How Goes Kalisto And His United States Title Reign?

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

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

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

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

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

Random WWE Thoughts

A lot of small things going on right now that I want to give my thoughts on. First, Brodus Clay is back to being a heel. He was a heel prior to the whole dancing gimmick. This has also coincided with the debut of Xavier Woods. The supporting players, R-Truth and Tensai, also end up with something to make them relevant for a while. Given the WWE's lack of pushing midcard workers consistently, I would not imagine them to go too far with anyone involved in this feud. What was Brodus Clay doing prior to this push? Nothing. He will be doing that again soon. The same goes for Tensai. And R-Truth. As far as Xavier Woods, I cannot imagine great things for him. Nevertheless, give the WWE some credit for creating a storyline for some workers that have not been pushed well for a while.

"Bad News" Barrett. Wade Barrett has himself a gimmick. It is getting him some segment time. I like it. I really like his character. Of course, the obvious problem is that he is not getting any feuds or actual storylines, yet. All he has is this gimmick and a small amount of segment time to do his promo. This is better than nothing. He has not been relevant since he held the Intercontinental Championship earlier in the year. But it shouldn't be too hard for this to branch into a feud for Barrett. Just have him say something that offends one of the faces. The face comes out to confront him, and there is a feud. How long before they do that? Normally, I would say that doing the same thing over and over again will lead to things getting stale and you have to know when to develop things. In this case, I think Barrett handles these segments well enough to keep this going for a while. That is, as long as they have fresh material for him.

Alberto Del Rio suffered a concussion that has kept him away from wrestling recently. This seems to be the only December injury, so far. December has proven to be the month in recent years where you get injuries to big stars or performers that were in the midst of important pushes. Del Rio is a former World Champion, but he wasn't doing anything too important. He was involved in that mini-feud with Sin Cara. Seems like basic filler. Now that there is only one World title, what is a guy like Del Rio to do? A lot of fans say that this guy has always been chasing after a World title since he debuted. He has spent a lot of time doing that. They are going to have to think of something else for him. I have always said this guy's character has a lot of potential. Will they finally start utilizing that more?

Big Show and Rey Mysterio are a tag team. Another instance of the WWE simply sticking two guys together that they want to feature, but cannot come up with good solo feuds for at the moment. Moreover, they are in the tag title hunt. I am not going to complain about trying to get these two something to do, but the WWE continues to keep more legitimate tag teams down in favor of having these kind of tag teams made up of singles wrestlers getting the title feuds. Some fans point out that the WWE has so many tag teams. Some say that this is great for the tag division. Problem is, a lot of these teams are just being used as filler. Have Los Matadores gotten a legitimate feud yet? Are The Usos ever getting the tag titles? What can you expect from Xavier Woods and R-Truth? Having Kane and Daniel Bryan dominate the tag division for a while was acceptable, since there was a good angle between them, but I hope Big Show and Rey Mysterio do not last too long as a team.

Finally, let me talk about Layla. Layla? She's not doing anything. What is there to talk about? Well, I think she should get something to do. Of the divas currently on the roster, she is my favorite. That was not true during her first few years. Maybe I just didn't like her hair? And I didn't like her during her run in LayCool. Not only did I not like the gimmick, but Layla and McCool did not perform it well to make me like it. They were often too dry and annoying in their execution. A little more arrogance/cockiness and youthfulness would have been nice. They were the kind of heels that made me want to change the channel, not like them, which I usually do for good heels, or see them get owned by the faces. Enough of that. Since then, Layla has grown on me. I liked her face run after that. Nice fresh spirit. She has definitely become very good in the ring. And she is sexy. Of course, she is an eye-candy credible jobber, so I don't need to ask why the WWE is not pushing her. Nevertheless, I still believe the WWE needs more creative depth in the diva division right now. Give Layla something meaningful to do. Periphery angle or an in-ring push? I don't know how well she would work in a periphery angle. If the WWE starts developing a better midcard, that might make things better for a periphery angle for her. Give her a feud. I would make her face. Given the WWE's desire to push eye-candy divas as the centerpiece of their diva division, I would have Layla get that position. Not happening. I wouldn't be surprised if Layla is not kept around by the WWE. They aren't exactly treating her as someone they would keep around.

Rey Mysterio Returns, As Well As Something Else

Rey Mysterio returned last night during the final segment of the show. It seems like an eternity since Rey has been around. And even when he has been around, it usually does not take long for him to suffer another injury and go away again. His return is definitely great. It has been getting dull seeing the same people facing each other in main-event matches. How many times has Daniel Bryan been in a match against The Shield in the last year? Rey Mysterio will offer more possibilities. That is, as long as he stays healthy.

Something else is also seemingly making a return. Guest stars are once again being utilized. Go back to 2009 when that whole thing became a norm on Raw for a while. There were a few stars that I liked, but as a whole, the whole concept made for some stupid Raws. A lot of fans have complained about it. And now it is making a bit of a comeback? It is not strange that the WWE would try this. 2009 saw a boost in ratings that came because of Donald Trump and bringing in other stars from outside wrestling. Ratings have been abysmal for a while now. Raw is on pace to finish 2013 with an annual ratings average below a 3.0. How do you stop this decline or at least try to slow it down? If nothing else, you can see the WWE trying something here. But they are doing the wrong thing. They are trying to cover up their own inability to get the job done with their own performers by bringing in stars from elsewhere to create hype. They should do a better job of making and featuring stars. 2009's ratings did not go up because the product was great. And if ratings do go up again, which I doubt, it won't be because the product itself is getting the job done. 

What Has Become Of The Tag Revival?

It was obvious that the revival of the tag division would only last for so long. I think you should still give the WWE some credit for keeping it going as long as they have. Recently, it seems like that revival has really slipped away.

Kane and Daniel Bryan are obviously still the top team. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow are still alive. Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio are not reliable right now. The Shield have more going on than just making the tag division look good. Other than these teams, just about every other team consists of lower-midcarders. Go back a few weeks to that 4-way match to find which team would face Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio at TLC. The Prime Time Players, The Usos, Primo and Epico, and Rhodes Scholars went at it. It was obvious who would win that match. The other three teams all had better interest on them when the tag revival first started. They are also lower-midcarders that frequently have gotten lost in the shuffle since then and used as jobbers to the bigger teams.

These teams and a few others still do get featured now and then, but a lot of it is just filler. No real feuds and angles involved. They just go at it in filler matches. It's worth about as much as filler singles matches. Would you be content with more diva matches if it was just filler? Imagine the WWE running two diva matches every show. One would involve either the centerpiece or a top periphery diva to further the top diva feud or storyline. The other would involve credible jobbers or eye-candy periphery divas in a filler match. These women would still get an opportunity to perform, but they are not getting the proper treatment to become as over as those centerpieces and top periphery divas would get and there is no guarantee that these same lowly opportunities would be there next week. No improvement in the diva division, even though they are featuring more matches. That is how I view the current state of the tag division. Yeah, more teams are getting featured, but a lot of it is filler or using the lower-midcard teams to put over the teams they want to be the stars.

There is really no hope to expect a better tag division revival. You really just have to hope that the WWE keeps together these big teams and possibly makes some new ones, which would then replace the ones that end up splitting. No offense, but if the WWE ever puts the titles on The Usos, or any other lower-midcard team, the revival will be even more dead than it is now. They will not treat them properly.

How Much Longer For Mysterio?

Whether it is injuries, suspensions, or other issues, you really don't see as much of Rey Mysterio in recent years than you might like. Going by how popular he is and the fact that he can still work well in the ring, the WWE must also not be liking the lack of 619.

How much longer does Rey have before he should retire? One more strike with drugs would send him away, but that is not something to predict. Even though this is a worker that the WWE should be trying to push and develop storylines for, the fact that he can no longer be a true regular would make them think twice about developing  anything too long-term for him. How many times has a wrestler in the middle of a big push gotten injured or suspended? It causes a lot of reshuffling. Recent months are filled with examples of what I mean. Should Rey work a limited schedule, like The Undertaker? Maybe not as limited as that, but the WWE should start only planning short, but still relevant, feuds for him sporadically. It's better than having more elaborate feuds ruined. Rey Mysterio is pretty much done as a regular full-time worker.

It would have been nice to see Rey and Sin Cara win the tag titles. It might still happen sometime down the road. You also have a lot of fans who want to see those two go at it at Wrestlemania. The WWE still might try that in a few months, but I don't think the build would be as good as it would have been if both Rey and Sin Cara didn't have issues. Sin Cara seems to already be following the path of Rey, and his career hasn't even gone to far in the WWE yet. He's another topic. Aside from the tag titles, I don't see a need to force another World title on Rey for a "thank you" run. Would be nice, and Rey definitely has the credibility to be a contender at any time, but I'm not a fan of tossing a title to every popular worker who is about to retire. It's not necessary. Save it to make it mean more in those special circumstances. I'm not going to say too much more about what the WWE should do with Rey before he does retire, including who his final feud should potentially be against. Point is, being semi-retired isn't the same as a full retirement. I just feel now is the time to just accept Rey as semi-retired.

And with that, Merry Christmas.

The Highs And Lows Of The Tag Division

With the finals in the tournament to find new #1 contenders for the tag titles postponed, that gives me extra time to talk about who I think should win. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara vs. Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. Since the current Tag Team Champions are being booked as faces at the moment, it would make sense for the heel team to face them. That would be Rhodes and Sandow.

How about a triple threat? Have both teams challenge Kane and Daniel Bryan. Can you really imagine Rey Mysterio being left off the card? Assume that his illness is not a factor at all. The WWE would definitely like to use him. At the same time, having just Mysterio and Sin Cara face Kane and Daniel Bryan may be awkward. Both teams would be faces. Besides, Rhodes Scholars would have their momentum killed if they just lose like that. What happens after? Do they still stay a team? Interfere in the tag title match? Even if Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio don't win the tournament, I can have an easier time believing they will still team together through the fact that they have this angle where Rey is Sin Cara's mentor. There are a lot of possibilities there. Even if Sin Cara goes back to getting solo feuds, they can still have Mysterio get involved very easily. Getting back to the topic, I still feel both teams should get the title shot. Both have momentum and are made up of guys the WWE cares about pushing. It would be tough to pick one over the other, potentially leaving the other out in the cold. If I had to choose just one team to win this, let it be the heels. Not only would it make sense, but the face team can still survive.

The tag division focus has mainly been on upper-midcarders and midcarders currently. However, there are some lower-midcarders who have been getting more time because of recent events in the tag division. That is always a good thing.

Zack Ryder got over on his own a year ago. Trying to get him a legitimate push must have been like getting a tooth yanked out of your mouth for the WWE. They obviously did not want to do it. When they finally gave him a midcard title, the reign was crap. Beyond that, they used Ryder to put over Cena's character. Once he did that, they phased him back down. Now, he is teaming with Santino Marella. It may not be too much, but at least I see him getting featured more. They have a gimmick going. It is better than being completely lost in the shuffle.

Heath Slater, Drew McIntyre, and Jinder Mahal. Jinder Mahal? Really? I never thought I would live to see the day. Before this boy band was created, none of these guys were being pushed too well. Heath Slater had an angle going where he was jobbing to legends for months, then continued to be used as a jobber after that. Jinder Mahal was last relevant when the WWE used him to put over Ryback in a minor feud. Drew McIntyre has been even less relevant than that. Combined and given this gimmick, these three are actually being used well. I know what you are thinking, these guys have a stable going, not a real tag team. True, but is it hard to imagine that they will be involved in tag matters? I consider them a part of the recent interest being put in the tag division. Good for them. Yes, even Jinder Mahal.

A Playground Or A Revival?

A tag-team tournament. Very nice idea. It is putting even more emphasis in the tag division. However, who is really going to benefit in the end?

You have a lot of random teams consisting of guys who became established through singles careers. By pairing them together and putting them in the tag division, that may needlessly take attention away from the more legitimate teams that have not been established properly at all. That has been my main problem with recent developments in the tag division. I have said it numerous times, but I still have to repeat myself in hopes of making it clear or clearer. The Prime Time Players still have some attention on them. They even beat down Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara a while ago. However, are they developing that heel team to be stars or put over stars? There are a ton of instances of what I am referring to. Just look at the history of the diva division. Let me pick out one example. Jazz would sometimes look dominant against Trish Stratus in some segments. Some might have thought the WWE was going in a whole new direction. But who ended up still being developed to be the greatest centerpiece the diva division has ever had? And who rejoined the ranks of credible jobbers? I would love to see the WWE follow through and give the Prime Time Players the title shot, and eventually the titles. Are the non-established tag teams going to be given proper opportunities in a division that now includes a lot of top stars? That is what will separate this division from being either a true revival or a playground for midcarders and upper-midcarders.

If you actually look at what else was going on last night on Raw, paying attention to the midcarders, there is really nothing else going on for the singles wrestlers. You had a lot of filler matches. There are no interesting storylines going on for the solo guys. I see Heath Slater getting his own stable, but that isn't a solo thing now. No interesting midcard title feuds are developing. The bulk of the midcard attention is on the tag division. Because of all that focus on it, I find it harder to believe a lower-midcard team will win the tournament. Looking at how much main-event attention Kane and Daniel Bryan are still getting, I cannot picture a lower-midcard team winning it. As of now, Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara or Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow look likely to win.

The Miz Vs. Rey Mysterio Vs. Sin Cara Vs. Cody Rhodes

This is the kind of multi-man midcard title feud I like. It kind of reminds me of what you would see a decade ago. It isn't four guys randomly getting into a feud for the title. Cody Rhodes and Sin Cara have been feuding for a while over Sin Cara's mask. Rey Mysterio also wears a mask, so that brings him into the picture. Rey Mysterio was also given a somewhat random shot at Miz's Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam. Bring Miz into the mix. Put it all together, you have a title match for Night of Champions. Could it have been developed a little better? Yes, but this is still better build for a midcard title match than I would have expected. If you look over at what is going on with the United States title, you would see no real build at all. They will find a contender and give that guy a shot. Simple. But who should win the Intercontinental title?

Rey Mysterio has held this title before. If they really can't think of anything else for him to do, they might put it on him, but I don't think they should. He doesn't need it. If the World's Heavyweight Championship was on a heel, Rey would definitely be a contender for that. But it would be annoying to put it on Rey when you realize that the current IC Champion and previous holder of the title were both former World Champions, as well. How about giving a midcard title to a true midcarder?

I have to admit, Cody Rhodes looked good holding the title on Raw. I'm not a big fan of the guy, but the belt seems to just fit him. It could be because he held it for so long. He has two reigns with it already. Does he need a third so soon? That would mean the title goes from a heel to another heel. It is not unthinkable for it to happen, but I don't see why it should.

If the title is going to change hands, I think it should go to Sin Cara. This is a guy they should want to build into a star. Rey Mysterio will not be around for decades and decades to come. Sin Cara is the guy to build to follow him. It is time to get to work on his title resume. He has never held a title in the WWE. If he does win the title, that would give his feud with Cody Rhodes more merit. I could also see them putting the title on Rhodes first, still continuing the feud between the two, and leading up to a "Title vs. Mask" match. However it goes, the title should go to Sin Cara to build him up properly.

Miz just won the title a few weeks ago. He is the incumbent. If they cannot come up with a reason to put the title on someone else, no reason to take it off of Miz. There are still other midcard faces for him to feud with. Seeing as how easily Miz got lost in the shuffle earlier in the year, you might worry about what will become of him without the title.

Out of the four men in this match, I would say either Miz or Sin Cara should win. Cody Rhodes regaining it to continue the feud with Sin Cara would also make sense. I don't see Rey Mysterio winning it. No good reason for it. If I really had to choose one, I would say Miz retains.

Rey Mysterio Suspended Again

Rey Mysterio will not be coming for at least another 60 days now. He violated the WWE Wellness Policy for the second time. He was already out with an injury for several months.

Strike 2. As it goes, the WWE will release someone who violates the policy three times. However, I don't think Rey Mysterio will be one of those guys who messes up so bad that he is the first guy to be fired for three strikes. And the WWE would definitely not like to lose this guy. Even at his age and with all the injuries he gets, he is a good worker in the ring, popular around the world, and can sell merchandise. I mentioned a while ago that the WWE seems to have too many top heels around at the moment. Aside from turning certain people face, getting back faces like Rey Mysterio would have helped things. And what about Sin Cara? He was not at the level of Rey Mysterio in terms of his position on the card, but he was a popular face as well.

Obviously, the WWE is not in huge trouble. They have been going on for months without certain superstars, whether due to injury or suspension. They have had a lot of debuts and returns recently. They very much can move on without Rey Mysterio. Some people are always saying that Rey Mysterio should retire. The ball is in his court. He is a legend and will be in the Hall of Fame one day, but I don't think the WWE is in too desperate a need for him. How much does he want to come back? He'll have to try to stay clean even harder now.

No Tears Necessary For Rey

I will keep this short. I just want to explain why I, and possibly a lot of other fans, are not going to complain about what happened to Rey Mysterio last night. Rey wins the WWE Championship, his first time holding that WWE World title, and goes on to lose it to John Cena later that same night. That is even worse than what happened to Christian, isn't it?

Many fans were enraged about the WWE ending Christian's first World title run on Smackdown so fast. I spent weeks and weeks talking about the storyline. But it is not exactly the same with Rey. I want to explain that distinction. Rey Mysterio had already been World Champion twice before his WWE title win this week. He won it at Wrestlemania. Either one of his previous two reigns lasted a lot longer than Christian's first. Moreover, Rey was given at least better focus for some of his last two reigns, which both occurred on Smackdown as well. Moreover, Rey just had a title reign last year. He did not have to wait long to regain it. Not as long, that is, as Christian had to wait in the WWE to finally get his first major World title reign from them. And they treated him like Randy Orton's punching bag. Even after he has regained it, he still remains under Orton. Cena and Orton are both centerpieces. At least Rey had a chance in the past.

Kane's Gain Is Swagger's Loss?

Jack Swagger became World Champion via Money in the Bank. Two World Champions later, Kane is now holder of the title, and once again, thanks to Money in the Bank. Swagger's title win was what really started his push as a credible main-eventer. Sure, he was ECW Champion and top heel there, but ECW was used as a small stage to build stars. Many of those stars have not even been given anything good since leaving ECW. Swagger was one of the lucky ones.

Has that luck ran out? Ever since The Undertaker was injured, Kane has been getting a lot of attention. Who took Taker out? That has been the main question. It has even slightly overshadowed the World Championship feuds at times. Not anymore. Kane, the one seeking justice and the likely culprit at the same time, is now World Champion. Although he is not officially heel yet, this slow build could be the good way to go about it.

Once Kane does fully turn heel, Jack Swagger will obviously not be top heel for a while. I have already said that Kane's storyline has been more interesting than the title matters. I have already said that Kane now even has the title. The only thing stopping Kane from being top heel on Smackdown is that he is not yet heel. What do you do with Jack Swagger? Much like Sheamus, I imagine Swagger's time in the backseat will be short. Had Taker not gotten injured, it might have been Swagger and Taker facing each other at Summerslam. When Taker does eventually regain the title, which this storyline is probably leading to, I am sure Taker and Swagger will still face each other for it.

What do you do with Swagger until then? Mysterio vs. Kane is set. Would it be a good idea to insert Swagger? Technically, he already got his rematch, plus a shot to get another one before Rey could utilize his rematch clause. Besides, Having Tweener Kane face a solid face in Mysterio could help turn Kane slowly into a heel. So Swagger faces who? Big Show? Tied up in SES matters. I cannot think of any other healthy faces who are both credible enough and free. This sucks. Summerslam is one of the big PPVs of the year. No Swagger match? If the WWE cares about pushing this guy, he needs something. Simple interference in the main event? Could be good, but it depends on how they build his involvement in the feud and how he interferes.

If the WWE does leave Swagger off from meaningful involvement, he could be getting the short end of the stick. Understatement. That is what happens with circumstance sometimes. None of this would have happened if Taker had not gotten injured. But if Swagger's push does lose heavy momentum, and possibly gets buried, it was done as a cost for Kane's gain. Considering how long it had been since Kane held a World title, you have to wonder who to feel sorry for.

F4W Predictions

Diva Match: Eve is losing the title. Not only does she have the momentum going in, but did you notice that tag match on Raw? No Gail Kim needed at all for Eve to win it. That is a "gold watch" victory right there. Looks like they are ready to put the title on Maryse again and have her feud with someone. Anyone returning soon? If this is true, it is obvious Eve was used as filler. She did not really work with any other women in real title feuds. I can compare this with what happened to Mickie James and her Diva's Championship reign, in which the WWE did not build any great opponents for her and just had her pass through opponents who gained title opportunities without much more story to it, but I do not write a diva blog anymore. Prediction: Maryse wins.

U.S. Title Match: Simple. Miz just won it a few days ago. Why would he lose it so fast? It would be stupid booking. R-Truth does not need two U.S. title reigns so fast. Prediction: Miz wins.

Intercontinental Title Match: Kofi won the title from Drew McIntyre in a singles match. If I remember correctly, Drew already had a rematch. However, Kofi has not been booked to really work with any other midcarders. Do you see a theme here? In all the title matches I have mentioned so far, the Champions (or former Champion in R-Truth's case) have not really had the opportunity to build there reign by going against a variety of opponents, who are built well, and in well-developed feuds. The main story with Drew is really his issues with Matt Hardy. I can see Drew regain the title so he can feud with Matt over it. However, if he does not win the title, Drew will probably lose due to some Matt Hardy action. That prolongs their feud, but it is the same thing we have been seeing for weeks now. I hope the PPV match offers something more special than that. Prediction: Drew wins.


Smackdown's World Title Match: Big Show probably has the least chance of winning. The WWE would put a World title on him now? He seems to just be there to give Swagger a good rub and to add his unique size and strength to the match. Rey Mysterio? Well, he does deserve another run. Does not mean he will get it. If he does, it can lead to an interesting turn if he feuds with CM Punk again. I can see them putting the title on CM Punk at this PPV. The guy gave up his hair. You owe him. If he wins, this can also lead to a good turn in his feud with Rey. Swagger. This is the man they want to build as a main-eventer. He did not defeat Big Show at the last PPV. Letting him win now would be a safe choice. Prediction: Swagger wins.

Raw's World Title Match: I doubt Sheamus will win. The WWE has the Irish fans hooked in, so I doubt they need to give it to Sheamus again for a while. Or is he still best friends with Triple H? I can see Orton win it. The story is that he was injured, has the odds against him going into this match, but battles through to win it. Edge is the top heel in this match. He holds seniority over Sheamus. If any heel is going to win it, it may be him. Cena always wins, right? Aside from Batista, he has not really had any successful title feuds in his current reign. He does not need them, especially if you look at how he traded the belt with Orton last year, but I do not think his reign will end like this. Prediction: Cena wins.

Five matches? Not like I was planning to buy it anyway, but the number of matches is not the only thing that bothers me. I mentioned how Drew and Kofi have faced each other before, and having Matt Hardy run out is not exactly new and exciting. Miz and R-Truth have faced each other in a good match recently, but I doubt they can really pull out something more epic at the PPV. The diva match will be a diva match with a few good spots here and there, but not enough to save it. All these matches have pretty much poor build. In almost all, the story is that of a basic title feud. Even in Drew/Kofi, the one possible exception, it is still a basic title feud within the larger story between Drew and Matt. The World title matches have more build to them, but even they have been somewhat overshadowed and made dull a bit. Kane is where it is at for Smackdown. NXT is the real hype on Raw. How will these things influence the PPV? That is what interests me. I would not mind Wade Barrett walking out with Cena's title.