The Rock's First Field Goal Of 2012 Fails

3.1. Wow! That is what this week's Raw, featuring the return of The Rock, got in the ratings. That is far less than my 3.7 prediction. To be honest, I originally felt like predicting a 3.5. But after looking at the ratings so far this year, I saw that there already was a Raw that did that well. I figured that The Rock's return would have to do better than that. I knew what Raw was up against this week, but I wasn't exactly expecting a 3.9 like last year. I was expecting at least better than a 3.2. The Rock's return didn't even get up to my lowest expectations, in terms of ratings.

The Rock is arguably the biggest success the WWE has had to make it in Hollywood. After him, who is left to really make a big return? Lesner? Goldberg? You can list names yourself, but I don't think any would have the mainstream attention and hype that The Rock can bring. What should the WWE be thinking? Blame it on competition on that night. Leads me to wonder, how much worse would it have been without The Rock?

Is this another indicator that the company is heading down? Several indicators, including ratings and stocks, are showing bad trends. If the WWE keeps heading in this direction, that really might lead to a horrible end.

There is another way of looking at this that might still lead to a horrible end. The WWE might not actually be on too horrible of a path. Sure, their product sucks to many people, so they may lose viewers and chances to make money, but they will still balance out somewhere. What it really comes down to his how they react to what they see. If they don't flinch easily, that would be good for them. Keep focus and follow through on what you believe will work. However, if they see bad numbers and start doing crazy crap, that can lead to even more problems. Crazy crap? I don't think that is a term I used a lot in college when I wrote essays. What do I mean? Random depushes, inconsistency, wasting time bringing in guest stars or legends that fail to create the hype to draw, shooting for huge publicity stunts that fail, and so on. By doing these things, the WWE might make the situation worse and might even create a fatal mistake that wipes itself out.

Whether they are on a slow path down or shoot themselves in the foot, possibly even a mix of both, the WWE definitely has issues. This is Wrestlemania season. This is the time of the year for the biggest ratings boosts. It's not coming. Not yet, anyway. The Rock could not deliver on his first Raw in 2012. Judging by how they used him in that promo, they either need to handle this feud better or they will never see at least a 3.7 from The Rock's appearances in the coming weeks. I see that there is this whole debate about whether The Rock should be back, taking time from the guys who work their asses off every single week. I wasn't really going to chime in on this, but it relates to what I am saying now. The argument is that these legends draw, so you have to let it happen. Are they still drawing? As much as the WWE would like? Besides that, what happens when The Rock goes back to Hollywood? And Shawn Michaels goes back to hunting? And The Undertaker goes back to that ghastly skeletal being he has waitng for him at home? Who on the actual roster can draw for you? Cena and Punk have not gotten excellent ratings last year. In the end, it is still good to have these legends back, especially when there's always merchandise sales to look at, if not ratings, and these other guys on the roster still get fair time to perform, but the real problem is how the WWE uses what they have. It just isn't as entertaining as it should be. I spoke to my cousin the other day, who used to watch wrestling a lot younger, not much now, and he said he watched The Rock's segment on Raw, but he thought it was boring. I can see what he means. Don't get e wrong, great to see The Rock back, his promo had some good moments, and he proved he can still control the audience, but I can see how some people would be bored by this. If the WWE wants their workers and legends to deliver, they have to put them in a better position to do it.

Remember That Time Sheamus Won The Rumble?

I never liked the idea of Sheamus winning the 2012 Royal Rumble. I already gave my reasons for that. Nevertheless, I did say that I hoped the WWE would not screw Sheamus and actually follow through.

Not surprisingly, Sheamus is going after Daniel Bryan's title. You have a lot of epic Wrestlemania feuds developing right now. However, so far, Smackdown's World title feud is not one of them. How has the WWE really been devloping this feud since Sheamus picked his title to go for? Well, he's tossed Bryan to CM Punk a few times. Other than that, the two have not interacted well. Look at Raw. Sheamus was in a tag match that did not even involve Bryan in any way. Sheamus won, which keeps him looking strong, but so what? What about the hype? What about the entertainment? Granted, there is not much of a story here. They can do an in-ring promo about what happened to them at Wrestlemania last year, but I don't feel that will build this match up as anything epic. Maybe if both were faces, then you can work out some kind of angle about giving the fans the show they did not get to see last year. With the heel character Daniel Bryan has now solidified, that will not happen.

It gets worse. Orton is back. He will face Daniel Bryan on Smackdown. The storyline reason for Orton being gone is Daniel Bryan taking him out. You have a feud between Bryan and Sheamus developing poorly, Orton seemingly having nothing else to do at Wrestlemania, and a potenitally better feud between Orton and Bryan. Will the WWE pass up the obvious opportunity to add Orton to the Wrestlemania match?

In an unrelated note, I am glad the WWE had Primo and Epico retain the titles last night. I thought that was going to be it for them. I thought Truth and Kofi were getting it. Even if that eventually happens, it's still good to keep this heel team looking strong, not like total jobbers. They'll be broken down eventually, but this match was good for the tag division. What Kane did afterwards? Well, that's how Kane rolls.

Will The Rock Bring It For Raw In 2012?

Last year, The Rock returned and kicked several huge field goals for the WWE. If you don't really care about football, which I didn't for the first 24 years of my life, I'm saying that he delivered in the ratings for Raw. 3.9. 3.8. 3.92, and a string of numbers that the WWE had to be loving. However, he did not save Raw from having the worst yearly average in the ratings in over a decade. How will he do this time, as he returns to Raw to promote his feud with John Cena?

First, let me look at how the feud is going. Last week, Cena gave his typical promo concerning The Rock. His promo had heart, emotion, wit, some sharpness, but at the end of the day, it is pretty much the same thing John Cena always says. At the rate things are going, I can only imagine that The Rock's promo in response to Cena will be a lot of the same things he has already said. It will be a lot of the same things I see fans and members or former members of wrestling promotions debating about. The Rock can simply just say that he paved the way for guys like Cena. He can say that the only reason Cena is so loyal to the WWE is because he has not been as successful with his movies as The Rock. Had things been different, Cena would be different. In time, Cena will "betray" the fans and leave for other things too. The Rock could even bring up the fact that Cena really isn't there each and every night. No matter what The Rock chooses to say, it will most likely be predictable. This feud has a lot of hype to it, but I wish they would start doing something else. Are they really going to continue this endless debate to Wrestlemania?

Back to my first question, how will The Rock do for the ratings? Obviously, the same amount of shock value and excitement that was there last year is not here at the same level anymore. The fact that the feud seems to be pushing the same monotonous idea may not help things. Raw got a 3.2 last week. The Rock being advertised should cause a boost. Nevertheless, I am not expecting a high 3.9. If I had to pick a number, I would say Raw will get a 3.7. That is a higher number than Raws featuring hype with Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker have gotten recently. Am I overestimating the power of The Rock?

I haven't looked at how ratings are going for the three major shows in a while. Ignoring last week's Smackdown, which, although being live, was not advertised as well as it could have, was up against tough competition, and most of what happened on the show was crap, if their intention was to actually make a great live show that would draw, Smackdown's numbers have been pretty good so far. Most of the ratings have been above a 2.0. Impact is not doing as well as it did last year. Nevertheless, staying above that 1.0 is good. Raw remains the most interesting thing to talk about as far as ratings go. The yearly average so far is a 3.14. In comparison, 3.23 was the average for pre-Rock Raw ratings in 2011. This is the average for the episodes of Raw prior to everyone knowing he really was back, so it includes the episode in which he returned in the final segment. If you don't count that episode, which got a 3.14 rating, the pre-Rock average would be slightly higher. If you don't like trying to understand all these numbers, let me just get to the point. Raw's in worse shape now, in terms of ratings, than it was last year. More fans losing interest? More fans just choosing to watch whatever segments they find interesting on Youtube? Reason for the WWE to panic? Let's see what The Rock can do this time.

Eve Goes Heel

If you keep coming to my blog regularly for what I have to say about the diva division, you are probably getting ready to drive an ax into my skull. Why am I talking about Barrett? Why am I wasting time on Mr. Excitement and Otunga? And Zeke? Seriously? Zeke? Did I run out of things to say about Jinder Mahal? Yes, the big diva news this week is Eve Torres turning heel on Raw. They followed up with a promo that was taped on Smackdown this week. In case you did not watch it online, Eve basically teases an apology, but then cements her heel turn.

Eve was humiliated in that segment on Raw. She basically got caught admitting she was using Ryder for attention and was going to try to use Cena too. She then followed Cena to the ring, where she still tried to follow through on her plan, and humiliated herself some more. I know a lot of people feel bad for Eve, but I really don't see it as that bad. No, I'm not heartless. First of all, this is a kayfabe humiliation. This idea that Eve is using over men for her own success is all part of a storyline. They are not attacking her real image or real self. If they were humiliating her based on how she looks, her ethnicity, or something like that, then I would criticize the WWE for what they did. Second, this humiliation is not part of Eve being used to put over some other diva, or even guy. As I said before, this is a periphery storyline for Eve. This is not a straight diva feud. I don't think even John Cena, the centerpiece of Raw, even really benefited from that segment that much. He didn't need it that much. The WWE could have easily have found some other way to smooth over his relationship with Ryder. And that brings me to the last reason why I'm not feeling too bad for Eve right now. It got Eve the best reaction of her career. She never got too over as a face. Even while with Ryder, even though she said in her segment that using Ryder got people talking about her, she still really wasn't that over. The way they turned her heel, the way they are having her handle it, she is finally getting that good reaction. To sum it up, it's not an attack on her real image, she was not simply being used as a tool for some other worker's benefit, and it is bringing good results for her, so far. This is not a tragedy.

In a way, this is similar to what happened with Trish Stratus, just slightly reversed. When Trish Stratus first turned face about a year after she first debuted, she did it in an epic way. They were running this storyline where she was using her sex appeal to get into a comfortable position with the boss, Vince McMahon. As they ran it, she was acting like a dog. That led to the infamous humiliation scene with Vince and Trish in the ring. After that, Trish eventually stood up to Vince and Stephanie, turning face in the process, and the WWE never looked back with her. Over a decade later, things are reversed. Eve had been face her entire career. Even though she is a good worker in the ring, she never got over. Not only did they turn her heel in an elaborate way, she did it in a segment involving the top guy of the company. This might be the best storyline rub John Cena gave a diva. Depends on how the WWE follows through, as well as how Eve does herself.

Even though I don't feel bad for Eve's humiliation and see it as something positive for her, I still don't think they should have done it like that. I'm not against her turning heel. I just feel it would have meant more if she did it in a segment involving Zack Ryder. It might not have had the same feel as doing it with Cena, but it would have fit the storyline better. Also, having her turn heel like they did this week just seemed kind of random. It came out of nowhere. There were some moments where it looked like she really did care for Zack Ryder. The title match she had against Beth Phoenix on Raw comes to mind. They sold it as Eve being too emotional about what happened to Ryder to concentrate, and she ended up losing the match fast. In terms of kayfabe, her plan involved her not being focused in a title match? Then you have the fact that siding with Ryder was putting her in the path of Kane. That was part of her plan too? Kane definitely could have done some damage to her at some points, if the storyline went that way. I'm not saying that it will be revealed that Eve and Kane were working together the whole time, but the storyline was not too smooth. I would have spent a little more time drawing it out. As long as it gets a reaction for Eve, who cares, right?

Laurinaitis Readying His Troops

When the WWE started pushing this idea that John Laurinaitis was going to try to gain control of Smackdown, I was hoping for a storyline featuring a plan from Otunga that was a little more sneaky and intriguing, culminating, of course, in some action in the ring. It seems they are just going to have the two GMs go against the each other. Not directly. Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and Mark Henry have aligned with Laurinaitis. Otunga, obviously, is with Laurinaitis. Who does Teddy Long have on his side so far? Zeke. Yep. Smackdown's screwed.

I have nothing against doing it this way. It is still reminiscent of when the GMs used to feud against each other in the past. If you are an Otunga fan, you also have to be liking how they are using him. He beat Zeke clean. If the WWE is going for Team Long vs. Team Laurinaitis at Wrestlemania, that might make it tougher to have that potential MitB match, especially with so many injuries. How would it be if Team Long vs. Team Laurinaitis was a battle royal, not a tag match? On the yearly Drafts, you usually have Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown in a battle royal, so what I am talking about isn't too unusual. Then again, with so many battle royals recently, it may be repetitive. Obviously, potential faces for Long to have on his side are not abundant right now, so it will be interesting to see if they can pull together some big names.

What I also like about doing it this way is that it does not look like Laurinaitis simply trying to overthrow Long, and Long then being on the defensive. Long is standing up and fighting back. I especially liked his short segment with Laurinaitis and Otunga on Raw. And they are selling the idea that he may be the one taking over both shows. Of course, in the end, I would rather Mr. Excitement got the win in this feud. Much more potential there.

Barrett Injured

I was going to talk about Wade Barrett again eventually. I was waiting to see how the WWE would treat him heading into Wrestlemania. In case you didn't see the spot involving Big Show, Ziggler, Barrett, and R-Truth on Raw, it was a mess. Wade Barrett injured his shoulder. He will most likely miss competing at Wrestlemania. And it does look like a very serious injury. Best wishes to him.

What would I have said had he not gotten this injury? Two scenarios to look at. First, the WWE builds him well for a potential victory in the Money in the Bank match that might be happening. Barrett definitely would have had the credibility for the win, especially off that feud he had with Orton. Second, Barrett is not featured prominently in whatever match he will be in at the PPV. In that situation, you basically have what happened with Kofi Kingston and his feud with Orton a few years ago. Kofi looked impressive, but there was really nowhere for him to go after that. He got lost in the shuffle. If you look at what happened with Barrett in the time between the feud with Orton ending and now, it seemed like he got lost in the shuffle himself. Obviously, not a punishment. The major title issues heading into Elimination Chamber just didn't really revolve around him too much. That is why I wanted to wait to see how the WWE handled him after that PPV. And now, nothing epic from him at Wrestlemania at all.

When he does return in a few months, he will obviously get some kind of push back. The WWE has to like what they see in him. They have been building him up great for a while. Will they shoot him the title right away? Probably not. Does his injury really screw over what is going on right now? I don't think so. Nevertheless, Smackdown will have to go without a good heel upper-midcarder for a while. Who steps up?

The Hate Has Not Been Embraced

Shocking, isn't it? No, not really. Cena beat Kane at Elimination Chamber, and in the main event of the PPV. There were really no swerves or anything too interesting in the actual story of the match. Match quality itself? There were a few nice spots here and there, which you would expect in a match that is just begging for a brawl. In the end, the match was okay.

Was it worthy of being the main event? In a PPV that is supposed to be about Elimination Chamber matches, an Ambulance match ended the show. Of course, there was a reason why this match trumped two World title matches. Centerpiece Cena was involved. Think back to his TLC match with Wade Barrett. Cena overcame that issue in the main event of the PPV, despite no World title being on the line. Again was the Cena/Kane match worthy of the final spot? Had the WWE pulled some kind of swerve in either of the two big title matches, I would say that one of those matches deserved the finish. The way things went, I'm not going to be angry about the choice to end it with Cena/Kane. The feud has been developing for months now, anyway.

The hate has not been embraced, but that is not surprising. Does that make the match even more pointless? Most people believed that Cena would not give in to Kane. Even had Cena lost the match, how would that lead to him turning heel? They could still do it, but it might be a stretch. In the end, the point of this whole feud was to create a situation that Cena can overcome.

What happens to Kane now? A depush. That, again, is not surprising. He will end up just like Nexus in 2010/2011. So many people called that a botch. I already see some bitterness over how Cena/Kane was handled from some fans. I will agree that this feud wasn't developed as well as even Nexus was, and that there was some logic missing in the actual storyline, but the overall point is the same as it was with Nexus. Put over the centerpiece of Raw, John Cena. Kane still has his mask. He can still pick on Ryder and Eve, the leftovers of the storyline. But hype will be diminished. Time for Cena/Rock.

Elimination Chamber 2012 Preview

Since Elimination Chamber is this weekend, I am going to look at the four major matches announced for the PPV card.

First, Raw's Elimination Chamber match. CM Punk defends against Chris Jericho, Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston, and R-Truth. Obviously, you have some great workers in this match. Match quality should not be a problem. But how has the WWE been doing in building up the idea that every man involved really has a chance at winning? I have said before that this is really a feud between Punk and Jericho. I am not expecting any of the midcarders and upper-midcarders in this match to win. It is going to come down to either Jericho winning or Punk winning. I am not saying either will necessarily be the final two. I'm just saying the winner will most likely be one of those two guys. I am not going to bother picking the order of eliminations. Personally, I would have Jericho win the title. That sets up the rematch at Wrestlemania.

Second, Smackdown's Elimination Chamber match. Daniel Bryan defends against Big Show, The Great Khali, Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, and Santino Marella (replacing Randy Orton). Remember what I just said about match quality not being a problem in Raw's Chamber match? You might have some problems here. Santino is a joke character. The Great Khali is not so great. Luckily, the type of match this is should allow for some impressive spots, regardless of the type of workers you have. Obviously, this match has been ravaged by injuries. The Great Khali came back to fill in for Mark Henry. Santino is in for an injured Orton. I would rather have a healthy Mark Henry and Randy Orton in this match. I'm sure the WWE would too. Nevertheless, the Smackdown title picture is not set yet for Wrestlemania. Who will Sheamus face? I am not thinking they will insert him in Punk/Jericho. I still don't feel Sheamus vs. Bryan for the title is that epic, no matter how they try to build it. If there is going to be something controversial in either Chamber match, I am thinking it will be here. Title change? Someone takes out Santino and robs him of his spot? Who do I think will win? Out of the men in the match, judging by the build they have been giving them, it really is a toss up. They have brought down Barrett's momentum recently, which is a topic for another day. Cody Rhodes already has a title, and I doubt he will be holding two right now. Big Show might win from how the storyline is going. Santino is doubtful. The Great Khali winning would show that the WWE is really in a desperate position. And you have to give some credibility to the notion that the WWE will continue Bryan's pattern of sneaking out wins to somehow have him retain. Whatever the case, this match will most likely not end the way the WWE would have wished it to before all the injuries. Unless there is some kind of switch in who is in the match, I wouldn't be surprised if the Champion retains.

Third, the Ambulance match. Cena and Kane will end the feud here. Time for Cena to start moving on to The Rock and Wrestlemania. That kind of already started before the end of the current feud between Kane and Cena, but that was to be expected. Had Orton not gotten injured and taken out the PPV, I was going to spend the other day talking about the Kane/Cena development from Raw. It was great. I won't go into it too much, but I feel the WWE both developed the storyline and hyped the match. Will Cena embrace the hate? I still doubt that will be happening this Sunday. If Cena turns heel, it would make more sense to do it when The Rock is around. Match quality? This is the kind of environment where this feud will make for a good match. Eve involvement? Will they stretcher out whatever remains of Zack Ryder? As for the winner, it would make sense for John Cena to overcome Kane.

Fourth, the match for the Diva's Championship. Tamina will take on Beth Phoenix. This is a filler feud and a filler match. It is funny how they have developed this feud on both Raw and Smackdown, yet I think you can see that it is not even as hyped as Kane/Cena, which has really only been developed on Raw. There are numerous reasons for this. Obviously, the feud between the two men may only be progressed on one show, but it is progressed in many segments in a given night. Most importantly, there is an actual storyline there. In this diva feud, it is just a basic title feud. They loaded Tamina up with wins, credibility, and some attention, while still keeping Beth Phoenix strong, then have them meet at a PPV for the title. Tamina winning the title is doubtful to the highest degree. Whether they want Beth Phoenix to face Kharma, Layla, or Kelly Kelly at Wrestlemania, or whatever, they are keeping her strong for something. They are just gliding her through. Her overness? Outside of Buffalo? Not too great. As for Tamina, this treatment will do about as much for her overness as Natalya's title run a little over a year ago did for her. Nothing. Neither diva will gain too much from this, not that they are supposed to, but Beth will probably walk out with the title, for what that is worth.

Orton Out, Santino In

Randy Orton suffered an injury on Raw. The WWE is treating it as a concussion from Daniel Bryan. The reality might be the bad landing he took on the first botched RKO on Big Show. Orton is officially out of the Elimination Chamber match this Sunday.

Who is in? Smackdown was taped last night. They had a battle royal for Orton's spot. Santino Marella won. Santino? Yes, Santino. The centerpiece of Smackdown goes out with an injury days before a title match, and they replace him with a comedy character? To be fair, Santino is very over. I doubt a ton of people will buy the PPV just to see what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if the WWE screws him out of the shot, similar to how they did Kofi Kingston that one time. I would be surprised if they had him win the title.

Could they have gone with a better choice. Obviously, yes. Otunga was in the match. You might think I am joking when I say that, but he is being used in a credible way recently. If you are looking for a face to take Orton's spot, you could rush a face turn for Drew McIntyre, who has been in the kind of storyline recently that could have led to a face turn. In all honesty, there weren't a lot of great options. Rumors were swirling that they would replace Orton with Mark Henry, who was taken out of the match due to injury himself and replaced by The Great Khali, who many thought would never return as a regular. They brought back Henry to tease getting back into the match on Smackdown. This all just shows how thin the rosters are. A lot of injuries. There are options more credible than Santino, but I am not going to complain about this choice. He is probably the most over option available.

Randy Orton is injured. Just the other month, he had to take some time off from Smackdown. He came back in time for the Rumble and to finish his feud with Wade Barrett. I don't know how long he will be out. You also have to wonder what will happen if he returns too soon and gets injured again. It is a funny coincidence when you look at it. Edge was centerpiece of Smackdown last year. He had to retire due to a serious injury. Throughout his career, he has been injured numerous times. Orton was sent to Smackdown to be pushed as centerpiece. Orton has had a few injuries himself, but his recent luck is horrible. Looks like he really is following in Edge's path. And this is putting Smackdown in a difficult spot.

Laurinaitis Going For Even More Power?

It was only mentioned in a brief backstage segment, but it could be the seeds for a great storyline. John Laurinaitis is back as GM of Raw. His henchman, Otunga, seems to have a plan for him to solidify that position with the Board and gain control of Smackdown too.

When was the last time the head of Raw and the head of Smackdown feuded against each other? It was fun when Eric Bischoff and Stephanie McMahon did it many years ago. Have a storyline putting John Laurinaitis against Teddy Long? Why not? If the WWE should follow through with giving Laurinaitis control of both shows, that would make a feud between John Laurinaitis and Triple H even more interesting down the road. Laurinaitis would become the most powerful heel to not be a part of the McMahon family.

I'm also interested to see what the WWE has planned. In kayfabe, it would be what Otunga has planned. I hope it is not lowly comedy skits, which simply makes the heels look like fools for some cheap laughs. Since there is so much going on around this time of year, it may get the short end of the stick. Then again, Smackdown doesn't really have a big storyline going on for it, aside from World title matters. Raw has World title matters, Cena/Kane, Cena/Rock, Triple H/Undertaker, and you can count the recent drama with Laurinaitis in that too. Smackdown can use more major creative attention. There is intrigue here, so it might work out well, but there was also intrigue over Jericho for a while. Where did that lead? Same old Jericho. Oh, but he did bring in that fancy jacket, of course.

Mickie James To Turn Heel?

Aside from her involvement in AAA last year, Mickie James has not been heel since 2006 in the WWE. On Impact last week, Mickie James played the heel role during her face vs. face match with Velvet Sky, including doing the heelish act of attacking Velvet during a handshake, and acted very upset after losing the match. With TNA also pushing issues between Gail Kim and Madison Rayne, there very well might be a heel turn coming, especially if one of the two women I just mentioned turned face.

I am not usually one of those wrestling fans who says that turning someone heel/face is the way to make them interesting again. I can especially list examples from the WWE where a turn did not lead to anything great. But this is TNA. This is Mickie James. TNA and Mickie James. TNA typically tries to treat their workers better than the WWE attempts to do, and Mickie James is definitely someone they value. They do use her. She does support things that are going on in the company. She went over to India for TNA's Ring Ka King. Problem is, even though they value Mickie James and have reason to, are they using her right? Are they using her in a way that can really make her over, potentially have her be a draw, and make money for them? Just because Mickie James is over, is sometimes in a segment that draws the highest ratings on Impact, which is continuing in the tradition the KO division already has, and has sold some merchandise that TNA has put out for her, you cannot take it for granted that TNA is actually handling her in a way to help her deliver. As I have said before, her feuds have been repetitive and dull. They put her into situations where she has to play a serious face chasing after a title, seeking revenge, saving other KOs, always getting attacked, and is just not giving her storylines to let her play a character to let her charisma out. It still surprises me that Mickie remains as over as she is. But how long could that really have lasted with how TNA handles her?

I want to make sure that no one believes I think TNA is intentionally doing this to damage Mickie James. TNA just does not make good decisions a lot of the time when it comes to developing characters and progressing feuds and pushes, not to mention their product is not too fun in general. Look at Rob Van Dam. This guy was a World Champion in TNA. He got screwed over by an injury. When he returned, did they ever give him back the title? No. He never held anymore titles. But that is fine. I'm not a believer that someone always has to be hunting a title to get a push or be used right. RVD came back, was pushed regularly, won a lot of big matches and feuds, and continued to be a great worker. But I never did like the decision to never give him back the title. It's not like he screwed himself. It's not like TNA was trying to punish him, since I just said they still pushed him regularly. You have a good, over worker, who lost a main-event push due to an injury, but you never give him back that same level of a push? I am aware he got rematches, but he was never pushed as hard as he was before. I didn't even mention the storylines revolving around him. Kind of dull there too. I am aware of the reports of changes in who is doing the writing in TNA, so we'll just have to see where things go.

A Mickie James heel turn has potential. But if TNA continues to hand her dry storylines or booking that consists of her winning three matches in a row, losing four matches in a row, and then beating someone in a cage match before going back to losing again, they are not going to help her deliver for them and may inadvertently be damaging her overness. I sometimes come across fans who say they like Mickie James better in TNA than in WWE. Congratulations, but there are reasons that TNA Impact Wrestling still cannot beat even WWE Smackdown in the ratings. It isn't because TNA has no stars. It isn't because the stars have no good workers to work with. It is a problem in how they are used. The worst thing I can imagine TNA doing is turning Mickie James heel to be Gail Kim's new sidekick. If you want to team them together, that is fine, but wasting Mickie James as just a sidekick?

Would I rather Mickie James still be in the WWE? Let me repeat something I believe I said once before. Gail Kim deserves to be in a TNA that will pay her what she deserves, while Mickie James deserves to be in a WWE that will treat her like she deserves. Believe it or not, TNA is actually treating Mickie James as they would someone they value. That's the scary thing.

Laurinaitis Not Done

Looking back at what I wrote the last time, I realized I did not mention the segment featuring Otunga and Sheamus. I was talking about how almost all the segments on Raw were devoted to main-event matters. Sheamus/Otunga does fit in to what I was saying. Otunga was out there to further the storyline involving John Laurinaitis with his promo. That storyline involving the GM position is a major Raw storyline. It has taken the main-event spot for some weeks recently. And Sheamus? He won the main event of the previous PPV. Unless they screw him out of his title shot, he will face a World Champion at Wrestlemania. His match with Otunga furthered his momentum. Yes, even this segment put over main-event matters.

I am going to bypass talking about a potential heel turn for Mickie James to talk about John Laurinaitis. I will be talking about Mickie James first thing next week. Why Laurinaitis now? The WWE put off announcing whether he would be fired or not, as his GM role goes in kayfabe. The verdict? He is not fired. That decision may get buried down by so many things going on recently on Raw alone, but it is big. Is it a good decision? If the WWE is not going to make Chris Jericho's return more important by bringing in an authority figure that may side with him against CM Punk, or bring in a new one for CM Punk to start a fresh feud against someone in a business suit, why not keep Laurinaitis? After Triple H is done with The Undertaker, he and Laurinaitis can work against each other on Raw. When you have two bosses working against each other on the same show, it can make things more interesting. Remember when and how Ric Flair came over to the WWE after WCW ended? He and Vince McMahon both had power. They feuded against each other. This led to the brand split. I'm not saying anything that big will happen here, but it can still be good. Technically, Triple H has more power as COO. But that just makes it even more confusing as to how Laurinaitis seemed above him in a few instances last year. Nevertheless, the WWE can still make it work. It was obviously not Triple H's decision to keep Laurinaitis, in terms of the storyline. In the end, I'm glad Laurinaitis will stick around.

The Dry Raw Midcard Heading Into Elimination Chamber 2012

Aside from the diva match, basically every segment on Raw was devoted to main-event matters. The matches and promos revolving around the Elimination Chamber title matches are obviously build for main-event matches. The story between Triple H and Undertaker involves two legends, both of whom have been in the main event of Wrestlemania before. Even the feud between John Cena and Kane involves the centerpiece of Raw and the man who will face The Rock at Wrestlemania, in what will probably be the final match of the card, not to mention Kane/Cena has taken the main-event spot on Raw already at times.

Where are your midcarders? Specifically, where's Jack Swagger, your U.S. Champion? He's on Superstars. He's winning, but he's on Superstars. I can understand this midcard title losing attention heading into Wrestlemania, but they can't even develop a midcard feud for the title heading into Elimination Chamber? Swagger will probably still end up competing somewhere on the card, but this could have been a nice chance to build a good midcard feud for the title. When was the last time Jack Swagger got a good feud for himself? As you can see, tossing someone a title is no clear sign that they will be pushed well. The Diva's Championship feud is getting better build than any kind of Raw midcard feud? I may want the divas to be treated better, but I'm not delusional. At least, not that delusional. A feud between Beth Phoenix and Tamina can be developed fine on just Smackdown. Tamina is on Smackdown's roster. She has been gaining momentum off Beth's sidekick, Natalya, on Smackdown. As far as I am concerned, this is a Smackdown diva feud, which is good. Even the Intercontinental Champion on Smackdown has been looking good for months now. Cody Rhodes hasn't really missed a step with the WWE's booking of him. How would it look for Raw's midcard title feud to be getting developed on Smackdown. It would look kind of stupid. Moreover, it isn't even happening. And yet, things that could be handled just on Smackdown are getting too much focus on Raw than may be necessary.

You can say that they are stacking the deck on Raw for the ratings. I read that it was a 3.25 this week. Now, is it because you have all these "stars" on there, or because of hype from just the real top names, like Undertaker, The Rock, Triple H, Cena, and so on. At the end of the day, I still believe well-built feuds and storylines, regardless of whether they involve midcarders or main-eventers, can draw better than "stars" can. Why am I using the quotation marks of doom? To differentiate from the real legends who can cause hype to draw, like The Rock, from the guys who are being pushed well, may actually be very over, are great workers, but have not really proven that they can draw great ratings, like CM Punk. Jack Swagger is neither being treated as a "star" nor is he a legend, but I still believe using him well can make for an entertaining and interesting feud for a lot of fans out there.

The Disappointment In Kane/Cena and Jericho/Punk

Two of the major storylines on Raw have taken a disappointing turn this week. I am talking about Kane's feud with John Cena and Jericho's return and feud with CM Punk.

First, Kane and Cena. It is not surprising that they will be having a gimmick match at Elimination Chamber. Ambulance match? Okay, that sounds good. I have no problem with that. It makes sense with the way things have been going. My problem was with the development of the feud on Raw. Obviously, no actual Cena during the show to further the feud. The only time you really saw Cena and Kane together was when they aired the replay of what happened last week, when Cena beat up Kane. But that wasn't all of Cena you saw on Raw. They ran a taped segment where it was revealed he will be at the Daytona 500. Then they ran a whole hype promo for him in a similar style to the one The Rock had last week. What do I not like? Doesn't it all sell the idea that Cena is overlooking Kane? This should sound familiar to Cena feuding with Miz last year, after The Rock popped up. This storyline between Kane and Cena had so much energy to it. This week's Raw did not properly follow up. As the show was ending, I thought they were going to go the whole show without any proper development. Then, of course, Kane had the final moment with Eve. He's still pushing for Cena to embrace the hate? Really? Why bother? Cena already sent Kane running away, is preparing to be a part of the big race in a few weeks, and is hyping it up for Wrestlemania. This storyline with Kane is already becoming an afterthought.

And now, Jericho and Punk. Chris Jericho finally gives the promo people were waiting for. Why did he come back? Why did he do that act? Where can we get one of those fancy jackets? He didn't answer all those questions, but he answered the two important ones. First, why did he do that whole weird act? He was trolling the fans. Just like I feared, the WWE went with the dull continuation of the storyline. Chris Jericho returns to his serious heel character and mocks the fans. It is not the most nonsensical way this could have gone, but it is dull. Nonsensical or dull, which would you have rather had? And why did he even bother coming back? Because he's sick of people copying him? He wants the title back? Yes, this has pretty much turned into a basic title feud against CM Punk now. The other 4 guys in this feud are just extras. I didn't even mention his "End of the World" explanation. That was pretty mediocre too. Unless he's going to try to take out those he feels are trying to be him, this really isn't the end of the world for anyone. Obviously, doesn't look like the WWE is going in that direction. Jericho being back isn't going to stop anyone from "copying" him. Whether the WWE had another plan for this return or not, it is heading in the dullest direction it could have gone.

As disappointing as the development has been on this week's Raw, the matches should still be good. Jericho and Punk can both go in the ring. The story involving Kane and Cena pretty much called for a brawl all over the place. An Ambulance match can provide that. The action should be good. In terms of the storylines, however, the WWE is not putting a great effort into these two feuds.

Daniel Bryan Looking Good As A Heel

I will admit that I am surprised with how the fans are already hating heel Daniel Bryan. Technically, he is still a tweener. He showed CM Punk a little bit of respect on Raw last week. He hasn't fully turned yet. Does it even matter? It seems this guy is someone the fans couldn't wait to hate.

The reason why I didn't think much of the heel turn so far is because it was a cheap heel character. He does cheap acts to retain his title and win matches. He acts obnoxious to get cheap heat. If you even go back to when Big Show ran over AJ, Daniel Bryan didn't actually push AJ into Big Show. The debate the WWE is selling is over it was Bryan's fault for having AJ out there. Okay, but the whole incident, as it looks in the storyline, seems like an accident. And is Big Show really a sympathetic character? Put it all together, it is still working out. It might even be working out better than the WWE imagined. As I said before, the turn isn't fully complete, but it looks like fans are already hating the guy.

I still don't think Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus would be an epic Wrestlemania match. I'm not against Sheamus getting a title shot. I wish he got one a few months ago, back when his push was more fresh and Mark Henry was looking really dominant. But now? And against Daniel Bryan? I really would not be surprised to see Daniel Bryan lose the title at Elimination Chamber, or see someone like Orton added to the Wrestlemania match to make it a Triple Threat match. It doesn't matter if Daniel Bryan does get good heat as a heel, I still doubt he is the WWE's choice to overshadow Orton as Smackdown's centerpiece.

Diva Division Recovering From Slow Start In 2012?

If you just took a look at what has been going on recently in the diva division, you would see a lot of women getting storylines and getting things to do. You would think that this would be good. If you look a little closer, however, you would notice that women's wrestling is not improving in the division. What is going on?

There is a lot of periphery things happening recently. Kharma, who obviously had her baby, returned to participate in the Royal Rumble match. Eve Torres has her angle with Zack Ryder continuing. AJ Lee has her angle with Daniel Bryan still going on. In all three of these, there is no real diva feud connected. Kharma was in the ring against men a few days ago. Eve is pretty much just a supporting character in the bigger storyline between Kane and Cena. I will talk more about that in a second. AJ is being used to make Daniel Bryan's heel turn more interesting. In all three situations, the involvement is more in the men's world than the women's. That is usually how periphery treatment will work. If the WWE continues to push these women in the men's world to get over(Kharma mixing it up with the men and Eve and AJ getting romance angles), then you would have periphery divas on your hands. Time will tell whether or not they do it with Eve and AJ, but I cannot imagine them centering the diva division around Kharma. They are definitely going to keep her on the side. Having her enter the Rumble was not surprising to me. Was I expecting it to happen this year? Since I did not know she had the baby yet, that part was surprising.

I want to talk more about Eve's storyline because it gives me an excuse to talk about recent title matters. Beth Phoenix, after being sidelined with an injury and being kept off Raw for about a month, had her first title defense on Raw since that injury this week. As you saw, it was against Eve. Alicia Fox was actually the last woman to pin Beth Phoenix, and injured her, but Eve gets the shot. That's fine. Obviously, it wasn't even about furthering diva matters properly. Eve vs. Beth Phoenix was the last match on the show. Such an honor? No, not really. Look at how it went. It didn't even last a minute. I know, the story was that Eve was distracted by Zack Ryder's recent drama, so she couldn't handle herself emotionally. That's kayfabe. That's the storyline. The reality of the situation is what I do not like. Look at what happened in the earlier squash match with Brodus Clay winning. I think that match actually lasted a few seconds longer, but that is not even my point. What happened after Brodus won? He danced. He celebrated. Focus still on him. What happened after Beth Phoenix won? Out the ring. Time for Kane. Focus no longer on Beth. For the moment, it was still only about Eve. That quickly turned into Kane/Cena. That is my major issue. It isn't even so much that the match was so short and not interesting. It was that the match was completely overshadowed by something the WWE obviously cared more about. A Diva's Championship match was basically used as just a means to set up Cena brawling with Kane. You can say that the women will benefit from this, but Eve actually stands to benefit from all this than Beth. I can picture fans connecting with Eve's character. Beth is being used in a boring way. At the end of the day, it's still all for Cena at the moment.

There is something going on right now on Smackdown that I want to talk about. No, not AJ. Natalya. If you watched last week and this week, you know what I mean. I don't even want to say it. You want to talk about crass? What they are doing with Natalya isn't even crazy and fun. It is not intriguing and exciting. It doesn't draw me, unlike a certain other act involving a diva that Vince McMahon did say was crass. Natalya is being humiliated. Is it necessary? I don't care if this is supposed to lead to a split between Beth and Natalya, there are more entertaining or respectful ways to do it. Some people can say that humiliation happens in pro wrestling, so don't take it too seriously. Nevertheless, there are some forms of it that are not entertaining and disgust your fans. Moreover, you have to think about why it is even being done. Let me talk about the two biggest instances of diva humiliation. You have Vince McMahon forcing Trish Stratus to strip and bark like a dog, and Michelle McCool making Mickie James cry by calling her fat. The main thing I want to bring up in comparing these two right now is what the WWE was trying to accomplish. How were they going about it? Starting with the segment in 2001, this was part of an elaborate, main-event storyline that Trish Stratus was getting. Trish was not there simply to help Vince look like a good heel. Vince doesn't need that kind of help. But Trish Stratus turned face for the first time through this storyline. How many women can say they turned face in a storyline involving Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, and other top names? They had Trish Stratus stand up for herself. This happened in the first quarter of 2001. By the end of 2001, Trish was holding her first Women's Championship. She was the centerpiece. You know the rest. And Mickie James? Why was she humiliated? She wasn't exactly in there against someone able to gain their own heat well. Michelle McCool was quite the opposite. But McCool got the best heat of her career while Mickie was there to put her over. And that was the point. The WWE never really did anything to properly sell the idea that Mickie James was not fat. They never even had McCool stop bullying her after Mickie won the Women's Championship. And you know what came after that. While the WWE continued to develop an epic career for Trish Stratus after her humiliation against Vince, the WWE tossed Mickie James aside after using her for McCool's benefit. Back to Natalya. This humiliation obviously will not benefit her. What makes it even more stupid is that they are not even using her for the benefit of some other diva. It's just plain stupid.

The last thing to talk about? Where's your centerpiece? Kelly Kelly? Is she still the centerpiece? She sure isn't being treated like it. I still can't tell why. Bad driving? That would be stupid. She obviously did not have the solid in-ring ability as other centerpieces, but I don't think she had flopped yet. She was over, but not all the wrestling fans were buying into her. This all could still be a rest period. But if they have given up on her, don't plan to push Layla as centerpiece, and don't have any other option on the horizon, then you will definitely be having a period like you did right after Sable left. Periphery diva storylines and usage was very common back then. Already showing signs of that now.

The promise I made myself is that I would stop writing a pro wrestling blog when I see the WWE diva division end. Meaning, I want to see them stop pushing models as the best wrestlers in the world at the expense of real wrestlers. If you look at the division right now, would you say there is improvement? As I said before, more women are getting used well. However, match quality is not improving. There may be no model centerpiece currently, but this has happened before. The WWE can very well coast the division like this until they have chosen a new centerpiece, assuming Kelly Kelly is no longer it, and developed that new woman. And the cycle will continue. All that being said, I don't think I will be retiring from this blog in the near future.

John Cena Won't Be Embracing The Hate At This Rate

I may have been wrong with all three of my guesses as to the Royal Rumble match winner, but the match between Cena and Kane didn't really surprise me. Excellent wrestling match? No, not really. Storyline taking the major focus? Yes, quite really.

There was no actual winner to the match, so that guarantees another match and the storyline continuing. But after the match officially ended, the two still brawled. This led to Zack Ryder once again being destroyed by Kane. It's getting redundant. Luckily, they didn't wheel him out on Raw to get destroyed again. Back to the Rumble, Kane then took out Cena too. Even though the match was already over, you can say Kane won the segment. He got the momentum.

What did happen on Raw? Without getting too much into diva matters, which I will cover another day, Kane now tried to target Eve. John Cena saves the day, and even gets the better of Kane in the brawl. That is an understatement. He destroyed Kane. Kane had to run away.

The WWE has two weeks to continue the progression of this feud before Elimination Chamber. That is where it should end. How will they build it? Have Kane chokeslam Eve? Really, what good would that do? I think they've already sold the idea that the frustration Cena has towards Kane is not going to lead to him turning heel. If they still want to tease that idea, they have to build more in the storyline department. And with so little time left, with The Rock coming soon to build for his match with Cena, there is no point in bothering. Now is the time to build this feud into some kind of gimmick match. Inferno match? Haven't had one of those in a while. Street fight? Stretcher match? Whatever it is, this feud has gone beyond the storyline development part. Time to build to the final, hopefully epic, encounter. And with that, Kane will join a list of monsters that Cena has gone over in major feuds, including Umaga, The Great Khali, and so on.

One last thing I want to say about Cena. His match with Kane probably will not be the main event of Elimination Chamber. That would make it the third PPV in a row in which Cena was not in either the final match on the card or the WWE title match. He was not used at all at TLC. I already talked about his only performance at the Royal Rumble. He was not in the Rumble match itself. And he is not even one of the six going into an Elimination Chamber match? Obviously, one of the things Cena gets hate for is being overpushed. Can't say that now, can you? But I think the WWE is just taking it to a bad extreme. There are ways to use John Cena without overdoing it. You did not have to leave him off of TLC. I had an idea of having him feud with Miz there. I would have put Swagger in the TLC WWE title match, then do some more shuffling. Instead, no Cena at all. Fine. At the Rumble, they could have had both Kane and Cena compete in the battle royal. Even if it turns into a brawl where both eliminate each other, Cena would not win the title shot, but his feud with Kane would gain that added development. And now he is not one of the guy's going for the WWE title at Elimination Chamber? But Kofi Kingston is? I could understand the real reasons the WWE has for doing all this, but how do you legitimately explain this in kayfabe (storyline). And even if I understand the real reasons, that doesn't mean I totally agree with them. I am not a Cena fan, I like pushing a new face right now, and I do not feel bad for Cena at all, since it isn't a real burial anyway, but I feel there has to be a better way of handling these three PPV events with his booking.