Tainted Success

You are probably aware of the recent controversy with  Lance Armstrong. The other week, I read about some major names in baseball being left out of induction in the MLB Hall of Fame. In both situations with Armstrong and the baseball stars, you have individuals who accomplished great things having their legacies tainted by the same thing, drugs. They cheated. They took shortcuts. The result is a tainted legacy for many of these individuals.

Let's start with the obvious question. Should wrestlers who took drugs be left out of the WWE Hall of Fame? Of course not. Wrestling is not a competitive sport like cycling or baseball. These wrestlers go out there to perform to give the fans a show. That is what it is all about. There are definitely some guys who took steroids currently in the Hall of Fame. Keep them there. More than likely, they still earned their legacies.

Now onto what I really want to talk about. Taking performance-enhancing drugs is viewed as taking a shortcut in many fields. Is that the only shortcut to success in the world? Of course not. In pro wrestling, can you consider it a shortcut for those wrestlers given great careers that they did not actually earn? The idea the WWE sells is that they push what the fans want to see and you have to get over to get the great career. That's the way it should work. That is the way it sometimes works. Some wrestlers start out with mediocre careers for years, they prove themselves through the midcard, and they get the better career eventually. That is like what happened with Eddie Guerrero. However, you also have some guys who seemed to have a great career the moment they debuted, then got over after already being pushed well. That's Brock Lesnar. He was getting a big push right from the time he debuted. What kind of overness did he have to warrant that kind of push? The WWE rigs the playing field for certain individuals. They use people to put over these individuals, never giving these people those same opportunities and treatment. Does that count as a shortcut? Does that taint the success of these guys who got these great careers and earned the overness after the fact?

I don't think it should taint their legacies. They still earned their success. Those guys who are used to put them over, they still usually get other opportunities to still show what they can do and connect well with the fans.

The diva division is a different creature. Women who are used to put over whom the WWE is developing to be a success usually don't get opportunities after that are better or just as good. Most of what they get after is mediocre. Trish Stratus will definitely be in the Hall of Fame, but how many of the credible jobbers used to put her over will? Maybe more for what they did outside of the WWE? They definitely don't deserve it for the mediocrity they received in the WWE. They definitely never earned the overness while in the WWE, with the exception of Mickie James. Should this kind of diva division taint the success of Trish Stratus? There is no denying that she succeeded, but she was the kind of diva the WWE likes to push as the centerpiece and she was never getting the kind of treatment of a credible jobber prior to the WWE pushing her well to get over with the fans when she was just eye-candy periphery. And you look at the current diva division. It is basically the same agenda. The WWE is attempting to have an eye-candy centerpiece, women with wrestling credibility are used as credible jobbers, and the only female wrestler supported to be a success is in the periphery. The only real change from then to now is eye-candy divas being less effective as periphery divas and used more as credible jobbers. Same diva division, but look at the quality and the failure to create stars. This is what Trish paved the way for? I think this current division should be seen as more of a slap in the face of Trish's legacy than the fact that the WWE developed her to be a success. She did succeed. For that reason, she will deserve her spot in the Hall of Fame.

What about Michelle McCool? Aside from Trish Stratus, her run as centerpiece lasted longer than any other woman pushed in this manner since the diva division started. But does she deserve to be viewed in the same way as Trish? McCool never got over. Some people can argue that McCool was a heel for most of her centerpiece run and heels are meant to make other people look good. Yeah? And how many faces actually became big successes off Michelle McCool? And even after a face got one over on the annoying LayCool, the centerpiece still got pushed hard consistently after. The WWE were not pushing a division that could deliver. The wrestling critics can look at how they were pushing McCool at this time and say they were pushing her very well. Yeah, that's true, but that's not the point. You don't push someone well for the sake of pushing someone well. You push them like that in hopes that they can connect well for the fans. McCool was a solid worker, but does that mean she should be inducted into the Hall of Fame? If a woman being a solid wrestler was a rarity in the world, then she should be. It isn't. Michelle McCool's career deserves to be inducted more than she does. She never did with it what a centerpiece is supposed to. And I wouldn't be surprised if she is inducted one day. The WWE cannot keep overpushing people the fans don't really care for. And they wonder why their ratings suck and they have to rely on stars from a decade ago to save them? Anyone pushed hard to be a success throughout their career who never earns the overness at all deserves to be in a Hall of Failure. It is not solely to insult them, but to remind the WWE of their own mistakes.

Mickie James and tainted success. What can anyone possibly say about that? Her ex wants people to believe that Mickie James slept her way to the top of a filler push back in 2008 and started to get over with the fans after that. He overlooks the fact that Mickie started to get over during her debut push and was maintaining the overness while she was not even being pushed prior to Candice's injury in 2007. That sure looks like an attempt to taint one's success. He's not the only one. Dirtsheets have said much to make Mickie look like she screwed herself out of the WWE, but they fail to see that she was never being pushed as Trish Stratus or Michelle McCool. She was being pushed as one of those women used to put over who the WWE wants to succeed. Should that be a chief reason why the success of a woman pushed as centerpiece should be tainted? Even when a credible jobber does do the impossible and get over with this kind of career, the WWE still pushes who they want to be a success and they screw the credible jobber. The playing field is rigged hard in favor of the centerpiece. Not only is there no real competition for the best worker to get the best spot, but a centerpiece who is not succeeding will still be pushed hard until she gets the overness to be a success. Or flops. Or quits. It never ends well these days. Mickie James took a career in which no woman had ever reached that height of success and she did it. Instead of being seen as a legitimate success, she has this legacy of tainted success.

Just to go back to the original thing I was talking about, how do I feel about the controversy with Lance Armstrong and the baseball players? I wouldn't have taken away Armstrong's titles and all that. I would induct those baseball players. You can say I'm a bit of a pushover. I'm more sour about people who are handed success than people who take shortcuts to succeed. If someone succeeds, I don't like denying them of their success. Let it be known their success was tainted, but don't take it away.

Eve Quits

Kaitlyn won the Diva's Championship, but that is really small news compared to what else has happened. Eve quit.

Eve was the centerpiece of the diva division. The WWE has lost another centerpiece of the diva division. If anything can possibly go wrong in the diva division, it looks like it will. Michelle McCool left in 2011. Kelly Kelly was let go last year. 2013 has just started and another attempt to recreate a centerpiece fails. I think Eve would have eventually worked out, at least better than Michelle McCool. Developing a centerpiece is like making an investment. You put something in and hope to get a good return. The WWE invests time, creative energy, and other workers to help the centerpiece look good. The centerpiece still has to work too, but the WWE usually ends up doing a lot of work for whom they want to be a top star, hence why it is usually easy to tell the difference between those pushed to be stars and those used to put over stars or act as filler when the stars are not around. You are going to get some filler now, but I'll get to that in a moment. Fact is, the WWE once again fails to get a good return on this centerpiece investment.

Is Kaitlyn the new centerpiece? She came to the WWE as a fitness model. Developing her as centerpiece would not exactly be the same as developing a woman who came to the company as a female wrestler as centerpiece, so you would still have the same diva division you have had for over a decade now. Female wrestlers would still not be featured properly. That's another issue. Even though Kaitlyn might still fit the basic profile of the kind of diva the WWE develops as centerpiece, I'm not convinced they want to push her in that position. I don't think she has the look they would want. I'm not saying Kaitlyn is ugly. I'm just saying I don't think this is who they would like to push in that way. There is also the fact that she is not great in the ring, but the story of a woman lacking wrestling experience being developed to be the best in the division is what the diva division is all about, in regards to the centerpiece position. Although Kaitlyn now holds the title, this may be a filler push.

Is Layla going to be centerpiece? Askana? Someone from developmental? If they don't have anyone they are willing to push as centerpiece under contract, you are going to be seeing a lot of filler. When the WWE gave up on Kelly Kelly as centerpiece, they had Eve to develop. Although Layla won the title, they were not pushing her well during that title run, which made it clear to see that she was not the centerpiece and would get lost in the shuffle like she has now found herself. You look back at Eve's run with the title, they featured her better than they did with Layla before her. Will they go to Layla as centerpiece now? She is the best option left. It wouldn't be shocking for the WWE to do this. Keep in mind that Eve had held the title twice before her recent run, but the first run came between the WWE giving up on Maryse as Raw centerpiece and moving onto Michelle McCool (LayCool) as overall centerpiece, then the second title win came when McCool was still in that position. Eve did not get featured well during those two reigns. It would not be out of the question for them to start pushing an eye-candy credible jobber as the centerpiece. It's not like they have a lot of other options. And yet, I don't think they will do it. I don't think there is anyone on the roster that they can really count on and are willing to give it to. The result? Filler. This is even the kind of division you are more likely to see AJ win the title in.

Needless to say, the WWE needs to start debuting more divas. They lost Beth Phoenix, a credible jobber, last year. They lose Eve, a woman being developed as centerpiece, just this week. You have a bunch of women already on the roster being wasted, but some of them are not exactly good enough in the ring to be a proper credible jobber or centerpiece. Of the three female wrestlers, only AJ is pushed well, and as a periphery diva. Tamina and Natalya are wasted. The WWE should debut someone with good wrestling ability, regardless of whether it is a female wrestler or eye-candy diva who became solid in FCW/NXT.

Let me end it with a comment on Mickie James. Mickie James was never the centerpiece. If you have never read my blog before, you are going to say I'm crazy. The WWE loved her! Always pushing her! She had to have screwed herself out of that great career! Take a second look at the situations in which she was being pushed. She was only getting legitimate pushes when being used to put over the centerpiece or act as interim centerpiece when the centerpiece was not around. That's not how you push someone you want to be over. In the roughly 6 years since Trish left, the WWE has gone through 5 centerpieces, and not one of them worked out as well as Trish. For years, the best thing they had was Mickie James, a credible jobber. She had the overness and earned it on her own. She is still active today. She has proven to be a loyal worker. She has not suffered an injury that has ruined her career. She is still solid in the ring. If the WWE had kept Mickie James and given her the career she had earned, you most likely would have had her still working out as the centerpiece today, instead of awaiting the WWE choosing their 6th centerpiece since Trish left. The division never would have collapsed like it did. I can't say whether or not the WWE regrets releasing Mickie James. It doesn't look like they have learned their lesson.

Would Mickie James Have Survived Today?

Recently, the development you see in the diva division that was not there for years is the usage of eye-candy divas to put over the centerpiece and act as filler when the centerpiece is not there. Years ago, those pushes went to female wrestlers almost exclusively. The eye-candy divas were mostly not as solid in the ring in years past as they are now. To put it another way, the WWE did not have confidence in the eye-candy divas back then for those kind of pushes in the same way as they do these days. Back then, most of those eye-candy divas were just used as periphery divas (valets, romance angles, assistants, and so on). The centerpiece was the only eye-candy diva developed consistently as a great wrestler. With eye-candy divas getting these opportunities, that has led to even less opportunities and more mediocre opportunities for the few real female wrestlers left that are credible jobbers.

Mickie James was a credible jobber. She was a female-wrestler credible jobber. Most people might say the WWE was pushing her well, but that ignores what other things were going on during that time in the diva division. During the time Mickie was there, you had centerpieces retiring, getting injured, flopping, needing to be replaced, and needing to be put over. These are the situations where you call on a credible jobber to be interim centerpiece or jobber to the centerpiece. Back then, the WWE was still giving these kind of pushes to the female wrestlers. Aside from Mickie James, Melina and Beth Phoenix were the primary credible jobbers being used. Gail Kim and Natalya were also used here and there to put over the centerpiece during this time. Fact is, Mickie James was frequently the only face credible jobber available when the need arose, which is why she got pushed so often. Let me give just one example. Remember when Candice Michelle got injured in 2007? That is the woman being developed as centerpiece. Who does the WWE push to take her place until she returns? The only other faces on the show were Maria and Mickie James. Maria was an eye-candy periphery diva and Mickie James was a credible jobber. It is not surprising that Mickie James got the push. Look at all the other situations Mickie James got pushed after that. She was frequently in the right spot at the right time to get the push. The WWE was not high on giving eye-candy divas those kind of pushes back then, although they did start to warm up to it near the end of Mickie's WWE run.

Even though Mickie James was getting pushed, this is not the kind of push that leads to success for the woman getting it, let alone lead to the woman getting it becoming the most over diva. Mickie James did that. What you witnessed the WWE doing with Mickie James in her final year is still be able to take advantage of her and hurt her overness at the same time. They were never pushing her as the true centerpiece, and definitely not as a periphery diva. But because they were low on options, Mickie James saw more time getting pushed, even though it was still credible jobber pushes.

Could Mickie James have endured the current diva division? As I said before, the WWE is not against giving eye-candy divas the pushes they usually only gave women with a lot more wrestling credibility. The two female wrestlers pushed as credible jobbers, Tamina and Natalya, have not had anything too important to do in a long time. Eve Torres is the current centerpiece. Layla and Kaitlyn have been used as credible jobbers. You can imagine Alicia Fox being used in this manner. The WWE does not even have to give a meaningful push to Natalya, the only face female-wrestler credible jobber. Now, what if Mickie James was still in this diva division? What if she still had the overness? Would the WWE have been successful in burying Mickie James in this diva division? There are two ways to look at this.

First, yes, they would succeed in burying Mickie James. Mickie was getting a lot of pushes back then mainly because the need kept on coming up to push a face credible jobber and she was often the only option. Things are different now. The WWE could get away with pushing Layla or Kaitlyn over Mickie James. They can just argue that they are giving these women fair opportunities. Without even being featured at all, except maybe on Superstars, large tag matches, and mediocre treatment that is always ending abruptly, you would assume Mickie's overness would dry up. She would become an afterthought, much like Gail Kim did.

The second way to look at this, what if not giving Mickie James even the usual credible jobber opportunities fails to bury her? This woman was not supposed to get over in the first place. They were never pushing her with the proper consistency, hype, and character/storyline development after she did get over, but she maintained the overness of a diva you would think was being pushed well. They treated her even more poorly, but she survived that. Keep in mind that Mickie went through 2 periods where they were not pushing her for at least 5 months. The first came when they started pushing Candice Michelle as centerpiece. The second came after Candice Michelle had flopped as centerpiece. They did give Mickie mediocre storylines during both periods, but they all ended abruptly without a proper finish and did nothing for Mickie James. It is comparable to how the WWE has recently been using Natalya. If Mickie James was in this current diva division, you would probably see her getting those mediocre opportunities again. Remember how fast Rosa's angle with Del Rio ended? Have any faith in Natalya's angle with Khali? That's what Mickie would be in for, and was even the kind of thing happening to her during those 5-month dry spells. Mickie James survived those periods and maintained the overness. It's not hard to imagine she might maintain the overness if she was being overlooked in this current diva division where it is even easier to overlook female wrestlers than it has ever been. If she did, the WWE would be in some trouble. Back then, because the WWE would still push Mickie James, everyone thinks they loved her and wanted her to succeed. They don't pay attention to the circumstances around those pushes and realize those were not the kind of pushes that lead to the woman getting it becoming that successful. In this diva division, if Mickie maintained the overness, people would definitely know something is wrong. Your most over diva is being blatantly under-pushed for the sake of models lacking that overness? The WWE would be on the spot a lot worse than they were back then.

What do I think would have happened? Would the WWE have had an easier time burying Mickie James in this diva division or would she have beaten it and put the WWE on the spot? A lot of it depends on whether or not these other women are getting over. You have AJ Lee around. Could a successful diva created by the WWE help them get the fans to forget Mickie James? If this was the diva division they had back then, I believe they would have had the best chance of burying her. But after Mickie had solidified that overness, I don't think the WWE could get away with doing this to her without people wanting to know what happened. It wouldn't be as sharp as humiliating her like they did, but it would still stand out to treat a woman that over like this.

One last thing I want to say. Prior to this current development of giving eye-candy divas the kind of pushes you would give female wrestlers pushed as credible jobbers, you had eye-candy centerpieces getting injured too much and deteriorating in their wrestling ability. What does seeing eye-candy divas not working out in the ring motivate the WWE to do? Push them even more in the ring! Well...okay. I would agree that you shouldn't condemn all eye-candy divas too fast after a few bad results, but to hand them even more opportunities and to give real female wrestlers even less, and still not developing any of them to be centerpiece, just seems like a crazy decision to make after the bad luck they have had recently. Layla has improved very well in the ring and I do not consider her injury-prone, even though she was out for a year with an injury. She doesn't seem to be getting injured often. In general, however, I do not have that much faith in a lot of the other eye-candy credible jobbers. Who cares if I have faith? The WWE has faith, and that is what matters.

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.