WWE Power Rankings, RAW 1/06/2014

Coming at you from Baltimore, after watching the second greatest BCS Championship (nothing can top the USC / Texas game, don’t try to fight me on that) and then curling up for what promised to be an exciting RAW, it was a long night for this old Bear.  With a good night’s sleep, I’m ready to christen in the New Year and the beginning of the 2014 Power Rankings!  Old School RAW was appropriately titled.  It had the look and flavor of an Old School WWF/E event.  Even my girlfriend commented on the cool retro look of the WWE signage.  The only problem was it was much more of a “show pony” than actual good show.  I’ll never say NO to seeing former greats come out and give the show an added boost, but we still have a Royal Rumble just a few weeks away and the story must go on.  The other small complaint, which I’ll get into later, is that some of the former stars that were from the Attitude era, can’t really be Attitude-y on todays WWE’s PG shows.  This is how we get The Godfather leading a stable of old guys out to the stage instead of his usual flock of hookers & hoes.  By the time Wade Barrett got done with his schtick, you could see the former Superstars wondering, “Is this what we came back here for?  I better run to the bank to make sure this check cashes.”  But by the end, the WWE was able to shine by putting on some really solid matches and bringing out the biggest reclamation of Superstardom in Jake “The Snake” Roberts.  Anyone who’s read the dirt sheets and watched Beyond the Mat will tell you the likelihood of ever seeing The Snake on WWE television, or even alive for that matter, was slim to none.  He’s rehabbed himself with the help of DDP and it was great to see him back out there looking well.  Having said all that, facts and matches about the upcoming Royal Rumble were just being flung at the audience like a Jameis Winston 2-yrd TD game winning TD pass (see what I did there).  Info like Batista entering into the RR, which would usually have a little pomp and circumstance, was just tossed at us.  Over and over and over and over again.  BTW, did you hear Batista was entering into the RR?  Even with screen time being precious, the WWE was able to get in some quality matches and move forward their main story lines.  So with that, let’s get to the rankings as of this week’s RAW on 1/06/2013…

FYI, no (previous) rankings apply because 1) it’s new year and 2) the last two weeks were throw aways; both things add up to a fresh start:

1. CM Punk – Other than winning a championship, could anyone have had a better night than Punk?  Basically called a living legend by a living legend (Piper).  Piper was throwing “pipe-bombs” when they were coconuts.  Introduced by one of the best hype men ever in wrestling (regardless if you liked Road Dogg the wrestler, he knows how to work a mic) and thrown together with two of the few Old Schoolers, that can actually move faster than a snail’s pace, The New Age Outlaws and Punk made some key entrances AND Punk put on one of the best matches of the night.  Punk and the other two members of The Shield, Ambrose and Rollins, have been great.  I was a little worried at first because his match with Reigns got off to a slow start but by the end, it was full speed ahead which ended in a Punk loss (albeit predicable).
   
2. Daniel “Bryatt” Bryan – I’m not sure if the Bryan is really the number 2 ranked wrestler this week because his overall performance wasn’t the best we’ve seen, especially recently, but his story has been the few to carry through the holiday season and is getting more screen time than any other (besides The Shield).  Visually, he’s a perfect fit for the Wyatts.  They gave him a shrunk blue version of Rowan’s mechanics jumpsuit and it worked fine.  The match they were in was fine but not great.  The best part of the night for Bryan was when he and the other Wyatts cut a promo backstage and we learned that Bryan and Bray would be teaming up next week.  I haven’t yet consulted “The Oracle” but everything feels like a huge flip / revenge turn by Bryan on the Wyatts at Royal Rumble.  I don’t know where either would go afterwards if that were to happen but I also don’t see where this “Bryatt” gimmick goes after a few weeks either.  The whole thing is just odd because Bryan was such a huge fan favorite and was destroying audiences every week.  It’s rare for the WWE to slam the breaks on an “over” star / gimmick before its popularity wanes.  Yet another reason I’m guessing that a big double cross against the Wyatts would pop big and is what the WWE is building towards.
   
3. The Shield – Blatantly playing up the “cracks in The Shield” story.  Not too many performers could pull off such obvious storytelling and We as an audience would put up with it but Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns have been so spectacular in executing their rolls that I’m totally fine with it.  Am I happy about The Shield eventually breaking up? NO.  But everything has its time and while all three members have shown to be strong individual wrestlers, I’m sure The Shield will always get back together from time to time.  Look at DX or The Four Horsemen.  The WWE has done a good job of slow burning the breakup of The Shield.  Even with Reigns victory over Punk last night, the other members could say he only won because of the distraction that the Ambrose and Rollins caused.  As always, the story will continue.
4. Goldust and Cody Rhodes – I’ll make this short.  Can anyone believe how good Goldust looks and is wrestling?  If this was any other sport, people would want him tested for steroids and HGH like Barry Bonds in 2001.  But this is wrestling so I assume everyone is doing some sort of steroid or HGH.  At one point JBL mentioned that Goldust IS Old School.  He’s right!  Goldust was on the scene before The New Age Outlaws, Rikishi and Too Cools of the world.  Between the four wrestlers involved, Goldust / Cody / Swagger / Cesaro, Goldust was hands down the best performer in-ring.  (And would be the best performer on mic if they ever gave him the chance.)
5. RKO – This is where I have to throw in the current Face and Heel of the WWE.  They didn’t do much but they came out and were, well…the Face and Heel of the WWE.  RKO gets the spot above Cena because RKO is the current champ.  He was truly boring but was spot on for his character.  He came out.  He whined.  He brought back memories of Evolution (What, WWE, you couldn’t have worked the timing out so that Flair, HHH, RKO and Batista were all back on the same show?  Would that have been too hard?).  I’m not going to even bother complaining about the how’s or why’s RKO vs Cena part 2 at RR is lame because it is what it is.  That’s the championship match and to be honest, the RR isn’t about the championship match.  When you’re watching the Rumble, THAT’s where the focus is.  Unless you’re in an unbelievable feud, which is rare, you almost don't want to be the champ at RR.  You’d much rather win or put on a great performance at the Rumble.  
6. John Cena – Right behind RKO because he’s the challenger.  This RKO / Cena match is being so downplayed that it definitely feels like it’s going to be Part 2 of a trilogy.  If Cena pulls off this win, we could be set up for a final face off at the PPV between The Rumble and WM30.  Lord knows it wouldn’t surprise me if Cena stacks his WM30 deck and also comes out to win The Rumble match but I think even for the WWE, that would be too much.  I’ll give Cena props.  The promo between Flair and RKO needed a little Cena thrown in to pick the energy back up.  Flair is a legend but he’s also ancient.  He was definitely petering out by the end and RKO can only do so much load lifting.  
7. Brock Lesnar w/ Heyman – I know Lesnar isn’t going to say anything, just as I know Heyman isn’t going to wrestle.  What better duo is there?  They are perfect for each other.  I’m even more happy to have Heyman back than Brock.  Maybe it’s because I know Lesnar is only obligated to a few matches per year while Heyman can turn any turd of a wrestler into someone I want to watch (look no further than Ryback & Axel).  This is not to diminish Lesnar.  Let me be clear, LESNAR IS A BEAST.  He looks like he’s in great shape.  He’s always been an underrated wrestler.  If the WWE feels they need to build him back up after match ups against Punk and HHH in the recent past, what better way than to have him take out Mark Henry “The World’s Strongest Man” and the WWE’s “Giant” The Big Show.  Knowing that Lesnar only has a few matches per year, I wonder what the end game is.  Rumors are he’ll be facing the Undertaker at WM30, so to build him up as someone that can take out the biggest and strongest makes sense.  You won’t hear much complaining from me when Lesnar and Heyman come out.  
8. The Usos – If you’ve read previous rankings you’d know that I love the Usos and want their roles to grow and grow.  They are in line to being the next (or soon to be next) Tag Champs.  Having said that, last night was probably their weakest performance in months.  Granted, they’ve been stellar just about every time we’ve seen them and an off night by the Usos is usually better than other tag teams “A” games, I’m just saying tonight they weren’t the best.  Maybe because they had to carry the corpse of Rey Mysterio around or because they were fighting a tag team in The Wyatts that have other things on their minds.  Whatever the reason was, their match didn’t blow me away like usual.  
9. Big E Langston – He’s a beast.  He’s agile and has a ton of potential.  I guess his next feud will be with Ryback?  Yet another WTF pairing but assuming Big E staves off the might of Ryback, that will propel Big E’s status.  He’s handled smaller, more agile opponents but to now add a heavyweight in Ryback would just prove his worthiness.  If he can pull out a few good matches against Ryback, he’ll shoot up the list of top wrestlers. 
10. Mark Henry – If jobbing to Lesnar is what the WWE feels they need to push Lesnar’s star, I get it.  But on RAW, Lesnar “broke” Henry’s arm which would make be believe he’s going to be out for some time.  The problem is Henry just came back, is on fire whether alone or teaming up with Big E and I haven’t heard of any real reason he needs time off?  I went on to the WWE website and noticed that now they’re calling Henry’s injury a dislocation instead of a break.  In wrestling terms, that means he’ll be back to normal by next week.  Maybe I’m blowing this “injury” out of proportion?  I hope so because Henry was really making waves over the past month.  I’d hate to see that end.
11. The Big Show – So we’ve got angry Big Show again.  This is the best type of Big Show.  Actually, the best type of Big Show comes in small doses, which is what we got as well.  This Lesnar / Henry / Show triad is not going to be show stopping, especially if it ends up being a Lesnar vs Big Show 20 minute match.  That doesn’t mean it can’t be a good match.  If somehow Lesnar takes on both Big Show and Henry in a fairly quick / powerful match, then I could be sold.
12. Alberto Del Rio – Welcome back ADR.  It’s been a few weeks since we last saw you on TV.  We’ve picked up were we left off.  He’s been feuding with Sin Cara for the past few matches.  They both have the ability to put on strong matches.  There’s not much to say other than they have put on good matches but there doesn’t seem to be a payoff.  I still think that there’s some gold (maybe not gold but enough turquoise stone for a Phillip Rivers bolo tie) to be mined in the “I’m the better Mexican while Sin Cara is the illegal disrespectful unworthy Mexican wrestler?”  Pair him up with Zeb and / or The Real Americans and see if it sticks as a heel role.  It’s not my first choice but it’s something.  It could push the boundaries of insensitive gimmicks but there’s certainly been worse.  Ask any wrestler what’s worse, a slightly racist / bigoted character with a paycheck or a gimmick that is never seen and you’re holding a ticket to the developmental territories?  ADR is too talented of a performer to not have a spot on the roster.  The creative staff has gone too long without developing a character for ADR.
13. The Real Americans w/ Zeb – Give props to Zeb and his signage.  Every good villainous manager needs a prop.  Whether it’s a megaphone, whistle, cane, tennis racket, etc. all evil managers seem to have something.  As usual, Cesaro was the standout performer of The Real Americans.  Luckily we weren’t subjected to watching him swing his opponent around with that stupid move because it was during a commercial break…oh wait!  We were because even though you could “only see this amazing move using the WWE app,” somehow they replayed it during the telecast.  Once again, proving the app to be unnecessary.  This all might change on Wednesday’s new’s conference, see below for my theory.  Back to the wrestlers.  Surprisingly, The Real Americans have stayed around.  They’re serviceable as high end jobbers.  
14. Sin Cara – This guy is about one flip off the top rope from being knocked off the Power Rankings.  His wrestling ability is there (or at least each person who’s worn the Sin Cara mask can wrestle) but at this point, that’s all there is.  He’s a guy in a mask who can put on some cool moves.  If he’s got a comic book about his, it’s got to be one of the most boring comic books.  This guy doesn’t have a bad gimmick or personality, he has NO gimmick or personality.  He’s a show.  He’s a solid in-ring performer.  That’s it.  Fortunately or unfortunately, who ever’s played Sin Cara keeps getting hurt.  The WWE has never had to deal with how they build his character.  It looks like they’re going to have to if they plan on keeping him around.
15. Rey Mysterio – Look, I don’t know how much Mysterio has left in the tank.  I can’t tell if he’s working his way back into wrestling shape or just doing his last lap to thank the fans before he retires.
16. Damien Sandow – Yet another wrestler that seems trapped.  Fortunately, Sandow has the tools to create things out of nowhere.  The well of “I’m smarter than you…” is deep and has been drawn on by wrestlers for 100 years.  I don’t know if it’s an honor to be the guy who has to job to Sargent Slaughter each year but someone has to do it.  I suppose it’s a step up from playing “Evil Santa” a few weeks ago.  As far as the action on RAW, OOOHHHHHH how excited did I get when it was announce we were having a rematch of the Sandow / Khali hostilities! (my goal for the new year is pick a way of conveying sarcasm in text) 
17. Ryback – Didn’t nearly disappoint like Axel did but then again, he only had to talk (which for some can be even more disastrous).  Ryback did an “OK” job on the mic as guest announcer.  He was in character and went along with the program, the problem is that his character sucks.  So do I blame Ryback 100% for being bad?  HE, the man playing Ryback was fine.  It’s the gimmick, or lack there of, that sucks.
18. Curtis Axel – Can you hear that?  It’s the death nails being hammered into the casket of Curtis Axel.  They can literally bury him next to his father.  Too far?  Maybe, now I feel bad.  Notice how I didn’t delete it though…  Mr. Curtis Axel, only you have the power the change my perception.  Ziggler and Sandow loose all the time but they still put on a worthy showing.  Replace Axel with a sack of potatoes and I would be able to tell the difference.  
19. 3MB – I don’t even remember how or why Slater was off the show a week or two ago, which left 3MB as just 2MB.  That’s how little I care.  Do I find it disrespectful that they’re the ones chosen to job to The Old Schoolers (Rikishi and Too Cool)?  NO.  They’re jobbers.  You go out and put over whomever the WWE tells you to.  KCC (Keep Cashing Checks) is the name of the game.  Just the same as I look down on a girl who’ll blow three guys at a random party but I respect a whore who gets paid to blow 20 guys in a day.  “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” – Joker, TDK
20. Diva’s match – The Bellas vs Oksana / Alicia Fox wasn’t the worst wrestling I’ve ever seen.  These girls are at least trying.  I’ve watched PPV matches where you just know the wrestlers are counting down the seconds until the pin fall.  I can say that Alicia Fox sure does do a lot of high energy flipping when performing her moves.  B-cup-Bella is above average.  Although I have no idea what the purpose for this match was and why we wasted our time with it when there’s wrestlers like Brodus Clay that I want to know what’s happening with?  All I know is that I’ll never get back the 20 minutes of life that I wasted between the Old School six-man tag match and this Divas match.  As I get older, I realize that I don’t have that much time left on this planet to waste on such things.  

Honorable Mentions

Ric Flair – Wooooooooooooooooo!  Greatness.  (Life tip = Just say NO if you find yourself in any sort of financial setting with the Nature Boy.)  Other than that, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  Too bad they didn’t work just a little bit more of the Four Horsemen in when Arn Anderson

Did you hear the rumor Batista was coming back?

Rowdy Roddy “Hot Rod” Piper – A hero to all of us who love the villain.  Now he’s become the king of anti-heroes, the original Walter White of wrestling.  It’s hard for someone who’s made his career being the bad guy, now being cheered by the fans, to keep the back guy persona going.  Luckily we have an up-and-coming slimy heel that could one day be the next great heel in Dean Ambrose.  Ambrose has the greasy hair, the slurred speech and sour puss that is required of all great heels.  It was great to have so many “bad guys” in one ring.  By the end you had Piper, Punk, The New Age Outlaws and The Shield all together.  30 years and counting of great heels.

Batista is coming back.

        My hero, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase

Rikishi – Would it have been so hard to figure out a way to put the Usos and Rikishi in the same match?  I know Rikishi was part of an Old School tag match and he was wearing his son’s t-shirt but put the old man out there with his kids.

Did you hear Batista is coming back AND has entered the Royal Rumble?

Scotty 2 Hotty – Dude is ripped!  They said he’s become a firefighter since leaving wrestling.  I can tell you that he was never in such good shape while he was a wrestler.  Good for you Mr. 2 Hotty.  To my recollection, Scotty 2 Hotty was the leader of the WORM dance movement which we now see everyone doing / trying to do.  I can’t tell you how much I hated the worm then and how much I hate the worm now.  Nothing is less attractive than a hot chick trying to do the worm.  No matter how many fires Mr. 2 Hotty puts out or kittens he saves from trees, I’ll never forgive him for being a forefather of The Worm dance is in pop culture.  

Small under announced bit of news came out.  Batista is coming back to the WWE.  I didn’t know if anyone was going to announce it.

Grand Master Sexay – First off, I’m convinced that Jerry “The King” Lawler is a practicer of the dark arts.  Don’t feed me this line of crap, that The King had a stomach virus on the same day that his “son” GM Sexay was to appear on camera.  We all know The Kings affinity for facial reconstruction when he showed up on RAW 2002 with his facelift scars still showing.  Now he’s taken it to a new level.  I’m convinced that he’s transferred his soul / conscience into his next of kin.  The King has found a way to cheat death!  The end of days is nigh!

The Godfather’s new “PG” flock…

Lastly, hot off the presses…Batista is coming back!  And he’s entered into the Royal Rumble!  Shhhhhh, don’t tell anyone. 

Side Note(s)

Will we see the much anticipated Shield vs Wyatt Family battle?  It’s clear the fans want it.  The problem is that both teams are on such opposites sides of the field and on such different planes, I just don’t see how they can get the two of them thrown together, with the right kind of hype, for an epic showdown at WM30?  Stranger things have happened and if the night before WM30 comes and the two teams are thrown into a 6-man tag match, I won’t complain.  But I would like to see a few shows of feuding before that match happens.  If it ever does?

The biggest news, potentially, is this announcement on WWE.com Wednesday.  What will it be?  I don’t know.  I try to stay away from the dirt sheets and rumors as much as possible to keep the Ranking’s pure.  But if I were a betting man, I’d say this will have something to do with either the long rumored WWE channel or a WWE / Netflix-like venture.  A monthly subscription service that will allow you to watch all the various WWE content (which includes all the ECW, WCW and everything else they’ve bought up) and show the smaller PPVs.  This can cut down on the frequency of the PPVs, cut down on the overall cost to fans (the Providers take 50% of the PPV fees) and let the WWE control almost all its content.  I’d still suspect that they’ll have RAW on cable each week because thats how most of the world keeps up with the WWE and I suspect that the major PPVs will still be on standard provider based platforms.  WM, Summer Slam, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series (maybe one or two more) are still big enough draws that you’d want them to be able to reach as many eyes as possible.  Netflix is growing but it still isn’t accessible or is accessed by as many people who have cable or satellite already in their homes and hooked up to their TVs.  They’re bringing in some heavy players on the corporate side and the wrestling side so it will be interesting what this announcement is.  Would I pay for a Netflix-style WWE service for $10-15 per month in lieu of eight PPVs at $40 bucks a pop?  Yup and happily.  Especially if you get all the past content and bonus content and DVD specials.  

And who doesn’t love an appearance by Mean Gene?  It takes me back to Saturday mornings.

Until next week…

WWE Power Rankings (New Year's Edition), RAW 12/30/2013

Coming at you live from Richmond, it’s the final RAW of the year.  The WWE is closing out the year with episode 1,075! 

First and foremost, THANK YOU to everyone who has read and supported this blog.  I appreciate everyone who’s taken the time to read the insanity that spews from my brain each week.  Something that was just a goofy writing exercise turned into a fun, challenging and exciting way for me to reconnect with something that I’ve loved for over 25 years.  

As with everyone and everything, time changes all…

We grow up.  We get jobs.  We quit jobs.  We make money.  We loose money.  Kids are born.  People die.  Friends come and go.  Relationships blossom and fade.  But every Monday, there’s always Wrestling.  Even in the world of wrestling there are good eras and bad.  Mondays that you have to watch just to see what’s going to happen next and other Mondays that you’ll be lucky to still be awake by the main event.

Sometimes I’ll goof on the lengths that the WWE will go to in order to insure a “new” show every Monday but the truth is, the “streak” is the best attribute the WWE has.  The WWE, come hell or high water, will give you a new show every Monday night.  I’m sure they’ll admit, not every week is a grand slam home run.  But there is never a question that from the guy sweeping up the floor to Vince McMahon himself they aren’t trying to entertain their audience.  

What other entertainment is on 52 weeks a year?  No sport, no movie, no television show can hold up to what the WWE provides.  There’s no harder working athletes / performers than the wrestlers.  The writers and crew that create, travel and put on the show have got to be the unsung heroes of the WWE Universe.  It’s amazing that week after week the show goes on without complete disaster.  The old saying of, “When you don’t notice them, they’re doing their jobs well,” is no better applied.  

This is all just to say that I love wrestling.  I wouldn’t bother nor would I be able to write 4,000 - 5,000+ words each Monday night / Tuesday morning if it wasn’t something that holds a deep place in my heart.  

2013 was a great start for this blog and I hope everyone will join me in 2014.  I’ll take a page from the WWE and always try new things and mix stuff up a little.  I’d love nothing more than to hear feedback and responses from anyone who reads this.  Tweet @wkbear or email me or leave comments. I know, you’re probably thinking that a big time A-list celebrity such as myself would never read or pay attention to anything you send and you’d just be wasting your time.  I assure you, it’s not like that.  I’ll always have the time for a fellow wrestling fan.  The Pope, Lady Gaga, LeBron James or Barak Obama might not reply to your messages but I am far greater than all of those people combined.  I care (maybe not “care” so much as I am willing to read) your thoughts and respond to them.  I genuinely respect and appreciate anyone who puts the time into reading eight pages of where each greased up, nearly naked men (and a few women) who throw each other around a squared-circle rank on a scale from 1 - 20 each week.  

Each week the audience grows and I can’t thank you enough.  The fact that even one person reads this blog, thrills and amazes me.  I’m truly grateful.  Please help me spread the word and share this with anyone else who may enjoy it.  

With that, I thank you all again.  I’m looking forward to a great wrestling year of 2014.  Let’s get into why we’re all here…

Once again, we’re all still pretty much on winter break.  I’m going to put aside the normal Power Rankings until next week.  Lest anyone think there won’t be rankings, oh…there will be rankings!  I actually did some thinking while pretending to enjoy the holidays with my friends and family.  I took some notes down to create a Top 5 Things I’d Change in Wrestling for 2014. 

1. Cut back the PPVs by at least THREE.  I know I’m not the first person to bring this up but it’s no doubt the easiest solution to fixing WWE storytelling.  At the same time, this is probably the hardest thing to do.  Why is it hard, simple my dear boy… MONEY!  While it’s easy for me to sit here and write, “There are too many PPVs,” let’s not forget why there are so many.  Money!  As we all know, the money decision will reign king above all else.  Even a lack luster PPV makes the WWE more money than the average Sunday “house” show they would be performing anyway.  The biggest gorilla in the room are the Cable and Satellite provider, who take home approximately 50% of the PPV.  That’s 50%, off the top.  This is a cash cow for the Providers.  I won’t belabor the in’s and out’s of business here but I’m sure all sides decided to go for this PPV schedule.  It wasn’t until later when the WWE production staff started to be handcuffed by writing towards a “major” show every three weeks, that the WWE is probably wishing they could cut back.  Again, it’s not like the WWE doesn’t want to make PPV money but it’s hard to establish characters and build up story lines when you only have three week cycles to tell your story and build said characters.  The short money maker is to put on more PPVs.  The long term money maker is to have characters and story lines that more of your audience will want to pay for, and at possibly a higher price.  Forget all the creative / story stuff for a second.  Each PPV is now $40-50 and is too expensive for the average fan to order one every three weeks.  Especially when the WM’s or Summer Slam’s are $60-70.  I’d be much more inclined to order every PPV at $50 or more if I knew I was getting a great PPV that’s been hyped properly and was every 5 to 6 weeks.  All this could be mute because of the potential WWE channel or Netflix-like distribution.  If the WWE could cut out (or down) the Provider costs and deals in exchange for a $10 - 20 per month subscription service where you get all the past, present and future shows on demand with behind the scenes, DVD’s, special features and throw in a half dozen of the smaller PPVs, then it wouldn’t be crazy to spend an additional $50 on WM, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble and Summer Slam (the big 4) on the standard Provider PPV.  2014 might be big for the WWE on and off camera if this is the year they actually move forward with their long purposed “WWE Channel.”  I’m sure we’ll be talking more about this as the year goes on.
2. Bring back a King of the Ring / Tournament to decide something big or to be the catalyst for a wrestler’s push.  One of my all-time favorite, and all-time worst, PPV memory was when Chris Jericho beat The Rock AND Stone Cold to become the first unified world champion.  I’m a Jericho fan but there’s no way, on God’s green earth, does Chris fucking Jericho beat The Rock and Stone Cold at their peaks.  No way!  If you can step back from the outcome, a case can be made that that was the best ending BECAUSE it got people so infuriated or solidified Jericho’s ability and whichever end of the spectrum you cheered for it’s a job well done by the writers to get you to the either end.  That being said, I’m still pissed.  But what’s done is done.  My point is, a one night / multiple match tournament can be awesome.  The matches leading up to the semi-final and final rounds can involve current story lines and more often give birth to new story lines.  These earlier rounds can even be played out weeks prior and set up other matches on the same PPV as the final round(s).  Even better, have the winner of the tournament go on to fight the current champion.  This is getting me pumped up right now!  Secondly, here’s the list of names who have been “King of the Ring”; Don Muraco, Harley Race, Randy Savage, Ted DiBiase, Tito Santana, Bret Hart (twice), Owen Hart, Mabel, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Ken Shamrock, Billy Gunn, Kurt Angle, Edge, Brock Lesnar, Booker T, William Regal, Sheamus.  Not a bad list to be on.  I’m not going to say the current writing feels stale because there’s good stuff happening but we don’t have a major event that can take over the WWE like King of the Ring or a championship tournament.  It’s always nice to mix it up once a year, which is probably why the Royal Rumble has lasted so long and is so beloved no matter what state the WWE is in.  Every event feels set in stone and the writing needs to dance around it.  For instance, everything needs to build to WM.  Then it’s a little dead but we have Money in the Bank and eventually things build to Summer Slam.  It’s a mad dash for Survivor Series and Royal Rumble and then back to the Road to WM.  King of the Ring or a tournament could fall anywhere on the calendar.  You could even incorporate the finals into a PPV theme.  For instance, the finals this year could have easily culminated at Hell in a Cell or TLC match.  Boom!  I just made two boring PPVs into something you’d have to watch.
3. Bring back the #1 contender.  I went on a huge diatribe recently on how much I’ve hated matches that end with a champion cleanly being defeated by a challenger YET the championship doesn’t change hands.  The simplest reason is that there is no Number 1 contender.  The main culprit was because you had two “championship” belts (the WWE and the World) but in fact, the WWE was the top tier champ while the World acted as the second tier champ.  You had to win the World before you could go on to fight for the WWE (generally).  This has been unconsciously been fixed by the recent unification.  I got into an argument regarding these clean wins with “The Oracle” Freddie D., who didn’t mind the clean wins and saw that as the right of passage to declare the person fit for an actual championship match.  I chalk it up to the lack of depth of the WWE roster and with two championships there’s not a lot of space for #1 contender matches.  “Back in my day…” you had to earn your championship match by beating all the other contenders.  Then you could make a case to fight the champion.  It involved multi-level story telling.  The champ could be in one feud while the challenger was rising the ranks against other wrestlers.  When the champs current feud was over, it would transition easily into the #1 contender matchup.  If the writers wanted that feud it was ready or the #1 contender could hang around and always be in play at a moment’s notice.  We’ll have to see how this new Unified Championship that RKO is walking around with plays out through WM.  
4. Make the Slammy Awards its own special show.  I talked about this on the 12/09/2013 RAW Power Rankings.  The WWE is always looking for the next best way to promote itself and The Slammys are just as self promoting as the MTV Music / Movie awards or how the Oscars are a four hour commercial for seeing movies.  NBC just had one of their special WWE shows, A Tribute to the Troops.  WWE and NBC have a few shows per year and I don’t see why the Slammys could be treated like a real awards show and show extend clip packages of the best of the year instead of putting on new matches.  NBC will take the audience and get to re-air known top quality wrestling programming (just highlights from the “match of the year” nominees could fill an hour) and the WWE gets a piece of major network time.  Neither one having to put in a lot of money or risk.  Seems like a win-win to me.
5. Tweak Total Divas.  That’s right, I’m coming out in favor of Total Divas.  Just not the way it’s presented now.  Seeing the moderate success of Total Divas and having watched every episode myself, I can tell you right now how to fix Total Divas (or even add to it) which will satisfy the non wrestling audience the WWE is looking to capture on E! and include the current weekly wrestling audience it gets on Monday night.  The best part of Total Divas is the few honest moments we get to see with the male wrestlers.  It’s because the “Divas” portions are the standard produced reality TV, while the interactions with the Superstars are genuine moments, for the most part.  The Daniel Bryan proposal was a little produced but I’ll let that slide because of the fact it’s a wedding proposal and if Bryan wants to use the production available to him to do something big, who am I to say no to love?  Whether it’s the small moments between Bryan and his Bella or the time one of the Funkadactyls needed to get real life advice from Brodus Clay or even the few times we see of Fandango, those are the moments I’ll put up with 55 minutes of crap to get the 5 minutes of actual reality.  Even seeing Cena kinda being a douche but really just being a guy who has been totally screwed over by women, is a great insight and the behind the scenes that true wrestling fans want to see.  I understand the basis of the show is to push the Divas.  If that part is truly necessary, keep the show as is but add 15 to 30 minutes of the Divas interacting with the male superstars.  You don’t even need the cutaway scenes when you get the persons re-telling or commenting on whatever event just happened because that’s the fake / over produced stuff.  Just include more dinners, car rides and at home alone moments where the wrestlers are loose and are talking about matches or their day or their lives.  The person that comes off best on Total Divas is the Uso brother (I think it’s Jay?).  He seems like a cool, fun loving guy who’s a little over protective of his fiancé but who wouldn’t be when you know the history of relationships in the WWE.  That’s the most speaking time any Uso has received in their tenure at the WWE.  Along with incredible in-ring work, Jay’s personality on Total Divas that has propelled the Usos on regular WWE programming.  While it would be great to have real commentary from the Superstars, that’s too much “pulling back the curtain” and they’ll more likely to bundle that onto a DVD which they’ll sell rather than give it away on E!.

Back on RAW for 12/30/2013, we actually had some stuff go down.  A lot of good wrestling and only a bit of story telling.  It’s interesting that the story that’s been dragged along these past few shows is the Daniel Bryan / Wyatt Family feud.  I guess I was wrong last week, when I thought that Bryan was going into another direction.  Just as I was wrong when I got an emergency text to watch Smackdown for the Sheild’s individual matches against Big E, Mark Henry and John Cena.  I thought that this was a sign that The Shield was going to stick together a bit longer because they’ve been pushing this “Year of the Shield,” but on RAW we got more cracks in The Shield stuff.  

If I was doing the traditional power rankings this week, I’d have the hardest time figuring out what to do with The Shield.  Together they’re awesome.  Between last week’s Smackdown and tonight’s RAW, they’ve been equally awesome in singles action.  Major props to the WWE for showcasing Seth Rollins as a singles wrestler.  His talent is undeniable but he had the biggest question mark to whether he’d make it on his own.  He answered that bell twice with a FANTASTIC match against Cena on Smackdown and a solid match with Punk on RAW.  Over the next few months, while the WWE walks the tightrope with breaking up The Shield, it’s going to be hard to go back and forth in ranking The Shield as a unit or individually.  Depending on how they succeed over time as individuals, and reunite from time to time, The Shield may go down as the best tag teams ever.  It’s way to early to make such proclamations but they’ve proven they had go against anyone in the ring and they’re proving their mic skills (especially Ambrose) and soon as individuals.  

Back to Bryan and The Wyatt Family.  The WWE are no fools and they wouldn’t submarine a crowd exploding favorite like Bryan just to be a role player as part of the Wyatts.  My guess is that this will play on and eventually Bryan will exact his revenge on Bray Wyatt.  It’s not rocket science.  With the revelation that we’ll see Cena vs RKO once again at Royal Rumble, Bryan wasn’t getting included into that mix so the WWE will have him toil in this odd feud with The Wyatts until, I’m guessing, Cena walks away with the Unified belt.  Then it will be time to get Bryan back into the mix.  This is another time when I’m best to consult The Oracle because I’m horrible at predicting the future of such things.  

Meanwhile Ziggler might have finally been freed from his year long punishment because he finally got a well deserved win, albeit against the walking corpse of Curtis Axel but hey, i’m sure he’s take the win.  I’ll predict 2014 is a much better year for Ziggler.  Especially if he gets into a feud with his former protege, Big E Langston.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that would be an incredible feud.  

Evil Gerald Butler AKA #BadNewsBarrett AKA Wade Barrett was slightly more entertaining this week by popping up and putting the kibosh on the New Year’s spinnaroonie (sp?).  Yet another wrestler on my top 5 that need a push in 2014 but that’s only going to happen if he gets his ass in the ring and wrestles.  

Brock Lesnar is back.  More intriguingly, Heyman is back.  So that’s a thing…I guess?  Lesnar is a spectacle and does put on solid matches but he’s no Undertaker or even The Rock were time stops just because he’s back for 3 months of paychecks.  I’d be interested in seeing Lesnar vs Henry but I have a feeling that what we saw on RAW was just to prove how strong Lesnar is instead of setting up a feud between the two. 

Who’d have thought that Fandango would prove to be a force to reckon with in-ring.  Stupid gimmick aside, Fandango brings in.  He’s a character to watch in 2014 because he’s going to be standout in-ring but god knows what they’re going to do with his character.  Shitty gimmicks only have so high a ceiling no matter how good a wrestler someone is.

Speaking of breaking free from shit gimmicks, Brodus Clay is going into full monster form.  By the end, when Xavier Wood / R-Truth / The Funkadactyls were all dancing in the ring, all I wanted was to see Clay go back and wreck shop on each and everyone in that ring.  Add Sweet-Tensai to the mix too.  I don’t care.  Let the beast loose!  

Well while we’re at it, let’s do another list…

Wrestlers that should have a great / transformative 2014:

1. The Shield members – I know 2013 was the Year of The Shield but 2014 should see how they’ll each do individually.  With Rollins’ recent showcase, there’s nothing holding each member back from doing great things in 2014.  Don’t forget, they’ll still be fighting together as The Shield for in the beginning of the year too.  There’s nothing wrong with that.
2. Dolph Ziggler – He’s been buried and humiliated all year.  From Champ to chump.  He’s jobbed to everyone the WWE has put in front of him and he’s done it like a pro.  Even in his worst defeats, he’s gone out and put on a great show and put each wrestler he jobs to over splendidly.  If he’s out of the dog house, he should be someone to watch.
3. Big E Langston – Big E has already gotten a huge push but he’s got the size and skill that the WWE likes to have in their main events.  I don’t know if the audience is quite ready for him to become a main event-er but by teaming him up with Cena and tagging him up with Mark Henry, it looks like they’re trying to continue a massive push.
4. Brodus Clay – Finally becoming a heavyweight beast.  Is there anyone, over the age of 9 - 12, that doesn’t want to see Clay become a heel?  He should be a destructive force in the WWE this year.
5. Cody Rhodes – If we are to have a brother vs brother match between Cody and Goldust, I’ll put my money on Cody winning.  He’s the better long-term investment for the WWE (even though you won’t find a bigger mark for Goldust than me).  They’ve been great as tag champs but eventually they’ll break up.  It’s uncertain how long Goldust will keep going but Cody is in his prime.  Once he enters the singles game, assuming he comes off a great feud with his brother, it will be interesting what direction he goes in.
6. The Usos – This is my bonus pick.  The Usos have been great but as I keep mentioning, they haven’t been given too much to do as far as character development.  To last in wrestling, you not only have be outstanding in-ring but the crowd has to want to see you each week.  The Real Americans might not be the best tag team but with Zeb doing the talking, they can be put into various feuds because they can always be a villain.  It’ll be hard for the Usos to stay as faces if they never talk.

Alright y’all.  That should do it for me this year.  I’m so excited for 2014.  I think we’re on the presuppose of the next great era for wrestling.  It has been a while since the WWE has been really great.  Things were looking bleak but CM Punk’s “pipe bomb shoot” light the fuse for a new direction.  While nothing exploded onto the scene like Punk did in throughout 2012, 2013 saw the rise of some really solid characters and wrestlers.  Wrestling’s pot has been sitting on the stove and all the ingredients have been added and we’re just about to start boiling.  

What better way to start 2014 than with an “Old School RAW” which we’ve been teased to have Ric Flair make an appearance, WHOOOOOOOOO!  Don’t forget we’re just weeks away from the Royal Rumble, which is always fun.

Until next time…

WWE Power Rankings (Xmas vacation edition), RAW 12/23/2013

Coming at you from Austin (not Houston) for the not-so-live Christmas edition of RAW.  RAW was pre-taped last week so that the cast and crew could have the week off.  If the Superstars get a week off, so do the Power Rankings.  Besides, how do you really rank things like the Battle of Good and Bad Santa?  Well, I guess it’s not too different from the regular craziness of RAW storytelling. Regardless, we’ll put the Power Rankings on the back burner and do some year end cleanup.  

Even with all the holiday nonsense, RAW was pretty good.  Knowing that everything tonight was tongue-in-cheek, the wrestlers were free to just wrestle and have a little fun.  Goes to show that not everything needs hours and hours of set up and effort to put on a fast paced and fun event.

These are just some random topics to end the year on.  Next week I’ll try to look ahead to 2014 but this week let’s finish off 2013 with a little housecleaning of topics.  

There was a bit of business that still lingered from current story lines with Daniel Bryan and The Wyatt Family.  The good part was an excellent match between Bryan, Cody and Goldust vs The Wyatts.  The bad part was that I couldn’t tell if this was the WWE trying to set free Bryan from the Wyatt storyline or the WWE trying to reinforce the continuance of Bryan possibly “becoming” a Wyatt?  Who cares, it’s Xmas and the match was worth the three segments it got.  

In what was the surprise of the night, the Divas match was really good.  You heard me, I said it.  The Divas match was really good…until they got to the inevitable / mandatory promotion of Total Divas, which isn’t even airing nor will be airing until March.  The finishing Diva-go-round spot was awful.  Not only was it stupid but the Divas involved couldn’t pull it off without falling all over themselves.  The first 7/8ths of the match contained some of the best wrestling of the night.  AJ was excellent on the mic the entire length of the match as guest announcer with Cole and JBL.  BTW, not a good sign for The King’s future when; a) he’s not on a taped show from last week because he was “on Christmas vacation”, b) this really seemed like a test run for just having JBL and Cole, and c) JBL and Cole did a fine job.  I’ll admit, Lawler has been adequate as part of the three man announce team but it’s clear that The King has far less shows in front of him than behind.  If I were a gambling man, I’d put the over / under that The King still being part of the weekly announce team on this same time next year.  2014 seems like the end of the road for The King.  We’ll have to check in next December.

Now, just because we’re not doing the Official World’s Greatest Power Rankings this week, doesn’t mean I don’t like to rank things.  There’s always time to rank.  Here’s a mini ranking that I came up with.  

Wrestlers that need a push in 2014:

5) CM Punk – I know this sounds crazy but hear me out.  Punk has been out of any championship scene since he dropped the WWE belt.  While he’s one of the most popular Superstars, he’s been on his own island for the better part of the year.  He had his big feud with Heyman, which included runs against Ryback and Curtis Axel, but he’s been as far from the main event as SAN-TIN-OOOOOOOO has been this last half of the year.  He can only go so far being in CM Punk land.  The best part about his recent feud with The Shield is that he was wrestling with alike talent and putting on good matches.  I realize there are rumors that put him in a feud with HBK or HHH or both which will lead up to something at WM30 but until that happens or I see more, Punk is in limbo.

4) Wade Barrett – In just two or three weeks, I’m already done with #BadNewsBarrett.  We can move on now.  Barrett has the ability to be a top tier guy.  I’d say he’s even got a clearer path than someone like Alberto Del Rio, who is probably his equal in-ring but Barrett has an easier path to being a heel.  #BadNewsBarrett isn’t working and we need to see him in the ring.  We’ve just seen it with RKO.  Some guys are natural heels.  They don’t need too much tinkering.  The more they messed with RKO the worse of a heel he was (see the mentally unstable viper days).  RKO has flourished at just being a prick.  Barrett can flourish the same way.

3) AJ Lee – The only current Champion on this list.  AJ has a lot of potential right now.  She’s on the verge of having the longest Divas title reign, which the WWE is now pushing.  Say what you will about the Divas division, which you know that I do and it’s usually not kind, but it’s getting better.  The Divas are putting on some interesting matches.  AJ has been great on the mic.  Whether it was her “pipe-bomb” from earlier this year or her time at the announce table, AJ has been great.  The problem is that she’s been hampered by a few injuries and the WWE’s need to write towards the Total Divas show, which AJ is not a personality on.  Since Total Divas isn’t on for another few months, this is a chance to let AJ be front and center.  The writers can focus on her current title reign and push the quality of matches that the Divas division has been putting on.

2) Kofi Kingston – Kofi is the most athletic person on the roster.  He also has one of the worst gimmicks, if you can even call what he’s got a gimmick.  He’s got no storyline or feud.  I thought he was beginning a feud with The Miz but that was nonexistent.  Hopefully it had more to do with Miz being absent than another change in direction.  While I wouldn’t want to end my career with a feud with Miz, it’s better than a kick in the balls.  Definitely better than doing nothing.  

Although I might change my signature hand move if I were Kofi, just maybe?

1) Dolph Ziggler – Any reader will know how much I cheer for Ziggler.  He must have done something to piss of someone with power because he’s been jobbing hard for the past six months and was in off the radar completely right before that.  Remember, it was only about a year ago that Ziggler was the World Champ!  He’s the one who shepherded in Big E and AJ to their current championship spots.  Now Ziggler is jobbing to Fandango in a “pole match”.  Ziggler is the best pure wrestler on the roster and can put anyone over.  He brings his “A” game every night.  The only hint that he may be in line for a decent feud is that twice now he’s jobbed to someone who is to go on to fight Big E for the IC belt.  If that’s true, that could build up tension for Ziggler to finally win his chance to challenge Big E for the IC belt at a PPV.  A Ziggler / Big E feud would be great.  It’s hard to go wrong with a Master / Student storyline, especially when both men can wrestle.  Add in that one is seen as a ring technician (Ziggler) and the other is a powerhouse (Big E) and you have a nice contrast there as well.  As I was putting this together, I was getting myself more and more excited for a potential Ziggler / Big E feud.  C’mon WWE, give us what we want! 

And now, for something completely different.  Someone has to show me this Sin Cara comic book I keep hearing about.  I read a lot, A LOT, of comic books and I ain’t never seen no Sin Cara comic book.  And who cares, should be the first question?  Just because the WWE says something is true, doesn’t mean it is.  Just like the WWE says this Sin Cara I’m watching is the same Sin Cara from previous years.  Who am I to believe, the WWE storytellers or my own lying eyes?  

Next up, cross promotions.  I don't know if this is feasible but the next evolution in WWE promotion should be “awarding” championship belts to people.  The WWE showed pictures of Clayton Kershaw (the greatest living pitcher and current Dodger ace) and Max Scherzer.  Both of whom won the MLB Cy Young trophy this year for the best pitcher in the National and American leagues.  The WWE sent them championship belts as a nod to their great accomplishment.  They each took pictures at home with them and tweeted the out.  We’re living in a world where it would be almost impossible for someone to grow up and not at least have a passing knowledge of the WWE and the fact that its champion wears a big gaudy belt.  Hell, the Aaron Rodgers “discount double check” comes from the old school championship motion started in wrestling years ago.  And since it’s not a real championship belt you have to win, like a boxing belt (which there’s a strong debate on the validity of those belts but that’s an argument for another day) or an MMA belt, you can easily receive a duplicate / personalized belt and parade around with it as a sign of being the best.  Sure, anyone can now buy an authentic WWE championship belt, but no one can be given one by the WWE.  If the WWE were to send out yearly awards or randomly throughout the year to people who accomplish awesome things, they could inject themselves into hot pop culture phenomenons or special real life events.  This could be a great means of promotion.  I’m sure the WWE already does this or would do it for anyone who’d ask but the WWE should lay claim on handing out these belts.  Peyton Manning, here’s your championship belt for being sportsman of the year, congrats.  Jennifer Lawrence, you killed it in multiple movies in 2013 and won an Oscar this year, here’s your championship belt, congrats.  Limit it to 3 - 5 max, so as not to dilute the specialness.  It can be fun.  It can be serious.  This feels like a no brainer and probably something the WWE already tries to do, but I’m suggesting it anyway.  I say own the idea, make it bigger and incorporate it as part of the Slammies or during a big PPV.  Give one to a soldier on their “Tribute to the Troops” show.

Lastly, the WWE tag division.  The WWE will be the first to tell you that their tag division is in its best shape in years.  There was a time, not so long ago, that the WWE was actually thinking of getting rid of the tag team belts.  With a renewed emphasis and dedication to forming actual tag teams vs super teams of singles wrestlers being thrown together, the tag ranks are on fire.  There’s no better example than the Usos vs Primetime Players match on RAW.  Both teams are excellent in-ring.  Neither has the tag straps, those are resting in the hands of the Rhodes brothers, but both could easily be champs tomorrow and it would be well deserved.  Both the Usos and Primetime Players are underused and haven’t come close to their creative ceilings.  The Usos still have not give a proper promo as I can recall.  The Primetime Players have had a chance to get on the mic and have built up a semi-popular gimmick, which I can’t really describe but I know I like watching them.  The Usos in particular never put on a bad match.  They’ve had standout performances even when matched up against The Shield.  And no mention of the tag division can be concluded without mentioning The Shield.  They might have been the beginning of the tag renaissance.  Since The Shield came into the WWE a year ago we now have at least six, ready to go tag teams that can take the championship mantle.  The Shield, The Wyatt Family, Cody and Goldust, The Primetime Players and The Usos are at the top of the list while lesser groups such as The Real Americans, Los Matadores, and 3MB are not teams that I enjoy but are serviceable and can put on a quality match.  We’re not even mentioning the singles wrestlers that have been put together which have the potential of being quality tag teams, i.e. Big Show / Rey Mysterio, Mark Henry / Big E Langston and R-Truth / Xavier Woods.  We even a glimpse at a possible Bryan / Punk super-team.  The tag ranks have been killing it all year.  With the inevitable breakup and showdown between the Rhodes brothers, the tag belts will be up for grabs sooner than later.  This might be the golden era for tag teams.  I’m sure I’ll get lots of teams thrown at me as “better” teams / champions but I’m talking about across the entire tag team division.  I know the Horsemen, DX, Road Warriors, Demolition, NWO and others may have been better than anyone one tag team now (I’d say that The Shield could make their way on that best ever debate) but I don’t recall the depth of the roster being as strong as it is now.  Please feel free to comment and correct me.

With that, I’ll leave all of you to a Merry Christmas.  Be safe and have fun over this holiday week.  And look forward to this next week:

Until next week…