JC's Take: WWE Week in Review 1/31-2/6

JC's Take: WWE Week in Review 1/31-2/6

Hey everyone. Welcome back for my review of this past week's action from the WWE.

-I'm going to start with addressing the mysterious 2/21/11 promo from RAW on Monday. For those of you who haven't seen it, or want to see it again, here it is.

Most people believe it is for one of two people: Sting or The Undertaker. The popular opinion now that we are a week removed from its viewing is that it is for Taker. Everybody wants it to be for Sting, myself included. Many outlets reported that Sting had not signed with TNA, and many people in TNA believed he was WWE bound. Then this nice poster came out that got me and a lot of others more hyped. It is obviously fake but it is really well done.

A local ad surfaced for RAW that night in Fresno advertising the return of the Undertaker. Then Dave Meltzer reported that there has been no contact between Sting and the WWE. The biggest problem between the two sides is that the WWE would like Sting to work a full schedule. That is something Sting is not interested in doing at this point in his career.

But if I were the WWE, I would concede to Sting anything he wanted at this point. The WWE is in bad shape right now. They're expecting less profit than they were predicting in the fourth fiscal quarter, which caused their stock to drop. Add to that the fact that Wrestlemania is lacking a marquee match-up this year. There is no big draw to get the non-die hard fan to buy the PPV. Sting is the only big time guy from the Monday Night Wars era to never wrestle for the WWE. Bring Sting in a month before Mania, build to a match with Taker. Keep him around for another couple months to go into another feud, maybe with C.M. Punk or Wade Barrett. Give him a couple months off, have him return for a match at SummerSlam against John Cena. Bring him back late in the year of 2011, have him appear at the Rumble, then have him have 1 more match at Wrestlemania 28. And I'd be perfectly fine giving Sting a short title run. Then whoever beats him for it is a made star, having taken the WWE or World Title off of one of the most iconic figures in wrestling history.

Having written all of that, I think the promo will end up being for The Undertaker. It's not the typical Taker return promo, but the WWE likes to screw with their fans. It's just hard to get hyped for any kind of Taker return at this point. A part of me is quietly hoping a loud "WE WANT STING" chant breaks out during Taker's return. I also don't like that he is returning on RAW. Taker is a Smackdown guy, he should return there. It just makes the show look more and more like the B show. In the end, this will just turn into another case of WWE fans getting hyped up hoping for something different, but being let down yet again.

-I personally think it is nice to see Jerry Lawler fighting The Miz at Elimination Chamber for the WWE Title. It's a break from the norm. The storyline has played out well. Anybody who doesn't see that is clearly blind. Could Miz have fought someone like John Morrison at EC? Sure. But you would rather have Morrison in that match to show off his skill set and to add more star power to the match. Lawler is perfectly capable of having a good match with The Miz. I'm sure whatever kind of match they have will be better than anything Randy Orton and The Miz have had in the last two months. Lawler, even at his age, knows how to put on a fundamentally sound match. He can play into the crowds emotions and get them to believe everything he does. And you know the fans will be behind Lawler throughout the match. I'm hoping they allow Miz to pick up a clean win here, but with the way he has been booked as champion I find that highly unlikely. My guess is Michael Cole gets involved, costing Lawler the match and setting up Lawler vs Cole at Mania.

-The RAW Elimination Chamber Match is set: John Cena vs C.M. Punk vs Randy Orton vs Sheamus vs John Morrison vs R-Truth. That's a pretty loaded Chamber match. The only one I question being in there is R-Truth. I would have much rather seen Daniel Bryan in the match, but he's involved in that "super funny" love storyline with Gail Kim and The Bellas. Right now its looking pretty obvious that John Cena is winning this one. The only other person I would even consider winning would be John Morrison, but that's only at a 5% chance. That would mean the WWE had the balls to go with Miz vs Morrison for the WWE Title at Mania. I don't think that's happening, unless they secretly have Sting vs John Cena planned. Plus they've been teasing Cena vs Miz on TV for the last 3 weeks. They better do something quickly to make me interested in that feud, because right now I'm just not buying it.

-Over on Smackdown, the WWE continues to play up the Edge/Dolph Ziggler story. Last Friday, Edge successfully retained his title in a 3-on-2 handicap match with Edge teaming with Kelly Kelly and Ziggler teaming with Laycool. Kelly speared Layla for the win. Yes, the World Title was defended in a 3-on-2 intergender handicap match, and Vince Russo did not book it! Poor Kelly Kelly got fired after the match on Vickie. Kelly actually showed some spark on the mic in the opening segment. I have to give props to her for that. This Friday we are getting Edge vs Ziggler with Vickie Guerrero as the special guest referee. I'm assuming Edge finds a way to retain again here. Dolph isn't holding the World Title going into Mania, and giving him a two week reign and then losing the Title at Elimination Chamber would be a terrible first title run for him. Ziggler definitely deserves the World Title down the road, but now is just not the time.

-The Smackdown Elimination Chamber Match is also set. This one is for the World Title: Edge (c) vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kane vs Drew McIntyre vs Rey Mysterio vs Wade Barrett. I think from a wrestling standpoint, the RAW one will be better. But like the RAW EC, I also think this one is pretty obvious to pick. I can't see anyone but Edge going into Wrestlemania with the World Title. He's the top draw on Smackdown (not counting Taker) and if Del Rio is going for the World Title he should be going against him. Del Rio/Edge is a fresh feud and I expect them to put on some entertaining TV leading up to Mania.

-How could I have gotten this far without mentioning Alberto del Rio??? I thought he was quite entertaining on TV this week. I loved the opening segment on RAW playing up his win. I also think it's great that he picked who he wants to face immediately after winning the Rumble rather than waiting a whole month. Then on Smackdown, he had a hilarious segment with Hornswoggle which resulted in poor Horny getting kicked in the face. It also appears that we will get a short Alberto del Rio vs Kofi Kingston program before Mania. I'm fine with that. It puts both del Rio and Kingston on PPV, and they are more than capable of putting on a good 10-15 minute match in the ring.

Other WWE Notes

-While I was typing this today I found out that Mr.McMahon will be returning to TV tonight. He's finally out of the coma!!! What is he doing on TV? I have no idea. My first guess would be that it would have something to do with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. If you didn't see it, Rodgers had a World Title belt with him as he was holding the Lombardi Trophy yesterday. And with RAW tonight in Milwaukee and Smackdown tomorrow in Green Bay, it's a possibility. Apparently the WWE had that belt custom made for Rodgers. You know what I think would be sweet: Aaron Rodgers vs Brett Favre at Wrestlemania. It would never happen, but if the WWE wants outside press to cover Mania, that would be the easiest way to get their attention.

-Chris Jericho said in an interview this week that he is looking to return to the WWE, and that there is a contract on the table. I would be more than willing to accept Jericho back. But at this point, I would want him to wait til after Mania to comeback. He has a ready made feud with Orton, but Orton is now in a program with C.M. Punk. The only way I could see Jericho coming back is if crazy Vince changes his mind and decides to do Jericho/Orton, then throws Punk into the WWE Title match in a 3 way. Or if they do sign Sting and run with Taker/Sting, then you could do that plus Jericho/Orton, then throw Punk into a 4-on-4 Nexus/Corre match. Jericho is a huge asset to the WWE and he is one of the best all around performers of all time. His mic work is superb, as is his in ring work. I'd love to see him work a full program with John Morrison and Daniel Bryan, as well as maybe one last run with Edge before he retires.

-Why did I say something about Edge retiring? Because there is talk that he is nearing the end of his WWE, and wrestling, career. Edge is close to 40 and has accomplished almost everything a wrestler in the WWE could accomplish. His contract apparently expires in 2012 and he has been telling people close to him that he is near the end. I don't blame the guy. He's suffered almost every injury you could think of. I could see him getting a break sometime this year before gearing up for one final WWE run heading into Wrestlemania 28. With WM28 rumored to take place in Toronto, I defintely could see Edge's final match taking place there. Maybe one last TLC match with him teaming with Christian. Or they could reunite the two, then have Christian turn on Edge leading to a match at Mania, maybe for the World Title. But that would mean Christian being pushed as a main eventer, which won't happen if Vince McMahon is stii in charge.

That's all I have for today. The first NFL Mock Draft will DEFINITELY be up tomorrow.

Until next time,

Justin C