circumstances led to him getting a different push. If the WWE still feels it is time to get the titles off New Day, The Usos are right there.

Speaking of Kalisto and the United States Championship, he gets a rematch against Alberto Del Rio. Would the title really go from Alberto Del Rio to Kalisto to Alberto Del Rio to Kalisto in the span of a few weeks? You don't see that kind of booking often. I do not expect to see it here. If the WWE wants to groom Kalisto to be the new Rey Mysterio, like many fans believe, they need to treat him as a better priority than they have. It goes beyond title reigns. I will say Alberto Del Rio retains.

And then there's Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens. Dean Ambrose was the one that ended up winning a title at TLC last month. He won the Intercontinental Championship. The fact that this match is "Last Man Standing" rules just makes it better. These two can go. This seems like the type of match that can bring out the best in them. As for the winner, I did not expect them to end the title run of Kevin Owens so soon. Will they end the title run of Dean Ambrose so soon? If you are a believer of the "momentum rule" of the WWE, the person looking good heading into a PPV usually ends up losing. Dean Ambrose has the momentum after what you will see happen on Smackdown. I do not feel the WWE follows that rule as much as they used to. Dean Ambrose should retain here.

Alberto Del Rio Loses Title, Then Gets It Back

The United States Championship has gotten a lot of attention this week. Kalisto won the title from Alberto Del Rio on Raw. On Smackdown, Del Rio won the title back from Kalisto.

Looking at how some fans reacted after Kalisto won the title, I think they overreacted. They jumped to conclusions. They expected this to be the start of some big push for Kalisto. I didn't immediately jump in to give my thoughts on Kalisto's title win. Wait a while to see what direction the WWE is going. This is a company that has not been good with the midcard in a while. It is true that a lot of stars are out. I would say the WWE isn't using this as an opportunity to build new stars all across the board. Roman Reigns is obviously being developed as a new star. On the other side of that, there are just some people that are getting pushed that feel like filler. If the WWE wants someone as a star, they do not just dump a title in their lap. Kalisto was not being pushed too well until a few months ago. His partner, Sin Cara, got injured. Winning the United States Championship will likely be the highlight of his push. It turns out he held that title for even less time than Zack Ryder.

I have seen some fans suggest that Del Rio might just drop the title back to Kalisto. I see no point in that. It appears the WWE's plan was just to create some drama with a title change. Have the title even change hands on Smackdown. It is rare to see a title change on Smackdown. Del Rio is no stranger to winning a title on Smackdown. With the WWE switching networks for Smackdown, they have to start doing more exciting things to help their numbers. And they did just that. Title changes fall in that category.

Think back at some other short title reigns. Daniel Bryan had some short runs with the WWE Championship that fans were not satisfied with. Christian won the World's Heavyweight Championship and dropped it on a Smackdown to Randy Orton a few days later. That left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans. This booking decision by the WWE will likely not be criticized as harshly. I see some fans upset about it. Kalisto was not a veteran of the business or too popular, so I do not expect too much backlash. The whole situation was just meant to create some drama with some title changes. Nothing suggests that the WWE "screwed" Kalisto.