The Dudleys Still Without Gold

The New Day retained the titles once again against The Dudley Boyz. They don't deserve that "z" anymore. The Dudleys have gotten a few shots in the last few months and the WWE has not booked them to get the tag titles. They are not done in the WWE and I still believe it is only a matter of time before they do get another run.

Regardless, the WWE should have given them the tag titles by now. I felt the perfect time would have been in New York City a few weeks ago. I am not saying the WWE had to hand them the tag titles the first chance they had. Make it a bit of a journey, but don't take too long. You might ruin these guys' momentum and freshness. You might fail to take advantage of the hype while it is there. I think that is what is happening.

Is it that New Day have developed some momentum of their own? I do not think that should matter too much. I am not denying these guys have done well in the last few months. I even wondered at one point what kind of reaction this match might have in front of certain audiences. The crowd might not be completely behind The Dudleys. Nevertheless, the WWE should be able to keep New Day relevant without the tag titles. Or how about just letting The Dudleys hold the titles for a month or two before handing them back to New Day, making them 3-time Tag Team Champions in less than a year?

Look at how the WWE handled RVD coming back. They hyped him up. That must have excited the fans. And then they completely fumbled with him after that. He never accomplished anything noteworthy. He was a jobber to the stars. If he came back more often since then, he would be another Jericho. I am not saying Rob Van Dam had to win the briefcase. I am not saying he had to win a World title. An Intercontinental Championship run would have been nice. Even without that, can't you develop better feuds for this guy outside the title picture?

Look at Mickie James returning to TNA in 2010. A lot of fans were looking forward to that. Mickie James would have the chance to become the first woman to have held the WWE Women's Championship, WWE Diva's Championship, and TNA KO Championship. TNA took months to finally get the title on her. They did not take advantage of the hype and momentum when it was there. Having her feud with Tara first was fine. Tara was Madison Rayne's sidekick. Mickie having to go through her to get to Madison made sense. But TNA just dragged everything on and had Mickie James fail on her first 2 tries to get the title. It took about 6 months after she returned to win the title. It only should have taken 3 or 4 months.

The Dudleys have now failed in their 3 tries to get the titles. And much like RVD, they are starting to look like jobbers. They have lost that momentum. Just like Mickie James eventually won the title, I still believe The Dudleys will get them. But it is not just about honoring these guys. It is about taking advantage of hype while you have it. You expect these wrestlers to tell stories in the ring, but these wrestling promotions also tell stories with their workers through how they push them. I gave the WWE credit for making something out of Nikki Bella breaking a record. They really made it a storyline. They took proper advantage of the situation. But they did not do that here with The Dudleys. Again, I am not saying they had to give them the titles right away, like they recently did with Alberto Del Rio, but they are just killing the hype that was there at first.

Money In The Bank 2014: Previewing The Briefcase Ladder Match

When they first announced that there would still be a ladder match for the briefcase, I didn't like the idea that much. They had already put in so much top talent in the other ladder match. They were going to end up tossing in guys in this ladder match that should be facing each other in singles matches. They were not going to have enough guys left over for other matches to fill up the card. Now that all the participants have been named, I am not going to complain about it. Aside from Rollins and Ambrose, none of these other guys really had anything going for them. And there are still other matches to fill up the card. I am going to talk about the participants in the order I think they stand a chance of winning.

Remember that time I said I was going to talk about the participants in the order I thought they stood a chance of winning? I lied. I have to start with Bad News Barrett. Yes, there is bad news for Bad News Barrett. He got injured on Smackdown. There is a very good chance he will not compete in the ladder match this Sunday. Where would he have landed on my list had he not gotten injured? He would have come in second. Yes, I think he stood a good chance of winning. He has talent and has seemed to be on the fringes of a major push at times in his career. He shouldn't be stuck rotating around the midcard forever. Who takes his place? I'm not going to speculate on that. The WWE may not even need to replace him. There are still a lot of guys in the match.

Seth Rollins seems like the likely choice to win. He is in the midst of a great turn in his career. He is aligned with Triple H and being groomed to be the future golden boy. I almost want to say that he does not need the briefcase. His feud with Ambrose will obviously last beyond Money in the Bank. The type of treatment he is getting now pretty much guarantees he will be featured well. Nevertheless, he seems like the most credible option to get the briefcase.

Dean Ambrose is also hot. But he seems to just be there for the benefit of Rollins. Rollins is the one being developed to be a future star. Ambrose is likely just the one there to feud with him for the moment. Rollins will continue to be groomed well in the future, assuming he does not flop, but Ambrose is likely the one that will get lost in the shuffle. The only reason I could picture him winning the briefcase is to further the feud between him and Rollins even more.

Dolph Ziggler is very popular. But does he need another briefcase win? He has won it before and successfully cashed it in. It is not unheard of for someone to win the briefcase twice, but I don't see the need for Ziggler to win this. There are so many other names to push to be future main-eventers. Assuming Barrett is not injured for long, Ziggler could eventually regain the Intercontinental Championship by beating him. They had a great match on Raw. If the WWE ever does get serious about pushing Ziggler in the main-event again, it shouldn't be difficult since he held the World title before. He does not need the briefcase.

Rob Van Dam returned at Money in the Bank last year. What has he really done? He seems to be just enhancement talent. Why in the world would they book him to get the briefcase? He is likely just there to pull off some cool spots.

Jack Swagger. The only reason I am not putting him at the bottom of the list is because he has won the briefcase before and won the World title once.

Kofi Kingston, much like RVD, is likely just there to pull off some fancy spots. He has done nothing important for months.

RVD Gets A Shot At Bad News Barrett's Intercontinental Championship

Last month, the WWE had a tournament to determine the #1 contender for the Intercontinental Championship. And I thought that was a good idea. It made things more interesting in the midcard. Bad News Barrett won that and went on to win the title from Big E.

On Raw this week, the WWE decided to have one of those "Beat The Clock" things to determine the new #1 contender. RVD won that. And I don't like it. I don't have a problem with RVD getting a title shot. I have a problem with how it was done. They just did this kind of thing last month. Why not develop a title feud off of a grudge, instead of a basic title feud?

Look at that title feud you just had between Kane and Daniel Bryan. That wasn't an instance of someone winning a title shot and getting it. There was an actual story to it. The Authority have a grudge against Daniel Bryan. Most of the top stars in the stable are tied up at the moment, so they unleash Kane on Daniel Bryan. It is just as much about destroying Daniel Bryan as it is about taking the title off him. That adds spice to the title feud.

I have spoken before about the potential Barrett has with this gimmick. I feel the WWE is wasting it. Have him go out and talk trash about a certain wrestler, a certain city, or a certain idea. Having him go out there to mock RVD could lead to a feud against RVD. Having him drop some bad news on Chicago could lead to a certain wrestler from Chicago dropping a pipe bomb on Barrett. Not going to happen, but just an example. Having him slam people that like to party could lead to Adam Rose coming out. I know Adam Rose already has a feud, but it is an idea for a future feud. Point is, Barrett's gimmick has a ton of potential to branch off into great feuds. To just develop simple title feuds is not enough.

The WWE is doing some work to create interest in the midcard. They are creating some hype over the contenders, but now they need to get creative. They have so many gimmicks floating around. They need to take better advantage of those gimmicks in a lot of instances. Especially in midcard title feuds, a little creative development could make things more compelling.

Let me switch gears. There is a rumor that Mickie James is being considered to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame next year. Let me discuss that on the assumption that it is true they are considering it. She shouldn't be inducted yet. This is a Mickie James fan saying that. She is still young. Lita was 38 at the time of being inducted. Trish Stratus, the youngest inductee, was 37. Mickie is currently 34. If they induct her next year, she would be inducted at the age of 35. Two years younger than Trish when she was inducted.

Something else to consider, Mickie hasn't retired yet. Trish and Lita retired and had to wait a couple years to be inducted. Some people might believe her pregnancy means she will retire, but she doesn't seem to want to retire yet. A fan tweeted about her coming back to the WWE and Mickie still seemed interested. You can see that tweet here.

I believe the WWE is trying to put a punctuation mark on Mickie's career. And I don't mean that in a good way. When Mickie did not stay with TNA and the WWE showed they were on good terms with Mickie James, many started talking about a possible return. Didn't happen. I said that I felt the WWE would likely bring Mickie James back down the road when they would not have to push her at all. The whole reason they got rid of her in the first place, contrary to what wrestling journalists are saying, was because they never wanted her over in the first place and she was getting in the way of what the WWE did want out of their diva division. Not only does that explain Mickie's release, but the WWE continuing to push the same agenda they have always been pushing in their diva division, despite it continuing to fail. Fans still would like to see Mickie return. Face it, the diva division hasn't exactly rebounded with the rise of AJ Lee all the way back to a golden age. If they induct her into the Hall of Fame, that will be the perfect way of getting themselves out of this situation. Mickie James fans would love her being the youngest inductee. The WWE benefits because they never have to push her again. Once you are inducted into that WWE Hall of Fame, you are pretty much retired or semi-retired. You might work the independent scene, but you are no longer a regular in terms of in-ring WWE action. Ric Flair is hyped as the first active member of the roster to be inducted, but his career was coming to an end soon, anyway.

If the WWE wants to continue the status quo of the diva division, bringing back Mickie James would not help. They are not going to continue handing title reigns to a credible jobber. They are not going to be happy with a credible jobber being more over than the women they are trying to develop to be the next centerpiece. If the WWE wants to continue this status quo, it makes absolutely no sense to bring back Mickie James for another run. That would be like putting an obstacle in front of you that you already knew you could not beat the first time you faced it. If they are serious about inducting her, that would be like putting themselves in a position where they would never have to deal with that obstacle again. I may sound cynical, but it does look suspicious to want to induct a woman that young (in comparison to the typical WWE Hall of Fame inductees) and that has not even officially retired yet. And when you look at what the WWE is currently doing in their diva division, not showing signs of truly giving it up, and take into account what Mickie James did in that diva division and the fact she's still over, putting an end to the desire to see Mickie James return for another run would make sense.

Extreme Rules 2014: Assorted Thoughts

I am just going to keep it short for the other matches on the card. After that, I want to talk about an article I came across about the WWE Network and PPVs.

El Torito vs. Hornswoggle. Yep.

Alexander Rusev vs. R-Truth and Xavier Woods. The winner in this is obvious. At least the WWE did a little to make Truth and Woods look credible against Rusev recently.

Paige vs. Tamina. Once again, the winner seems obvious. No need to end Paige's reign here. I have been talking about feuds that should last beyond Extreme Rules in the last few days.This is not one of those feuds. The WWE has not developed a great feud here and I don't even want to see them try. It will be painful. Just move Paige onto something better.

Big E vs. Bad News Barrett. If any title is likely to change hands at this event, it has to be the Intercontinental Championship. Big E has held it for months. He has been pushed pretty mediocrely for the majority of that time. Not surprising at all. On the other side of that, you have Wade Barrett, who has been rejuvenated with this gimmick. Bad News Barrett is great. He has a ton of momentum on his side. He can be a great thing for the midcard.

Cesaro vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Jack Swagger. The likely match you could have had for Extreme Rules would have been between just Cesaro and his former partner, Jack Swagger. You had Heyman and Zeb to add a little spice to things. The WWE took it one big step further. They inserted Rob Van Dam. And I think they did a pretty good job of inserting him into the mix. The story is there. I usually do not like triple-threat matches where nothing is on the line, but I'll let this one go. Cesaro should win. He is the one they seem most interested in pushing in this match.

I came across an article in the last week about a topic I have brought up a lot in the last few months. It can be found here. A lot of points to bring up.

First of all, reading the article, I realized I did not properly account for international buys when I was determining what kind of benchmark you should want to have for Wrestlemania XXX. I admit it, I botched. All it really means is I should have kept the benchmark higher. Like 800,000 total PPV buys. For the millionth time, the reason is that you would want to have high standards for a Wrestlemania that should have been treated as something special.

The article mentions that expectations were at 295,000 domestic buys. That is low. I understand you have the WWE Network, it does not include international buys, and all that, but I would have expected at least 400,000, which is around the number they ended up getting. Of course, the WWE really did not create a stellar PPV card featuring legends and celebrities that generated a ton of hype. Hulk Hogan returned, but they did not do anything exciting with him. When The Rock came back, they started developing a feud between him and John Cena. This Wrestlemania season did not measure up to what you had in the last three years. That is probably the reason expectations were so low. Poor build leads to low expectations. That is underachieving.

The writer of that article said one thing I found very interesting:

Buying a PPV the old-fashioned way instead of subscribing to the network makes no sense for even casual WWE fans. One PPV costs roughly $60 -- the same price as six months of the network, which gives you access to six PPVs, around 1,300 hours of archived WWE content, and tons of exclusive programming.

It makes no sense? Really? I don't think a lot of people understand casual fans. Fans do not come in just one flavor. Let me break it down into 3 groups. You have your casual fans, regular fans, and hardcore fans. Hardcore fans are really into whatever it is they love that much. You ever see people get tattoos of their favorite sports team or get it shaved into their head? That's hardcore. Regular fans support whatever it is on a regular basis, including spending money on it now and then. Casual fans are the ones that care about it, but really are not that into it.

Why would fans that are not that into it subscribe to the WWE Network? The archived content? Tons of exclusive programming? They can live without it. And that would be why they are CASUAL fans. They just want to pay for what they want. As I have said before, drawing in the casual fans is why Wrestlemania is the most successful WWE PPV pretty much every year. These fans don't care that much about seeing the five other PPVs included in the 6-month commitment. That is why all those other PPVs would get lesser buys. It really isn't shocking at all that the number of subscribers for the WWE Network fell short of initial expectations, while the number of PPV buys for Wrestlemania exceeded expectations. The number of subscribers exceeded my expectations, but I was expecting a lot of PPV buyers. And just for the sake of repeating myself, I still feel the WWE could have done better and should have tried to do better.

Let me get to the main point of that article. PPV providers are dropping the WWE. You might have noticed how the commentators handled things on Raw. Satellite providers are not offering Extreme Rules. I have Dish Network. I had DirecTV before that. I have not subscribed to the WWE Network. I am not going to. Well, looks like I'm screwed. That is, if I am ever interested in watching another WWE PPV. Right now, I can live without it. They have gotten pretty pricey.

This is not how the WWE would have liked things to work out. They are losing money. Fans are essentially paying just $9.99 to watch these PPVs that would normally cost more than triple that. The WWE only gets about half that, while the other half goes to the PPV providers, but that's still more than $9.99. The WWE has not even gotten enough subscribers to break even yet. And what happens when 6 months are up and people start dropping it? Will the flow of new subscribers offset the drop? They will most likely have to raise the price of their network. If the WWE makes roughly half of what a PPV costs for themselves, it would make sense to charge a little bit more than roughly half of what the average PPV would cost. Make your money for the PPVs and for the other content. You cannot count on PPV revenue when those providers start dropping you.  

Alberto Del Rio Vs. Rob Van Dam At Battleground

Battleground hasn't had a ton of time to be built. Some of the matches are rematches. You have some filler. And it just doesn't seem like anything really deserves to be settled at this PPV. The rematch between Alberto Del Rio and Rob Van Dam for the World's Heavyweight Championship may be one exception. This is a match that might end the feud between the two.

You also have the fact that it is hardcore rules. That makes this match more special. What will RVD do in this environment? They have hyped that for this match. That is another reason why this might be one of the best matches on the card. I remember having great expectations for a match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger a few months ago. That didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. Nevertheless, RVD is still impressive with some of the spots he can do and ADR has that vicious side that should combine for a good match in terms of quality in a hardcore environment.

Will this be the point Ricardo finally goes back to Del Rio? I can't picture him staying with RVD after this feud. RVD just doesn't need a ring announcer. I am still anticipating a heel turn for Ricardo.

Will Sandow finally cash in? He has been pretty quiet recently. To put it another way, the WWE has been pretty dry with him recently. Not much being done. Yes, he will face Dolph Ziggler this Sunday, but no feuds or storylines for him. You can easily picture that setting up Sandow cashing in out of nowhere, but I don't like it. You should be developing this guy as someone worthy of holding a major title. At least one great feud with a main-eventer would be nice. Having him win the title now will just cement the title more as a midcard title. Nevertheless, because this match is hardcore rules, it isn't hard to see the exhausted winner having the briefcase used on him right after the match. The situation is perfect for it.

Who is likely to win between RVD and ADR? If Alberto Del Rio does retain, and assuming there is no cash in, who is there for him to feud with? Most of the top faces are either injured or involved in some major angle. I could see Dolph Ziggler going back to feud with him, but they just feuded a few months ago. It just feels like it is about time for Alberto Del Rio to lose the title. Let Rob Van Dam get it so he can join the few that have held the WWE Championship, World's Heavyweight Championship, and ECW Championship in the WWE. He can then drop the title to Sandow, back to Del Rio, or some other upper-midcard heel. A title change should be coming sooner rather than later.

Should Alberto Del Rio Join The Corporate Stable?

It is pretty clear that Alberto Del Rio has been getting very boring treatment recently. As I have pointed out before, the main reason for this has been the big angle involving Triple H and Daniel Bryan overshadowing so much else. With Rob Van Dam getting more involved with that big storyline recently, it is even more evident that there is some overshadowing going on.

Should Alberto Del Rio just join the top heel group? In case you have forgotten, he is the other World Champion. I know they have slightly teased the idea of Del Rio working with Triple H and Triple H setting Rob Van Dam up for Del Rio, but that path has not been clearly developed. I still think Del Rio deserves better than he is getting. Call me delusional, but I don't believe he is as not over as some fans seem to think. I am not saying he gets monster heat every second he is out there, but I think he tries and has connected well with the fans. They just cannot keep the ball rolling. There has been not enough great character development for the guy. They do a great job of showing how vicious he can be, but he has a gimmick that goes beyond that. They should be doing more to show him as a man of power and influence. Getting him more involved alongside Triple H would be a great rub for him.

Are they likely to do it? With the direction they are going with this angle, I don't think so. Instead of strengthening an actual stable, they are running this as Triple H and Stephanie faking being fair to their workers that are unhappy with them. And it just seems stupid. It should be leading in a direction where their allies become alienated from them. That is to say, all their goons should be getting pissed off and turning on them. Triple H did not hand Orton back the title. Big Show is being forced to do what the heels want. And now Triple H is putting The Shield in the kind of match they just had on Raw? Those are pretty much all the henchmen that are on their side, and all have legitimate reasons to turn on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Why would they have Del Rio align himself with Triple H? So Triple H can somehow screw Del Rio out of the title? This storyline just doesn't seem to be going in a believable direction. Is it entertaining, at least? For me, it's too confusing to be entertaining. With friends like Triple H and Stephanie, who needs enemies?

Will Sandow Cash In At Night Of Champions?

Whenever you have a briefcase hovering around, you have to be asking when it will be cashed in. Does that mean I will be writing about that every week? No. Once a month around the time of a PPV? Maybe. Sandow still has the briefcase and Night of Champions is coming up. Will he cash in at the PPV? Possibly on the Raw or Smackdown after the PPV?

First of all, who will be the World's Heavyweight Champion that he might potentially cash in on? It's Alberto Del Rio vs. Rob Van Dam. This has been a very dry feud. If it wasn't for Ricardo being involved, this feud would be even more horrible. Even with him involved, the storyline build has not been great. RVD has looked mostly great during the feud. Christian looked great when he feuded with Del Rio last month. Christian, however, did not win the title. I would expect Del Rio to retain again. However, and this is where the wildcard comes in, if the WWE is going to have Sandow cash in, it would make sense for the heel with the briefcase to cash in on a face. A rule like that is not written in stone, but if they are going for the cash in, RVD winning it just to drop it to Sandow would not be unimaginable.

That leads to the big question, is now the time to have Damien Sandow use the briefcase? If you are going to develop someone to be a World Champion, it would help to, you know, actually develop him. Sandow has not had any proper development since his feud with Cody Rhodes ended. Since then, he has been getting random matches. He has been losing a lot. I know I have pointed out the World's Heavyweight Championship's fall from proper focus, but just handing it to Sandow right now would be even worse. I am not saying he should never be a World Champion. They just need to develop the guy better. Fluke wins against Sheamus and Miz won't do it. They need to get around to giving him bigger feuds. Why is Fandango the guy feuding with a former WWE Champion, while the guy that might become the first first-time World Champion in the WWE in over a year is getting nothing? If they have him cash in without proper build, I am not confident they will book him to win. There is still plenty of time for Sandow to cash in. I don't think he will cash in this quickly and I imagine Alberto Del Rio will retain his title.

The Decline Of Alberto Del Rio? And His Title?

Alberto Del Rio has not really been featured that well in the last few weeks. He has not been featured in the main event of Smackdown. WWE title matters are overflowing to Smackdown recently in a manner that you have not had in a while. As far as Raw goes, he has not exactly been regularly featured in the hot spots. The start of the show, 9:00, 10:00, and the end of the show, the main-event segment, are usually when you get a nice growth in viewers and the WWE puts in their top stars and angles. The corporate stable storyline has been getting those slots, as well as CM Punk's issues with Paul Heyman. No Del Rio.

His feud with Rob Van Dam isn't that interesting. Aside from the World title being on the line, the only thing to spice this up is the fact that Ricardo is involved. Whose side is he really on? I can't picture Rob Van Dam keeping a ring announcer for an extended period of time. The expected swerve would be for Ricardo to help Del Rio retain the title. Ricardo just fits better with Del Rio. Aside from that, this really is a dull feud. Even with that added angle, this is still a dull feud. They need to develop this more outside of just wrestling matches. Have more segments. If they don't want to tease Ricardo still being on Del Rio's side to treat screwing RVD out of the title as more of a surprise, that's fine. But how about still using Ricardo more in this feud? It is so dry right now.

What does this all mean for the World's Heavyweight Championship? This is a World title in the WWE. Many PPVs have closed with this title on the line, including a few Wrestlemanias. Right now, it can't even find a consistent spot in the main event of Smackdown. How much is credibility of a title worth? The credibility of this title is definitely taking a hit to be handled like this. It is like a midcard title. I think it should definitely be possible to spread the spotlight better. Not only for Del Rio's sake, but for the sake of keeping title feuds over this title hyped well. Keep people interested in it. Help it help you draw.

Oh, There's Big Show

Big Show finally returned. He returned on Raw during a segment involving The Shield, Rob Van Dam, and Mark Henry. The segment was very similar to something TNA had recently with Tito Ortiz. I'm not going to say more about that. However, it does look like Summerslam is taking shape even more.

First, you have the fact that Big Show is face again. He started the year as a heel, went face briefly to feud with The Shield, turned heel again, disappeared, and then comes back as a face again to feud with The Shield. I have been saying for weeks now that the WWE does not have a lot of top heels. Was turning Big Show face a good idea? Someone better be turning heel at Summerslam in that Cena/Bryan/Orton situation.

Rob Van Dam won a battle royal to get a shot at Dean Ambrose's United States title. Better than a random filler match for RVD. It would have been nice if they actually developed this feud, but this is still good. It was after that battle royal that The Shield came out to get Mark Henry and Rob Van Dam. Big Show came out. Big Show and Mark Henry going for those tag titles.

Question is, is it time for The Shield to drop the gold? All the gold? Some of the gold? You have some other tag teams in the division now. There are some other heel teams that could deserve more of the spotlight right now. Swagger and Cesaro? Bray Wyatt and his group can also be in that picture. The WWE has not done a great job in keeping The Shield looking interesting. Taking the tag titles off them would not be so bad. Considering a possible alternative would be having Big Show turn on Mark Henry and go heel again, a safer bet would just be to give the faces the titles. What's the point of giving The Shield a big win against two monsters, who have both been World Champions before, if you can't keep doing anything great with them after that? The Shield is just no longer fresh to keep the tag titles on them and the WWE is failing to try better. Where does that leave Ambrose and RVD? I can't picture the group losing the tag titles and Ambrose still out there with his title. It could be the start of an angle to split the group. Moreover, it really isn't unimaginable that RVD can lose here. It's not like he is still undefeated since his return. Would a short title run for RVD be good? The WWE has not really pushed him well since his return. I would have The Shield lose all their titles.

RVD Has No Feud

Rob Van Dam came back a few weeks ago. The WWE knew for quite a while that he would be coming back. And who did they pick to have him work with in his first official feud since returning? Still waiting to find out.

This is a disappointment. Rob Van Dam is a former WWE Champion, is popular, is good in the ring, and probably does have several options to enter some kind of feud. And yet, just random matches. You can criticize him for his mic skills, but that is really no excuse for not developing some kind of feud for him. I am not really complaining because I personally really want to see him feud with someone in particular, but because I feel they are dropping the ball here. They hype him so much that he is going to return, then they just let things fizzle out so easily. I would expect that kind of thing from TNA.

Whom should he be feuding with? Randy Orton was originally the choice I would have made. That was before Orton's recent push. How about have RVD feud with Curtis Axel over the Intercontinental Championship? If it won't be Miz, how about RVD get a title shot for Summerslam. This can also transition to some kind of tag match down the road. Combine CM Punk's feud with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman with RVD's title feud against Curtis Axel. RVD and Heyman definitely have a history, so RVD would fit into that story. There is also the possibility of throwing him into some type of multi-man match at Summerslam for the World's Heavyweight Championship. I won't spoil who gets the title shot. I will talk about that later on. But I will say that adding an extra body or two would not have been a bad idea. No one says RVD has to win a title, but giving him a good feud would make sense after his hyped return.

Money In The Bank 2013 Ladder Matches Preview

The WWE has had a few weeks to develop the two briefcase ladder matches since I first talked about it. My main complaint was the imbalance of star power, as well as a face/heel alignment imbalance. I understand they were going for "All Stars" and "Rising Stars" themes, but have they developed things well enough to really showcase those themes? I don't think so. They have just had some random matches here and there featuring the wrestlers in these two matches. The few promos have not really pushed the themes very well. You gave the matches themes and don't really do much to play on those themes. I would have had the WWE mix things up. Don't separate things like they did. How do you decide who would end up in which match? Have the General Managers have qualifying matches. You might not have enough talent for that, but how about making things easier by having 6 guys in each match? What about RVD? He obviously wouldn't be in a qualifying match. Have Vickie give him a guaranteed spot to please one of the McMahons. It would have worked in with that storyline. And it could have all even culminated on Smackdown with a battle royal to find the final participant in that Money in the Bank ladder match for the World's Heavyweight Championship contract. It would have mixed things up, made things intriguing throughout all the weeks building up to the PPV, and it wouldn't be as lackluster as just naming the participants and having them wrestle each other after.

All that out of the way, I am not even going to bother predicting who will win the two matches. I am just going to talk about the storylines involved in each match and talk about who I would like to win.

The match for the World's Heavyweight Championship contract has all those heels involved. It also features two sets of teams. You have Antonio Cesaro & Jack Swagger and Rhodes Scholars. A split isn't likely in the former duo, but it is in the latter. They have been teasing issues between Sandow and Rhodes. That will definitely play into this match. And that will eventually lead to the split. Who turns face? Most likely Cody Rhodes. Swagger and Cesaro may trade a few blows in the match, but there is no reason to split them up before they really got to do anything as a team. Having Dean Ambrose, the U.S. Champion, win the briefcase would be unnecessary. He already has something going for him and hasn't really connected with the fans amazingly, yet. There will be time for him. I would personally like Wade Barrett to win this one. Of all the guys in this match, he is really the one with nothing right now. Cesaro and Swagger are starting a team and have a gimmick. Rhodes and Sandow have a break up coming. Ambrose has a title. Fandango has his gimmick. What does Barrett have? Give him a briefcase.

The match for the WWE Championship contract has so many former World Champions in it, it deserves to be the true main event of the PPV. I know they sold the idea that someone could win that briefcase and cash it in later in the night against Cena, meaning Cena vs. Henry would be the main event, but it would make sense for all the stars to get the main event. Last year's Money in the Bank ended with the ladder match. Then again, it also ended with Cena. The return of Rob Van Dam is obviously a big storyline for this match. Would they hand him the briefcase right away? I don't think so. Then again, he probably has a better chance than Christian. As far as CM Punk goes, everyone can picture CM Punk about to win the match, then Brock Lesnar comes out to screw him. That sets up the match for Summeslam. They have really been pushing Daniel Bryan hard in recent weeks. Building him for the win? He has won it before. He really doesn't need it again to enter a feud with John Cena. If he still had that "weak link" angle going, then it would make sense for him to win this. Not there, so why bother? And it's not like he's in the midst of a title drought. He held the tag titles just a few months ago. Randy Orton has also been getting a bit of the attention lately. That is who I would like to see win. He has not held a title in a long time. He has never won a briefcase. He obviously doesn't need it, but John Cena needed it even less than him. It would be a good way to make Orton relevant again.

2013 WWE Championship Money In The Bank Ladder Match

Randy Orton, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Sheamus, Christian, and CM Punk. I would consider that overkill. Those are the guys who will be in the ladder match at Money in the Bank for the briefcase for the WWE Championship title shot. All of these guys are top stars who have held a World title before in the WWE. And all these guys happen to be faces. The WWE has really piled it on with this match.

Should Chris Jericho be in this match? He is a face who has been World Champion before, so he fits in with the rest. I understand he is now feuding with Ryback, but could they have shuffled things a little differently so Jericho was in this match and someone else faced Ryback? Jericho fits Money in the Bank matches well. If I had to reshuffle the booking, I would let Jericho and Sheamus trade spots. Jericho does not have to win the briefcase, but he would fit in this match. And Ryback definitely does not deserve to have all the air let out of him after feuding with John Cena. A feud with Sheamus may not have been a demotion. Jericho is more of a jobber these days than Sheamus, but I don't think it is a lock that Ryback would be winning whatever feud he gets now. Just having Ryback work with top stars is a good thing for him.

Who wins this briefcase? Many think Daniel Bryan is the favorite to win. He has had this "weak link" storyline and having him win it might have made sense based on that. Problem is, the WWE hasn't booked that storyline very well. He picked up big wins the week before Payback. That storyline could have ended right there. They continued it. He beat Randy Orton is decisive fashion this week. That has to be it for that storyline. If they were going to have this storyline lead up to him winning the briefcase, they should have continued booking him to lose and get fluke wins. The frustration leads to him eventually winning the briefcase. That's his big moment. Whether or not he wins the title, that would be a different story. As of now, that should not be the story of this ladder match. But who wins? Let's see how they develop things further.

This match really shows that the WWE lacks depth when it comes to main-event heels. Without bringing up the possibility of turning one of these faces heel, you have very few top heels doing anything right now. Mark Henry is feuding with Cena, but he will have to retire sooner or later. He has been in the WWE for over a decade. Alberto Del Rio is currently World Champion. Brock Lesnar isn't here full-time. Guys like Ryback and the members of The Shield aren't at the level of these other guys. The Shield has been losing momentum. Should they keep Dolph Ziggler heel? I would say he has not fully turned face yet. He did attack Jericho this week. Retaliation for Jericho attacking him? Okay, but he still attacked him. It depends on how well the fans are connecting with him, but it would be worth thinking about to keep him heel just so you have more top heels. Turning to the faces in this match, who should turn heel, if anyone? I would say Randy Orton. He has been having issues with faces recently, mainly Daniel Bryan. Shouldn't be too hard to turn him.

RVD To Return

Not the person I expected to be talking about the day after Payback. Rob Van Dam is officially returning to the WWE. He will be at Money in the Bank.

RVD is definitely a popular individual and can go in the ring. Age is definitely a factor, but even at his age, he is still more fun to watch than certain guys the WWE does feature a lot. Having him back will certainly be a good thing.

Let me give the negative side of his return. This is another situation where the WWE has to rely on past stars to try to create hype and draw for them. How are they really doing with the current roster? If a guy like Sheamus was to go away for a few years and come back, would he draw as much buzz as Brock Lesnar returning? That is an extreme example. Let me just stick to RVD for a moment. He is not at the same level as The Rock or Brock Lesnar. It will be good to have him back, and he will certainly get a warm welcome, but I wouldn't expect too much when it comes to ratings or PPV buys as you would The Rock.

Who should he enter a feud with? I could probably run down an entire list. However, if it only came down to one person, I would like to see him feud with Randy Orton again. It was Orton who ended RVD's WWE career in kayfabe. Is it time for Orton to turn heel again? Possibly so. And if he does, feuding with a face RVD would be good. It would be better than having RVD randomly beat Chris Jericho in his return match.

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.