WWE's December To Remember 2011

When it comes to injuries, December has not been a good month for the WWE. Last year, John Cena suffered an injury at the end of the month. He was not out for long, but it still effected storylines a bit. The year before that, Melina was injured, while holding the Diva's Championship. This led to the title being vacated. Year before that, Maryse was injured, also while holding the Diva's Championship. The WWE kept the title on her, despite her not defending it for well over a month. The curse, if you want to call it that, continues. Centerpiece Orton is injured. You have various sources saying various things. At the end of the day, it looks like Orton will be back in a few weeks. If he really is out for 6 months, that would really shake Smackdown up. I could speculate on that now, but why bother if Orton may not be gone long? You still have Daniel Bryan and Sheamus to be top faces on Smackdown. Big Show can go either way, depending on WWE's plans for him. If they really need to, just pop CM Punk into Smackdown matters a little more often. There are other injuries to talk about this month, but Orton was definitely the top one.

Injuries are not the only reason why this is a special December for the WWE. Raw ratings are in. Once again, Raw scored below a 3.0. All four Raws of this month have failed to make it to at least a 3.0. I don't think there has been a whole month of poor ratings like this since the WWE's rise during the Attitude Era. It is definitely the worst December for the main show of the WWE in that time. The half of the recent show that featured Kane did well, but not enough to boost overall ratings up. Things pretty much have to get better for the WWE next week. They have been hyping that episode. You definitely do not want to start a new year with a 2.8 in the ratings. Not a good sign. You have excuses this month.

Therapy With Glenn Jacobs

John Cena has a problem. Kane has analyzed that problem. Kane wants to help John Cena with his problem. That heat Cena gets is supposed to be like therapy? It is for an eventual possible heel turn.

You can compare that Kane promo at the end of Raw to a lot of things, but he did come off kind of like a therapist to me. Or Darth Vader. Trying to get Cena to join the dark side? However you put it, Kane did do a good job with that promo. Even if he hasn't wrestled a televised match since his return, he definitely is making things interesting.

That is pretty much all the good stuff I could have said about this storyline after recent developments. Now, the things I don't like. The WWE had a chance to run a similar storyline to the one they had with Mark Henry on Smackdown, but for Kane on Raw now. Create a dominant monster that is doing extreme or mysterious attacks. With the return of the mask and Cena being the primary target, there were ways not to make it too similar to what was going on with Mark Henry. WWE tosses all that aside and turns this into something similar to Nexus in 2010. Nexus ended up putting over Cena's character that year. After that, the stable and storyline really started to fall down. Kane is being used to further Cena's recent storyline revolving around the heat he is getting. They are pushing the idea that the boos should turn him heel. I'm not against them doing that. I expected it would go that way sooner or later. The way I would have done it is by having Cena lose cleanly to Kane. The WWE could then sell the idea that all the hate really has gotten to Cena. It's come to a point where it is costing him matches. They could even have a spot in his match with Kane where Cena allows himself to get distracted by chants against him, which leads to him losing. If Cena could not beat Kane, how can he handle The Rock? Heel turn. Things may still work out like that somehow, but the way they are going about it right now is way too elaborate in terms of promos. It makes things kind of blatantly obvious. More action would have been nice.

Speaking of action, the main-event segment on Raw featured a promo, not a match or any real physical altercation at all. It also did not feature the WWE Champion, who was in action in his hometown. John Cena's storyline trumped it. Even without the title or even competing, John Cena closes Raw. People can say it is because of the horrible ratings CM Punk and friends got in the same segment time last week, but I would be interested to see how John Cena, and Raw in general, could do against an NFL game that saw Brees make history and the Saints take their division. They hyped pretty well that Kane would still be coming out later in the show, and that mystery they had surrounding the attacks had potential to draw, so I would not be surprised to see the segment do better. If not, you still have football as an excuse. Won't be there for you much longer.

Natalya With Kidd, Not Phoenix

Natalya teamed up with her former Hart Dynasty partner, Tyson Kidd, to take on Zack Ryder and Eve. Of course, the heels were really just there for the benefit of the faces. And no Beth Phoenix in Natalya's corner?

Natalya teaming with Tyson Kidd was most likely just a one-time thing, for now. But what I want to point out is how easy it would be to split up the Divas of Doom. A few weeks away from each other, and they can be slowly phased out. Their split can occur without much attention and hype at all, unlike what happened with LayCool earlier this year. That shows the difference right there. LayCool was a centerpiece team. The Divas of Doom are two credible jobbers. Women like that don't get the same hard pushes as the centerpiece. Even when it appears they are, it is usually meant to build them up to put over the centerpiece and never lasts long. Is this the end already for Natalya and Beth Phoenix?

I don't see any good reason to split the team right now. You will probably see them together again in the near future. But recent use of the two as a unit, or lack of using them as a unit, illustrates what the WWE thinks about pushing them to be the same kind of team in the diva division that LayCool were. It shows how the team can end without much hype at all. At least Natalya might still have Tyson Kidd to team up with again. On NXT?

Rabiosa Returns

That is to say...


Such a lovely face. Shakira ain't too bad either.

R-Truth returned on Raw tonight. He attacked the Miz, which would be payback for the attack a few weeks ago that ended the team. Also, this would make R-Truth a face. With the way things went, that is not a surprising move at all.

A feud between Miz and R-Truth will be what it will be. An empty statement, but you have seen many feuds like this before already. What I want to point out that I really like is that R-Truth still has his crazy gimmick. He's ranting like a raving lunatic again. I love seeing that. As a fan of gimmicks, especially since there were so many unique characters a long time ago, I have to love what the WWE is allowing with R-Truth. Even if they had ended this gimmick, he most likely would have returned to his rap gimmick. R-Truth is a guy who has always had a gimmick and will probably always have one as long as he's in wrestling. That makes things more interesting. And he can handle the gimmick well.

Back to Miz. When he took out R-Truth, the WWE ran this story where he was taking out people who had held him back throughout his career. They followed up with John Morrison as a victim, since he didn't want to stay in the WWE anyway. After that, nothing. There were still possibilities, but the WWE dropped it and gave Miz a shot at the WWE title, which he did not win. Now that Daniel Bryan is the Champ on the other show, it might have been even more interesting if the WWE continued Miz's angle. I know, Big Show is still in the picture, but Big Show was Miz's partner at one time too. Miz still would have been involved with two guys who he can claim were holding him back in the past. There is a lot of potential there that I will not bother going into. It won't be happening. People can try to say that R-Truth feuding with Miz is the continuation of Miz's angle, but it pretty much really has been phased out. This is now just a feud between two former partners after one turned on the other.

Do I expect anything great from this feud? R-Truth will be bringing it with his character. The character they were developing with Miz has been killed. What he is now is pretty basic. Nevertheless, it will be something good for the midcard. I really do expect R-Truth to be a lovely face. What I mean to say, he will be a good face character for Raw. Match quality will be okay. Miz can go through a match. He isn't grand, but he can go. R-Truth is more entertaining in his style. I would expect their matches to be more heated anyway. Will Miz take on the cowardly role? That would be a switch after how cold he was when the angle first started. Nevertheless, should be good.

Time For Heel Big Show?

After almost a decade without a World title reign (ECW doesn't count), Big Show won the World's Heavyweight Championship from Mark Henry at TLC. Who walks out the PPV with the title? Daniel Bryan.

On Raw, they sold how humiliating this has to be for Big Show. Big Show acted like he could shrug it off, but the WWE will probably treat this as one of those things that eat away at even the nicest faces, thus leading to a heel turn for Big Show. Then you will have a real feud between the new World Champion and the man he won it off of.

First, does someone really need to turn heel? Look at the Smackdown landscape. There are really not a lot of great heels right now. Wade Barrett is in the process of being made. Mark Henry cannot go right now. Christian is injured. After the great few months the show has had, it would be a shame to let it all slip away so fast. They definitely need to turn someone heel on Smackdown, or have an established heel return there or sent over from Raw.

This should all be looking familiar. Face gets screwed over in title matters, slowly turns heel. The WWE already pulled this with Christian this year. TNA did a variation of it with Roode. Et tu, Big Show? I'm not against a heel turn. But must it really follow the same pattern? How about a swerve? How about turning Daniel Bryan heel? After treating him as a top face on Raw this week, you might have an easier time seeing Cena go heel? Maybe. If Daniel Bryan goes heel, instead of having him feud with a guy like Wade Barrett into Wrestlemania, he could feud with Randy Orton, the centerpiece. I could say that the ultimate swerve would be if no one turns heel, but I already pointed out that you need fresh, strong heels on Smackdown right now. But can it be done in an entertaining way?

Kane Wants Free Cena Merchandise!

It is a nice looking shirt, isn't it? Only to someone like Kane.

Kane and John Cena continued their storyline on Raw. Much like last week, Mark Henry was also slightly involved. His main purpose for being out there, in terms of what the WWE was doing, was to once again set up the situation of whether Kane would go after the man who injured him or John Cena. The fact that Mark Henry was injured would have made him an even easier target. Once again, Kane goes after John Cena. But why? And he rips off Cena's shirt too? They are slowly making things more interesting. I just hope they do not keep having John Cena and Mark Henry in the same place every time they want to set up John Cena getting attacked by Kane. I think the fans can figure out by now that Kane wants to destroy John Cena, not Mark Henry.

Is it drawing? Raw scored below a 3.0 once again. Monday Night Football had two things going for it that would screw Raw over. First, it was a game more people wanted to see, as compared to last week. Both teams involved this week are going to the playoffs. They are just trying for better position. Two top teams like that going at it was sure to draw. Second, there was a power outage. You may think that that may benefit Raw. Had they cancelled the game and postponed it to the next day, it definitely would have. The game ended up starting around the same exact time Raw did. A second power outage also occurred. When you get right down to it, although the game ended up being pretty one-sided, the bulk of the action, where the Steelers really had a chance to come back, still fell right into the time Raw was on. Had the game not had those delays, maybe more viewers would have given up on hoping the Steelers would win and tuned in for the final hour or half an hour of Raw. With the delays, that logic was not there to help Raw.

However, Raw also had some things going for it. At least, that is what the WWE would have liked to think. This Kane angle is just one. It is a huge one. Kane returns with the mask and attacks Cena for an unknown reason. Take a look at what happened the previous night. TLC. That means Raw would feature the PPV aftermath. Ratings tend to be good the show after a PPV. TLC also featured some things that should have drawn for the night after. Zack Ryder won a title. Daniel Bryan cashed in and won the World's Heavyweight Championship. CM Punk is still WWE Champion. These are three guys the Internet fans love. They are selling them as huge fan favorites. They were really working it up with the crowd on Raw. Entering through the crowd? The WWE pretty much has to be saying, "Okay, we are giving you what you want! Where are the ratings?" Once again, you have to give them credit for trying to go in a new direction, after realizing Cena cannot carry the WWE to great heights any longer, but it is not working. Give it a little more time. Maybe it will?

Barrett Vs. Orton: Table Play Continues

Randy Orton may have won the match at TLC, but Wade Barrett got a symbolic victory on Raw by putting Orton through a table. This feud is not over yet.

I loved seeing that. The WWE could have easily started phasing out Barrett and have Orton do random matches and promos to build him up for the Royal Rumble. I could have said that they can feud Orton with another top heel, but what other top heels on Smackdown are there that he has yet to work with? He could have entered a small feud with Alberto Del Rio, who did not regain the WWE Championship. In the end, it is good to keep Barrett and Orton together. More importantly, they did not have Orton simply win with the usual RKO out of nowhere, and then follow that up with a further depush for Barrett.

This is a great midcard feud. Midcard feud. "Midcard" is the keyword. I hope they do not continue to treat this as a bigger feud than World title matters. It is great, but still does not deserve to outshine Daniel Bryan and Big Show. Big Show did not look too happy about losing the title so fast, but that is another issue. Aside from keeping it in the midcard, what else should be done with Barrett's feud with Orton? More promo time would be nice, especially for Barrett. I don't mean a backstage interview. I am talking about real segment time to add some heated words to this feud. Actions speak louder than words, I know that, but Barrett's actions are already delivering. He is proving he is on the same level as Orton. The WWE is allowing that. Now they need to follow through so the fans can connect more with his character. Whether you can ever understand a word he says or not, let Barrett talk!

With the direction things still seem to be going, I would expect great things for the WWE's treatment of Barrett still. He has had a history with the current World's Heavyweight Champion. I wouldn't be surprised to see these two at least feud over the title, regardless of whether Barrett wins it. This can very much be an interesting feud. Until that happens, Barrett continues to be built up well with Orton.

Sheamus Vs. Jack Swagger At TLC 2011

Of all the things to talk about after TLC last night, I want to talk about what might have been the least important filler match on the PPV card. Why be concerned about a little thing like that? Little things can sometimes count for a lot. Little things can sometimes be an indicator of something bigger and be used to help prove a point. Little things add up to big things. You have probably heard ideas like this before.

Sheamus beat Jack Swagger. Obviously, this match was not part of a feud that was developing between these two guys. It was just filler. There were other matches that were not developed well prior to TLC, but even these got somewhat more development than Sheamus/Swagger and were for titles. The impressive thing about this match was that it featured two guys who have held World titles before, but they have been reintroduced to the midcard recently. It was even more painful for Jack Swagger.

To me, the fact that these guys have held major titles means the WWE really should have done better developing a real feud for them. Sheamus has not had a real feud since Christian. That slowly started to end around Survivor Series, then Christian got injured. I would hate to think their feud would have continued to TLC, had that injury not happened. It had gone on too long. Jack Swagger has done even worse than Sheamus. He has not had a real feud for himself in a long time. His recent usage has been to team with Dolph Ziggler. No major focus on Swagger over time. A good feud between Swagger and Sheamus could have really been refreshing for both guys. I know they faced each other less than a month ago on Raw, but that was not part of a real feud. If anything, that could have been the point a real feud started. Nope.

Realistically, I will admit that the feud probably would have been dull. I know a lot of fans of good matches might like to see these guys go, but for the general audience, it would have been nothing too interesting. I am saying that because I have no faith in the WWE to make it interesting and I see the limitation of both guys right now. Swagger is not really a draw. He is not over. I like him as a goofy heel, but the WWE does not do enough with his character right now. As a result, long feuds may not be too good for him. Pairing him with someone else is smart, but you have to let him do more in the pairing. Nevertheless, dull or not, midcard filler you could expect to see randomly pop up on Raw made it onto a PPV as filler. If the WWE put more attention into the little matches under the main event of PPVs, they just might be getting better buyrates.

Orton Moving Back On Top Of Henry

Notice Randy Orton featured in the main event on Smackdown a little more frequently recently, despite Mark Henry's title feud with Big Show not quite over? Wondering why the WWE is doing that?

Centerpiece Orton and Wade Barrett have been getting the main attention on Smackdown. People can argue that this feud is more important because Orton has been World Champion more times than either Mark Henry or Big Show, or whatever else reason like that. Fact is, that is what being the centerpiece gets you. It gets you frequently booked to win major titles and often given more attention than a title feud that may not even involve you. Randy Orton is being pushed like this because he is the centerpiece.

Of course, that rationale is lacking. He was still centerpiece when he feuded with Cody Rhodes, but that feud wasn't as prominent as Orton's feud with Barrett. What makes this current feud so special that a feud between Big Show and Mark Henry, and I'll get to the merits of this feud in a moment, must be under it? Go back a year. What made Barrett's feud with Cena so important? The whole storyline was basically designed to put over Cena. They were not really building up Barrett to surpass Cena then or be a steady main-eventer or upper-midcarder. Not yet. How about now? If they were building up Barrett better or making the storyline of the feud more elaborate, I would say that they were once again building him up to put over a centerpiece in a major way. If they are not building up a "Super Barrett" to put over Orton, then there are two possibilities. First, they are using Orton to help build up Barrett's credibility for a really great push that will be coming in 2012. Second, if they are not doing that or not planning to build things more grandly to put over Orton, you basically have a midcard feud the WWE needlessly put in the main event for a few weeks. Barrett puts over Orton, gets demoted back to the midcard, and that's that. In other words, something like what happened with Cody Rhodes.

There are some good reasons why Mark Henry vs. Big Show should still be getting the main attention on Smackdown, without even mentioning Orton and Barrett. First, the one I mention a lot, ratings went up with Mark Henry's push. That push is not over yet. If you see this push seems to be working well, play it to the end. Second, this is a feud that is months in the making. It all started back when Big Show was feuding with Alberto Del Rio. He took out Mark Henry to send a message to Del Rio. Mark Henry, however, came right back and destroyed Big Show. That is where Mark Henry's rampage started. He took out other wrestlers, won the World's Heavyweight Championship, and picked right back up with that feud with Big Show. Third, have you forgotten the crazy stunts? Destroying the cage? Killing the ring? All the injury spots they have done to each other? That goes beyond a storyline being interesting. Who cares about the plot when you are seeing exciting things like that? That is something to look forward to. That is something that could be getting the major focus heading into TLC. Fourth, and most importantly, this feud is for the top title of Smackdown. Do you really need a better reason than that to convince you that this should be the top focus of the show? It isn't even like Mark Henry is feuding with some midcarder the WWE is feeding to him for filler. Big Show has held World titles before. He has beaten top guys. Right now, both of these guys are credible enough to be in the main event.

The centerpiece or the World's Heavyweight Champion, which of the two deserved the main-event attention recently? Obviously, I see more reason for having Big Show and Mark Henry finishing their feud respectably on top. I think it is about over anyway. No need to prolong it forever. I have nothing against Orton and Barrett. I'm an Orton fan since 2003 and I'm liking Wade Barrett. However, if the WWE is using the feud between these two to propel Barrett into a great push after, it would have been a necessary evil to push him above the World title feud now. I would be a hypocrite to say otherwise. I just said recently that the WWE needs to do better in creating younger stars who can draw. Problem is, will this current push for Barrett really help him draw, or just raise his credibility with the general audience who always tunes in anyway? The way it is going, Barrett will be left looking like he can handle himself against guys like Orton and Cena, but I doubt he will be able to draw as well as Mark Henry's current push.

Metal Face

Last week, I used a pic featuring both Kane and Lita for one of my posts. Coincidentally, both Kane and Lita ended up returning on this week's Raw. How about that? What would have happened if I used a shot of Kane with Chris Benoit? The world may never know...

Kane returned. Not only that, he came back with a new look and the mask. He even wore this metal mask over his head. That was a nice way to tease whether the regular mask was underneath or not. And it was. He came out during Mark Henry's match with Cena. Once again, good way to handle it. Some people might have thought he would go after Mark Henry, the man who took him out months ago, but he instead takes out the face, John Cena. Does this mean Kane is a heel? Why bother even trying to figure it out? Kane is a tweener for life. The WWE will just have this guy destroy anyone at times. He could go from heel to face, back again, something completely beyond that, and whatever else there may be in just a month. That is one of the great things about Kane, when the WWE uses him like this.

As excellent as his return was, Raw once again had sad ratings. I talked last week about whether they should have those vignettes to hype Kane's return. You hype it to get people interested. Problem is, they never actually said when Kane would return. His return on Raw was still a surprise return. The only thing which was not a complete surprise, as I said last week, was the mask. That is what they were teasing about Kane's return. Will Kane now draw? Remember what pushing Mark Henry like they did on Smackdown did for the ratings there? Nice little boost. Having Kane do the same thing on Raw is a smart idea. It will get people interested. In theory, based on how things worked for Smackdown, there should be some kind of boost for Raw too. Just like the WWE did not push Orton as too much stronger than Mark Henry a few months ago, the WWE cannot have John Cena ruin Kane too soon. Will they allow Cena to lose clean to Kane? Kane did go over Undertaker last year. Kane can easily be sold as a monster. Having John Cena lose clean to a guy like this will not ruin him, but it will tremendously put over Kane's current push. If they only build Kane up, feed him to Cena, then get him lost in Royal Rumble matters, they would have really screwed up the opportunity they have.

Kane's return is great overall, but I want to mention one negative thing. The Rock helped ratings this year. Mark Henry helped Smackdown ratings through the push the WWE gave him. The WWE is relying on Kane to boost ratings now. All of these guys have been a part of the WWE since the late 1990s. The WWE has to rely on hyping old performers to try to get ratings? How many stars have they really made from guys who debuted after The Rock and Austin's era really ended? You can talk about Cena and Orton, and both guys have their merits, but these are the centerpieces during the current era of poor ratings. You can praise CM Punk and his inability to go 5 minutes without talking about ice cream, but his epic pipe bomb did not draw too well. It pandered directly to the regular wrestling fans on the Internet, but did not boost ratings. He delivered on merchandise sales, I'll give him that. How many of the new stars can actually draw for the WWE? Another way of looking at it, how can the WWE push these guys to make them interesting draws? The WWE can definitely create interesting pushes for guy's like Mark Henry and Kane, but they are dropping the ball with younger talent. What should happen if Kane's current push fails, whether because the WWE messes it up or fans are just not interested enough to tune in? You can't push Mark Henry and Kane forever. The WWE has to keep the ball rolling.

Lita's Raw Return Benefits Kelly Kelly

Lita returned on Raw to hand out a Slammy for "Divalicious Moment of the Year". Divalicious? Yeah, it pretty much had to go to Kelly Kelly, didn't it?

Nice to see Lita back, but this is the second time this year that Kelly Kelly has been even slightly associated with one of the legendary divas the WWE created after Sable first left the company. Trish Stratus returned earlier this year to compete at Wrestlemania. She ended up tagging with Snooki, but it was Kelly Kelly who was involved in the creation of the feud before the WWE decided to bring in Snooki to counter TNA using stars from that particular reality TV show. Nevertheless, the WWE still followed through with making Kelly Kelly centerpiece of the diva division, despite dropping the full benefit of the rub. Back to last night, just the image of Lita holding up Kelly Kelly's hand in the air, while the other hand holds the Slammy, that is a very good shot of Kelly Kelly. Thing about rubs, it only really counts if the WWE plans to push you consistently and well. If they only plan it to be a one-shot deal, the association with a star bigger than you is meaningless. In some cases, you might have only been used for the benefit of that bigger star. In that case, the rub was definitely not there. You would still be depushed in the end. That will not be happening with Kelly Kelly.

Should Kelly Kelly have won it? Of course not! If this is supposed to be an award for a big diva moment of the year, how can it not go to Kharma? She came in and took out divas left and right. This got a lot of people interested in what was going on, much like Nexus did in 2010. Not surprisingly, that storyline seemed to be heading in a direction to put Kelly Kelly over. Nevertheless, the storyline they were running around Kharma was still a bigger deal than Kelly Kelly winning her first title in the WWE. And yet, Kelly Kelly will get the hype and attention for it. It isn't even like Kelly Kelly was the only woman in the WWE to win her first title this year. Remember Brie Bella? So what makes Kelly Kelly's moment worth so much, other than the WWE wanting it to be worth so much? Had they developed the feud better or done more to put over the idea that Kelly Kelly was really working up to this moment for years and years, you might have had something that really was worth the award. Then again, who really takes that award seriously? A lot of fans out there might, but I believe the WWE is continuing to develop Kelly Kelly.

Slammy and slight rub from Lita. I had a feeling that the WWE had not given up on Kelly Kelly as centerpiece yet, and recent events continue to point in that direction. She continues to be built up in the direction of Trish Stratus. As long as she does not flop like Maryse or Candice Michelle, she will do it. She is already not suffering from what made Michelle McCool fail, a lack of overness. If they can continue to sell Kelly Kelly as a wrestler, her overness will be solidified in time.

Barrett Continues Against Orton

Not surprisingly, Wade Barrett and Randy Orton will take their feud into TLC. Barrett's team went over Orton's team at Survivor Series, Barrett has continued messing around with Orton, so of course this was going to continue.

This feud is already more interesting than Orton's previous feud with Cody Rhodes, but will it end the same way? Back when the WWE started to rebuild Barrett a few weeks ago, I could picture them building up his momentum for the Royal Rumble. Remember how hard they were pushing Alberto Del Rio last year? They had him look very impressive against Rey Mysterio, talk big, pushed him hard on Raw, even though he was a Smackdown superstar and the "supershow" idea was not being pushed yet, and followed through with the Royal Rumble win. It took him a while to win a World title, but he did it. Wade Barrett already has that main-event credibility. He has beaten top guys before, including Cena. He has been in PPV main events and in title matches. However, even though he does look better than Cody Rhodes did with Orton, he could still have nowhere to really go, should the WWE have other plans for who will win the Royal Rumble and be involved in major title matters. Remember Kofi Kingston? He looked great against Orton, but where was there for him to really go after that feud? How about Christian? He regained the World's Heavyweight Championship from Randy Orton, like many people wanted, but was not consistently pushed hard right after that. He went on to a feud with Sheamus. If there is no room in the main event for Barrett after his feud with Orton, you will have a painful depush. Still, based on how they have been rebuilding him, I am expecting something good. At worst, they will continue to push him as an upper-midcarder more regularly.

I mentioned Cody Rhodes. Since it is safe to say that his feud with Orton is over, take a look back at it. What did it really accomplish? Some people can say that Orton put Rhodes over, since Rhodes did look strong at times and did pin Orton, but Cody Rhodes honestly looked more impressive back when he was a part of Legacy, especially when feuding with DX. Problem is, the WWE did not really care about following through back then for the heels. Same thing happened here. The result? Cody Rhodes was used as a filler feud for Orton. Orton continues with his good position on the card and Cody Rhodes can still feud with someone himself, Booker T. That feud has some potential, but I do not think the WWE is taking real advantage of it yet. In any case, no real gain for Cody Rhodes as his Intercontinental title reign continues.

The Return Of Kane...And The Mask?

Yes, I have been seeing those vignettes to hype the return of Kane. Kane is definitely one of their top workers, so Smackdown getting him back, and at a time where other top Smackdown talent are injured, will be great.

Of course, the thing everyone is probably noticing, the real intrigue in having these vignettes at all, is the mask. It has been many years since Kane lost the mask. After Mark Henry took him out, will Kane be returning with the mask? That bit of intrigue is what is meant to get people interested to tune in. Since a lot of people seem to have a love for old-school characters and storylines, this really is a smart move, whether Kane does return with the mask, or some other new look, or not.

Should it have been a surprise return? Just to toss in one scenario, Kane makes his surprise return, with mask, to take out both Mark Henry and Big Show at TLC. I'm sure that would get a lot of people talking too. Lots of shock value there. With the vignettes, if Kane does return with the mask, it would not be too much of a shock. They would have been teasing it. It would have been on people's minds. I like to mix things up. They promoted the return of Big Show to Smackdown. They somewhat promoted the return of The Rock at Survivor Series, although it was treated as a kayfabe surprise when Cena announced it. Triple H returning to face Nash is already set. Just to change things up, would it have been better to have Kane make a surprise return? No vignettes? Why would people watch to see if Kane returns any day now with the mask or not if the WWE is not advertising the possibility? They want to draw fans in from now. Get them interested and talking from now. Again, I think it is a smart move. Nevertheless, it would have been exciting to see Kane pop up when no one was really expecting it too much, then do something big.

That is the other thing. Since they are hyping Kane, he will obviously be a part of an interesting storyline when he returns. Will it amount to something more than trying to destroy Mark Henry? I believe it probably will. It would be lackluster for the WWE to do any less. However, I have seen Kane be treated awesomely for a few months, then fizzle out. Not his fault. WWE does that to him. He was an awesome character when he first debuted and went against Undertaker, awesome again when he lost the mask, made to look interesting again when he had that angle with Lita, built up the best in his career in 2010 when they had him feud with Undertaker, and looked damn good against him, and so on through the years. Problem is, there are also many points between there where he is just weak. Prior to losing the mask, he was not being used too strongly, in terms of the potential of that character. Same thing happened again when he lost the World title to Edge a year ago. They would toss tag titles at him, but he was not as intriguing or strong as he has sometimes been. Of course, it would not be fair to book him better than everyone continuously. He's not Cena. That is my point. Even though there is hype for Kane now, be prepared for when they do unplug him. It will happen. No need to cry for him. He will still be used.

In an unrelated note, let me mention something about Kelly Kelly. While browsing my favorite wrestling message board, I came across a topic title that implied that she might be looking to leave pro wrestling. I ignored that topic, and for good reason. I then saw a topic saying that Kelly Kelly denied those rumors. Yes, don't believe everything you read. Looking at where the source of the "report" might have come from, no surprise to me, I see it was Dave Meltzer. I honestly did expect him to be behind it. This guy loves to make assumptions. Just because he is right a lot of the time when it comes to PPV cards, that does not mean he is on target when it comes to reporting who divas are dating, and other such information. In Meltzer's "defense", you can say that he never actually said Kelly Kelly would leave the WWE. However, because this guy does have credibility and a lot of fans trust things too easily, just throwing the idea out there is enough to get people started and believe in something that really may not be correct at all. You can imagine the headache that this can cause a lot of wrestlers. If you ever read something being reported by Dave Meltzer, just make sure that what he is saying makes sense or has some legitimate evidence to back it up.

CM Punk On Top Of Raw, For Now

Before Raw a few days ago, I talked about the ratings and mentioned that the WWE should try pushing something new in the main scene of Raw, much like they were doing with Mark Henry on Smackdown. For the second week in a row, CM Punk was the top face in the closing segment of Raw. Cena was still on Raw, but he was not involved in the main event. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.

It looks like the WWE may be taking a good look at what making things a little more fresh and intriguing can do for Smackdown. Try the same thing on Raw. It makes that segment John Cena had with Miz and R-Truth a few weeks ago in the main event even more unnecessary. John Cena is not in the main event now at all, R-Truth will most likely not be in the main event when he returns, and even though Miz is in the main event, the angle that developed for him from that segment a few weeks ago is not even relevant in his feud with CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio. They really should have just started pushing the major focus on Punk since then. No harm done. Prior to that segment, I could understand the WWE not wanting to put focus on Alberto Del Rio feuding with CM Punk. The Rock coming back was worth more than that. But now that CM Punk is WWE Champion and Cena has a storyline going on for him in which he does not need to be in the title hunt, it would be smart to give CM Punk a good chance as top face.

Of course, this is John Cena I'm talking about here. Will the WWE find some way to sneak him back into the title match for TLC? Even better, think back to around this time last year. While John Cena was involved with Nexus, Randy Orton was given a WWE title reign. Orton had good focus on him for a while, but he soon became pretty much a pawn in Cena's bigger storyline with Nexus. I'm not crying for Orton, he still got to look good. Point is, Cena was not held down for long. He did not even need the title to still be given more major focus. Doing that now to Punk would not be giving him a fair chance, in my eyes. Lastly, keep in mind that Cena will definitely have to come back into major focus again in a few months. His feud with The Rock will definitely trump pretty much whatever else is going on in the WWE. Until that time comes, it would be nice to keep Cena and his current storyline out of the main event for a little while.

Will CM Punk deliver? You have to consider that. If the WWE pushes Punk hard and he fails to deliver, can you really blame them for bringing Cena back in when the time is right? This is not an issue of whether Punk will get a great reaction. The guy is already delivering when it comes to selling shirts. He is definitely over. But will he draw. Will he bring any noticeable increase in ratings? However you want to explain it, there was a rise in ratings for Mark Henry, which was not there while Orton was undisputed centerpiece of Smackdown. If Punk can deliver fabulous ratings, that may lead to the WWE possibly changing direction. If Punk could do better than Cena, why continue to monster push Cena? Ignoring Punk would be stupid. Do I think Punk will deliver with this push? No. I'm not saying that simply because I am not a CM Punk fan. I'm not even saying that simply because Raw's ratings dropped this week. I am saying that because I do not feel Punk can really draw a wide variety of fans out there. He is definitely over in many circles. He is a god to some fans of the indies and a lot of people on the Internet. Overrating himself a few months ago has led to him becoming more over. Among the core fan base, he is definitely there. But can he really connect to bring the ratings of Stone Cold Steve Austin? That is a whole other topic. Just comparing him to Mark Henry, only half the formula is there. They pushed Mark Henry as a fresh guy on Smackdown. They are pushing Punk as a fresh guy on Raw. They had Mark Henry dominate, be extreme and violent, and actually bring something exciting. What are they doing with Punk? He is mocking the Raw GM, still overrating himself, and ice cream, yeah, can't forget the ice cream. He should talk about ice cream more. He is pandering to those who are already regulars. I do not feel him doing anything to really draw in fans who want to see something more. He is trying to be charismatic, but I do not think it is enough to really draw.

Nevertheless, give the WWE some credit for trying something different. They could still be pushing John Cena to end every show. They see low ratings on Raw, so they realize they have to try something new. They see some measure of success on Smackdown by depushing the regular centerpiece and pushing a well-built heel, so they are trying to push a fresh face in the main event on Raw. I cannot compare the last two weeks for CM Punk back to how he was treated in 2008. So far, the WWE is giving him a better shot. But will it work?

From Taking Out The Trash To WWE Title Shot

Not happy with how the WWE has chosen to run with Miz. No, not because my prediction about him continuing his storyline of trying to take out those who held him back was wrong. I'll get to the reason. In any case, Miz won a spot to compete against CM Punk at TLC for the WWE title by defeating Randy Orton on Raw this week.

He took out R-Truth and John Morrison in two consecutive weeks, they treat it as an actual storyline, and they fail to really follow through on the third week. I heard them talking about it on Raw, but that is not the same thing. If anything, that makes it kind of worse. You talk about Miz taking out those he feels held him back, but you have him setting his eyes on the WWE title right away? CM Punk was never aligned with Miz. Alberto Del Rio and Miz were never friends. Even Randy Orton, the guy Miz got the win over to get into the title match, was never really a partner with Miz. That brings me to that pic I put up there. How hard would it have been by switching some of the booking around? Have the first match be Randy Orton vs. Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio could win the same way Miz ended up winning, through Barrett. That would leave Miz to take on Daniel Bryan. Those two actually do have a history together, even though it was a forced pairing. Back on NXT, Miz was Bryan's pro. Miz can then beat another guy he was associated with. Whether Miz cuts a promo on that or not, it would be something for the commentators to get into and it would keep the storyline going, or at least ease it to the wasteland a little smoother.

I don't even think Miz needed to be in this match. John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, Miz, and Dolph Ziggler are not the only guys on the Raw roster to have held a World title in the WWE. I'm not talking about Kevin Nash or Triple H. What about Jack Swagger? He held the World's Heavyweight Championship longer than Dolph Ziggler did. Why not have Swagger go out there with Vickie and Ziggler for that segment that started the show? They are already teasing tension in the heel duo Vickie manages, so why not push it up a notch to get Swagger into a main event? Considering Miz would be left with an interesting storyline in the midcard, I do not think it would hurt him. Just have Jack Swagger be the one going over either Randy Orton or Daniel Bryan instead of Miz. Jack Swagger would not fit a TLC match? Swagger won Money in the Bank. That was a ladder match. Miz could have still gotten a match to qualify for the TLC match, but just have the guy lose. CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger would have been fine, in my opinion.

What really bothers me, once again, is the lack of continuity and passing up a good chance of having an interesting angle in the midcard. It really is not even about making better use of Jack Swagger, rather running with Miz's angle. One of the last really good midcard storylines was Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara. It was a feud with a real storyline. They could have had something like that with Miz. Looking at Raw this week, the whole structure of the show reminded me of that night they tried to crown a new WWE Champion after CM Punk left. Almost every segment was devoted to that on that Raw. This week's Raw, almost every segment revolved around the main event. Even Kevin Nash's segments have to do with Triple H. That being said, there's main-event potential there too. Triple H could pop up and enter a feud with JTG, and it would still have a shot at being in the main event of at least Raw. In fact, the only match I recall on Raw that did not involve at least one former World Champion was the diva match. Where's your midcard picture? Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder? John Cena was sticking his nose in there a lot this week. The midcard was full of things that had major focus on title matters. Where are the interesting storylines? They could have had one with Miz. No title needed.

November Ratings Review

Before I look at the numbers for WWE and TNA in the major ratings for the last month, let me just touch on one subject of minor interest. Maxine has been getting used pretty well on NXT recently. Of course, that would be the same as getting used well on WWE's ECW. I'm starting to like Maxine a bit. I can say that I am looking forward to her getting called up, but there are two things to keep in mind. First, she has technically been called up. This is not really her season of NXT. The all-woman rookie edition was last year. Other rookies from that season are already scattered around, including some involved on Smackdown matters. Maxine only came in for her current role on NXT after Maryse stepped out. She has taken the place of a diva who can be considered a veteran compared to her. And yet, it is still only NXT. That is the second thing. What will happen when she goes to Raw or joins the other former rookies on Smackdown? I can see her get lost in the shuffle easily. Keeping her on NXT has one major flaw. Who really cares about NXT? She will not get very over with the general audience from there. I'm not saying she should debut in a title hunt or even enter one anytime soon, but I wouldn't mind seeing her do the same kind of thing she is doing on NXT now on one of the major shows in the near future. Isn't it a shame that something from NXT might seem more interesting than much of what is going on with Raw and Smackdown? I like it better than the angle being held down between AJ and Daniel Bryan.

0.99. That was Impact's rating on Thanksgiving. Just under the 1.0. Oh well, it still has done pretty well for the rest of the year. It bounced back up for the last show of November, which is not surprising. TNA is still on track to have the best yearly average rating in its history. With so few weeks left, I do not think they will fail. Smackdown has not had too horrible a rating in months. If you compare where it is at right now to the same point last year, nice improvement. Once again, this is all with Randy Orton not in the major spotlight regularly. Hopefully, the WWE learns from that. Pass the ball around more. Compliment it with good booking and interesting storylines and feud development. Not only did they hand the title to a guy that never held the World's Heavyweight Championship before, Mark Henry, but they build up great hype around him and pushed him well. Over on Raw, they handed a title to a guy who had never held one before in the WWE, Alberto Del Rio, but they smashed his character. Pushing John Cena too much at times, even when not in the title hunt, was also not necessary. Of course, the big problem on Mondays is the NFL. Raw has had a string of 3.2 ratings in the last few weeks of November. Overall, a 3.12 for the month for the WWE's top show. That is only slightly below the average for November 2010. Nevertheless, it all comes down to a 3.23 yearly average for Raw so far. I am willing to bet everything I have that they will not be able to save themselves from having the worst yearly average in a long time. Let's see how they react to the ratings. Changes for the better? Or more Cena?

Ted DiBiase And Jinder Mahal

Ted DiBiase turned face just a few months ago. He entered a minor feud with Cody Rhodes over the Intercontinental Championship. I think that feud could have gone on a lot longer, but can't change things now. DiBiase has not really done much since that feud.

Jinder Mahal debuted in an angle with The Great Khali. They had an interesting storyline going on between the two for a while. After Khali left a few weeks ago, Mahal has found himself lost in the shuffle.

Bring the two together. Jinder Mahal and Ted DiBiase seem to be entering a feud. It can definitely help DiBiase become very over to go against an annoying heel foreigner. It helps that Mahal has that elitist attitude in this storyline. Will the feud be good for Mahal? There are two ways this can go. They can be just building Mahal up to put over DiBiase. That would make this feud similar to Chavo Guerrero's feud with Sin Cara. I doubt Mahal will get upset about being used to only put over other people and not being really appreciated. Chavo was a veteran and obviously had a lot more fans wanting better for him. Mahal is still new to the WWE. I can picture some backstage issues being reported on dirtsheets if he does get upset about this. Considering the WWE is still low on stars on their roster, they may still continue to push Mahal in some way, even after he puts over DiBiase. They could be building up DiBiase to put over Mahal, but I doubt that. DiBiase seems like the kind of guy they would want to make into a success in this feud.

Using one person to put over the other is one way the feud can go. If the WWE really wanted to, they can develop the actual storyline further. Both of these guys are similar. Both have a history of master-servant angles. Remember when DiBiase was looking for a "Virgil"? Remember when the WWE was selling the idea that The Great Khali was being forced to do Mahal's bidding? They can easily build this feud up to have the winner in one of their matches be the other guy's servant. Should Mahal win, you can easily imagine DiBiase's life being made into a personal hell. Should Dibiase win, and since he is a face, you can have him trying to take it easy on Mahal and get him to be more like a face. Mahal does not have to turn, but it can make for some good segments. It would be similar to a feud Paul Burchill and William Regal had years ago. I really believe that you can have a lot of directions this can go, and it can definitely make the Smackdown midcard more interesting.

I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE is building a mediocre feud to put over DiBiase. If that is what they are doing, I hope it does not drag on too long. If you are going to make it interesting and allow both guys to let their characters shine and develop, let it go for a while. If not, just have it last a month.