WWE Power Rankings, RAW 1/27/2014

Coming at you from Cleveland (“Hello, Cleveland!!”), and we are officially on the Road to WrestleMania 30 with a terrific Royal Rumble last night.  Best PPV of 2014!  Of course, it’s the only PPV of 2014 but the Rumble was still awesome and it’s going to take a lot for a PPV to knock it from the top spot this year.  Before I go into praise, let me just say 99% of the Rumble PPV went as predicted.  Why is this something of note?  Because a well executed show is usually better than any surprise ending, special guest or twist / turn that the WWE could throw at us.  

I’m not one to recap PPVs but allow me one paragraph to point out why RR was so good (besides, I’m sure we’ll touch on most of the PPV / Rumble action in the rundown, fear not).  Take out the Rumble match itself because that’s always fun.  In fact, the ending to this year’s Rumble was less than great and whose winner was predicted a month ago but the Rumble was still an overall fun event.  Opening the show we had the “Match of the Night” where Daniel Bryan and Bray Wyatt were just awesome.  The match was great, the crowd was on fire and Bray defeated Bryan cleanly and brutally.  The ramifications and each wrestler’s “Road to WM30” be damned.  The match was so good that you didn’t care who won.  Give us a clean ending and let the writers figure out the rest tomorrow.  That was exactly what happened.  Not only did Bray win the match, he also won “Performer of the Night.”  The next match, which no one had high hopes for, was Big Show vs Lesnar.  It was quick and heading to a forgettable match until Lesnar decided to go ECW on Big Show with about five different chairs and no less than 20 solid chair shots.  Also, it looked like Lesnar took a real shot from Big Show’s fist AND still was able to pull off an F5 on Big Show to end the match.  Next came the last match before the Rumble, RKO vs Cena.  During his match with Cena, RKO remembered what great heels are supposed to do… Give the crowd more of what they’re complaining about and shove it in their face!  Halfway through, with the crowd at its peak “Bor-ing” level, RKO looked up and smirked.  It’s as if you could see him say, “Oh, you think this is boring?  I’ll show you boring!”  With that, it was nothing but arm bars / choke holds / submissions, everything that a live crowd hates.  This drove the crowd in-fucking-sane!  Then Bray Wyatt & Family made their second appearance of the night and provided the right amount of chaos to end the match on a good note.  After just three good-to-great matches in, we finish with the Rumble.  Throw in a pre-show match of the New Age Outlaws defeating the Rhodes Brothers and we had a great night of wrestling. 

A few things popped out while watching RAW that I can’t fit into the rankings properly and were very important.  First, CM Punk was nowhere to be found.  I’ll have to check in with Fred “The Oracle” to see if this was due to an injury or merely some time off before a big WM30 push.  (BTW, no Big E Langston either)  Secondly, sometimes I feel so stupid for not seeing what’s happening until it hits me in the face.  It was pretty clear from the beginning that the team of Cena / Sheamus / Bryan would beat The Shield and be entered into the Elimination Chamber match BUT it wouldn’t be outrageous if The Shield won so there was still some suspense.  Bray Wyatt not making an appearance all night was odd as well but right as the match started, it hit me that the WWE likes to repeat spots from previous night’s PPV recently so of course the Wyatt Family would turn off the lights and attack Cena.  This led to a gift from the WWE gods!  Due to a DQ caused by the Wyatts, The Shield lost their shot at the Elimination Chamber match AND suddenly have nothing better to do at the next PPV than…wait for it…have a match with the Wyatt Family!  With Cena now in the EC match, Bray is free to join the rest of his family in the Wyatt / Shield match that we’ve all been screaming about.  After the EC PPV, Bray and Cena can pick right up in time for WM30.  I started this post talking about execution.  How’s that for execution?  Well-done to the WWE writing crew.  Thank you for giving us what we want!  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 1/27/2014…

1. Bray and The Wyatt Family (6) – As soon as the Bryan / Wyatt match was over, I had declared that Bray Wyatt was getting the top spot.  I’m a mark for the Wyatt Family and have taken a lot of heat for how high I’ll rank them each week.  Here’s how you get to the top of the Power Rankings and receive “Performer of the Night” at RR.  First, Bray shut all the doubters up with the clean dismantling of Bryan.  Secondly, there’s been a little rumor that WM30 was going to feature Cena vs Bray but no one was quite sure how that was going to happen?  Well, (as said at our party) “BOOM! That’s how that happens!”  By the end of RAW, not only was Cena / Bray set up for WM30 but we also got a Shield / Wyatt showdown at Elimination Chamber next month while we get through the last PPV before WM30.  
   
2. The Shield (1) – I refuse to break them up.  At the Rumble they did it all.  They fought as a team, they fought great individually (especially Reigns who got the “Most Eliminations” push) and Ambrose swung the biggest hammer on the nail that will eventually lead to the break up The Shield.  I’m just not ready to let go just yet.  Neither is the WWE.  With Bray Wyatt seeming to be on a collision course with Cena at WM 30, I assumed we were not going to get the Wyatt Family vs The Shield anytime soon?  While that bums me out, I can’t be mad at Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns.  They’ve been awesome.  Just as I was getting through the acceptance stage of the 12 step program…  Hold up, wait a minute, put a little BOOM in it… As a parting gift, it looks like we will get the Wyatts vs Shield before The Shield breaks up.  (The kid part of me now wants to believe that The Shield will never break up.  “They’re the three best friends that anyone-could-ever-have…”) 
   
3. Daniel Bryan (5) – All you hear from the uneducated online masses is, “They’re burying Daniel Bryan.  They’re burying Daniel Bryan.”  If the WWE was trying to bury Bryan, he wouldn’t be opening RAW, he wouldn’t be putting on the “Match of the Night” and he wouldn’t be main event-ing every night.  Anyone NOT named Cena wishes they could be “buried” like Daniel Bryan is.  Even more impressive than Bryan’s in-ring work has been his mic skills.  You can tell he’s starting to understand how to control the crowd.  Working a crowd is like fishing.  You don’t fight the fish or overpower it in order to reel it in.  You have to work with the fish and direct it, guide it while you’re reeling it in.  That’s what Stone Cold was able to do with his “WHAT” chant and what so many wrestlers fail to do once they’re lucky enough to get a crowd hot.  Bryan is SOOOO over and he’ll be involved in the main event at WM30 if the WWE has to blow up all story angles to get him there.  By chance he’s not in the Main-main event, certainly he’s be in the top 3-4 headlining matches.
   
4. Randy Orton (9) – Let me repeat what I said earlier.  RKO remembered how to be a great heel.  Its well known that I believe RKO is one of the last true heels that We have.  The one thing heel-RKO often forgets is that he IS the champ.  Remember, the champ only has to defend the championship, not win it.  (This is why it’s usually better to have a heel hold the belt because it’s more enjoyable to watch the Face fight hard to chase after the title.)  All RKO had to do is hold Cena off.  He doesn’t owe the crowd any crazy moves or dramatic come-from-behind victories.  A great heel champion just needs to hold off the challenger and win.  He even has down the villainous #duckface 
   
5. Brock Lesnar w/ Heyman (4) – Well if they wanted to spice of the WWE Heavyweight title match (and promo skills), adding Brock and Heyman into the mix can’t hurt.  Heyman’s got my dream job.  I wish I had someone who I could bring around with me, let me talk shit to everyone and then throw my hands in the air saying, “I’m just an advocate.”  Who’s going to mess with you while Lesnar has got your back?  Switching gears; you’d have to say that Brock has mastered the modern day chair shot.  I don’t know how bad it hurts the other guy(s) but he’s literally breaking metal chairs over his opponents.  This man is a maniac and this other man controls him.  I don't know which is scarier.
   
   
   
      
6. John Cena (13) – Other than what’s Undertaker going to do at WM30, Cena had the most mystery surrounding what his plans were going to be.  Naturally everyone thought he was going to be involved in the Championship plans but the WWE has other ideas.  To my pleasure, the WWE wants to give Bray Wyatt the Cena bump.  This confirms that The Wyatts are not only liked by yours truly but WWE creative as well.  The rumor was out there for this potential matchup but there didn’t seem to be a path to getting the two teamed up.  Sometimes the WWE is intricate and subtle, like the HHH / CM Punk buildup.  Other times you just turn off the lights and BAM, you’ve got a feud.  It seems fitting since it was just a few months back, when Cena returned from injury, he was thrown into the World Championship picture without any logical reason.  Looking back, we now know it was because the WWE was unifying the titles.  That said, there was no reason Cena had to be the World title holder to unify the titles.  The WWE just did it.  When it comes to Cena, the real “Face of the WWE,” you’ll only hurt yourself trying to figure out rhymes and/or reasons.  You all know how I love grabbing pics of Cena fans, this was needs little explanation.  It does help you understand why the “let’s go Cena,” chant is in a much higher vocal register than the “Cena sucks” side.  I wonder what the difference between the two sides are???? 
   
7. HHH and Stephanie (8) – Coming out to open the show, they were as giddy as two kids getting back from trying to conceive a child in the “Gorilla seat.”  Why shouldn’t they be happy?  They put on a fun PPV and all their story lines for WM are starting to take hold.  Other than not having a clue on the Undertaker match, all the other WWE story lines are headed in a good direction.  HHH’s line, “Did someone not get what they wanted?” in mocking the fans’ YES YES YES chant was brilliant!  To see both HHH and Stephanie enjoy being the villain so much, well, it almost brings me to tears.  I love it. 
   
   
8. Sheamus (N/A) – I must admit, I neither a Sheamus mark or a Sheamus hater.  Originally it felt like the WWE wanted him to be a heel but that never took off.  If the best personas are just the wrestler’s real attitude cranked up to 11, as SCSA has said, then it seems Sheamus should be a face.  He’s the more muscular Heavyweight version of Kofi.  Ideally be a face while having a mean streak in him.  The Heavyweights of the WWE seem thin of late.  With Kane gone Korporate, Big Show being Big Show, Mark Henry out, Undertaker gone 95% of the year, HHH mainly an executive, Wade Barrett (boarderline) stuck in his gimmick and Brodus Clay in limbo; the only Heavyweights left are Cena, RKO (boarderline), Brock, Big E and Reigns.  Sheamus is welcomed fresh blood.
   
9. Goldust and Cody Rhodes (2) – The Rhodes brothers lost their tag belts, both got F5’d by Brock, chair-whipped by Brock and to top it off Goldie seemed to have lost his gloves.  The Rhodes Brothers have seen better days.  I’d have bet the house that their feud would have started but maybe it’s going to be a slow boil.  Don’t forget, we’ve got two months until WM30.  There’s a lot of time to let the Brother vs Brother match build.  If by Elimination Chamber, they’re not going at it, then I’ll get worried. 
    
10. Batista (7) – Winner of the Rumble match.  I’m a fan of his eyewear selection.  He’s on the list because he won the Rumble, looks like a beast and has a main event ticket to WM30.  He’s got a spot on this list because he’s an integral piece in the WWE picture.  Let’s be real, he’s no good as a face.  He can’t turn heel soon enough.  We want it.  He wants it.  Just do it, WWE.  Look at how he embraces the #Bootista sign.  
    
11. The Usos (3) – For not having any storyline set up between the Usos and Ryb-Axel and relying purely on the heat that the Usos bring, the crowd was pretty lively for the Usos win.  Now that the tag belts are basically up for grabs, I’d be surprised if the Usos didn’t win the championship in the near future.  Only if a heel team won the belts and the Usos had to fight their way to a PPV to finally become champions, could I see them not be given the chance to hold the tag titles ASAP.  But then again, the NAO are “Heels” so why not just have the Usos take the straps off them?  Problem solved.
12. The New Age Outlaws (11) – I feel sorry for the NAO.  Not that they’re bound to drop the belts in a hot minute but because the night after they win the tag team championship, for the sixth time and after 14 years, they’re stuck with a dead Cleveland crowd.  Maybe Road Dogg misread the crowd and thought that just because they could pull a YES YES YES chant off earlier, they’d know what to do when DX came a-knocking.  To Cleveland’s defense, it’s been a while since the NAO have come around, although every other city gets it.  Chalk another notch up under the Cleveland sucks ledger.  Road Dogg was spectacular on the mic and being “over-heard” on the camera mic.  Aaaaaannd that’s why he’s a backstage booker / talent manager for the WWE.  Watch and learn future Superstars.
    
13. Kofi Kingston (14) – As predicted, Kofi had the “Spot of the Night” at the Rumble.  His leap from the barrier back into the ring was incredible.  There was no way he was going to make that leap or not slip off the padded barricade but he made it.  When you talk about someone having all the talent in the world but no direction with their character, look no further than Kofi.  There’s nothing he can’t do in the ring, so what’s holding his character back? (the Bear rhetorically asks)  Kofi’s new “Joker” colors are nice and you’ll never hear me complain about adding “The Joker” to anything.  Maybe this will bring the long needed mean streak back to Kofi. 
    
14. Dolph Ziggler (N/A) – While not a total surprise that he returned for the Rumble, it was surprising to see the majority of the RR audience solidly behind Ziggler.  Mark’s love him and feel he’s been unjustly buried.  (FYI to all the people who think Bryan has been buried, just look at what Ziggler has been through.  Ziggler has been buried.)  Recently he’s had a streak of bad luck with injuries, which doesn’t help him getting a push.  Just as the WWE should listen to the fans cheering for Bryan, they should be cognizant of all the heat that Ziggler gets from marks and regular fans.  He may have only beaten The Miz but at this point, Ziggler needs all the wins and push that he can get.
15. Alberto Del Rio (16) – First thing ADR needs is to get Ricardo Rodriguez back on the mic for his entrance.  Heel or Face, he’s better with Rodriguez firing up the crowd.  You’d never think of ADR as being one of the WWE’s best athletes but he can hang with any wrestler, especially one like Kofi.  I don’t know what the storyline is with ADR glaring at the WM30 sign?  Dude, you missed that boat when you went flying over the top rope at the Rumble.  It’s a useful tool wrestlers use but I can’t think of how ADR is making it to a main event or a top tier match at WM30?  Unless he’s just looking at it as in he wants to be on the WM30 card, but at this rate he’s not doing that either.
16. The Real Americans w/ Zeb (N/A) – Who’d have thought the wedge between the Real Americans would be between Zeb and Swagger?  Maybe it’s just another way to keep Zeb as a serious heel because he’s starting to get a little bit of that fan favorite heel cheer (audience manipulation is a fascinating topic but we’ll save it for another time).  I also would find it hard to break up Cesaro and Swagger right as the NAO now hold the tag straps, which you know they won’t hold for long.  It should be seen as a blessing to all the other great tag teams that Cody and Goldust dropped the belts. 
    
17. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara (15&N/A) – I still don’t know what to make of Rey?  He can still pull off some great moves (exhibited in the tag match with The Real Americans) but it was pathetic watching him at the Rumble.  For the man who holds the record for longest run in the Rumble, to last night being number 30 and only lasting about five minutes, it’s got to be near the end for the great Rey Mysterio.  It’s clear they’re hiding Rey during matches by letting Sin Cara carry the bulk of the match and Rey tagging in to hit a few spots.  But that’s the thing, he can still hit the spots?  I’m totally confused.
18. The Divas match (18) – Naomi and AJ Lee have earned the chance at a singles match.  I must still be high from our PPV party because I can’t believe I’m asking for this.  These two have shown that they can move well in the ring.  Even more surprising is that not far behind them is B-cup-Bella, Alicia Fox and Oksana as far as potential talent and Divas that I may not run for the bathroom when their match starts.  We haven’t even seen Natalya in a few weeks.  Take this next comment with a grain of salt and perspective, but this might be the most loaded the Divas division has ever been.  Oh, what’s that knocking…sorry guys, I think that’s my family with an intervention.  Clearly it’s time for me to go to rehab if I’m talking up the Divas division.
19. Fan-dan-go w/ Summer Rae (19) – Well, if you don’t like Fandango…too bad.  It was announce that Summer Rae would be replacing Jo Jo on Total Divas next season.  Expect to see more of this duo.  Luckily Fandango has in-ring talent, his gimmick just sucks.  Let’s see if WWE creative can reinvent and flesh out their characters.  
20. R-Truth w/ Xavier Woods announcing (20) – Well, um, let’s see…R-Truth won the match and we learned Woods was in school to become an educational phycologist.  That’s about it.  Look, it was a choice between R-Truth, The Miz and Ryb-Axel.  I feel bad for Miz because it was his home town but; 1) He dressed himself in a Browns jersey which is no way to win me over.  Not that I have anything personally against the Browns but they’re, you know, the Browns.  What’s that old saying, “If you want to be a champion, you should dress like one,” and again, a Browns jersey.  2) There is even less to say about The Miz.  I read Miz is marrying Maryse.  Maybe now is a good time to take a month off and handle that.  Go on a honeymoon.  He can come back for something at WM30.  As far as Ryback and Axel, there’s nothing to explain.  I’m open to listening to any reason or theory to include them on the Power Rankings but I’ll warn you, the Christian return promo is ranked higher than these two as of now.  Good luck. 

Honorable Mentions

This Kid – This guys has to be “Fan of the Night!”  Someone’s got to tell me what his deal is.  He’s in Cleveland.  He’s wearing a Steelers beanie?  He’s got a Heat jersey on but not of LeBron but D-Wade?  I’ll give him this, he had the holy wrestling spirit in him the entire night.  He was right in the middle of almost every shot and made a spectacle of himself the whole time.  It takes a lot of commitment.  He might be the ultimate Cleveland heel? 

JBL – I’d be remiss not to point out JBL’s fantastic Rumble appearance.  At first, it seemed a little hooky because it was in the 20’s and there were a lot of there Superstars that we were guessing would get a spot in the Rumble.  After about 30 seconds and his walk up to the ring, we were all for it.  Who wouldn’t want to see a massive clothesline?  The hype for JBL’s participation grew and then the consensus was, “You know, JBL looks good.  This might be good.”  Just then, within less time than it took for JBL to get into the match and take his suit jacket off, he was unceremoniously thrown out.  But JBL wasn’t finished!  In what seemed like one move, he was thrown out of the ring, popped up, slipped on his suit jacket and sat back down and continued his commentary without missing a beat.  It was beautiful.  Big props to JBL.

Kevin Nash – This is the second time Nash has come back at the Rumble in the past few years.  He looked great.  The only knock I had was that he didn’t wrestle that well.  Then again; he’s old, he hasn’t wrestled since god knows when and he wasn’t the best in-ring performer even in his prime (Scott Hall was the worker out of those two).  It was great to see him back.  The first thing that came to mind was that he fall right into the HHH and Authority vs CM Punk at WM30 theory.  

#BadNewsBarrett – Get. In. The. Ring.  (Although I do agree with him about Cleveland)

Jake “The Snake” Roberts – Congrats to The Snake for pulling his life out of the gutter.  If you’re reading this, you’re probably just as much of a wrestling junky as I am and as such, there’s no doubt you’ve been aware to how far Jake and his life has crumbled over the past decade-plus.  It was great to see him alive and well earlier in the month on Old School RAW.  Watching his highlight reel and knowing what he may have been indulging on at the time made me realized that there may have been a few interviews that The Snake didn’t seem to have all his faculties.  

Side Note(s) 

As pointed out numerous times here and again at our Rumble party, someone has to do better drug testing (or just give in that the use of HGH is permitted, and why shouldn’t it be for these wrestlers to recover) because these older wrestlers look great.  NOA, Nash, Goldust, etc. are all looking and wrestling better than they did 20 years ago.

Monday Night Wars: WWE vs WCW is something I can’t wait to watch.  That was the during the height of my Pro Wrestling geek-ness (which you can only imagine since it’s obvious I still love my rastlin’).  Include ECW and almost each weekend you had a PPV.  Every monday night was a six hour block of wrestling and then you had Wednesdays and Thursdays where each company put on a two hour show.  The behind the scenes battles between companies and for talent were almost better than the on-screen feuds.  Yet another reason to order the WWE Network.

For all of you wondering if I had won my crew’s Rumble pot, sadly the gambling gods did not favor me Sunday night.  I got stuck with 4, 5 and 6!  That’s right, I actually drew three consecutive numbers (I even had my girlfriend draw the third number, try to make sense of that) which should have won me something but no…  The big winner was Dustin who we may have to open a numbers tampering investigation.  Dustin somehow locked down CM Punk, Roman Reigns and the eventual winner Batista!  But poor Fred “The Oracle” might have had it the worse.  He was saddled with El Torrito which led to much debate over who had the worse grouping.  The Rumble was a ton of fun and congratulations to Dustin for a well earned win.

Until next week…

BearCast 2014 01-22 WrestleCast with Fred "The Oracle"

BearCast 2014 01-22 WrestleCast with Fred "The Oracle"

I'm working on getting this up and running through iTunes.  Since this is the first (of hopefully many) shows, I figured I'd throw this up here.  Feel free to give any comments or advice or thoughts.  Like I said, this is a new process and will keep working to make this best show it can be.  This first file is much larger than I intend it to eventually be so bare with me while I continue to tweak it.

The BearCast will be about many things but each week we'll have a show dedicated to the wonderful world of wrestling.

Enjoy.

Most everyone who reads this here knows how to get in touch with me but I've started a tweeter name separate from my personal account.  God knows I don't want you seeing what debauchery I usually follow.

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Thanks
WK

WWE Power Rankings, RAW 1/20/2014

Coming at you from Dayton, and with just six days from The Royal Rumble, I couldn’t be more excited.  The Rumble has to be my favorite show of the year.  Obviously WrestleMania is a spectacle and usually has the most star power and is when all the various story lines culminate but the Rumble is the most fun and incorporates so many things.  You usually have a solid championship match, which we have in Cena vs RKO for the umpteenth time, one or two solid mid-card matches, a Divas match and then the best single event of the year…the Rumble match itself!  A good Rumble match will incorporate a few current story lines (mostly involving partnerships breaking up and/or coming together), a breakout star that will get the big push, a wrestler who will do something memorable in regards to not getting eliminated, a wrestler who will last the longest, a wrestler who will take out the most opponents, a surprise wrestler that is making their return from injury or is newly signed, an old school wrestler who’s making a small return run (i.e. Kevin Nash a few years ago), to see who the final four are is always interesting, even the order to which the wrestlers come out is fun to watch and of course the winner (who’ll go on to be in the championship match at WM30).  The Road to WrestleMania will have officially started!  Whew!!  And you wonder why I get so excited?  Lastly, the best part of the Rumble is that IT’S THE ONE TIME A YEAR YOU CAN GAMBLE ON WRESTLING!!!  See the “side notes” for a basic RR pool that my crew uses.  Later this week, I’m doing a special “Dream Rumble” lineup.  If you’d like to throw your suggestions at me, tweet them @wkbear.  It’s also ingenious by the WWE to put RR on the dead Sunday between the NFL championship games and the Superbowl (free gambling winner: take Denver and the Over).  Sports and entertainment don’t get much better than this.  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 1/20/2014…

On the plus side, this “go home show” did a much better job of setting up the PPV than previous ones have done.  The negative, compared to such a fantastic RAW last week this one was a bit lacking on story and was sort of a let down but again, there was a lot of hype for Sunday’s big PPV.

Lastly, before we get to the rankings, and maybe this should be in the Side Notes section but it’s too important to not be noted, it will be extremely interesting to see who participates in the Royal Rumble match this year.  This is probably the thinest the WWE roster has ever been.  Frankly, some weeks it’s hard to come up with a top 20 performers.  Out of the WWE’s regular 20-25 regular performers, 2 to 6 of them are not planned to be in the Rumble (RKO, Cena, Bryan, Bray Wyatt, etc.).  Even with the occasional returning and new wrestlers, it’s going to be hard to fill up 30 slots.  With the struggles of TNA there’s just as much chance of having a gag entrant such as the Brooklyn Brawler as maybe an AJ Styles?  You just don’t know.  Have I said that I love the Royal Rumble?!

1. The Shield (5) – What a matchup!  With the way the Rhodes brothers and Big E have been wrestling of late, was there any doubt this match was going to steal the show?  Match of the night, right?  The dominance of The Shield almost certainly makes whatever they’re involved in a top 1 or 2 segment / match of the night, each week.  Rollins was back with in his long sleeves, which I pointed out how much I loved last week, and again showed that every member of The Shield is a superstar in the waiting.  Just as Reigns has been allowed to grow and develop his persona / moves inside the safety of The Shield.  We should all be grateful the WWE played the long game with The Shield and its members because six months ago when Reigns was rumored as the next breakout heavyweight contender, he was nowhere near ready like he will by the time The Shield actually breaks up.  He now has this “Superman punch” paired with that new kick maneuver from last week to add to his repertoire and isn’t just a “spear machine.”   Over these past few months all the members of The Shield have been finding what works for them as individuals.  Rollins has been showing that he’s not a third wheel and is able to put on a great match and put over his fellow wrestler.  I hadn’t seen that “stomp-face” finisher by Rollins before but it was solid.  I’m starting to run out of accolades for each member of The Shield.  Every week, even if they aren’t the focus of the match or story, they’re the best part of the show.  Let’s hope this isn’t the last time we see The Shield smiling together.
   
2. Goldust and Cody Rhodes / Big E Langston (9) – These three continue to roll.  As tag champs, the Rhodes brothers have been great.  I can’t say this enough but Goldust is wrestling better than he ever has.  Goldust even performed a great flip off the ring apron onto the floor.  He never did anything like that 10-15 years ago.  Cody keeps improving.  He pulled off a second rope leap onto the top rope into a springboard launch that took out Rollins on the floor outside the ring.  It was awesome.  Lastly, Big E was devastating.  With his heavyweight frame, can anyone say they thought he would be as dynamic as he’s shown.  He might never be a high-flyer but he’s quick, nimble and flies around the ring.  Great match with The Shield.
3. The Usos (3) – This was the Usos’s biggest challenge yet.  It’s one thing to go against The Shield or Daniel Bryan / Bray Wyatt and put on a good show.  It’s another thing when you’re expected to carry the match.  Could the Usos continue their recent success against the Rowan and Harper Wyatt?  If the Usos could pull a top tier match out of the two Wyatt enforcers, it would prove how good the Usos’s in-ring match ability really is.  BTW, the Usos throw some of the best punches I’ve ever seen.  What eventually spanned two commercial breaks and then ended with Bryan attacking Bray, I’d say the Usos were successful in their match against the bigger / stiffer Wyatts.  Congrats Usos, you’re the real deal.  Now dance like no one is watching.
   
   
   
   
4. Brock Lesnar w/ Heyman (N/A&8) – For a guy who only wrestles part-time, he’s still very good at taking bumps.  Speaking of bumps, I’d never say what Brock has on the back of his neck are fat rolls.  He’s so fucking huge that even his neck has muscles.  You want to talk about Batista coming back and being a “beast?” Every time I watch Lesnar my butt-hole clenches up.  The Big Show and Andre the Giant were always wrestlers to me and I was never scared of them, no matter their size.  Lesnar on the other hand scares me.  As I write this, I know he’s about 2,000 miles away in Ohio and from all accounts Lesnar is a nice person when you meet him, but I would shit my pants, pack my bags and move tonight if Lesnar looked into the camera and said, “Bear, I’m coming to get you.”  It’s a shame to waste one of the handful of matches he has on The Big Show.  Assuming Lesnar wins the match against Show, who’s next?  If this wrestling / MMA routine doesn’t work out for these guys, they could always start a good Shylock and collection agency… 
   
5. Daniel Bryan (1) – This was the first time in a while that Bryan got to have a prolonged solo mic segment.  This is the one aspect that I worry Bryan isn’t his strongest at.  But he pulled off his promo.  Even throwing a shot at Vince with, “And some people say I shouldn’t be the Face of this company.”  While the crowd is going crazy for him, chanting YES YES YES.  Bryan confirmed that it was all a ruse, joining the Wyatt Family, just to get revenge against Bray.  OK Bryan, you sold me.  You’ve got the mic skills to go with your incredible in-ring work.  I can’t wait for what should be an epic fight between Bryan and Bray Wyatt at RR.
6. Bray and The Wyatt Family (2) – I’m sorry, I don’t speak gator.  What the fuck was Bray saying?  Who knows, who cares.  I get the gist, Bray is going to beat down Daniel Bryan for his treachery.  One odd thing I picked up was that in the middle of the Wyatt / Usos tag match something funny happened.  Bray started talking and channeled Russell Crowe to become a mixture of Gladiator / Swamp Thing.  Rowan and Harper put on a solid match with the Usos, mainly because of the Usos.  The real anticipation is for this Sunday’s Bray vs Bryan matchup.
7. Batista (N/A) – First thought, he looks to be in great shape.  Second thought, he’s going to rip those jeggings in about two seconds.  It looked like someone painted jeans on Batista like when Sports Illustrated paints bikinis on their models and we’re supposed to pretend like they’re not nude.  (One day, it’s my dream to shake the hand of the person who thought of that little trick for providing years of masterbatorial material.  Yeah, it’s “artistic” wink-wink.  The most fantastically elaborate way of getting the top models on earth to pose naked.  A true pioneer.  My carpal tunnel riddled wrist and arm tips my cap to you.)  The announce crew kept stating all the reasons Batista came back but all I could think was, he’s back to up his profile and make sure the WWE Universe supports his cinematic endeavors (like The Rock did) and come WM30 guess what’s due out in the cineplexes?  The Guardians of the Galaxy!  With all the new tattoos and since he really doesn’t have gimmick to bank on, he should embrace the Drax the Destroyer role and see how quickly he can turn those homecoming cheers into villainous boos.  Maybe it was lost by the telecast but it already seemed like Batista’s face heat was subsiding by the time he destroyed ADR.  Regardless, he’s back.  I wish him well the next few months.  On a physical / homoerotic side note, my girlfriend -REPEAT- my girlfriend wants to know how someone can have such huge shoulders and trap’s but no lat’s and a smallish chest?  It must be hard to find him a masseuse strong enough to work the knots out of those shoulders.  (Another life tip to all you young-in’s: “shoulder’s make the man” so don’t neglect those when you first start working out.  Any professional weightlifter will tell you this.) 
   
   
   
   
   
8. HHH and Stephanie (N/A) – The Authority makes their return.  It feels like forever since these maniacal lovebirds have been on RAW together.  I’ve missed them.  Vince must have been smiling when Stephanie busted out a fantastic promo that not only laid out the championship story but also fit in advertising for the newly announce WWE Network.  She was brilliant.  Not to be outdone, HHH basically touched on every major storyline going on in the WWE.  The only thing that HHH steered away from was any mention of his involvement in recent incidents involving CM Punk.  Even a blind man can see that every one with a connection to HHH is in someway affecting Punk.  I expect some sort of interaction between the two during the Rumble to help push this rumored feud along.  I mean, c’mon.  They made Punk the first wrestler in the rumble.  That always means something.
   
9. Randy Orton (10) – RKO came out on fire and was fantastic.  This is why RKO is worthy of a top slot in the WWE.  HHH and Stephanie are naturally heels as the Authority but only RKO can land further down the heel-scale and make HHH / Stephanie come off looking like faces, if only for a few minutes.  When it was time for his rematch with Kofi from last week, it was a nice touch to have him come out to the ring paranoid.  Constantly looking over his shoulder.  Even with the anticipation of Cena arriving to take vengeance for what RKO did to Cena’s father last week, RKO and Kofi put on a much better match this time around.  When Cena did finally arrive, the bit went Old School.  RKO and Cena took the fight into crowd and up to the arena’s suites.  RKO was able to escape outside the arena.  That’s right, RKO left the building and miraculously jumped into the passenger side of a renal SUV.  While it was preposterous for the announcers to allege that RKO “stole” someone’s car, it was clearly waiting there, I do wonder if RKO didn’t take it upon himself to have someone HE could trust waiting outside for him?  Or he just jumped into a random car and said drive.  Lord know, a greased up RKO jumps into my car and says go, I go.  RKO has some really interesting possibilities coming up.  He’s got trust issues.  He’s got issues with wanting to prove he is the Face of the WWE.  He’s got paranoia issue about everyone coming after his title.  He’s got issues with his employer.  The only problem is that all of his “issues” are intricate and if not handled properly could fail miserably.  RKO suddenly became really interesting. 
   
10. CM Punk (4) – I wish there was more but it seems that there is going to be a Punk / HHH feud but it won’t really pic up steam until or right after the Royal Rumble.  Thanks to Kane, Punk was bestowed the first entry into the Rumble.  Not necessarily a bad thing because the first entrant is usually the guy getting the big push, the one who eventually wins or the one who’s involved in the biggest storyline going in and coming out of the Rumble match.  If anyone has the endurance, ability and guts to go wire-to-wire at the Rumble, it’s Punk.  I’m not so much excited for where Punk has been for the last few weeks but pumped for where he might be going if it’s truly to feud with HHH at WM30.
11. New Age Outlaws (13) – In today’s WWE, where one man will fight the singles match and the partner will be at the announce table, was there any question Road Dogg would be on mic and Mr. Ass Billy Gunn would be in-ring to take on Punk?  The return of the NAO was fun but I’m ready to move onto the main course of Punk / HHH.  I’m Shocked that the NAO are taking on the Rhodes boys for the tag team champs.  With all the great tag talent available, such as the Primetime Players, why is it necessary to bring back the NAO for a tag match.  I understand the quick run they’re having against Punk in service to the bigger HHH story but why keep them around?  Remember when Billy Gunn used to be the powerhouse of the NAO?  Let’s just say time is undefeated.  Although I challenge you to find someone at Gunn’s age to get up that high on those dropkicks like he does.
    
    
12. Korporate Kane / Brad Maddox (12) – I have a feeling it’s about time to “break glass in case of emergency” and free the monster.  Stemming from an incident on Smackdown, Kane is embroiled with CM Punk but it all feels orchestrated to add to the Punk / HHH feud.  It makes more sense for Kane to finally snap and help out Bryan if the rest of the Wyatt Family tries to interfere with the Bryan / Bray match.  The Kane / Maddox relationship is interesting.  If Kane isn’t thrusted back into the ring, I’m interested in where their relationship could go.
    
    
13. John Cena (7) – Even though he’s the Face of the WWE, this is the first time in years that Cena isn’t part of any of the top story lines.  Sure, he’s fighting for the championship vs RKO at the Rumble but isn’t RKO the more interesting character.  They had to bring back RKO vs Cena’s dad just to give any sort of motivation for Cena.  The WWE set up a “Cena-cam” to watch for when Cena was going enter the building?  It seemed like he either wanted a light work night or maybe his flight was late to the show.  It was odd that he came to the arena fully dressed and charging down the utility entrance and into the ring.  Then RKO and Cena battled “old school” up through the crowd and … into at suite?  I must say, I’ve never seen that before.  From there, it just got weirder.  Cena again seemed overly concerned with the people in the crowd.  Asking if “Is everyone OK?” in the suite because maybe RKO ran them over during his escape.  Hello!  These are wrestling fans.  If RKO body slammed or clotheslined a patron, they would be more than thrilled.  I couldn’t tell you what’s going on with Cena.  Then, during the last few minutes of the show, Cena’s glad-handing the fans as he makes his way back to the ring?  The bad news is Cena’s character seems lost.  The good news is that the rest of the roster seems to be picking up the slack.
14. Kofi Kingston (11) – Kofi gets a rematch and a chance to wash away the bad taste of last week’s match out of our mouths.  RKO had that special spark from the beginning of the show which definitely came through when it was time for their rematch.  RKO and Kofi are two of the most naturally gifted athletes the WWE has.  Every match should be a classic.  A win last week and a muddled ending where Cena attacks RKO this week should be good for Kofi but I don’t see the end game.  If past performances mean anything, Kofi is odds on favorite to have the spot of the night at the Rumble.
15. Rey Mysterio (15) – For the past few weeks, it seems like Rey needs about 5 minutes before his pain meds kick in and he’s fully lubricated.  Until then, it’s like watching the tin man trying to move around before Dorothy pumps him full of WD-40.  After he’s loose, we get glimpses of old school Rey which is amazing.  I still say we’re looking at Rey’s goodbye tour this year.  Baring a serious injury, I’m hoping he can have one or two good feuds left and give us a handful of memorable matches because like Ray Allen, when he’s in rhythm he can still stroke the money shot all night.
16. Alberto Del Rio (14) – In his last few matches against Rey, he’s been carrying Rey until he gets warmed up.  Rey still has enough skill to work well with ADR.  How about that killer leg stomp when ADR caught Rey in the corner?  Fred “The Oracle” called it; these matches are just to set up ADR to eventually fall and job to Batista.  It makes sense.  ADR is getting built up but with a string of wins of late, albeit to a hobbled Rey Mysterio and seldom used Sin Cara.  ADR got blasted by Batista and don’t expect this to be the last time.
17. The Big Show (16) – They show us tape of the good Big Show (the mad giant) and then we get the bad Big Show on the mic (the comedian).  Outside of the WWE world, and with the right script / setting, Big Show has the most charisma of almost anyone who walks down the ramp.  The problem is, in the squared circle, angry and limited time Big Show is the better draw than charismatic Big Show.  Luckily for us, the Big Show got through with his act quickly and Heyman / Lesnar made their way to the ring to put an end to Big Show’s nonsense.  I’m really worried for their match.  Lesnar is solid when he’s got a skillful opponent like HHH or Punk but what’s going to happen when Lesnar has to carry the match?  We’ll find out Sunday. 
    
18. AJ Lee and Tamina vs Cameron and Naomi (18) – With a record setting Divas championship title reign, you’d think this would be a joyous occasion for AJ but the writers seem fit to bring back crazy AJ instead of expanding on Harley Quinn AJ (which you might think is the same, but I assure you it’s not).  The AJ that has become a fan favorite is the smart cerebral AJ who’s pissed at the Total Divas, shoots pipe bomb promos and wrestles her ass off in the ring.  Not the cake throwing, table smashing AJ from two years ago.  Hopefully this was a one time flashback.  On the positive side, Naomi has shown the most potential of the new Divas.  Is it a coincidence that the best Divas are the ones dating / married to wrestlers.  Naomi is with one of the Usos, B-cup-Bella is with Daniel Bryan and AJ is with Punk.  Natalya comes from wrestling royalty but she too is married to a very good in-ring performer in Tyson “TeeJaaay” Kidd.  Tamina is a Snuka and has the size to dominate but not yet the skill.  I would never admit this out loud but I would be apposed to watching a fatal 4-way between Naomi, Bella, Natalya and AJ for the championship.  You’ve got one chance Divas, don’t make me regret it…
19. Fan-dan-go w/ Summer Rae (N/A) – Back from the abyss of the unused.  Fandango was thrown into a match with Xavier Woods.  This had to be the WTF match of the night.  It came out of nowhere.  Fandango go the win but I couldn’t tell you why?  Fandango is still getting a solid push and I wonder how he’ll fare in the RR match?  Is he just another contestant or will he continue to receive a push and get one of the prime slots or assignments? 
20. Xavier Woods w/ R-Truth on the mic (N/A) – R-Truth at the announce table is always interesting.  The biggest news is that he’s set to face Damien Sandow on a show called Main Even on a channel called ION.  I will not be hunting this down, which is unfortunate because I pumped up Sandow so much last week that I really wanted to see him capitalize on his fantastic match with Cena.  Why is Xavier Woods even fighting Fandago?  I thought he was in a feud with the newly turned heel, Brodus Clay?  What happened to that?  Is Clay hurt?  Yet another thread that can be built upon during the Rumble match.  This match with Fandango was pointless.  Even though for a spit second, didn’t it seem like R-Truth had grown irritated by Xavier and his loss may have caused some friction between the two? 

Honorable Mentions

Mae Young – RIP.  Say what you will about the nonagenarian, she was down for everything and anything.  She was Bubba-bombed off the stage and through a table.  She gave birth to a hand.  A fucking HAND!  This at a time in her life when most people her age are slurping up dinner and loosing their minds in old age homes.  All in the name of the wrestling business.  We take it for granted that not only was she in the wrestling business for over 70 years and even today women have to work much harder to be respected as something more than just arm candy to the male wrestlers.  Mae was doing that during WWII.  I won’t pretend that I knew any more about Mae Young than the few times I saw her on TV.  Most of the time it involved ridiculous stunts and her old age.  I feel for her family and hope that they take solace that very few people are remembered in this world.  Mae will live on forever in the archives of wrestling and the WWE.

#EMMAtaining – I don’t know who or what she’s all about but it’s the second week in a row that RAW cameras went out of their way to show her in the crowd.  Let’s not gloss over the fact it’s the second week in a row that she’s been IN the crowd.  No doubt this EMMA-person will be a factor in something soon.

Richard Sherman – Off a game winning performance in the NFC Championship win, Sherman gave quite a remarkable heel interview seen here.

Side Note(s)

Royal Rumble gambling pool –

-30 pieces of paper numbered 1-30 placed into a hat or large bowl.

-Divide 30 by the number of people in your crew, that’s how many picks you get (i.e. 10 people, 3 picks each).

-Each person puts in $5 (in this example the pot would be $50)

-The number(s) you have correspond with each wrestler’s entrance slot.  Whichever wrestler comes out at your slot is now your wrestler.

-If your wrestler wins the Rumble, you win the pot ($50 winner takes all).

Done.  Have fun.  It’s a lot of fun for everyone no matter if you’re a die-hard mark or someone who knows nothing about wrestling.  Last year my girlfriend won because she lucked out and got Cena as one of her pics.  Proving ANYONE can win.  Enjoy.

**any odd number of picks can be purchased by someone as bonus chances or put back in as “house picks” where the funds go to pay for the food, beer, PPV, etc.**

I had to include this series of pics.  The three faces of Heyman:

Until next week…