These are the top five feuds of 2011

Here I am with the start of my end of year lists I promised to start… yesterday. Damn. Nevertheless, its here now. These are the top five feuds of 2011.

5. CM Punk vs Randy Orton

As we rang in the beginning of the year, Punk kicked Wade Barrett out of the Nexus and became its new leader. The initial segments showed some promise, with Punk being a vicious and unmerciful leader of the fallen group. While WWE was busy squandering the opportunity for something great to become of the ‘new Nexus,’ Punk entered a feud with Randy Orton. Storyline wise, the feud was executed brilliantly. For the first time in a long time, WWE acknowledged its past and set up the feud as Punk getting payback on Orton for costing him the World Heavyweight Championship back in 2008. In the weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, Orton destroyed the shredded remains of the Nexus, both in a storyline AND crowd reaction sense. Punk would have his payback however by going after Orton’s ‘wife’ and picking apart his leg with a steel pipe. During the feud, Punk established himself as the best heel in the company while the matches the two had were excellent, especially their Wrestlemania match. However, the feud was too one sided with Orton winning continuously, most likely due to Punk’s contract situation up in the air. A shame, because this feud could have been something really special.

4. Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett

Having stopped watching TNA more or less all together (bar one or two shows) since August, it comes as a surprise that this feud is included on my list. Honestly, the feud looked disastrous on paper. TNA’s booking was continuing its way down the toilet and my hopes for the company were at an all time low. When Angle and Jarrett began their feud, my hopes were dashed even further. Two men in their 40’s with ego’s the size of planets, this is exactly what is ruining TNA. However, this is Kurt Angle we’re talking about, one of the absolute best of his generation and still close to the top today. Jarrett isn’t exactly a slouch in the ring either. Infact, the series of matches they had together were impressive on more than one occasion. Couple that with some entertaining TV segments, some great mic work AND an appearance by Chyna, and you’ve got a surprise contender for feud of the year.

3. John Cena vs The Rock

Ok, the two haven’t actually had a one on one match together, yet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the feuds of the year. I mean, fuck! After seven years, The Rock came back! Sure, he spewed a bunch of crap about never leaving, before disappearing for months at a time but still, it’s The Rock and how can you not be entertained by him? When Cena and The Rock set a date for a match a year in advance, many thought it would be executed poorly. However, both men have done a good job of keeping the feud alive both through social media and mentions on Television. We got a great return promo from The Rock as well as an old school rap from Cena and a better than anticipated return to the ring for Rocky at Survivor Series. With so many people talking about the feud, how can this not be included as one of the feuds of the year?

2. CM Punk vs WWE/John Cena

Lets set the record straight. I’m counting this feud from the ‘shoot’ promo Punk cut on the WWE to the title vs title match with Cena at Summerslam. When Punk cut the now legendary ‘shoot’ promo on the WWE, fans were abuzz with theories and speculation. It got everyone talking. Hell, it even got Punk on many end of the year lists for ‘making wrestling cool again.’ For a time, that was absolutely true as the WWE became edgy and unpredictable for those couple of months with Punk as the rebel champion. Reality and kayfabe blurred as both casual fans and smarks alike were clueless as to what would happen next. Amongst the hullabaloo, Punk and Cena had a genuine five star match at Money In The Bank and a great follow up rematch at Summerslam. After that, Triple H was re-introduced to TV and buried the Punk saga behind his bulbous snout. Nevertheless, ‘the summer of Punk’ was damn entertaining while it lasted.

1. Randy Orton vs Christian

A feud that lasted longer than a month? Holy crap! While I still don’t agree with how WWE handled Christian as World Heavyweight Champion (surely he deserved a longer reign) his series of matches and confrontations with Randy Orton were something special. Easily the best series of matches of the year, it felt like everytime they faced each other it just got better and better. What made the feud unique was that it was all about the world title. Two guys fighting over and over to either win or defend a championship that they want more than anything else in the world. Overall, a great feud and one that established Christian as a main event star while additionally adding some lost credibility to the world title. Bravo guys.

Honourable mentions: Mark Henry vs Big Show,  John Cena vs The Miz, Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes

Keep a look out for more end of year lists coming your way in the next few days.

Thanks for reading.

Let me know your feuds of the year!

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Lets Talk Wrestling: WWE TLC 2011 review and thoughts.

Its not often I get to do two blogs in two days. I’m on a roll baby! I think I'm going to continue this streak by beginning my end of year lists tomorrow. Check back for the feuds of 2011 list!.

TLC looked like a solid pay per view on paper and that’s exactly what we got. Lets break it down.

Zack Ryder vs Dolph Ziggler for the United States Championship

The crowd was HOT for this one. To all the naysayers who doubted Zack Ryder’s ability to be involved with a top quality match, this should have put some of those doubts to ease. The WWE have something special in Zack Ryder. Ryder has become a bit of an ‘underdog’ character that more and more people seem to enjoy getting behind. Ryder easily got the second loudest pop of the night and as for consistent reaction throughout the match? I’d go as far as saying that it was on a par with CM Punk’s. You know what excites me even more about Zack Ryder? It’s the fact that he has made the United States title relevant, in a big way. Ziggler and Ryder’s feud has brought attention to the midcard title that was once again floundering in the wake of the WWE title. Kudos to both men for that. As for the match, I said yesterday that I would be a little disappointed if Ryder was booked as the ‘face in peril’ for the majority of the match. Someone in WWE must have read my blog as there was no such disappointment. Ziggler and Ryder had a nice back forth bout that was given just the perfect amount of time. Some near pinfalls towards the conclusion of the match kept the viewer second guessing themselves as both men seemed just milliseconds away from winning. In the end, it was the right call to allow the Ryder revolution to truly begin. One can only sit back and see how things unfold for Ryder on his ‘Road to Wrestlemania.’ Will he just be a flash in the pan or will he go on to reach new heights? As a broski, I can only hope for the latter. As for Ziggler, perhaps a Royal Rumble win is on his horizon?

Winner and NEW United States Champion - Zack Ryder

***

Air Boom (Kofi Kingston & Evan Bourne) vs Epico & Primo /w Rosa Mendes for the WWE Tag Team Championship

In all honesty, a really solid tag team match. WWE have far from rejuvenated their tag team division as Triple H was rumoured to be interested in doing. What they have done is taken a step in the right direction in making the tag titles relevant again. Epico and Primo could become a solid pairing if they are given long enough to develop as a tag team while having Rosa as a manager adds a little something to their personality and marketed appearance. There was some nice, basic tag team wrestling that we don’t often see in modern day WWE from both teams. Sometimes its ‘going back to what brung ya’ that works the best. Also, SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!! For a large portion of the match Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler ACTUALLY called the match instead of talking about whatever other random bullshit pops into their heads. It was refreshing.

Winners and STILL Tag Team Champions – Air Boom

** ¼

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett in a Tables Match.

Our first gimmick match of the night pitted the ‘Barrett Barrage’ against ‘The Viper.’ The two had a decent tables match with some nice spots. I could see the RKO off the top rope and then through the table coming a mile away but still, it looked gnarly. Barrett looked strong in victory and I highly doubt this will be the last PPV match between the pair. Both own a singles victory over one another, there just HAS to be a rubber match.

Winner – Randy Orton

** ½

Beth Phoenix vs Kelly Kelly for the Divas Championship

Either this was announced or I chose subconsciously to ignore its existence in my prediction blog yesterday. Either way, the less said about this match the better. Kelly Kelly continues her streak of  not having a shred of worth. All she does is yell, she can’t even run the ropes and Beth Phoenix had to call the match so loudly it was clearly audible. Honestly, the only reason I want WWE to go back to TV-14 is so that Kelly Kelly can become an ‘exhibitionist’ again and not have to speak or wrestle. Just awful.

Winner and STILL Divas Champion

1/3^rd of a star.

Triple H vs Kevin Nash in piñata on a pole…. Sorry ‘Sledgehammer Ladder Match’…

Ok, I was ready to absolutely trash this match and predicted yesterday that it wouldn’t be pretty. Well, it certainly wasn’t an all time classic but it was fine for what it was. The two behemoths slugged it out in a physical match up that saw the ladder gimmick utilised to full effect. In what I thought was a smart move, Triple H worked over Kevin Nash’s which enabled Nash to sell the injury and compensate for his lack of pace at this stage in his career. However, this led to the match being TOO slow and lacklustre at times, bringing the overall quality down. The ending sequence was nicely put together. Nash held up ‘The Kliq’ sign before Triple H did a DX crotch chop and smashed Nash across the face with the sledgehammer, just as I predicted yesterday. A lot better than I imagined, but nothing you’re going to tell your grand kids about.

Winner – Triple H

**

Sheamus vs Jack Swagger

Not much to say about this, I guess they needed to fill some time. Swagger and Sheamus had an altercation earlier backstage that led to this match. Nothing really to invest in and ended up nothing more than a glorified squash match.

Winner – Sheamus

*

Mark Henry vs The Big Show in a Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Of course, it’s not this match itself that everyone is talking about its what happened after… we’ll get to that. Mark Henry and the Big Show’s actual match up ended rather abruptly. Each man took a few brutal chair shots and then … BOOM… Big Show hits the WMD and we have ourselves a new champion… or do we?

Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion – The Big Show

*

As Show is celebrating, Mark Henry attacks him from behind with a chair. The ‘Daniel Bryan’ chants begin and his music hits followed by him bursting to the ring with a referee. Bryan cashes in his money in the bank briefcase, covers the Big Show and in the space of 2 minutes we have…

NEW World Heavyweight Champion – Daniel Bryan.

As someone who has watched Bryan Danielson in Ring of Honor work his ass off to produce some classic matches, seeing him reach the top of the ladder in WWE is a proud moment. Hell, his WWE career was once thrown into jeopardy when he was fired (or was he) for ‘going too far’ in the initial Nexus invasion. So for him to survive that and come back to eventually win the title is a great sight to see. If online reports are to be believed, Vince McMahon was the one who wanted the title put on Bryan due to legit leg and ankle injuries to Mark Henry. Other creative members were pushing to keep the title on Mark Henry but McMahon himself wanted Bryan to be the champion. Think about that, Daniel Bryan is backed by Vince McMahon… perhaps he isn’t to blame for the flip-flop booking he’s received in recent months. Regardless of how you feel about Bryan being champ, you can’t deny that it raises a ton of questions about the future of the World Heavyweight title. Will Bryan turn heel and start a feud with Big Show? Will Big Show turn heel? Or will Bryan’s reign be a short uneventful one? One can only hope WWE pushes Bryan as a strong champion and builds itself a new star in the process.

Booker T vs Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship

Despite being questionable due to multiple attacks backstage by Cody and an assault from behind as Booker was making his entrance, this match went ahead as planned. I knew Booker would ‘still have it’ in spite of not wrestling a REAL singles match since 2010. The difference between Kevin Nash and Booker T (since they both returned at the Royal Rumble) is that while Nash’s big reaction was reserved for that one event, Booker continues to get nice reactions in whatever he does. The crowd was solidly behind Booker who didn’t show any signs of ring rust. The win came for Cody when Booker was selling head injuries sustained from the earlier attacks. The ‘unfair’ win allows for the feud to continue, and I would have noooooo problem with that.

Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion – Cody Rhodes

** ¼

CM Punk vs The Miz vs Alberto Del Rio in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWE Championship

In what I was expecting to be the match of the night, I certainly wasn’t let down. The match contained some memorable spots including; CM Punk being handcuffed to a ladder and turnbuckle and getting out of both by breaking the ladder and unscrewing the turnbuckle, Del Rio hitting the enzuigiri on Punk causing him to go through a table on the outside and The Miz and Punk pushing Ricardo Rodriguez off a ladder through a table on the outside. In regards to the use of handcuffs on Punk, it made him look like an intelligent champion by using his quick wits to get out of the predicament he was put in. The Punk character is a bit of a smart mouth, so it was a unique way of getting that aspect of his character over in the match. All in all, a great way to end the PPV year.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion – CM Punk

*** ¾

It is worth noting that John Cena didn’t show up, which was unexpected. Honestly though, the card didn’t seem to miss him all that. Sure, the buyrate might reflect otherwise but I personally feel that WWE should realise having Cena in the main event of EVERY PPV is not a necessity.

On another note, if you know me personally you should know that I’m in seventh heaven right now. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder are all champions. That’s three of my so-cal ‘fav five’ right there. Cody Rhodes is one of my current favourites as well and Air Boom are certainly entertaining to watch in the ring. WWE is finally pushing a SET of champions that I can get behind. Its not often that happens.

For all those people who ever doubted CM Punk and Daniel Bryan… this ones for you.

@CMPunk Two Indy schmucks didn't do so bad, Eh?

 

Thank you for reading and let me know your thoughts on TLC as well as the World Title situation on:

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@crapminitweets

or in the comments below.

Until next time, Lets Talk Wrestling.

TLC 2011 predictions/thoughts and a genius move by WWE?

I’ve been incredibly busy with Uni deadlines and various other things recently and as a result this blog has taken a back seat. This specific TLC blog has been written when I’ve been drunk and as part of my procrastination when writing an essay for Uni, so please excuse any dip in quality. Anyway, on with the predictions.

Booker T vs Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship

While commentators ‘handling their business’ is sure to come (traditionally) with a lot of moans and groans, as its Booker T I have no problem with this particular match up. Granted, Booker is getting on in age and hasn’t wrestled a REAL singles match since 2010, I still think this could be a nice little rub match for Cody Rhodes. As evidenced by the reaction at Madison Square Garden for the Survivor Series PPV, Rhodes is over with the adult demographic and Booker has the charisma to not only stir up nostalgia but genuine support from the TLC fans. Match of the night? Certainly not. However, a nice 10-12 minute bout? Absolutely. You’ve just got to hope WWE don’t book Booker to win because that would be a calamity on so many levels.

Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion – Cody Rhodes

Randy Orton vs Wade Barrett in a Tables Match

The first gimmick match of this predictions blog is a Tables match between two men who have been involved in quite the feud on Smackdown. Ever since Barrett began decimating opponents on his ‘Barrett Barrage,’ the English-born superstar has been thrust once again into the spotlight. This has only been enhanced by his feud with Randy Orton. Barrett owns a singles victory over Orton so traditional wrestling logic would indicate a win for Orton here. Its tough to call though as I predicate that the two will continue their feud past TLC.  One plausible scenario for the outcome of the match is that Barrett continues to be ‘inside Orton’s head’ and Orton ends up being his own downfall. This could happen as a result of Orton ‘snapping’ and putting himself through a table while attempting to put Barrett through. Something along them lines. As I say its tough to call but somehow, someway, I envision Barrett continuing his ‘barrage.’

Winner: Wade Barrett

Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder for the United States Championship

Fans have been clamouring for this one for weeks now and it finally goes down at

TLC. If you’re a reader of this blog you’ll know that I’m a big supporter of Zack Ryder and his self made transition from jobber on Superstars to one of the best selling merchandise guys and one the most over faces on the roster. In retrospect, although it would have been a great crowd reaction for Ryder to win the title at Madison Square Garden, WWE have built Zack Ryder up nicely in the weeks between Survivor Series and TLC. While most peoples gripes with Ryder come from his in-ring ability (go check his ECW and Superstars matches you slackers) this match should go some way to prove that he has what it takes. Of course, that’s if its booked correctly. If the official in charge of the match allows it to be a back and forth affair, this match has the potential to be the ‘show stealer.’ However, if Ryder is booked to be the ‘face in peril’ throughout most of the match, I’ll be disappointed. It would affect some of my enjoyment of the match but I’d still expect something decent from the two. As for the outcome, its time to pull the trigger on the singles title for Ryder and allow Ziggler to move on up the card. Woo Woo Woo, you know it.

Winner and NEW United States Champion – Zack Ryder

Triple H vs Kevin Nash in a Ladder Match.

Basically, this harkens back to the Vince Russo * blah blah * on a pole match from WCW (see piñata on a pole). Kevin Nash can barely walk, how can he climb a ladder? Honestly the feud between these two has been terrible, the concept is terrible and I’m not expecting a pretty match. The best-case scenario is that it ends quickly and doesn’t continue past TLC. Anyway, I see Triple H winning and using his favourite weapon of choice to mash Nash’s skull in.

Winner – Triple H

Mark Henry vs Big Show in a Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Mark Henry is honestly getting more interesting the longer his championship reign continues. To be honest, Henry should hold onto the belt. At this moment in time I find him more interesting than Big Show and also more consistent. Though to be fair, the two have to be given credit for making a horrible feud on paper one of the feuds of the year. The WWE’s dalliance with Daniel Bryan in the main event seemed to be a success to me. Crowds were reacting favourably and Daniel Bryan was getting some nice pops. However, Bryan seems to have been on the receiving end of a rapid de-push, so who’s to say. Either way, I think Henry will be facing Bryan or Sheamus at Wrestlemania with title in hand and therefore rumbles past the Big Show at TLC.

Winner and STILL World Heavyweight Champion – Mark Henry

CM Punk vs The Miz vs Alberto Del Rio in a TLC match for the WWE Championship.

This match has the potential to be excellent. Three men who can work a decent match thrown together with the TLC gimmick has potential, right? I mean, there’s only one outcome I see with this match and that’s a Punk win. Having said that, the way the title is being passed around like the drunkest chick at a house party, one can’t help but have that little voice in the back of your mind. Nevertheless, I’ve got a feeling Punk is holding on to the title until Wrestlemania. As for the ‘Road to Wrestlemania,’ I’d expect a feud with The Miz for a couple of months. The WWE need to seriously re-build Miz’s character as it has been more than tarnished in recent months and a title feud with Punk could definitely go along way to making fans care about him again.

Winner and STILL WWE Champion - CM Punk

Well that just about does it for this TLC predictions blog. I hope you enjoyed it and let me know your pre….

Wait.

Wait a minute. Something doesn’t seem right.

No John Cena??

WWE are seemingly taking a huge gamble by not placing Cena on the card. As the face of the company and the biggest drawing superstar on the roster, it seems like a strange business decision to not have him on the card. John Cena has been in 11(!?) of this years PPV main events and it seems astonishing for him to not even be on the card. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll definitely show up somewhere but I’m interested to see if the buyrate dips at all. Indeed, it’ll be interesting to see how they handle CM Punk if the buyrate shows any major fluctuation.

Speaking of Cena, I came across this picture this morning. 

Wow. WWE have to be given credit where credit is due. They’ve finally capitalised on the anti-Cena mentality that is shared by a large proportion of their audience. Anti-Cena members of the WWE Universe have tended to be a bit retarded in my experience. OF COURSE they’re going to buy this t-shirt, pump money back into the WWE and keep Cena’s merch sales up. Genius on the part of WWE really. Additionally, if Cena does turn heel eventually (fingers crossed) the adoring members of the Cenation have a t-shirt to buy when their hero turns on them. BOOM. Money money, yeah yeah.

Until tomorrow with the TLC review, thanks for reading and let me know your predictions on Facebook, Twitter or below in the comments. Thank you.

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