Jerry Lawler Earns Title Shot

First of all, looks like I got lucky by putting up that Alberto Del Rio pic when I talked about the Royal Rumble. He won. They were pushing him so hard to sell him to the fans, I am not surprised.

As for Raw, Jerry Lawler won a battle royal to earn a title shot against Miz. Yes, Lawler got a TLC match against Miz for the title last year. Who says he shouldn't get another shot? This is good use of the legends you still have on hand to create Wrestlemanie moments that may draw. For that, I am fine with Lawler getting the push. The problem? Match quality. That TLC match was not amazing between Lawler and Miz. Lawler's performance tonight was fine, but he was no John Morrison. Most people are not a John Morrison. I will not be too hard on The King. Miz and Lawler can still tell a good story in the ring when the time comes. Near falls, interference from Riley, a few high spots, and so on. This can make for a good enough match. Let Lawler have his moment. Let the WWE use it to draw. Overall, I will not complain about this decision.

40 Men, 1 Winner, A Lot More Losers Than You Would Expect

My thoughts on this Royal Rumble having 40 men? Not ecstatic about it, to say the least.

Diva matches that feature too many women are usually garbage. Scramble matches are usually a huge mess, and have not been used in years. The WWE has been pulling out these cheap matches and PPVs recently that allow for many men to be involved in a single match. Last time I checked, it has not really helped PPV buys that much. What's more, the men involved in the matches are usually not all developed properly. You can usually sense that some guys are in the match just to fill space. It ends up being a cheap way to avoid proper storyline and character development.

The 40-man Royal Rumble specifically? More than half of the 10 extra men will be newbs who are getting a rushed job of main-event credibility due to being in a stable where they are putting over one heel each, who is then being fed to Cena or has already been fed to him. Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, Otunga, Husky Harris, Michael McGillicutty, and Batista clone are who I am talking about here. Zeke has at least been around for more than a year, although he lacks solid overness. Barrett at least has some better build to him than the other newbs. It would be disappointing if the remainder of the extra 10 are just irrelevant jobbers like The Usos and Tarver. Oh, I have no doubt there will be "surprise entrants" like Triple H. But you could have had these men without having to make space for crappy jobbers who stand no chance and will just be fodder for someone else looking good.

The rest of the card for the PPV is also not too interesting. The WWE continues to bank too much on making new main-eventers at the expense of established main-eventers. Build their characters with good midcard storylines first. Once they have the overness, credibility and movement up the card will follow easily.

Can You Pander To The Internet A Bit More?

Cena DQed Barrett and Punk? Why? For not being PG enough on a kid's show. Lawler even brought up the PG thing himself.

Earlier in the night, Daniel Bryan had a backstage segment where he was making out with Gail Kim. The Bellas, who have been trying to get a little intimate with him (I've caught the PG flu myself), walked in and a catfight ensued. But they brought up that the Bellas were whores (there goes the flu) for the guest hosts and Gail is an "afterthought" on Raw. Bellas being sluts and Gail being underutilized are all talked about much by the internet. Tons of jokes about this stuff. No need to shed tears for these women. The WWE is not really attacking their own image. The Bellas are whores because the WWE frequently used them with the guest hosts. Gail Kim is irrelevant because the WWE books her as that. The WWE is making jokes of how they treat their own divas. I can smell the ratings.

Since I'm on the subject of divas. Maryse continues to get more proper attention on herself for her own sake than Natalya. Natalya retained her title, but it is only a matter of time before she does lose it and gets sent back to the end of the line. Problem is, there is no longer a tag team for her to valet for. Looks like she may just end up fodder in tag matches and in building up other women. But she was getting over, you say? The WWE doesn't care. I would like to see if she can stay over when the WWE does drop her. Melina? I would have been surprised if she did win the title. She was just in a filler feud. They killed her off pretty easy. LayCool came out right after the match. I changed the channel, so I have nothing more to say on those two. I am actually a little surprised that the WWE used so many divas tonight somewhat relevantly. Alicia didn't do anything in her match and Tamina just stood around. But I doubt this means that the WWE is going to improve their diva division. Gail/Bellas is a minor diva feud. Natalya is a face Diva's Champion who is not meant to be centerpiece of her brand. McCool looks to be almost ready to get it back. Maryse is getting more time to let her character shine through storylines and actually winning matches now and then. I just realized that I forgot about Eve tonight. Is she to be the new Gail Kim. Is it her time to be an afterthought? Didn't she come out for commentary for Natalya vs. Maryse last week, got in a minor exchange with Maryse and pinned Melina prior to that? Where was she in either the title match or the mixed tag?

Back to my main point. WWE's got jokes? There was a HHH-feel to this crap. I'm not saying he is necessarily pushing this stuff, but I frequently notice that he loves to make little jabs at things only certain fans will understand. Why do I hate this? Little subtle jokes that pander to the internet? This is supposed to take the place of good midcard feuds, a better diva division, and a better tag division. Just because you are making fun of how your PG rating is upsetting fans, how your placement of divas by guest hosts are making them look like whores, and not using a former Women's Champion relevantly at all makes her look insignificant (which is what the WWE wants at the moment anyway, that does not mean you are fixing it. This is about as stupid as two political parties promising more working together, but only having it amount to sitting together at some huge speech that's coming up. Less of the symbolic and more of the meaningful.

But maybe change will come? Maybe this is all the sign of it, not just a mocking of it. The WWE's stock fell sharply today. Actually, it started falling sharply as the markets closed last Friday. The gravity of the situation was not felt until today. Was that the wake-up call for the WWE? Thing is, as the overall stock market has been steadily improving over the past year, WWE stock has been going down, even before today. PPV buys were down in 2010 as compared to 2009, as well as overall ratings for the shows. This is a sign that something should be done. Is the WWE's response to join the internet in laughing at it's own product? And TNA will still fail to take advantage.

Corre Values

If nothing else, at least the symbol for Wade Barrett's new stable is better than the generic "N" of his former. Maybe they will sell some shirts now. Smackdown now has a stable consisting of Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, and Ezekiel Jackson. The Corre.

This is good. Nexus definitely got people talking on Raw. Now Barrett gets to lead a branch on Smackdown. CM Punk's version is starting to make me want to change the channel anyway, with or without a Batista clone. Corre allows Barrett to still build his main-event credibility. I strongly believe it is only a matter of time before he is a World Champion. Going down the ladder, Slater and Gabriel should get the tag titles back. The only storyline reason for them losing the titles to Santino and Kozlov was to further Cena making life miserable for Nexus. The tag titles used to be upper-midcard worthy. Now lower-midcarders defend them against lower-midcarders. As for Jackson, I don't really care. He is the muscle in the group. If they want to give him the Intercontinental Championship, fine. Just don't screw Kofi over again after. Kofi either deserves some kind of push up the card or just let him get the attention in the midcard.

And like everyone else, I am looking forward to NeoNexus facing off with Corre. If it all ties in with some kind of swerve in the end, even better.

Morrison Going Anywhere?

The peak was when Morrison had his title shot against Miz a few weeks ago. Ever since then, he has been regressing back to the womb. Figure of speech. He beat Sheamus to earn the shot. Week after his match with Miz, he beats Sheamus again.

Tonight? I have to give the WWE credit. They gave him a little hype video during his entrance. After, they even had him go over Daniel Bryan in a non-title match. Daniel Bryan rarely loses. The last time he did lose on Raw was against Alberto Del Rio, who is in the midst of his own monster push due to Smackdown needing new stars. In any case, Morrison looked good again tonight. But Daniel Bryan and John Morrison had met before. Morrison got a shot at the U.S. title a few months ago, before his feud with Sheamus. Match with U.S. Champion, go over Sheamus, title match against Miz, go over Sheamus, go over U.S. Champion. Yes, Miz was also involved in that U.S. title match. But it is still just funny how Morrison's push seems to be going backward a bit. Next week, Chris Jericho will probably return so Morrison can go over him again.

Is Morrison really going anywhere? I compared him to Kofi Kingston before. Where is Kofi now? Back as king of the midcard on Smackdown. What can WWE do for Morrison? If not a Royal Rumble win, give him a great showing. Final four? Moreover, give him a REAL feud with Daniel Bryan. It would be unfair to say Morrison did not at least earn a title shot. Develop that into a feud. That would help both men. Even include the Bellas are their slutty antics. It's all PG fun!

That's KING Jobber, Fella!

It has all gone downhill for Sheamus since he won King of the Ring. He is just a jobber made to make upper-midcarders and main-eventers look good. In the back of my mind, I even wonder if giving him this gimmick was just a way to turn him into an even bigger joke. Look at him!

Is Triple H not even going to bother feuding with Sheamus when he returns? If he is going to get revenge on Sheamus, why not keep Sheamus strong? You don't have to have him win every match, but this losing streak is pathetic. I remember when Kane buried Taker many years ago to help Vince McMahon. This was all after Kane lost the mask. They kept Kane looking strong. Very strong. If I remember correctly, he was never pinned in a televised match until Taker returned and beat him. That is what should be going on here. Keep Sheamus strong until Triple H can get his revenge. Triple H going over a joke is supposed to be an epic draw?

See that comparison I just made between Kane and Sheamus? As I even wrote it out, I began to realize Sheamus is Raw's Kane. For years, Kane was the credible monster who frequently jobbed for the benefit of others. They would toss him a win here and there and a scary promo when necessary, but he was always sent back down when the time was right, regardless of the fact that he was so over. Sheamus isn't even that over. Doesn't matter. WWE invested so much in him. Now he can job it all back for the benefit of others.

John Cena Returns With A Vengeance

John Cena returns with a vengeance? Really? That was the description for tonight's Raw that I got from my TV service provider. The guy wasn't even in the arena. He was still injured this week. Promo via satellite. He is supposed to compete next week. If that happens, his injury would not have been that big of a deal. On the other side of the coin, when was the last time Punk had a televised match? You can just feel that some swerve will occur.

While I was checking the description for Raw, I had to make sure this was still the PG era. A man stood still to get whipped by other men? That was the most disgusting thing I have seen from the WWE since a certain diva angle one year ago. I enjoy good hardcore action. Diva strap matches are usually fun in that one diva gets humiliated. But what happened to Husky Harris was not about humiliation. It was not a match. Get whipped to prove you want to stay in the group. I can appreciate what they are trying to do, but this is definitely not PG. Even if this was not the PG era, this kind of thing is not why I am a wrestling fan.

In a less important matter. I do not like that CM Punk is sole leader like this. Otunga looked credible when he was calling the shots for Nexus to attack Cena a few weeks ago. I would rather see co-leaders. Punk, however, gets all the power. Then you have the fact that Punk sacrifice anything to prove he wanted to stay in Nexus himself. The remaining members just seemed to shrug that off and still accept him. What happened to the Nexus that told Wade Barrett, the former leader, that he had to prove himself or he would be kicked out of the group? Remember that Raw? Otunga was always the one who stood up. The fact that it is all Punk now just makes this storyline less interesting. Let the newer talent step up more.

Kelly Kelly Makes Drew McIntyre A Face

I like Drew McIntyre. Although I do not like models frequently getting treated better than female wrestlers, I do not despise Kelly Kelly to death. What do I feel about the storyline involving them now? Don't like it.

I don't dislike it because I feel bad for Tiffany. I don't because of jealousy. None of those stupid reasons. What stupid reason do I have then? It is a cheap way to get Drew McIntyre over. Use an over diva to make McIntyre look like a dashing knight. Drew could not get himself over as a heel, even with an overpush from the WWE. I will not turn against him if he does get over, but things like this show just how bad the WWE is these days. Instead of having performers capable of getting themselves over, or letting the performers have the space to do it on their own, the WWE falls back on the same old tricks to try to convince fans to like or hate a person. If you really think about it, what is it from Drew that will get him over in this storyline? His wrestling ability. Not primarily. His promo ability and acting talent? Doesn't shine that much. His looks? Only for the girls, and even then, he's had that since he debuted. It is really the rub he will get from Kelly Kelly. After Drew does get over, and especially if they kill the romance angle awkwardly, you will have another Chris Masters on your hands. Remember Masters and Eve?

This does give something for Kelly Kelly to do. Can't complain there. Still, it would be nice if Drew comes out of this as a heel. Just drop Kelly Kelly with a DDT.

Morrison Starts The New Year Coming Close

John Morrison earned a title shot at a PPV, in a ladder match, and against a former World Champion. WWE decides to have him use that shot on Raw. Falls did count anywhere. That did allow for interference from Riley for Morrison to overcome and look good. Needless to say, it also allowed for Morrison to do some crazy spots. Having him come close in beating Miz also makes him look good. Of course, having Miz overcome him also makes the WWE Champion look good himself.

Then you have Randy Orton back in the title picture to face Miz. Orton won a cage match to face Miz at the Royal Rumble. Morrison? Most likely being in the Rumble match to make sure it is as "star studded" as they hype every year. I doubt those rumors about a 4-way match, and even Lawler winning the title.

Was Morrison's push treated poorly by the WWE? I said before that he came close and looked impressive for various reasons. This can be a good build for an eventual World title run in the future. Thing is, John Morrison has already had a good build for such a run. I will not even bring up his ECW title run. No need to get into the debate about whether that was an actual World title or not. This match tonight was not Morrison's first title shot at one of the two current World titles. He was booked in an Elimination Chamber match and lasted to the final three last year. The last title he held was the Intercontinental Championship. Who did he beat? Former World Champion, Rey Mysterio. I already mentioned how he has beaten Sheamus. He has beaten CM Punk and Chris Jericho. He is over and can still go further. The WWE definitely could have done him better, and also in a way that would not have hurt Miz much.

How would I have booked it? Have Morrison win the title tonight and lose it back to Miz at the Royal Rumble. Remember Edge's first reign? Morrison gets the credibility of winning the title and moves up in the card a bit. WWE needs fresh faces. Miz gets the title back and can lose it at Wrestlemania to an even bigger face than Morrison. Miz looks like a strong heel, if done correctly. How would I book Morrison now? Give him an impressive Rumble performance. What more can you do? I'm not saying he has to win. If the WWE wants to save that on a surprise return, fine. Whatever happens, this should be Morrison's year.