Kofi/Barrett And A Look At Ratings

It looks like there will be a feud between Kofi Kingston and Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship. They put on a very good match on Raw. This should turn out to be the best thing for Barrett since his return. Even though it is just a basic title feud, and one that has happened before on Smackdown, I just have this feeling like it is fresh. Barrett has developed a lot on his own now. This guy has a lot of potential to be a big star. And this feud doesn't even need a fancy storyline to it. They both have the skills to go in the ring. The WWE just has to pace it out a little bit. Don't rush the title match for next week, then kill it all off. At the same time, don't drag it on for months. If they pace it properly, this should be a great feud for the midcard.

How about the ratings? Haven't talked about that in a while. Smackdown's numbers are down from last year. The yearly average was  1.95 in 2011. It is currently at a 1.89 this year. I don't think it's that huge of a tragedy. Most of the bad numbers have come about for those live editions they had this year. Live editions did do well last year, but have been drawing lower ratings this year. If the WWE had not done those live editions this year, Smackdown's numbers wouldn't look too bad. That's why you really shouldn't worry too much for Smackdown.

Raw is on a roll. A roll all the way down. They have not seen a 3.0 in 11 weeks now. December will not be kind. There is no way they will be able to avoid this being their worst year in the ratings in over a decade. Did I say that same thing last year? Well, they would need to get this year's average up to a 3.2 to meet the 2011 annual average. They are currently at a 3.06. It cannot be done, especially with the recent trend of ratings below a 3.0. They are pretty much just fighting not to have the annual average drop below a 3.0. That is at least a possibility, and an embarrassing one.

TNA's ratings have dropped from last year, but that's not what I want to talk about. Last week's rating was a 1.1. So what? That's the highest number they have gotten since August. Yeah, and? Last week's episode was a taped episode and did go against football. A taped episode that went against the NFL still saw a better number than some of the live episodes this year that did not go against that kind of competition. Part of it is probably due to this episode coming off a PPV, but the ratings for similar episodes in recent months haven't been as high as a 1.1. It makes you wonder, going live was supposed to gain more viewers from those who would rather read spoilers and skip the show if it doesn't look interesting, but a taped show ends up getting you a good number? Don't expect this week's ratings to be any indicator of a trend, since it is Thanksgiving. Nevertheless, would it even matter if TNA decided not to be live anymore?

What's Left For Ryback?

CM Punk retained the title at Survivor Series. I am not going to repeat my entire argument why the match should not have had that outcome. Let me just say, you basically had a situation where the ends would have justified the means. I don't think the way the WWE handled the booking and storyline development really makes up for the sloppy build to the PPV. Oh well, move on.

What about Ryback? He is an a similar situation as Kozlov was back in 2008. Kozlov came on as a dominant heel, got a few title shots on Smackdown, then slowly fizzled out. Aside from the fact that Ryback is a face, the big difference between Kozlov back then and Ryback now is overness. Ryback is a lot more over at this point than Kozlov was during that big push. But will Ryback still fizzle out? That is to say, will the WWE slowly let the air out and bring him back down. After that first loss, a lot of momentum is lost. Than another loss comes up. And others. Before you know it, Ryback is a comedy character holding the tag titles with Santino Marella.

What should the WWE do with Ryback? Obviously, based on what went on at Survivor Series, there will be possibilities for him immediately. But what would I have rather seen? Have him feud for the World's Heavyweight Championship. Put an end to Big Show feuding with Sheamus and bring in Ryback. When Ryback was feuding with CM Punk for the WWE title, a lot of people in the wrestling world were saying that it would be a good idea to have Ryback win. He didn't. The moment has passed. He has been taken down a notch. Well, why not have him feud for the title that is a notch below the WWE title? Depending on how well he handled the feud, you might have even had him win the title. Take proper advantage of the situation while there is still some hype and momentum.

Cena's Year Away From The Title

Since there is a possibility that John Cena's year of not being WWE Champion could come to an end this Sunday, I decided to talk about that today. It also reminds me of something from the diva division. And to close up, I'll talk about the WWE title match at Survivor Series.

When CM Punk beat John Cena for the title last year, some people acted like this was the first time John Cena had ever lost the WWE Championship. CM Punk went on to lose the title, but he then regained it. He has now held it for almost a year. As far as Cena goes, that means he has not held the title for over a year. Unheard of? Just like John Cena losing the title to CM Punk last year was not the first time that happened, John Cena not holding the title for over a year has happened before.

Go back to 2007. Cena was having a title reign that lasted over a year. It ended when he had to vacate it due to injury. About a year after Cena dropped it, he suffered another injury. When he returned from that injury, he won the World's Heavyweight Championship from Chris Jericho. He ended up not holding a World title for over a year. Aside from the injuries keeping him away, Cena did feud for the title, have a brief run with the tag titles, feud with JBL for a few months, and have a brief feud with Batista. Meanwhile, the World Champions on Raw during this time included Randy Orton, Triple H, CM Punk, Batista, and Chris Jericho. On some nights, John Cena's feuds still trumped title feuds. He never really stopped being the centerpiece of the company. They just gave him a brief rest from title matters.

Compare 2007/08 to 2011/12. He is once again going a year without a title. Despite that, he has often trumped CM Punk's title feuds over the past year. Big difference between this period and the previous period, to me, is the variety of World Champions you have had during Cena's drought. You had 5 different guys trading around the WWE Championship or World's Heavyweight Championship in the previous period. In the current one, all you have is a brief run for Alberto Del Rio and Punk's long run. Couldn't some people argue that 2008's title scene was fresher? No Cena. Various guys were holding the title. And yet, people still act like what's going on now has never happened before in any way since Cena became centerpiece. Don't get me wrong, you can still argue things are stale and Cena is overpushed, but there are some criticisms people come up with that are really not true. Cena hasn't always been holding the title prior to Punk "saving" the WWE. He's had a 1-year drought before.

It made me think about Trish Stratus and her centerpiece run. Trish is obviously the greatest centerpiece the diva division ever produced. Remember how she got her first four reigns. She won the vacated title, lost it to Jazz, won it from Jazz, lost it to Molly Holly, won it from Molly Holly, lost it to Victoria, won it from Victoria, and lost it to Jazz. That is how she won 4 title reigns in about 2 years. I wasn't an Internet wrestling fan back then, but I wondered if people complained about that. Regardless, after losing the title to Jazz for the second time, Trish didn't regain the title again until the following year. Meanwhile, Trish got angles involving Lita, Chris Jericho, and Christian. The women who did hold the title during that time included Jazz, Gail Kim, Molly Holly, and Victoria. Fresh. Four credible jobbers held the title. You look at the five guys who held the World title on Raw during Cena's first year away from the title. All are legends. People can debate whether what I am about to say is true for Batista, but all those guys will one day be in the WWE Hall of Fame. Can you say those kind of things for the four women who held the Women's Championship during Trish's break from the title? You can say it, but who would really buy it? Point is, giving John Cena a break from the title is nothing unheard of. It has even happened in the diva division with the centerpiece there. A break from the title doesn't mean you stop being the centerpiece. More than likely, they will eventually regain it. Trish went on to win 3 more title reigns. Cena has won about triple that number since his first drought.

Who wins at Survivor Series? If they were going to put the title on Ryback, Hell in a Cell would have been the place to do it. If they do not put the title on Cena, then the whole switch they made in their plans would have been stupid. You put John Cena in a title match just so CM Punk can retain the title, instead of following through with your original Survivor Series plans for Punk and Mick Foley? The sloppiness would have been for nothing. I know the popular response is Cena being in the title match is a draw. Well, if Cena is such a draw, shouldn't the fact that he was going to end up on the card facing Dolph Ziggler as part of an elaborate storyline involving Vickie Guerrero and AJ Lee still draw? It would make it worth it if this was all done to get the title on Cena. If not, what a waste. And keep in mind, Cena's title drought in 2008 ended with him winning the title at Survivor Series. Will the same thing happen?

Traditional Survivor Series Tag Team Mess

Things really became messy last week as far as the major feuds heading into Survivor Series go. Things didn't get separated cleanly this week. Usually, I like when feuds mix a little bit. It makes things less one-dimensional. The problem with recent developments is that it was not originally planned to mix things up like this. These are all drastic changes, but with the WWE still trying to connect everything.

The biggest thing I don't like was the huge changes to the traditional elimination tag match. The angle with Miz and putting in Barrett are fine changes. But this started out as Team Foley vs. Team Punk. Pulling out Punk was huge. Once he's out, it only made sense that Ryback would be still feuding with him, so he's out, too. What's left? Team Foley vs. Team Ziggler? Why?

On this week's Raw, they were still pushing the issues between Punk and Mick Foley. Mick Foley was involved in the main event. You have Paul Heyman still involved in an angle with Brad Maddox, judging by the tease they had on Raw, but it would have been better if Heyman was still involved more in the tag match. If Mick Foley can captain a team he will not actually be a part of as a wrestler, why can't Heyman? Heyman vs. Foley. That would make it easier to connect Foley to CM Punk's matters.

You then have other issues. Cody Rhodes may be injured. Hope he's not, but there are also kayfabe (storyline) issues. Miz coming into the match seems to be leading to an angle with him and Kane and Daniel Bryan. Orton and Del Rio are still going at it. Some of these other guys just seem left out. And Ziggler is definitely one of them. He was just made leader. He didn't even have a real reason to feud with Mick Foley. And when you take a step back, there is no overall reason for this whole feud to be happening. The Miz involvement has promise. Wade Barrett getting this push is good. But beyond things like that, what's the overall reason for this match? Before all these changes, back when it was CM Punk feuding with Mick Foley, you had some overall focus for this match. Now, it's just a mess.

Who wins? With all honesty, I don't even care. Nothing is on the line in this match. It is such a mess and built so badly, I can't really get interested in this. Don't know if I'm just speaking for myself on that one, but I believe the better the development, the more potential to deliver. The triple threat for the WWE title will obviously be a bigger draw, but they really messed up the potential of this tag match. As for who wins, I will go for the faces. This can be the match that really solidifies Miz as a face. I don't think this is a fake turn.

William Regal Is Alive

William Regal, one of my favorites, has been seeing more time on Raw and Smackdown lately. A lot more time. More interestingly than that, they just seemed to randomly turn him face in the process. And yet, it doesn't seem that forced.

Regal is being used as a supporting character or pawn in the bigger feud between Big Show and Sheamus. Big Show used Regal on Raw to send Sheamus a message.

Could this lead to anything more with William Regal? After this week, it can be easy to imagine him just being phased back down and out as easily as he came into this feud. But can they do something more? They don't need to develop Regal to be a contender for the World's Heavyweight Championship. It would be nice, but there are a lot of young guys who need that push. It was interesting to see the WWE develop this relationship with Regal and Sheamus. If Sheamus does not regain the title, could a regular partnership with Regal be in the works? It could give Sheamus an angle to work with. Before Sheamus entered the title scene earlier this year, all he was really doing was picking up wins. He wasn't getting any real feuds or storylines developed. Sheamus is already over and credible. Now would be the time to start giving him more creative angles to work with. A partnership with Regal could be interesting. Of course, on the other side of that, you could see Regal screw Sheamus at Survivor Series. Why would he? Because he's bitter at Sheamus not protecting him from Big Show? And that can lead to a feud between the two. It would easily give Sheamus something to do after Big Show.

R-Truth Follows Kofi's Path

Before I talk about what I want to, let me go back to what I talked about last time. I went on and on, so it may have been hard to get my point. My point was, when looking at how the WWE is currently using Askana and Kaitlyn, you could either view it as the WWE's standards are dropping for their diva division or eye-candy periphery divas are being used s credible jobbers because of a shortage of real female wrestlers. Lowering of standards or credible jobber shortage? Is the problem a mix of both? Which is worse? You can argue that one is leading to the other. Point is, before you can solve your problems, it helps to know exactly what your problems are. Just saying the WWE diva division sucks is a generalization which will not help too much.

Onto R-Truth. He is in a feud with Antonio Cesaro, the U.S. Champion. It looks like he is following in the path of his former tag partner, Kofi Kingston, who is now holding a  midcard title.

Should R-Truth win the title or just be used to put over Cesaro. I don't find Cesaro too interesting, so maybe I should be saying R-Truth should win the title. And yet, I don't think he really needs it. He and Kofi just had a long run with the tag titles. R-Truth is popular and has held the U.S. title before, but I don't think tossing him a title just to save him from getting lost in the shuffle is the way to go. There are other good workers in the midcard who could use a title run to either reward them for solid work, develop them to move up the card, make midcard matters more interesting, or whatever other reason there might be. As for R-Truth, it shouldn't be hard to develop some kind of non-title feud for him.

Let me tell you how I would have handled Kofi and R-Truth after they lost the tag titles. Have both of them feud against either Miz or Cesaro. Triple threat. Neither of them would have to turn heel, but the possibility that it could happen would get fans talking and interested in the feud. At Survivor Series a few years ago, you had The Undertaker defending his World title against Big Show and Chris Jericho, who were a team at the time, and John Cena defending his World title against Triple H and Shawn Michaels, who were a team at the time. Would trying this kind of thing in the midcard have been that bad? I don't think so.

Askana & Kaitlyn: Two New Credible Jobbers?

Askana and Kaitlyn were both a part of that NXT season that featured new divas. Kaitlyn won that season. Askana has had a few storylines alongside the guys. In this current dark age of the diva division, however, they find themselves being used as credible jobbers.

With Beth Phoenix gone, you had to wonder who they would push to fill her spot as heel credible jobber. Eve is the centerpiece, and also a heel. Natalya is a heel credible jobber, but she is not fresh at all. When you get right down to it, it seems Askana is the heel they are teaming with Eve in tag matches. She doesn't have much credibility at all. I don't really want to consider her a credible jobber, but they may actually use her in that role. She definitely doesn't have anything going on for her in the periphery. Askana really reminds me of one of those eye-candy periphery divas you would have a decade ago, like Stacy Keibler. You never had to invest too much creative interest into women like that. Their beauty and sexy/cute characters got the job done by themselves. In this current diva division, with issues in developing a centerpiece and a shortage of real credible jobbers, Askana can't have the same kind of career that someone like Stacy Keibler had. If the WWE had been more consistent in teaming her up with the guys, like Cesaro, or keeping her involved in GM storylines, I would say Askana was a periphery diva, without any doubt. Right now, she is not getting the development and seems to be getting used more as a credible jobber.

Kaitlyn seems to be still in the title picture. I mentioned before that a storyline like you have going on right now would usually involve the face getting payback against the heel by taking the title. Problem is, Kaitlyn really isn't a great wrestler. I don't even want to waste time arguing whether she is better than Askana. Eve is definitely better in the ring than both. And yet, without considering promoting a female wrestler from developmental, you don't really have any good options to take the title off of Eve. In terms of the storyline that is going on, Kaitlyn would be the obvious choice. I don't want to say that they will give her the title. I don't want to believe that their standards are dropping that far. No offense to Kaitlyn, but I don't think she's even at the level Layla is currently at.

It would not be unusual for eye-candy periphery divas to sometimes be used to put over a centerpiece or credible jobber, who would then be used to eventually put over a centerpiece. Stacy Keibler was used in that role a few times. Maria was used like that just a few years ago. The main difference between that time in the diva division and now, as I already mentioned, is you had a lot of real credible jobbers back then. With a shortage of real female wrestlers and the WWE relying more on women who came in as eye-candy models to be jobbers to the centerpiece and act as interim centerpiece, women like Askana and Kaitlyn can legitimately be used as credible jobbers. Another way of trying to put what is currently going on, women like those two are still eye-candy periphery divas, but not as effective as a diva like Stacy Kiebler was a decade ago. They definitely do not have the overness. When you combine how ineffective they are with all the other problems in the diva division, they are being called upon more often to fill the duties of true credible jobbers. If the WWE had more female wrestlers or eye-candy divas with solid wrestling ability to be credible jobbers, these eye-candy divas who are not at that level in the ring yet would be getting featured a lot differently. They would be pushed more as periphery divas. It might also help if PG went away.

Miz To Turn Face?

Coming off this week of major changes to the major storylines on Raw, it seems Miz may actually be turning face. They are definitely teasing it. A few months ago, when Miz was doing commentary on Raw, I remember thinking that this guy may actually do well with a face turn. That is character development. That is making him interesting again. This can be really good.

However, there is something else to consider. What if this is a trap? What if the story will be about the face team trusting Miz enough to let him join them, but then he turns on them to help the heels win? It would fit with Paul Heyman's reputation of being an evil genius. There is another guy I think they have been under-utilizing. This little bit of uncertainty can make this tag match even more interesting and possibly branch off to a great storyline after.

Face turn or trap? Which direction do I like better? Honestly, I think either would be great. No matter what, Miz gets used better. No matter what, you have something that may connect well with the fans. As long as the WWE develops it properly, this is a situation that will most likely lead to something good.

Cena Vs. Punk Vs. Ryback

Unless there is some big injury or a major star just walked out of the company, you really do not see the WWE just be so indecisive with major matters. Last week, you had one clear direction for everything related to Raw's top stars. This week, everything seemed to change. I am glad that Wade Barrett now has focus. Aside from that, you have some major changes. A Survivor Series tag team match that was good enough to be in the main event and possibly have more at stake has gotten demoted drastically. John Cena, who appeared to be out of both the main-event scene and title picture for Survivor Series, will now be getting a title shot against CM Punk, along with Ryback. This triple threat is what I want to talk about here.

I am not against CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. Ryback. It would have been great for the previous PPV. I was looking forward to a rest from John Cena. I was preparing myself to say that CM Punk had gone from taking the spot Randy Orton left on Raw when he went to Smackdown to becoming something like what you had with The Rock over a decade ago, alongside Steve Austin. With the WWE throwing in John Cena into the scene, I am going to hold off on saying that. The WWE is still making it clear who the obvious top guy is.

What about Ryback? His issues with Punk were obviously not over. It is good that he is still in the picture. Had they not made any changes to Survivor Series, they could have had Ryback be the star of his team. That would branch off to a title shot at the following PPV, and that is where you could have pushed in John Cena to make it a triple threat. That would have been a neater way of doing things.

Given the fact that they are rushing this title match, it raises the question about whether this will be the end of Punk's reign. If it is, the title probably won't be going to Ryback. With Cena in this match, and with The Rock in the background, you can easily figure out who would win at Survivor Series. Cena wins, retains against Punk at TLC, and then faces The Rock and the Royal Rumble. If that is not what the WWE is planning, I think it is foolish to mess up their plans so much.

You might constantly hear fans saying that the WWE doesn't really worry too much about their ratings and neither should the fans. Raw is still watched by millions of people every week. The WWE is easily beating TNA. The WWE is making a ton of money. Fact still is, the WWE is going in the wrong direction in some ways. Ratings are an easy indicator, albeit not the only one. If they do not like the direction they are going, they might make drastic changes or invest a ton in certain wrestlers, while ignoring others. There are a ton of mistakes that could be made. Vince McMahon has been regularly on Raw for a few weeks now. The classic idea is that Vince would bring in the ratings. Has he? Well, Raw still has not reached a 3.0. I believe these drastic changes from last week to this week show that the WWE is aware of the decline, wants to do something to change things around, and they just cannot get it together properly. Will they eventually end 3 hours? Will that help?

Wade Barrett Is Jobbing To The Stars

Wade Barrett is currently being used as a jobber to the stars. Most people might disagree, since he did exchange some victories with Randy Orton in recent weeks. Problem is, Wade Barrett has only beaten Randy Orton when Alberto Del Rio was there to cost Orton the match. Wade Barrett is just a supporting character in the larger feud between Orton and Del Rio. These two are still going at it. Both are a part of a major Survivor Series match. Wade Barrett does not have any real direction at all.

If Wade Barrett had his own proper feud going on, I would not be saying he is a jobber. He would be getting development for that feud, regardless of wins and losses. It is tough to watch this, if you are a Barrett fan. He had so much momentum prior to his injury. And now, he is getting shuffled around. If Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton were the captains of a traditional Survivor Series match, I don't think it would be hard to imagine that Wade would be one of the heels involved in that match. It wouldn't be the same as a personal feud for him, but it would be better than getting meaningless wins as part of some other guys' feud.

What could Barrett have to look forward to? The Royal Rumble is still two months away, so I won't mention that. What can they do for him in the coming weeks? That Intercontinental Championship is finally on a face. Yes, that face is tied into the same big tag match that Alberto Del Rio and Randy Orton are a part of. Kofi Kingston might even end up defending the title against Miz again. After that, why not make the next contender Wade Barrett? I know these two feuded over the title before, but it's still fresher than seeing Kofi face Ziggler. As of right now, that seems like the best option for Barrett.