JC's Take: WWE Week in Review 1/17-1/23

JC's Take: WWE Week in Review 1/17-1/23

Hey everyone. Welcome back for my review of anything and everything WWE from this past week.

-This was another solid week of programming from a wrestling perspective, especially on RAW. Three solid matches. Another impressive victory for John Morrison, this time over US Champion Daniel Bryan. It would have been nice to see these guys go 5-10 minutes longer, but it was a good match for the short time span they were given. I guess they're going with the Bellas thinking that Bryan is still a virgin. Can't they just let the guy wrestle? And why do I have this bad sense that this could be leading to Bryan saying he already has a girlfriend, and that woman being Awesome Kong? As for Morrison, he continues to get the star treatment on RAW. Another big victory for him. The WWE finally seems to be getting behind him. Do I think he is going to win the Royal Rumble? No. Do I think he will have a strong showing and last close to 30-40 minutes? Absolutely. I could see him being in the final 4. But I will say this: By the end of 2011, John Morrison will have held either the WWE or World Title. If he doesn't, this push will be even worse than Kofi Kingston's push in 2009. Kingston was in the same spot Morrison was, but the WWE pulled the plug on his push before he could become a World Champion. Now, however, I think they realize more than ever that they need new faces at the top. Morrison looks to be the next guy to get there.

-John Cena returned to RAW this past Monday. And of course, the first thing we get are lame corny "poopy" jokes. And they still wonder why people over the age of 14 hate him? He had an exchange with The Miz that seemed to be planting the seeds for a Miz vs Cena match at Wrestlemania. If the build to that is anything like their exchange from RAW this past Monday, then it'll be a long two month build to Wrestlemania. Something just wasn't clicking between the two. I was really surprised how much of a match Cena had with C.M. Punk at the end of the night. There is money to be made in that match at a PPV. There wasn't a clean finish, so that helped. The man debuting and now the newest member of C.M. Punk's Nexus is Mason Ryan from FCW, WWE's developmental territory. Or as Chris Jericho called him on Twitter, "Batistwo." The guy is apparently still very green in the ring, but he's not with the Nexus to put on 10-15 minute matches. He's there to make them look strong and intimidating, and he does that perfectly. I was worried that this new Nexus would be weak compared to the original, but Ryan's look alone can save them.

I'm interested to see how long they can stretch out this C.M. Punk/John Cena feud. If they hadn't done a "Cena Fired" angle last year, I think they could have done that with this angle. They could have built this feud all the way to Wrestlemania, and have some kind of big stipulation added onto it. Something like if Cena loses, he is gone from the WWE. But they wasted that angle in November. If they did that, then they could have done something like Miz vs Morrison for the WWE Title. it would be nice to see Miz hold the title until Mania, but I think there is more money in a Punk vs Cena WWE Title match at Mania rather than Miz vs Cena. Either one Cena is winning, but I think I'd be more interested in Punk/Cena than Miz/Cena.

-It was nice to finally see The Miz look strong as WWE Champion. That only took what, a month or so? The Miz got a lot of his heat back by taking out Randy Orton after his match with Dolph Ziggler. And I must say, Ziggler continues to impress, but I'll get to that later. Orton continues to lack something recently in the ring. It just seems like his character has gotten a bid boring as of late. He's gone from being the hottest wrestler in the company to a guy lacking any sense of direction. Assuming he loses at the Rumble to Miz, where does he go from there? I guess he will be in the RAW Elimination Chamber match at the next PPV, but who does he feud with at Wrestlemania? I'd love to see Chris Jericho comeback, even if it is just from February to Wrestlemania, and take on Orton at Mania. That'd be the only match I'd be interested in seeing Orton in. I guess they could try to make something out of Punk vs Orton if they end up going with Miz vs Cena. Anything but Cena vs Orton, which was teased on RAW as well this past Monday. I don't want to see a match headline Wrestlemania that I have seen 39583057380 already on WWE programming in the past three years.

-Smackdown seems to have two guys that are on the rise: Dolph Ziggler and Alberto del Rio. Lets start with Dolph Ziggler. He had another good match against a top WWE star this week, this time it was Randy Orton on RAW. It would have been nice to see Ziggler get a clean win, or have The Miz and Alex Riley interfere before the end of the match. I don't like having your #1 Contender's losing clean two weeks before a PPV. Ziggler looked better on Smackdown Friday. He didn't wrestle, but he stood tall at the end of the show. That always sticks in the back of the mind of viewers, how the show ended. But again, just like with John Morrison and the Royal Rumble match: Do I think Ziggler is winning the World Title at the Rumble? No. Do I think he will look good in the match? Yes. Nothing against Dolph Ziggler, but he is not ready to headline Wrestlemania. Again, however, I do think he will hold the World Title by the end of the year. He can hold his own in the ring, and with Vickie at his side, he will automatically get boos no matter what he does. He could come out and save John Cena from a beatdown, but as soon as Vickie speaks he would get instant boos back on him.

-The second rising star on Smackdown? Alberto del Rio. I can't say enough about this guy. He's been on RAW and Smackdown the last month, so clearly the WWE thinks highly of him. He is another one who has a high chance of winning the Rumble. I would give him slightly better odds than John Morrison, only because Smackdown is lacking a strong heel opponent for Edge. The guy is good on the mic, and is good in the ring as well. If I had to guess right now, I'd say he faces Edge at Wrestlemania for the World Title. He would be a better opponent for Edge, and having del Rio in the main event would help International buys. Don't think stuff like that isn't in the back of the WWE's mind. I see Edge winning at the Royal Rumble and at the Elimination Chamber PPV, then Alberto del Rio winning a number one contender's match inside the Chamber to go onto Wrestlemania.

-So Wade Barrett's new group is called The Corre. It's more badass if you spell it with two R's. And on Smackdown Friday, they might have looked better than they ever had on RAW. They took out Edge, which is nothing new. But Justin Gabriel also won a match against Edge. Sure he got some help, but that was a rarity for the old Nexus on RAW. Not too many times did guys like Gabriel or Slater win one-on-one matches on RAW. It'll be interesting to see where they go with this new group. It is almost set in stone that Wade Barrett will be Undertaker's opponent at Wrestlemania. As for the other members of the group? I could see some kind of confrontation with the Nexus at the Rumble, which could lead to some kind of 3-on-3 match at Wrestlemania: Nexus vs The Corre. But the problem with that would be one of them would have to be the face, and I can't see the WWE wanting to do that. More likely, I see maybe Gabriel and Otunga being put in Money in the Bank, or having some kind of Fatal Four Way tag match, with Otunga/Harris/McGillicutty forming one team and Slater/Gabriel forming another.

-Oh boy! Another who-dun-it angle on WWE programming. This time, it is poor Smackdown GM Teddy Long that is the victim. Lets run down the list of potential suspects:

Hornswoggle: Hey clearly needs an angle heading into Wrestlemania. Come on, Teddy Long vs Hornswoggle= $$$$$$

Dolph Ziggler at the requests of Vickie Guerrero: This one is simple: Vickie is sick of just being an executive consultant, and she wants full power back. So he had her boyfriend take him out.

The RAW GM: Maybe he wants full control over both shows?

In all honesty, I have no idea who this would be, or where this angle is going. Since Long suffered trauma to the back of the head, he probably didn't see who his attacker was. Maybe this will mean the return of GTV???

That is all for today. Royal Rumble preview most likely on Thursday, and I think I may do a 2011 NFL Mock Draft either tomorrow or Wednesday.

Until next time,

Justin C