Brodus Clay Dancing Around Nothing In Particular

Funk is on a roll! That is to say, Brodus Clay is still undefeated since coming to Raw with this gimmick he now has. However, he has been doing pretty much the same thing every single appearance. Dance, squash, and dance. Everyone he has beaten has belonged to the jobber ranks. All his matches have been short. He didn't actually compete in the Royal Rumble match, but still had a squash match at the PPV. This kind of treatment is fine for 2 or 3 weeks as a way to introduce him with this gimmick, but if you do not step it up, it will run stale. With Wrestlemania matters formulating and taking time on the shows, Brodus Clay can easily get lost in the shuffle. I do see them trying to do things a little different each time. His dancers now introduce him, as opposed to the regular announcer when he first debuted. They added that disco ball. He changes up his moves now and then. Do I mean his dance moves or his wrestling moves? Fact is, there is some development, but it is very slight. After a while, this will get boring.

Brodus needs a feud. On Smackdown a while back, they had Brodus squash William Regal while he was dancing. On the Raw after that, Regal did commentary during Brodus Clay's match. Obviously, the WWE has not continued in that direction. I think that is a bad idea. Not only can Brodus gain credibility from working with Regal in a real feud and real 5-minute match, but William Regal definitely has what it takes to make this feud entertaining. If the WWE thinks this is a feud only worthy of Superstars, the only viable option left is Jack Swagger. Yes, a U.S. title feud. They have pretty much written off Ryder for a while. If he just pops up next week after all Kane has done to him, ready to compete, that would be so Cena-like. So why not have Swagger feud with Brodus for a while? At least to Elimination Chamber? They should take advantage of Brodus Clay's overness before it runs stale. Too many squash matches are not the way to do it.

Sheamus Wins 2012 Royal Rumble

Wade Barrett? Wrong! Randy Orton? I must have been drunk. Chris Jericho? Close, but not quite. No one that seemed to have any strong focus on them won the Royal Rumble match. Sheamus won. Sheamus had been on a roll for a while, but he really did not have the hype on him heading into the match as some people. The WWE definitely surprised me, and a lot of other fans, by having Sheamus get the win. Was it a pleasant surprise? No offense to Sheamus and his fans, but it wasn't.

For weeks, the WWE has these weird promos. Jericho finally returns. For weeks, he acts weird. With the Royal Rumble so close, everyone is thinking it has something to do with the Rumble match. After weeks of not making a coherent verbal point, Chris Jericho claims the end of the world will be coming at the Royal Rumble. What happens? Sheamus wins. I know, his theme song has those lyrics about the land breaking, seas rising, and winds raging. Sounds like the end of the world, doesn't it? Still, Sheamus winning did not bring anything great. I was following the match, waiting for something epic. When Jericho was one of the last two, I thought something big would happen. Even if he lost, something exciting would happen. I'm not saying the action was bad. There were a lot of close calls. In that respect, good. But after all that hype, nothing really big happened. Sounds just like when that guy predicted the real end of the world last year, but flopped. Did the WWE actually think pulling that same thing was a good idea?

You hype something, but don't deliver. After a while, what do you think will happen? People will not waste time with it. Look back to 2011. The WWE hyped that there would be a special host for Wrestlemania. On the Raw where they revealed who that would be, ratings were pretty low. That segment with The Rock at the end, however, drew a lot of fans. The next week, Raw got a 3.9. Everyone wanted to see The Rock. Of course, he wasn't there. Nevertheless, why were ratings initially poor, even though the WWE hyped that they would be announcing the host for Wrestlemania on that night. People were not expecting anything great. It turns out it was something great. But what do stunts like this Jericho thing do? You do all this hype, but produce nothing epic when you say there will be something epic. Sooner or later, the fans will go back to not wasting there time. Not all of them, but certainly the number that separates a 3.9 from a 2.9.

What happens now? Obviously, I am not feeling that Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan is an epic Wrestlemania match for the World Championship. However, it would be stupid to screw Sheamus out of the shot completely. You had him win, so follow through. As for Jericho, he's got some explaining to do. The storyline is not necessarily over yet. There is still some room for something good. But after the recent happenings, some fans may not even care too much. The ball has been dropped.

Tag Division Little Better Or No Change At All?

Epico and Primo have seen their second week as Tag Team Champions. They will see a little action on Smackdown this week, but no sign of any real feud developing in the division for them. Nevertheless, think back to what was happening with Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne in the few weeks prior to dropping the titles due to Evan Bourne violating the drug policy again. They were not doing anything on either Raw or Smackdown. The current Champions, despite the lack of a real storyline or feud for them, have been featured two weeks in a row, and booked to win both weeks. This is not the excellent tag division you had about a decade ago, but having your Champions featured on the main brands is at least better than how things were less than two months ago. Is this a little better? It depends on how long it will last. Don't forget that Bourne and Kingston started out even better than Primo and Epico did. They still got phased out. I am expecting nothing too much better for those two guys standing around Rosa in that picture up there.

There is one other reason I want to talk about these two guys again. There is something that I don't think I talked about well enough when the titles changed hands last week, and I want to relate that back to the diva division. Why Epico and Primo? Obviously, it was a convenient option. These guys already had a little feud going with Bourne and Kingston prior to the title change. Nevertheless, they are not the top heel tag team in the WWE right now. That team, the way I see it, would be Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. They have been a stable with Vickie for months, both have held multiple titles, including the World's Heavyweight Championship, and both are frequently featured more and better than the two guys who ended up with the titles. So why not hand the titles to the top heel team? That team is already involved in matters, individually. Jack Swagger had a U.S. title push coming when the WWE had the tag titles change hands. Dolph Ziggler is feuding for the WWE Championship. Do they really need the tag titles for anything right now? Aside from them, the WWE could have put together two random heels and handed them the titles. How about Miz and Otunga? How about two guys who are even bigger jobbers than Epico and Primo? At the end of the day, just because the WWE has handed the titles to these two guys, that does not mean they care about developing them to be major stars. They handed them the titles at a time when they needed to take it off the previous Champions. Now that they have the titles, the WWE still must book them and use them now, which is why they are getting used like they currently are.

Does something like that ever happen in the diva division? Do you ever have women getting pushed and even winning titles because something happened to the previous diva the WWE was interested in pushing? All the time! Obviously, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne were not centerpieces of the tag division in the same way Trish Stratus was centerpiece of the diva division. I can't even remember the last time I would say the tag division had a team I would truly consider a centerpiece. Evan Bourne getting suspended is not the same as Trish Stratus retiring from the company. Nevertheless, in both instances, it creates a need for someone else to get a push. Primo and Epico benefited in the former instance, while Mickie James got the push to replace the face centerpiece the WWE lost in 2006. I don't think it is hard to imagine that the WWE is not interested in pushing these two guys as real successes. As I said before, there does not seem to be a good storyline or feud developing for them against a real tag team. Even if it does, in time, the team will still get phased out, like so many others. Go back to Mickie James. Just because she got the push to replace Trish in 2006, does that mean she was meant to be the permanent replacement or a temporary (interim) replacement? You don't really need to spend hours and days and weeks and months and centuries debating it. History provides the answer. Look at how things turned out. Mickie James was given a sharp depush in 2007 when the WWE pushed Candice Michelle, who matches the profile of what the WWE likes in a diva centerpiece more than Mickie James did. After that, Mickie James would only get pushed again after Candice's two injuries and when the WWE needed her to put over other centerpieces. But let me go back a step. I made it sound like the WWE only put the title on Epico and Primo because they were a convenient option, one that was previously feuding with the former Champions and was not tied into anything else. Go back to Mickie James in 2006. She definitely was a convenient option to push. She was the one who dropped the title to Lita, who then gave it to Trish. I also made it sound like the WWE can easily depush Epico and Primo, without bothering to get them over. Is it hard to believe the WWE was not thinking the same thing when they pushed Mickie James back then? The idea is the same. It is just a filler push. It is a reaction to just losing whoever you planned to be pushing.

A lot of people act like there are always infinite possibilities to what the WWE might do. You can never tell who they will give titles to. Overall, you can argue that. In circumstances of a title change due to things like suspension, injury, or retirement, however, and especially when you are working with a limited number of workers from your overall roster, there really are not that many possibilities in some circumstances. I already talked about why the choice of Epico and Primo was not too surprising and not a sign of a great push coming for them. Go back to the diva division after Trish left. Your faces are Candice, Torrie, and Maria. None of these have serious wrestling training prior to the WWE. These are all eye-candy divas. The WWE had to turn either Melina, Victoria, or Mickie face to be a face credible jobber, who would then work with Lita for the title. My point for saying all this? I just want to remind people, just because the WWE gave Mickie James that push, it does not mean they wanted her to be over. They were just looking for filler until they could develop who they did want to be following in Trish's footsteps. Even if they had gone with Melina or Victoria, the purpose would have been the same. The WWE could have handed the tag titles to Swagger and Ziggler, deciding to load them up with gold for their individual pushes, or to JTG and Heath Slater, deciding to just no longer give a damn about anything anymore, but at the end of the day, the title change would still be coming off due to a need to get it off the former Champions, no team that wins it will most likely stay together over time, and the WWE still would not invest too much into the tag division to really improve it. Filler is filler. That is my point. Takes me a long time to get to a point, doesn't it?

Will Cena Embrace The Hate?

John Cena and Kane will face each other at the Royal Rumble. I am not expecting an excellent wrestling match from these two. This match has a story to it that will probably take the major focus.

Will John Cena embrace the hate? Will the combination of anger and frustration over what Kane has done to Zack Ryder and Kane's mind games cause Cena to snap and turn heel? This all originally started with whether or not the hate Cena gets from fans will consume him and cause the turn. By bringing in Zack Ryder and Eve, the WWE changed how they were going about it. Is this way really better? For one thing, it keeps Cena's resolve of the fans' hate not getting to him. I think it made for a more interesting storyline, as well. Of course, at the end of the day, it is still mainly for the benefit of Cena's character. Kane does get to portray an interesting character. Zack Ryder did get to look strong in not going down easily, and will be back fighting. The main character to benefit from this, however, is still Cena.

Will he turn heel? I don't think so. At least, not yet. If Cena was really going to turn, it would be bigger to do it when The Rock was around. It's looking like Cena will just overcome Kane and move on. What is really the other option? Cena embraces the hate, like Kane wants? He turns heel? That would kind of make Kane look above him. With Cena/Rock being such a big deal, I don't see how throwing Kane in there is needed. Cena can get payback on Kane without turning heel and turning on the fans. Hate for what Kane has been doing is not the same as hate for how the fans view him. Cena can definitely embrace the former hate in going over Kane.

John Laurinaitis Done As GM?

When I talked about the possibility of CM Punk knocking off John Laurinaitis at the Royal Rumble, I was imagining CM Punk hitting one of those stiff kicks on the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim GM of Monday Night Raw, who would obviously be trying to screw him out of the WWE title. The WWE could then run an injury angle and find a new GM, which I mentioned before I was hoping would be Stephanie McMahon. It looks like the WWE might be prepping to get rid of the on-screen character of John Laurinaitis, as far as having him running Raw goes, but they are going about it differently.

Laurinaitis put his foot in his mouth by saying he would screw Punk out of the title. Triple H, who is still COO, will evaluate the job Laurinaitis has been doing next week on Raw. That is actually a smart move. It might make people wonder, will Laurinaitis really screw Punk? And after Punk attacked him? Screwing Punk will obviously cost him his job, since Triple H is a face, but will the current Raw GM just put his desire for revenge above his desire to stay in power? That is an interesting position right there. I am not convinced they will sell the PPV on just that, but it is good for the storyline.

Even if Laurinaitis does call it all down the middle, Triple H is obviously not on his side, so that may leave a vacancy for a new Raw GM. Who is it going to be? I am not going to waste anyone's time by giving more reasons why it should be Stephanie McMahon. I want to look at some of the other options. Triple H again? That would basically put things back to where they were a few months ago. And how will having Triple H, a face, really benefit the storylines heading into Wrestlemania? He has already feuded with the guy that is against authority. That guy is now a face too. I cannot imagine what other major feuds Triple H can benefit for other wrestlers. I'm not talking about his own personal feuds. I am talking about how he, in his position of power, might influence other feuds. I don't think having him back in the same spot again so fast is needed. Vince McMahon? If they were bringing him back, I don't feel like they would have Triple H be the one handling this situation. Besides that, even though a feud between Vince and Punk will be likely sooner or later, I would still build it up more. Wait until next year's Wrestlemania. You can toss in names like Jim Ross or Mick Foley, but I would see better possibilities with a heel GM or one that is treated as a tweener. That is where Punk's current gimmick will shine the most. If he is in there with a face GM, and especially one that the fans may easily side with, having him be against the guy in charge would not work too well. Bringing back in Stephanie McMahon, I still think she's a good fit. Leave it there.

John Laurinaitis may lose this on-screen role, but I am still hoping he comes back in some other capacity. Yeah, he lacks charisma and all that, but not all great heel need to be cool or too annoying. He is a guy people can hate and easily find things to make fun of. I could buy him as a boss, as someone in charge. Whether you like it or not, even if he loses his GM job next week, he isn't really going to be wished his best in his future endeavors.

Where Will Jericho's Act Go?

With the Royal Rumble coming up and people speculating on what might be going on with Chris Jericho's mysterious actions since his return, I thought I might as well think about it too. Before Jericho returned, I would have said Wade Barrett was the best choice for who would be winning the Rumble match. Since then, Jericho and Randy Orton also seem likely. But how does Jericho's act actually play into everything?

Everyone seems to have one popular idea. Have Jericho be the last guy to come out, while there are only 2 guys left in the ring. Those two guys then eliminate each other. Jericho wins the Royal Rumble without lifting a finger to do anything. He can then go back to doing his gimmick of acting all excited and celebrating, then leaving. No offense, but I think that idea absolutely sucks. I'm not even saying that because it would be a lame finish and mean that there would have had to have been fast eliminations throughout the match for there to be only two left by the time the final entrant is coming out. My problem is, what does that actually have to do with his gimmick? How does that actually progress the storyline? Winning like that would be just pure luck. Are they going to sell the idea that Jericho lighting up his jacket brings in divine intervention to help him? Is he Tebowing? First, it just sounds so stupid. It's a stretch when a guy like The Undertaker does supernatural stuff, but that at least matches his gimmick. And that is the second thing, the WWE has not been selling the idea that Jericho doing this act leads to him miraculously getting what he wants. It is not a part of his current gimmick. If it were, it would still be hard to swallow, but him winning the Royal Rumble match like that would actually match his gimmick. As it stands now, if he wins like some fans want him to, all you will see is a funny situation for his new character to shine. The character would not actually be getting developed or doing anything to bring about the win.

I am not against Jericho winning the Royal Rumble. I just want it to be done in a better way than that, if it will be him. It seems simple to me. Jericho does not even have to be the last entrant. No matter what number he gets, just have him continue his gimmick of playing with the fans and acting like he does not care about anything in particular. The other wrestlers will ignore him, since he does not seem as a threat. When the moment is right, like there is one guy left in the ring or the final two are trying to eliminate each other near the ropes, Jericho strikes and eliminates whoever is left himself, winning the Rumble. He then drops the act. Next night on Raw, he reveals it was all a plan to get a shot at the title at Wrestlemania. That is storyline development. That is his character going somewhere. Jericho is not acting this way just so people can be entertained. It has to go somewhere in the storyline sooner or later. I think this is a good way to do it.

After the gimmick ends like that, some people can say that all the hype and fun will go away from Jericho's return. Not necessarily. Remember those return promos he had? Who was the girl in them? The WWE could always go somewhere with that. I have seen other people around the Internet give their takes on who "She" is. One person said it was Jericho's fancy jacket. Yes, it is a match made in heaven, isn't it? Another person said that the girl could represent the WWE title. I didn't think of that one before, but I wouldn't be too surprised. It would be sad if this was the case. This whole thing would boil down to a basic title feud. The WWE Championship beckoned Jericho back to the WWE. I really can picture it going down like that. I am still hoping "She" is an actual person. I am still hoping for Stephanie McMahon. CM Punk was rude to her a few months ago during his whole angle with being anti-establishment. The WWE can treat it as Stephanie getting tired of seeing Punk with the title and deciding to bring in Jericho to get it off him. If Punk can knock of Laurinaitis at the Royal Rumble, it would be even better for this feud. CM Punk would have a new authority figure to feud with heading into Wrestlemania. Sounds good to me.

Daniel Bryan Going Heel

The WWE originally planted the seeds of how heartbreaking it must have been for Big Show to lose the World's Heavyweight Championship like he did to Daniel Bryan last month. Would Big Show win back the title? Snap at his inability to do so? Follow in the path of Christian? None of the above.

Daniel Bryan is the one turning. He has been having sneaky, cheap finishes to matches lately. Showing signs of turning heel. Is that a better choice than Big Show? It is similar to the argument as to why Brodus Clay did not need to debut as a monster heel. Raw already has Kane as a monster heel. Smackdown has Mark Henry as a monster heel. After all the issues Big Show and Mark Henry have had, including injuring each other, they are just going to team up like it was nothing? Maybe in a few months, but no need to rush it now. And I'm actually glad the WWE didn't follow the same path as they did with Christian just last year.

Daniel Bryan will get his first real heel run in the WWE. Should you count his brief membership in Nexus? That was a heel stable. He choked a guy with a tie the night the group first popped up, got released, and returned as a face soon after. I don't really count that one night as a real heel run. Besides, he would have been under Wade Barrett back then. Now, he is his own heel. That is to say, he will be given a fair opportunity to shine on his own. Can he do it? Obviously, the Internet made this guy into a huge star before he really did anything too entertaining to connect him with other circles of fans. The current type of heel character does not seem too interesting to me. In a few years, he may get the kind of push and freedom CM Punk has gotten. Until then, I can picture him dropping the title to Randy Orton in the coming months. Years after that, you can witness him feuding with Cena. He won't be at the level of Cena or Orton, but it will make that circle of fans happy to see him get the big pushes.

Jack Swagger Wins US Title

The little drama with Evan Bourne was not the only thing that involved a title changing hands. Jack Swagger annihilated Zack Ryder to win the United States Championship. Not bad for a guy who was not doing anything much for a long time now.

Obviously, the match went the way it did to keep Ryder looking good. Ryder, although selling how injured he was, kicked out of Swagger's finisher multiple times. Eve was there to cheer Zack on. Even if Ryder never wins back the US title, his romance angle with Eve is still there.

I had been waiting to see the WWE push Swagger a little better. He may not have great drawing power, but he is a good wrestler and can be entertaining. It's a shame that it took the WWE running low on talent to have this push be given to Swagger. Aside from Otunga and Swagger, who are the other midcard heels on Raw who are not currently involved in their own feud?

It did not take long for Jack Swagger to become a pawn in Cena's storyline with Kane. Cena destroyed Swagger in a hateful rage. Will Cena fully embrace the hate? This is the part where I usually say that this is the question that will draw interest, but I'm not really buying it. Cena destroyed Swagger? So what? He was doing it more out of frustration and anger than actual hate. Fans not liking him did not cause Cena to snap. I don't really buy that Cena hates Swagger. The storyline was already showing signs of not working well to draw viewers, but with the current developments, I don't think much will be improved.

How about Swagger and Ziggler? One has a title, the other is going after a title. Both are still aligned with Vickie. I am surprised this team still exists. They have teased issues between the guys almost from the start of the team. You can say that it is refreshing to see a team with animosity amongst itself sticking together like that, but it doesn't really make too much sense. Ziggler is making fun of Swagger in one segment, yet Swagger is still trying to help Ziggler when he has to? I still think it will be more fun to see the feud these two guys will have against each other than the pushes they are getting now.

Cena Not In The Spotlight This Week At All

A word on Evan Bourne. Drug issues got him again. So soon? So it seems. Regardless, I will repeat what I said before. What is the WWE's excuse for not treating Bourne/Kingston and Epico/Primo properly in the weeks between Evan's first suspension ending and this one? Had they done that, not only would the feud itself have been better in possibly entertaining the fans, the current Champions would have ended up with more credibility, although they put on a great match on Raw this week. By not taking proper advantage of getting Bourne back, the WWE may just have been screwing themselves more than Bourne. I'm not saying Bourne is innocent of violating the wellness policy, but that will not overshadow that the WWE did not use him right after he paid for it a few months ago.

Onto Cena. He was not in the main event this week. Ever since CM Punk and friends scored a poor rating in that slot a few weeks ago, the WWE moved Cena/Kane back into the top spot. Last week, horrible ratings came up again. This week, John Cena vs. Jack Swagger, and Kane's little promo, did not cap the show. CM Punk and Laurinaitis capped the show. The WWE went back to Punk being edgy. They developed Laurinaitis in a big way. That was definitely worthy of the top spot.

That was the main event. What I find really interesting, John Cena was not even in one of the typical hot spots. The wrestling shows usually gain the most at certain quarter-hour segments. These would be the start of the show (Q1), the start of the second hour (Q5), and the end of the show (Q8 and overrun). This is also usually where the WWE will put the big things they want the fans to see. John Cena did not start the show. If I remember correctly, Wade Barrett, Miz, Sheamus, and R-Truth took the segment that started the second hour. John Cena did not get one of the big segments. You can say that it was because the WWE needed some time in between Jack Swagger winning the U.S. title and going out to get destroyed by Cena to give Swagger a little rest and have other backstage segments to lead up to the match, but I still find it interesting that Cena was not placed in a better position. It will be interesting to see how many viewers he drew with his segment.

Epico And Primo Win Tag Titles

I was going to use today to compare Eve/Ryder to AJ/Bryan, but it would seem we have new Tag Team Champions. The titles changed hands at a house show over the weekend. Epico and Primo now have the gold.

If you have no idea who those two are, I don't blame you. If you don't give a damn about them, I still don't blame you. Primo, obviously, has been in the WWE for a few years now. Problem is, he hasn't done much in a while. Even recently, he was not being pushed well. Having these two just pick up the tag titles at a house show will not help them get mega over. And I doubt this will be the start of an awesome push for them. After Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne retained the titles against a team like Ziggler and Swagger a few months ago, it is insulting to have them drop it to two, and no offense here, complete jobbers. I see this as one of those situations where no one involved will benefit too much. Rosa fans might be happy at the chance of seeing her a little more.

What does this mean for that revival of the tag division they were supposedly having? I knew it was just too much hype when it started. Bourne and Kingston were not going to revitalize anything. Even before Bourne's suspension, you could see that there were really not too many good options for the Champions to face. Momentum was already starting to slow. Bourne getting suspended may have brought about the inevitable a little sooner, but he did come back, the WWE did have an opportunity to build a proper feud with the previous Champions and the team that now holds the gold, and the WWE did not do it. Who is the WWE punishing more, Bourne or themselves? I don't have much confidence in Epico and Primo, but I still feel you could have done more in developing them. Having this feud play out on Superstars is garbage. In the end, the tag division is pretty much as crappy as it was a few months ago.

DiBiase And Mahal Went Nowhere

Just want to go back to a loose end from a few weeks ago. I talked about the potential the feud developing on Smackdown between Ted DiBiase Jr. and Jinder Mahal had. I didn't have much confidence that the WWE would handle it well. Now that it looks like both men have moved on, how did the WWE deliver?

I feel drained just trying to think about it. Depressingly drained. It started out well, but that is what made me first talk about it. Since then, it seems that all that has happened is that both men traded momentum, then went on to nothing too interesting in particular. Neither looked too strong or interesting in comparison to the other, in the end. DiBiase has nothing to do right now. You can say that Mahal has a little more focus, but he is still just a jobber. Only a matter of time before he gets squashed by Brodus Clay. The feud didn't really do too much for either man's credibility or overness either.

Failing to deliver in developing the talent can be overlooked, if the feud or storyline that was going on at least entertained or interested the fans. Did Jinder and DiBiase deliver? Did anyone even think they would? They didn't. The feud ends up being a waste of time. Just filler.

When I first talked about this, I thought the WWE would develop this to benefit DiBiase. I gave them too much credit. This thing didn't really benefit anybody. Jinder may have went on to win a few matches, but he is currently a midcard heel jobber on Smackdown. Is India going crazy for him? How about Canada? DiBiase isn't out of the scene entirely, but it's like his feud with Jinder meant nothing.

The Horror Movie Didn't Work

This week's Raw did not get a good rating at all. Following the worst December the WWE could wish for, this is the earliest that Raw has ever dropped below a 3.0 in a year. Football was an issue, although not NFL action. Nevertheless, Raw did not get a 2.9 when it had to contend with the big game last year.

Are we supposed to believe that Jericho crying, Brodus dancing, and Ryder changing a tire could not draw ratings? What can be more exciting to wrestling fans than a guy taking way too long to change a tire, while a maniac is out to get him? It looks like the WWE needs lessons on horror movies. In all the time wasted with Jericho and Ryder, how many typical diva matches could the WWE have squeezed in? How much more time could they have added to the actual match in the main-event segment? How much more Brodus Clay could we have gotten?

As a fan of both Kane and horror movies, I can appreciate what the WWE was trying to do. I can see the tone they were trying to set. Problem is, it appears the fans have seen this story before. Cena wins. He always wins. They have seen Kane get built up strong, then get knocked down not too long after. Then again, most people who go to see a movie, whether it is horror, romance, comedy, action, or so on, usually know how it will go. The true draw lies in how it is done. That being said, not only may some fans not be interested due to all this seeming repetitive to them, and with a lead actor they are tired of, but the execution may be poor. Zack Ryder vs. The Tire sharing the main event with Cena and Ziggler? Whatever the case, it is not working. Even before this week, the ratings were still not improving too well with Kane's return to the mask and the drama with Cena.

The WWE has a definite problem. If ratings were simply stagnant, not going anywhere, you can at least see that as allowable. What is going on, however, in terms of ratings, is that the WWE is losing ground. CM Punk could not get it done. Masked Kane could not get it done. It was obvious that Cena could no longer get it done. The Rock succeeded in bringing the best ratings last year and a little more interest into the product, but not enough to offset the horrible numbers. That is just Raw. Over on Smackdown, what will the WWE do now that Mark Henry's push has reached that time that it has to be slowly phased out? Daniel Bryan will probably do an even worse job at drawing interest than CM Punk. Then again, this is Smackdown I'm talking about here. How much further can those numbers drop? The WWE has to figure out how to make their product entertaining and their workers draws again. They have been doing a great job pandering to the regulars, but they are still losing ground. What's left to attempt?

I didn't put up a shot of Trish Stratus just for the eye-candy value. Am I leaving out any regular readers who may be girls? Don't worry, I'll be sure to bring some for you too next time. How about some Brodus Clay? Anyway, I want to talk about the two major causes as to why the WWE is treating the diva division like it currently is. There is definitely a lack of good focus and development. The most obvious reason, which I always bring up, is the WWE's inability to get what it exactly wants from their diva division. Namely, getting the women they want to be the major successes the major overness.

I'm going to bring up an example from the business world that I think will be pretty easy to understand. It's not like I went to business school myself. When is the best time for a typical company to branch out? Is it when that company is already doing well for itself? Or is it when the company is seeing profits decline and is heading in the wrong direction? In the latter situation, if the company attempted to do something big, whether it means expanding to more locations, doing more for the community to raise its image, or offering more to its workers to retain them and attract better workers, it might be the last straw that leads to the end of the company. The company was already showing signs of doing bad, yet they take on more costs? In some situations, they might have done that to try one big move to save itself, but it is definitely a huge risk. That being said, the best, safest time to look into other things is definitely when a company is in a solid position. If anything goes wrong, it is less likely you are taking a hit that will kill you.

Back to the WWE and the diva division. Not only is the WWE facing the dilemma of finding a good centerpiece for the diva division, but they have a ton of more serious issues to deal with on their major shows. As I was talking about earlier, the company's top show is losing ground. You look at other indicators, the WWE is not doing well. The diva division was created around the same time the Attitude Era really kicked in. In other words, it started around the same time the overall product was hot. Everyone talks about how great things were with Trish Stratus and Lita. Keep in mind that guys like Austin and The Rock were still around when these two women debuted and were being built up. These women got rubs from guys like that. Even during the dark days, when The Rock and Austin were not regulars anymore and Triple H had his reign of doom, ratings were not at the level they are today, you still had other good stars, and The Rock and Austin still popped in now and then. During this entire time, the WWE was still having a good run and was succeeding in selling their diva centerpiece, Trish Stratus. When Cena first became centerpiece, ratings were looking good again for about 2 years. There was no reason to worry yet. The diva division did not immediately fall to pieces when Trish Stratus left. The WWE was still trying pretty well to maintain a respectable division for the next centerpiece they would create.

Of course, the diva division now lies in ruin and the overall WWE product is showing all the wrong signs. The diva division is not the WWE's major focus. There was never a real period where it has been. Now that the WWE is having the problems it is having with saving ratings and keeping fans interested, do you honestly think they will switch focus to the diva division now? That would be like a sinking computer company suddenly placing an order for a million pens with their company advertised on it. How is that supposed to help you now? Even if by some magical way the women suddenly all became super in the ring, mega over with all the fans, and were without any flaws, then what? They only make up a limited number of segments on the shows. What about the men? At their best, can the divas regularly draw that 3.5 rating? And how will that impact the WWE's desire to sell a glamorous model as the best female wrestler at the expense of real wrestlers?

My point is that there are two problems that go hand-in-hand that causes the diva division to be what it is now. Getting fans tuning in regularly again and in larger numbers will not fix the problem with the diva division on the spot. Accomplishing the WWE's own agenda for the diva division will not make any large gain in the ratings problem. If the WWE cannot accomplish what it wants to accomplish in the diva division, things are going to be painful. If the WWE is distracted by the larger issues, that will make it even harder for them to want to put proper focus into the diva division. So, in the end, to anyone ranting on Youtube about the WWE needing to save the diva division, the WWE might feel they have bigger problems to deal with. Like deciding whether to have Zack Ryder job to a tire every week?

Slow Start For WWE Diva Division In 2012

That injury Beth Phoenix suffered at the end of last year was obviously more serious than it first looked to be. The Diva's Champion has not been featured since that match with Alicia Fox.

It is still possible to keep the ball rolling without the Champion. The WWE has done so before. They have even kept the ball rolling at times when the centerpiece was not around. Beth Phoenix isn't even the centerpiece. You can even say that the WWE has kept the ball rolling when there wasn't anyone with any great overness in the diva division. Once again, Beth Phoenix, as strong a worker she is, is not too over in the diva division. All that being said, the ball is not rolling well right now.

There is a lack of focus going on with the diva feuds. The strongest feud you have going on is between Natalya and Tamina, but I doubt that will do too much. Storylines are also lacking. The strongest storyline you have right now is a romance angle between Zack Ryder and Eve. I have more faith in this storyline than the one between Daniel Bryan and AJ Lee, but that is another issue. Outside of that, no real continuity. Even on the night Beth was injured by Alicia, there was no Natalya at ringside or much ado about keeping that team looking like something, even if just a good mention. It was also one of the rare times Beth lost a televised match through a finisher, as opposed to a roll up. Since then, the WWE has not exactly been continuous with even keeping focus on Alicia. Zack Ryder and Eve won a tag match against Tyson Kidd and Natalya. The Bellas got a meaningless win recently. Last night, Beth Phoenix was teased for a match, but it was Eve who got the bulk of the diva attention, through her angle with Zack Ryder, who is being stalked by Kane, who is feuding with Cena, who happens to be the centerpiece. You have a clear feud on Smackdown between Tamina and Natalya, but I doubt that will get either too over or even succeed in being too entertaining.

No mention of Kelly Kelly yet, but you have seen her around in recent weeks. Has the WWE lost confidence in her as the new centerpiece? That is still the big question you have to consider. Whether Beth Phoenix was still around or not, this could either be seen as a time where the WWE is not using Kelly Kelly better because she is being phased out as centerpiece, they're planning to build Beth Phoenix up more before having her hand the belt back to Kelly Kelly, or the WWE just does not know what to do with Kelly Kelly, but they have not given up on her. I would not be too surprised if the WWE would want Kelly Kelly to win the title at Wrestlemania. That would be the first time the Diva's Championship would be defended at the big event, and Kelly would make history by being the first woman to win the title there. Having Kharma return and win the title from Beth Phoenix might also be an option. The WWE can then go back to that storyline between Kharma and Kelly, which was meant to put over Kelly Kelly anyway. Only this time, Kelly would stand to win the title right from Kharma. I have my doubts about that. How much longer can the WWE stall the title on Beth Phoenix? It has already gotten a little dull. Beth's injury could have been a chance to freshen up the booking, even if it did involve using Kelly Kelly more, but the WWE is not doing it well.

Brodus Clay Arrives From Planet Funk

Okay, what can anyone possibly say after the kind of debut Brodus Clay got? Yes, after weeks and weeks, he finally did debut. However, although they were hyping him as a big monster, he debuted as a dancing fool. No one saw that coming.

I'm all for a return to gimmicks...but that?...Wow! Judging by how he can handle the gimmick and the crowd reactions, it might be a good thing in terms of giving the fans something they will like. And I guess you really did not need another monster heel. You have Mark Henry on Smackdown and Kane on Raw. This can make for some good storylines. Remember Viscera and his comedy runs? I can picture something similar now, as long as the WWE does not cut it short. Still, that was a debut that might just leave some staring dumbfounded for a while. After that, looks like fun.

Mickie James Vs. Gail Kim In TNA III

It is not surprising that TNA has drawn out the title feud between Mickie James and Gail Kim. The top heel of the division is defending against the top face of the division. The matches have been pretty good.

The storyline and booking, however, has been dull and not too intriguing. What is the storyline really? Gail Kim has taken advantage of her relationship with Karen Jarrett to get ahead. Madison Rayne is helping Gail retain the Knockout's Championship. Mickie James is trying to win the title and end the little reign of terror. Not too fun. And the booking? Gail Kim holds all the titles and has not lost since returning to TNA. Mickie James, on the other hand, won three matches in a row when the push started, lost every single match she has been in involving Gail Kim after that, and will most likely lose to Gail Kim again at Genesis. Both are not exactly looking like they are at the same level heading into the third encounter, in terms of booking.

Even if Mickie James does eventually win the title from Gail Kim, I am beginning to really wonder if TNA knows how to have both Mickie James and Gail Kim on the same show. What kind of audience are they trying to draw? Who is more capable of helping the program attain its goals? What are the strengths of both? TNA has to start considering all this. For instance, I always say that Mickie James does not need to be in title matters all the time, but can still be given good storylines outside of that. Her charisma and ability to connect with the audience is a strength that can make her useful in some storylines away from Gail Kim. To date, TNA has yet to give Mickie a real storyline or feud that did not revolve around the title scene even slightly. They are not making use of all her strengths. Because of that, having all these women in the division is going to become even more painful in time. I didn't even mention Velvet, Angelina, Winter, and so on. How do you use all these women well over time, while not risking hurting the overness of women you know can deliver for you or losing viewers not too interested in these other women?

He's So Excited To Be Back!

Well, it was different. I will give that much to the WWE and Chris Jericho. Those weird promos over the last few weeks were indeed to hype Chris Jericho's return. When he did return, all he did was act all excited to be back. No talking about why he returned or anything else. It was funny to see, but where will it go?

You have Chris Jericho return to the style of promos you might expect from The Undertaker. A boy and a girl were featured. If the boy represents Jericho, who will the girl be? She definitely played a more prominent role in the promo before Jericho returned. Too late for it to be Stephanie McMahon? And how about how Jericho was acting? Childish? Connection to him being depicted as a boy in the promos? No, that would probably be stupid. How about if Jericho returns next week to the serious heel character he had before he left? He can say that he acted like that to mock the parasitic fans. No, I think that would be a dull, simple continuation of all this. There has to be more to it than that. I am interested in seeing where it will go.

This is the part where I usually say that the WWE doing this will get people wondering what is going on and tuning in. I have seen the WWE dance this tango before. You have heard me sing this ballad before. Considering the failure of the CM Punk storyline last year to raise ratings, I would take a moment to really consider whether or not this will be one of those things that will get the regulars excited, yet fail to draw any major boost in the ratings. The reason why I have more faith in angles like they are running with Kane right now is because it is exciting to see some of the things that might happen. Kane coming through the ring? The explosion? This kind of thing can draw the kind of attention that a regular match between two solid workers may not be able to get. I do not think the WWE will push this storyline with Jericho in a good enough way to get the job done beyond pleasing the core fanbase. There is still explanations and more to be revealed, but how well will Jericho's return compare to the return of The Rock? Of course, unfair comparison right there.

Dolph Ziggler Moves Up After Loss To Zack Ryder

The reason why I want to talk about Dolph Ziggler first after Raw, instead of the return of Mr. Excited, is because the WWE's recent treatment of Dolph Ziggler illustrates what I mean about the men in the WWE not being trapped in a closed division.

Dolph Ziggler held the United States Championship for months and months. When 2011 started, the WWE obviously had no intention of giving Zack Ryder a major push. They finally caved in to the bad attention this was causing. How can you claim to give the fans what they want, yet not push a guy that is getting great reactions? Zack Ryder ends up winning Ziggler's title.

If Dolph Ziggler was in the diva division, that might have been it for him right now. He would be depushed into the jobber pool or just become someone's sidekick. It is clear that he is no centerpiece. But Dolph Ziggler is a man. There are plenty of spots still available for him to be used well. That has become clear in the WWE's recent treatment of him. He is feuding against CM Punk for the WWE Championship. He won the title match on Raw, although not the title itself, and will get a rematch at the Royal Rumble. Yes, the title match was not in the main event, but it is still a push for Ziggler. You can even say that Ziggler is just supporting cast in CM Punk's bigger feud with John Laurinaitis, but Ziggler is still getting the attention. To top it all off, you can even compare this push to the push John Morrison got one year ago to start 2011, but it is better than being phased out. Not only is Ziggler getting to look good against CM Punk, he is getting promo time. He is getting to put himself over.

The best part of all this, while Ziggler is getting this good push, Ryder is also getting a push. Both men involved in the United States title feud that ended 2011 are still being treated pretty well. Both are getting good pushes that can help them stay interesting and over with the fans, or become more over. One man was not simply used with the intent of putting over the other, and no further plans after that. Ryder was even featured in the main event on Raw. Of course, it was to help put over John Cena's storyline with Kane. I believe I read that the WWE was not going to push Zack Ryder in the main event anymore because of the bad ratings after TLC. Did Meltzer say that? I believe so. He knows everything, doesn't he? No, not really. In any case, as illustrated this week, if the WWE has the desire to use Zack Ryder for the benefit of John Cena, you will definitely see the two together, possibly in the main event, in the future. What reason was there to force Ryder into the main event last week? He is not glued to the current WWE Champion, who did not even get the main event last week either. He is not stuck to John Cena every single week. The U.S. Championship is not a main-event title. What reason was there to use him this week? Make him a potential victim for Kane. Make him a target for John Cena to rescue. The WWE has been selling Cena and Ryder as good friends, so all this makes sense to me. Another poor analysis of what is going on by Dave Meltzer. Or me? Whatever it may be, Ryder and Ziggler look good as 2012 starts.

2011 Ratings Review

Happy New Year! First post of 2012, so I decided to look over the ratings for the 3 major shows, since I have been mentioning it a lot. I get my numbers from here, as usual.

At the time of writing this, some numbers are not in yet, and you always have to allow for a little bit of error or differences in rounding, but I think enough data is down to get the overall average yearly rating. Raw scored a 3.21, Smackdown an 1.95, and Impact an 1.17.

Not surprisingly, Raw did indeed score the lowest yearly average in over a decade. It is a lot lower than the 3.27 from 2008. I mocked the WWE a little for Raw scoring a 3.2 during their big CM Punk storyline during the summer, and it is funny that they pretty much walked away with a 3.2 for the year. What do you attribute the bad ratings to? NFL would not be a good answer. The WWE has always had to deal with that. You can say that Raw had the bad luck of falling on Independence Day and Halloween this year. That logic does not stand. Why do I say that? 2005. Raw had to deal with falling on these days that year too. They got a 3.81 that year. To put things in perspective a little, the yearly average was a 3.67 in 2004. It actually went up in 2005, even with the excuse of certain holidays. You have to look at the WWE's product if you want to understand the poor ratings for Raw. And you cannot say that the WWE did not try to boost ratings to nullify the effects of the Independence Day ratings. They brought back The Rock! The best ratings from 2011 came because of him. The CM Punk storylines and Triple H's COO matters were definitely meant to make things interesting again too. In between the 3.27 in 2008 and 3.28 in 2010, 2009 had a 3.57. What was the most memorable stunt from that year that most likely caused that great boost? Celebrities being a part of Raw. The WWE definitely tried to bring that back in 2011 too. The WWE also brought in Trish Stratus, Steve Austin, Vince McMahon, a little bit of Stephanie McMahon, Kevin Nash, masked Kane, and other such WWE names and characters that might have caused some buzz. Buzz was definitely there, but at the end of the say, horrible ratings.

Smackdown got turned on the right track. 1.81 in 2010. That 1.95 falls short of a nice 2.0, but going up is better than what Raw is doing. Ratings on this show started out well, while Edge was centerpiece. The collapse occurred after they gave Randy Orton the World title. The Mark Henry push managed to get some Smackdown ratings back above a 2.0. You can say that Mark Henry got the job done for Smackdown better than CM Punk did for Raw.

On the other side of the horrible ratings of Raw, Impact has indeed ended 2011 with the best ratings in its existence. That 1.17 beats out the 1.15 (1.14 according to Gerweck.net) from 2009. Not much, but still heading in the right direction and still a new high. I read one site say that they went the entire year without dropping below a 1.0. That goes back to what I said about differences in rounding. Did Impact score a 1.0 or 0.99 on Thanksgiving? Is it really a big deal? Considering that this may make this the first year where Impact did not drop below that 1.0, some might think so. I don't really feel like debating it, but the fact that some can even consider that the show stayed that strong throughout the year is good. Who do you thank? Well, TNA has to be glad to still have Sting. Ric Flair and Hogan are still there to draw with their names. Gail Kim is back to add more credibility to the women's division. You cannot deny that Mickie James has helped. A number of KO segments in 2011 did indeed continue to draw the best ratings of the night. Considering some of the names TNA has called up for their India project, they can definitely debut more talent on Impact that may cause a little interest. Keep in mind that this was not a perfect year for Impact. Jeff Hardy. Matt Hardy. And their booking and storylines are sometimes boring and stupid. That is a problem that they may not be fixing fast. Nevertheless, TNA is heading in the right direction.

I am not saying that the WWE is about to collapse and TNA will have a 4.0 by the end of the 2012. Impact has not beaten Raw in the ratings. It hasn't even beaten Smackdown. It outlasted Superstars. In terms of gains and losses, however, Impact is at a high, while Smackdown dances around a low and Raw is at a low. The ratings battle has not been won by TNA, but this can be seen as a moral victory that might give them some momentum. What has to be going through the WWE's mind when they see Raw's ratings?