New World's Heavyweight Champion: Alberto Del Rio

A few weeks ago, Alberto Del Rio had a face turn that came out of nowhere. This week, he was a part of something else that seemed to come out of nowhere. He has beaten Big Show on Smackdown for the World's Heavyweight Championship.

I'm a Del Rio fan, so I'm not against him winning the title. I am also not against title changes happening on Raw and Smackdown. Mix it up a little, don't let it always happen on PPVs. And yet, I do have a problem. It was too sudden and not developed well. It was obvious Del Rio was entering a feud with Big Show. If they wanted to have the title change before the Royal Rumble, at least develop and hype that title match. As I said before, this title change came out of nowhere. The WWE is promoting it. Let's see how well ratings do with fans eager to see the title change.

I also don't like how strong they made Del Rio look in that match. It was a little much. It was the kind of thing you would expect from Cena. I didn't mind when the WWE was showing signs of making Del Rio into a master heel around his first title run, but I don't think every face they push in the main event needs to look superhuman. It does make Del Rio look good, but I'm not sure he really needed it.

Aside from those two issues, this situation is not horrible. I don't feel bad for Big Show losing the title. That's isn't an insult to Big Show. He had a good few months with the title. This isn't the same thing as Christian losing the title to Randy Orton on Smackdown. Not only did that come out of nowhere, a lot of fans viewed it as insulting to Christian. What happened with Big Show is not the same thing.

What Happens To Ryback Now?

Ryback did not win the WWE Championship against CM Punk on Raw. Punk does indeed look good enough to go against The Rock in a few weeks. But what about Ryback?

Obviously, since it was The Shield that cost Ryback the match, his issues with that group will continue. There are other people who still have issues with the group, including Randy Orton, so finding someone to team with Ryback in this feud will not be a problem.

Due to the recent title change, which I will talk about next time, it does not look like Ryback feuding with Big Show over the title will be an option right now. I still think that would have been a good option. Ryback has a lot of momentum. Continuing it in a big title feud would have been good. Ryback and Big Show could still feud without a title on the line.

Since I'm on the subject of titles, what about Wade Barrett defending the IC title against Ryback? That would be a drop from feuding against CM Punk for the WWE Championship, but Ryback and Barrett have that history. That alone should make for a good feud.

Whatever happens, Ryback is going to get a bit of a depush. It was bound to happen. The issue will be how they keep the ball rolling with him. They obviously cannot let Ryback not want revenge against The Shield. After that, a feud with Barrett would make sense. That should set Ryback on a clear track for at least a few months. I don't picture Ryback getting lost in the shuffle easily, even though this is the time of the year where it sometimes may happen.

The Punjabi Princess

The Great Khali, Hornswoggle, and Natalya. An odd team. They have been together for a number of weeks now. Hornswoggle and Khali have actually teamed up. Natalya has just been inserted in there. This is obviously not something that will do too much for the diva division, but it would be scary if the WWE tried to do something with the tag division with this team.

What does this mean for Natalya? Are they developing her to be a periphery diva? I don't think so. First, there is no real development for her. Second, she is not exactly paired with a guy that is being pushed well. The Great Khali has not been relevant in years. He beats jobbers under him, but is frequently used to put over stars above him. Third, I cannot imagine the WWE being consistent with Natalya after this team breaks up. Consistency is one of the main things to look at when figuring out what kind of career a diva is getting. Go back to when Victoria had that long partnership with Stevie Richards. How would you compare Stevie Richards back then to The Great Khali now? Regardless, Victoria didn't get another good relationship with a superstar after that. Victoria was an obvious credible jobber, much like Natalya. This isn't Natalya's first time paired with the guys, but DH Smith and Tyson Kidd were not exactly pushed well for years. Getting to the point, going back to the original question, what does this mean for Natalya? Don't get your expectations up for anything too great.

It is still good that Natalya is getting featured, even though the development is not there to help her get over. Just like the WWE did more with the divas during their first dark age, you had to wonder how long it would take for them to do it now. That dark age started after the centerpiece left the company and they did not have a proper replacement already on the roster. This dark age came about after years of failure to recreate a good centerpiece. Even though they have a solid centerpiece now, I wouldn't say the problem solved until Eve has really solidified herself in that position. Beyond that, they have a shortage of good credible jobbers. Natalya is one of the good ones. Using her against Eve would not be enough to fix things and get out of this dark age, but I would not be surprised to see them feud in time. Kaitlyn will most likely win the title, but Eve will regain it in time. After that, unless they make the better decision of debuting someone fresh, Natalya is a good choice to feud with Eve. Until then, Natalya is benefiting in this current dark age by getting some periphery angles.

And what about Khali and Hornswoggle? Could you imagine them winning the tag titles? It obviously doesn't look like the WWE will head in that direction, but this tag division revival is slowing even further with only two teams getting the main spotlight. The WWE just cannot bring themselves to use The Usos or The Colons better. Jobber teams. The WWE has now formed another random team with Khali and Hornswoggle. If this trio ever feuds with 3MB, Natalya would make Jinder Mahal tap in under a minute.

2012 Ratings Review

Now that the numbers have come in for last year's ratings, I will take this time to just see how the three main shows have done in the previous year. Like always, I get my numbers from Gerweck.net.

Starting with TNA Impact Wrestling, and before actually looking at last year's ratings, last week's show did a 1.14. That is actually a boost from previous months. Hyping Sting did bring results. It was almost the highest number since TNA changed their time slot and went live. The problem will be keeping the number that high. You go back to the start of 2012. TNA stayed above a 1.0 for 14 weeks. After that, things started to fall apart. The annual average was a 1.01. That is close to being under a 1.0. That number is still the lowest yearly average since around the time TNA started out on Spike. Look at the annual average through the years here. That is not a good sign for TNA. 2011 saw their best annual average. 2012 sees one of their worst. I don't believe they will keep the ball rolling well in 2013.

Smackdown is doing well. Smackdown's numbers through the years can be found here. It is down from last year, but still up from 2010. The problem you have is that staleness. The brand split is gone, so top names from Raw can be used more regularly on Smackdown, but I think they can do a better job by going back to developing one long-term centerpiece for Smackdown. They have been rotating centerpieces frequently. Whoever has the title has typically gotten the spotlight. That's fine, but I think putting the title on Randy Orton, for instance, and really pushing him consistently well even after the reign ends will do some good. Or how about giving Dolph Ziggler that kind of treatment? I don't like them rotating centerpieces every few months. TNA does that. It's not very effective. Nevertheless, Smackdown should be staying around the same area this year in the ratings.

And then you have Raw. John Cena is still the clear centerpiece of that show. Would things have been different had CM Punk not gotten injured? That's another issue. What about the ratings? The numbers here tell the story. 2.99. The worst you could have ever wanted. Impact managed to stay above a 1.0, but Raw dropped below a 3.0. Blame it on December. Three-hour Raws and football also hurt. The WWE will have The Rock to help them this year, but he did not save them from the big drop last year. Moreover, Raw was not 3 hours for most of last year. Unless they give up on 3 hours, it will be that long every week this year. That does not seem to be helping their numbers. Viewers don't seem to be sitting through it well. 2012 was the year of CM Punk's long reign and Cena never winning any titles (aside from the briefcase). Do you put the blame on the WWE for not freshening up their main-event scene more on Raw? Cena being out of the title scene did not stop him from frequently being booked higher than Punk. Even though both Punk and Cena suffered injuries last year, I don't think that had much to do with the long run of ratings below a 3.0. The WWE still tried to keep things interesting, but they did not follow through properly. Can Cena still deliver as centerpiece? Give him 2013, but if he can't deliver as everyone says he can, they need to try something else. Yearlong title reigns do not seem to be the answer. The WWE should be able to bounce back this year. A 2.99 is very low. I cannot imagine them doing worse. They just need to start utilizing other talent better and figure out what to do with Cena. Going back to 2 hours might also help those numbers look better.

CM Punk Vs. Ryback: Part IV

CM Punk retained the WWE Championship against Ryback at Hell in a Cell. He retained the title against Ryback and John Cena at Survivor Series. He was supposed to defend it against Ryback at TLC, but an injury ruined that. And now, that match will be happening on Raw next week.

With The Rock getting his title shot in just a few weeks, the WWE would have liked for CM Punk to go into that match with the title. Even though I was for Ryback winning the title a few months ago, I never felt he would be the one to actually defend against The Rock. The Rock only comes back to wrestle rarely. He should be going against stars that are already established, like CM Punk or Randy Orton. Ryback is still in the process of being developed. I pictured a scenario of Ryback winning the title, but then CM Punk regaining it in time to face The Rock.

How will CM Punk's injury impact things? Getting passed Ryback is only one thing. In a TLC match, the WWE can find a cheap way to keep the title on Punk, especially with everything currently going on. But will Punk be ready to put on a good match with The Rock? As I just said, The Rock only wrestles on rare occasions. When you get him in the ring, you have to try to put on a good match. A match that lasts only a minute at the Royal Rumble may be criticized by many fans, regardless of the outcome. People have been anticipating this match since CM Punk attacked The Rock on Raw months ago. Then again, how fitting would it be for Punk's long title run to end in seconds? That kind of story is not unheard of. Nevertheless, I think going for a good match would be best here.

Does that mean Ryback should win the title and face The Rock? He is healthy. I don't know if he will be able to put on a great match. The time for him to win the WWE Championship has gone by. In the coming months, going after the World's Heavyweight Championship would be better. And yet, he is in that position to win the title and possibly face The Rock, which would be the biggest match in Ryback's career. I don't think it is going to happen.

If I had to predict, I would say CM Punk retains here. How will his match with The Rock go? That will depend on what happens after Ryback is out of the picture. The promos alone should make a feud between CM Punk and The Rock worth it.

Wade Barrett Wins The Intercontinental Championship

Kofi Kingston has lost the Intercontinental Championship to Wade Barrett. This is a very good move to still keep some attention on Barrett. It is true that this is pretty much the same spot he was in almost two years ago. He beat Kofi Kingston to win his first IC title. He beats him again to win his second IC title. What does that tell you about the midcard? I would say that pushing some new guys would be nice. Nevertheless, this may not be the same as touching the main-event scene's fringes, as Barrett was doing prior to his injury last year, but a good title reign can help transition him back into that bigger push, when the time is right.

And what about Kofi? I just finished saying that a good title reign can help transition Barrett to a bigger push. Kofi Kingston is a guy that seems to be always moving in and out of title reigns, but he has always been a midcarder. I am not expecting a bigger push for him now. He will probably get another good show at the Royal Rumble, but he will still be in the midcard. There are too many top guys right now ahead of him. After Kofi finishes up with Barrett, should he move on to Antonio Cesaro? If they don't develop some singles feud for him, I can picture him once again getting lost in multi-man matches.

Del Rio Face In 2013

I like how the WWE is developing Alberto Del Rio for his first official face run. It is simple, but effective. Use Ricardo. Have Big Show bully Ricardo. It is a little bit of a stretch to see Del Rio caring for the guy he has pushed around himself at times, but I like the relationship development. It is the kind of thing you would have seen if the WWE did that storyline involving Rosa coming in between Del Rio and Ricardo. I think this will work out well, if they keep things fresh, of course.

Should Del Rio beat Big Show for the title? After a very long title feud between Sheamus and Big Show, the last thing you might want to see is a long feud between Big Show and Del Rio. Either do it or don't. Luckily, Elimination Chamber is coming up after the Royal Rumble. A multi-man feud will develop for that. You won't have to worry about a feud between Big Show and Del Rio going stale. The feud is still fresh now. But should Del Rio win? Considering there are fresh guys like Ryback and Ziggler waiting around, I don't think so. Ryback isn't in the hunt for that title now, but that is the title he should win, if he wins any World title in the coming months.

With Del Rio going face, that may thing the ranks for top heels. Who turns heel? That is a subject for another day.

Sting Returns In 2013

When it comes to talking about how TNA runs their product, the main theme is rotation. They rotate who the centerpieces of their various divisions are. I don't see that as a good thing. They also rotate something else, their legends.

Sting is returning in 2013. How many times has Sting returned and left during just his TNA years? The same goes with Hulk Hogan. How many times have the two rotated who is running the show? Sting and Hulk Hogan are the two top legends that are a part of this company. It is understandable why they would hype them coming and going, gaining and losing power, and everything else. But it does become old after a while. And lame.

I respect Sting, but what is putting so much on him and Hogan really doing? The ratings for 2012 were sad. While showing so much inconsistency in developing the guys underneath the two legends, going up and down with the two legends has led to nothing. TNA should get a small bump in the ratings for Sting coming back, unless fans have gotten tired of it and it has lost its ability to draw. But how will TNA keep the ball rolling after? That is where they will mess up. What then? Hogan bumps his knee on a trash can, goes away for 2 weeks, then TNA hypes the epic return to battle of Hulk Hogan? 

And now, I am going to talk about something completely unrelated to what I was just talking about. What is the difference between being one of the greats and being one of the greatest? Not just in pro wrestling, but in almost any field. I want to give my take on that with my final post of 2012. To me, the greats go out there and succeed. They reach that pinnacle of success. The greatest do it in interesting ways. They overcome the greatest obstacles. They go above and beyond the call of duty. Whether that manifests itself in reaching that height of success multiple times, beating opponents that everyone thought were unbeatable, or accomplishing something that goes beyond what they set out to do, the greatest go further than the pinnacle.

And with that, best wishes in the new year.

Layla Has Gotten Better

Layla is definitely the most improved eye-candy diva in terms of in-ring ability to be used as a credible jobber, never as a true centerpiece. Of course, 2012 has not been the year where she has been used the best. The WWE featured her best when she was teamed with Michelle McCool. That angle lasted over a year, but the bulk came in 2010. I want to compare that period in her career to the current one.

Teaming Layla with Michelle McCool was the biggest thing to happen to Layla. Prior to that, she was just a minor periphery diva. Alicia Fox was originally Michelle McCool's sidekick. Alicia went to Raw. McCool was still having trouble connecting with the fans in the manner you would expect of a centerpiece. It is not surprising that they would find another sidekick for McCool. And they actually treated her and Layla as a team. LayCool. Together, this pair was treated as the centerpiece. Layla won some titles and started to improve in the ring. When McCool left in 2011, the WWE tried developing Kelly Kelly as the centerpiece. Layla was soon out with a long injury.

Layla came back this year. She has really shown that she is better in the ring. Thing is, what are they pushing her as? LayCool was pushed as the centerpiece. When you take away McCool, who was pushed as centerpiece before Layla joined her, where would that leave Layla? Even though Layla won the title as soon as she returned and had a long reign, she was not featured properly during the run and has been lost in the shuffle since putting over Eve. That is pretty much the career of a credible jobber. The WWE is going to show more consistency with the centerpiece, less with the credible jobber. It reaffirms whom the WWE really wanted to be the top star of LayCool. If they really viewed Layla as McCool's equal, they would have featured her better during her last title run, at the very least. And I would imagine that they would try to find some periphery angle to keep her fresh and develop her. She doesn't need to be pushed as hard as AJ.

Out of Eve and Layla, who should be centerpiece? This is one of those situations where the woman you don't choose would definitely still have the ability to be a good centerpiece. Neither of them currently have the overness to be a truly successful centerpiece, but the WWE will eventually be successful in making it happen.

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.