WrestlingNerd's Running Diary of TNA Impact Wrestling 1/5/12

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another edition of the Running Diary. Today, we talk about TNA Impact Wrestling on 1/5/12. I honestly don't feel like doing a full review, so let's just get this over with. 

-Sting is impressed with Jeff Hardy? It must not take much to impress Sting, does it? 

-Sting is talking about Hardy making the most out of his second chance. Are you sure about that, cuz I'm pretty sure this is Hardy's 3rd-5th chance. 

-Robert Roode interrupts this mark-fest by saying he should be endorsed, not Hardy. Roode is with Kurt Angle and Bully Ray. 

-If Angle is angry at James Storm for taking his world title, why no anger towards Roode? Wrestling logic works in mysterious ways. 

-Did Abyss just chug a beer? Hey, I'm just glad they didn't have Hardy cut a promo. 

-Sting makes it Hardy, Storm, and Abyss vs Roode, Kurt, and Bully for tonight. It will be the main event. 

-Madison Rayne, Gail Kim, Traci Brooks, and Mickie James are fighting in a pool/spa. As if TNA doesn't air enough fan service. If this company could, it would air soft core porn. 

-Gail Kim and Madison Rayne vs Mickie James and Traci Brooks for the KO tag titles. 

-I've had it….I've had it with these mother f***ing titles on this mother f***ing show.

-It was a long match. Well, they do show more women's wrestling on this company than WWE. Then again, I don't think that's saying much. 

-Gail hits Eat Da Feet on Traci to end the match, thus retain their titles. I know I should try to care, but I really can't since these titles serve no purpose to the show. Also some rather weak build up between Gail and Mickie, which happens at Genesis. 

-In case you occasionally black out while watching TNA, Genesis is this Sunday. 

-Ric Flair says Gunner is an impact player? Umm….that's too easy. 

-For some reason, I can't buy this team of Gunner and Flair. I'm actually fine with Flair managing Gunner since the guy can't talk his way out of a paper bag, but something about this pairing doesn't really go together. Probably because Gunner looks like a garbage man. 

-Gunner the garbage man? He'll trash you out of here. Hey, it would be better than Mr. Intensity. 

-News flash to Eric Young….YOU'RE NOT FUNNY!!!

-Garett Bischoff returns and wants to be a referee. Sting takes the ref shirt from him and says he's not a referee….he's a wrestler. I don't know if I should laugh or cry?

-How stupid can this show get? Eric Young is still searching for ODB, so he barges into the women's locker room. Gail and Madison are pissed off that he won't get out. Since TNA hasn't thrown enough stupid s***, Eric actually threw Madison into a locker. And TNA fanboys wonder why people can't take TNA seriously?

-Gunner vs RVD is the second match of the night…..at around the start of the second hour of the program. So, one hour on the air and the only match was a KO match? You know what? Botch it up however you want. 

-This was actually a passable match, but nothing worth a second look.

-This match ends in a double countout. Gunner is about to hit a Piledriver, but RVD fights back. RVD goes for the spin kick into the guardrail, but misses. Gunner gets back up and attempts another Piledriver, but TNA agents arrive to break it up. What was the point of RVD countering the first piledriver if it was going to end with a break up? What, did the TNA agents miss their cue? Probably too busy taking a nap. In fact, that's what I should be doing. 

-Austin Aries and Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen and Zema Ion up next. 

-I would buy Jesse bringing the football and letterman jacket if his gimmick was a football player or a jock, but he isn't any of those. It's just a stupid prop for a guy with no charisma. 

-This wasn't a bad match, but it was difficult to keep track of sometimes. Slow it down, guys. 

-Mike Tenay said 2012 is the year of the X Division. Really? Who's saying that? Just more stuff coming out of Tenay's ass. 

-How does Tenay still have a job with his emotionless commentary? 

-Zema Ion and Jesse were consistently trying to get in the match. I can summarize their discussion like this….."No, my dick is bigger. No, MY dick is bigger. Rabble rabble rabble rabble…."

-Jesse hits his finisher on Aries for the victory. I don't really like the story for this entire match. It seems like we should only care about Austin and Zema since they have been featured, but then they give Jesse this victory. It would help if these talents were featured on a more consistent basis as opposed to just putting together a match and hoping for the best. The match at Genesis should be fine, but the storyline can make you lose interest. 

-Kaz is thinking to himself as AJ Styles gives him a Goldberg-esque curtain call. It turns out he was having a private conservation with Christopher Daniels….

-Young and ODB kissing? And you wonder why I didn't do a full TNA review this week?

-Vegeta, what does the scouter say about the number of TNA's backstage scenes?

-Seriously, film some stuff in the damn ring. There was a point where we had 5-7 backstage scenes in a row. Do you think that's enough? 

-Samoa Joe and Magnus vs AJ Styles and Kaz; winner gets a tag team title shot at Genesis.

-Daniels arrives during match. Kaz leaves AJ, but doesn't seem happy about it. Joe and Magnus win the match.

-The Kaz, AJ/Daniels/AJ deal is obviously a new storyline in the works. It's up in the air on where the are going with it, so it might be entertaining…..I hope. 

-Wow, so NOW we get an appearance by Crimson and Matt Morgan? For a second straight PPV, the tag champs aren't the main focus going into the tag title defense. If TNA wants to restore the tag team division, it would help if you made your tag champions care that they are the champs as opposed to being at Six Flags for 3-4 weeks and then show up. 

-Crimson and Morgan at Six Flags: "WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

-Robert Roode, Kurt Angle, and Bully Ray vs Jeff Hardy, James Storm, and Abyss up next. 

-The match was okay. It ends when the referee issues a Double DQ/No Contest for not listening to the ref. The show ends with the heels taking out the faces. Roode had a Crossface on Hardy. Angle had the Ankle Lock on Storm, and Bully was choking out Abyss with his chain. He used the chain as a noose. 

-In TNA, we punish our wrestlers medieval style. 

Overall Impression:

This was an improved episode of Impact, but I found it underwhelming at times. There was a ton of backstage scenes tonight. I know that's pretty common with TNA, but they went insane with it. I think the reason this happens is so they could put in more matches for the PPV. I also heard that RVD vs Gunner will happen at the PPV. Why? It's not a PPV match since the rivalry just got started this week (if that's what you would consider to be a real rivalry). I wouldn't mind the match at the PPV if there was more of a story, but this is one of those matches that is added there to waste time. Then again, maybe it can lead to something interesting. Garett Bischoff being back on TV is almost enough to make me sick. I just can't get interested in this guy because he lacks basic human emotion and his generic as hell. Plus, this probably means the Bischoff rivalry will continue on this show. If you looked at my best and worst moments of 2011, you already know how I feel about this rivalry. I liked the opening for the most part since it set up the show decently, but not an great performance tonight. I would consider this average, at least for TNA standards. I was glad they didn't have Hardy talk since that's something he can't do. It's pretty bad when Abyss can cut a better promo than you. For the most part, the matches and promos were improved than they have been for the last few weeks, but it was nothing amazing. Still, I would consider this an average episode for TNA. A lot of what TNA aired tonight was build up/hype for Genesis, which happens to be this Sunday. I don't find myself totally interested in this card. I enjoy what Roode is doing as champion, but I don't like the idea of Hardy becoming the champion. It's possible Roode retains his title, but they have been doing this storyline of Hardy fighting his way to the top. I just feel it's too rushed if they crown Hardy after only coming back in September. I think it sends the wrong message to younger viewers if you crown Hardy after everything he has gone through. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time they gave something to Hardy that he mostly didn't deserve. I know people are getting sick of me cutting down Hardy, but I lost a lot of respect for this guy with all the bulls*** he has done. I know people will say he deserves a second chance, but Hardy has had multiple second chances and he keeps doing stupid stuff. If he's ready to take this seriously, then go it for. I really want to see TNA rise, but it would be another blow if Hardy pulled another stupid stunt. I don't want to think that negatively about it, but don't say I didn't warn you if Hardy makes the news for another drug bust or some other bs. Whoa, I kinda got off track there, but I have been thinking this ever since Hardy got put into the championship match. I personally hope that they are using this to build up Roode, but I think they are ready to give the title back to Hardy. Anyway, I need to wrap this up. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of this edition of the running diary or the show itself. Part I and II of the 2nd Annual WrestlingNerd awards are available now, in case you haven't checked it out. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time. 

2nd Annual WrestlingNerd Awards (Best and Worst of WWE & TNA for 2011) Part II

Welcome back to Part II of the 2nd Annual WrestlingNerd awards, where we acknowledge the best and worst moments of WWE and TNA. If you haven't seen part I, go back and check out those results. If not, let's a go. 

Worst Match of 2011

John Cena vs Miz- I Quit match at OtL

Big Show vs Mark Henry- Chairs match at TLC

Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/Jim Ross- pick your choice of match

Sting vs Jeff Hardy- 90 second match at VR

Jeff Jarrett vs Kurt Angle- MMA match at Genesis

Fan's Choice- Sting vs Jeff Hardy- VR

My Choice- Sting vs Jeff Hardy- VR

I know, I know. People probably are telling me to just let this go, but I can't. This was a horrible moment in professional wrestling. This is one of those moments where the people who mock wrestling look at it and say "Why do you watch this s***?".  It was a awful moment. So awful that it deserves another award. Now, this vote wasn't a complete run away. The Michael Cole matches were a very close second. Another four votes and it would've won. I was tempted to put the Cole matches as the winner because the whole charade went on way too long. The Hardy/Sting match was awful, but at least it only happened once and for about 90 seconds. I think the reason I didn't give it to Cole is because two out of the three competitors aren't wrestlers, so there isn't a whole lot to expect. What, did you really think Jim Ross was going to wrestle a 5 star match? Come on, let's be a little more realistic. Hardy and Sting are wrestlers, thus you expect more out of them. The John Cena/Miz match at Over the Limit was third in the voting, but it was pretty far in the distance. It was a pretty bad match in its own right. Why? Because it's WWE reusing every Cena cliche. He gets his ass whooped for 90% of the match, they put him in every predicament possible, but still doesn't want to give up. Then Cena gets back in the match, miraculously is recovered from all the "injuries" he got in the match and wins in less than two minutes. What made me even more irritated by this is the fact Miz was tapping out to the STF in a matter of seconds. Way to book your top heel (at least for the time). I get Cena is the face of the company, but this booking does get a little ridiculous. Anyway, got off track for a moment. My choice is Sting and Hardy, so let's move on and try to forget this every happened. Hey, we can at least try?

Most Underused Talent of 2011

Drew McIntyre

Austin Aries

Justin Gabriel

Tyson Kidd

Magnus

Alex Riley

Fan's Choice- Drew McIntyre

My Choice- Austin Aries

This was a pretty interesting poll, but it was pretty clear your choice was Drew. He had 15% more than the second best, Alex Riley. I was really sadden by the fact Magnus didn't get a single vote. Then again, Magnus lost any vote when he starting motor-boating ODB on public TV. TNA……why? What would get accomplished from…..let's just move on before I have another nervous breakdown. Tyson Kidd did get a few votes, but I can't really give this to him. While I like Tyson as a in-ring competitor, I am not the biggest fan of his charisma. I think Alex Riley can be a great talent for the future of this company. His in-ring ability is nothing amazing, but I like his mic skills and charisma. I think he has a ton of potential. It's kinda weird that he went from his rivalry with Miz to just completely disappearing from Raw. Hell, he was even a strong candidate for the US championship. What happened? Well, there are some reports that Riley got himself in the doghouse. It's the dirt sheets, but based on the fact Riley is mainly on Superstars, this one might be true. It also didn't help Riley when WWE started to give Ryder more screen time. Sometimes, you gotta make the most out of your opportunities in pro wrestling since you might not get a second chance. I still think Riley will get a second chance, but who really knows. I like McIntyre, but I am not completely on the IWC bandwagon. He's a good in-ring competitor and not bad on the mic. Although, his accent is a little tough to listen to, I actually like it. Many speculate that McIntyre's push faded away when he had a public falling out with his then wife and former WWE diva, Tiffany. It's very possible McIntyre lost his push due to this, but one of my big concerns with Drew is that he just seems like your typical generic heel. Guess what? WWE has lots of those. In fact, the world of pro wrestling has many of those. Very recently, WWE has started using Drew on SD, so this could lead to something bigger for the guy. It can even be a second chance to prove himself…..or it can be his swan song. I hope that isn't the case. I can see why the vast majority would pick Drew, but I wanted to go with Aries here. Austin is a guy who reminds me a lot of CM Punk. He makes the X Division interesting, always has something interesting to say, and plays his role very nicely. Now, I know what you saying. Nerd, how can Austin Aries be underused when he's the X Division champ? Well, I personally think Aries is too good for the X Division. The guy has lots of talent and skills and he should be featured on a bigger scale on this show. He's working with cruiserweights, who are normally bland characters who do spot monkey stuff. Aries isn't one of those guys and should be used in the mid card division on this show. Only one problem….TNA doesn't have a mid card division. They have a mid card championship, but would rather use it for stupid comedy segments that involve s***ty celebrities or guys who want to do horrible impressions of crappy MTV shows. What also hurts Aries' chance to move up in TNA is the fact he's a small guy. I know it isn't fair since talent is talent, but size does get taken into consideration and it seems like smaller guys have to work a little harder to make it to the top. Yeah, this business can be cruel. While the fans say the Scotsman is their choice, mine would be the greatest man who ever lived. 

Worst Rivalry of 2011

Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler

Kurt Angle/Jeff Jarrett

Pope/Samoa Joe

Garett Bischoff/Eric Bischoff

Pope/Devon

Jinder Mahal/Great Khali

Fan's Choice- Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler

My Choice- Garett Bischoff/Eric Bischoff

This poll was interesting, but Cole and Lawler won this one hands down. At least in terms of the fans. I honestly can't blame you. It was a silly concept for a rivalry, it went on way too long, and it really seemed like a waste of time. When it first started, I thought it was a plan to get Cole off the announcer's desk and either become a GM or a manager for the WWE. I know a lot of people have hated this idea, but Cole is good on the mic, plays his character very well, and can bring in tons of heat. Being a manager was tailor made for Cole. I thought that was WWE's plan, but they shrugged it off and just moved on. I made it well known in my earlier reviews that I was not a fan of the Angle/Jarrett rivalry. It started off okay, but it got more and more stupid with stuff like MMA, Karen Jarrett, s*** falling from the sky, custody battles and a bunch of other dumb things. Of course, leave it to TNA to add insult to injury to have Angle turn heel and work with the same stable as Jarrett after this rivalry was over. It not only made no sense but just made everything even more silly. Pope and Samoa Joe was a rivalry that should've never happened and should've ended sooner. Why did this happen? Because Pope is a shady character and Joe is trying to be a half-assed version of Batman? Half-ass version of Batman? That's being generous. Jinder and Khali was a pretty silly concept. In kayfabe, Khali's sister is married to Mahal and Khali has to do what Jinder is saying or he will make her poor. Oh, and what about the income that Khali brings to the table? Yeah, there was lots of holes in the storyline. The payoff was pretty poor as well. Just seemed like an idea WWE had, but didn't execute it very well. That's why Jinder didn't go over as well as they would've liked….if they wanted to that is. The reason I give this to the Bischoffs is while Cole/Lawler was dumb, it had a couple of okay moments. Cole would create the new version of the troll face. Cole would also get his moments of embarrassment. Sure he went a little overboard when he would win matches, but at least it caught up with him. I never found one entertaining moment with the Bischoff storyline. Garett stands up to his father and…..there you go. Garett was a character I could've latch onto. The guy had the personality of a rock and was just a character I couldn't support. He came off more as weak and lucky as opposed to a guy who's finally going to stick it to his father. This storyline seems to either be on hiatus or is still in progress with Gunner taking Garett off TV. With TNA, you try to figure it out? It also takes the cake when you have Hulk Hogan saying that Garett showed more talent than the majority of the younger stars in TNA, proving that Hogan doesn't know what he's doing with the wrestling business anymore. Plus, the Bischoffs rivalry connects with Immortal, and the further we stay away from that, the better. I can see why the fans would choose Cole/Lawler, but my personally choice would be the Bischoffs. Hooray for pain!!!

Best Rivalry of 2011

Randy Orton/Christian

CM Punk/John Cena

Dolph Ziggler/Zack Ryder

Triple H/Kevin Nash

Fan's Choice- CM Punk/John Cena

My Choice- CM Punk/John Cena

I was split between this one. I really thought about giving this one to Randy Orton/Christian, but Punk and Cena kept my interest level a little more. Dolph and Ryder probably had the best mid card rivalry for 2011. They had a lot of time to build up their rivalry, and I thought it was put together rather well. It bumped Ryder up to mid card status while it got Dolph even closer to the main event. A fun series of events to watch. Orton and Christian were two guys who kept on putting solid wrestling match after solid wrestling match. It all started with Christian lost the WHC in just a few days. This lead to Christian becoming bitter and angry. He would eventually stoop to a full heel turn and would eventually reclaim the WHC. Of course, it ended with Randy got it back, but it was a fun rivalry to watch. The reason I choose Punk and Cena is because of the shock value it brought to the table. When Punk cut that promo, it was only the beginning of Punk's rise to the top. He would engage a mic battle with Cena and the WWE since Punk was someone who wanted change and to prove he's worthy of the main event. With Orton/Christian, the mic battle wasn't some of the best. Then again, a large part of that has to do with Orton's monotone promo style. I personally find it boring. Punk and Cena had some interesting things to say towards one another and put on some great matches as well. That's why Punk vs Cena is the rivalry of 2011. 

Biggest Disappointment of 2011

Douglas Williams

John Morrison

Sin Cara

Alex Riley

Drew McIntyre

Fan's Choice- Sin Cara

My Choice- John Morrison

This was a two person race between Sin and Morrison, but Sin Cara edged out the poll. First, let's talk about the other competitors. Douglas Williams was rising up in TNA. He just beat AJ Styles and won the TV championship….then the wheels just fell off. Now, Douglas really didn't scream main event talent, but why push a guy if you weren't going anywhere with it? It's typical TNA, but WWE has done this in the past, so I can't point squarely on TNA. Riley seemed like he was setting himself up for something big after breaking away from the Miz. As I mentioned earlier in this award show, Riley got overshadowed by the Zack Ryder craze. There was also reports of Riley getting a little full of himself in the back. Bringing up backstage politics is a little unfair, but it really hasn't helped Riley. McIntyre seemed like he was going somewhere on SD, but was left off WM and would end up on Raw. Only recently he has made it back on WWE television. McIntyre clearly took a lot of steps backwards this year. To me, this came down to Sin Cara and Morrison. Sin Cara was hyped up to be one of the next rising stars in WWE, but I didn't like how WWE handled Sin. They put him in very little storylines and really didn't give him much of a build up. It was like they were telling America audiences "SIN CARA……um….he does really cool tricks……LOVE HIM!!!". That's simply not going to cut it. It didn't help with Sin got hit with a wellness policy suspension and would get himself injured at Survivor Series. Things just didn't go well for Sin in his first year with WWE, but I don't think all the blame falls on Sin. I know the IWC would say otherwise, but I don't think everything falls on him. He is responsible for a few things going wrong, but not everything. The reason I choose Morrison is because it looked like he was going to be a main eventer in 2011. Then the wheels fell off. He got a little full of himself with some backstage politics. It seemed like WWE was willing to give Morrison a second chance, but Morrison wasn't doing much to put himself in position for a push. People like R-Truth and CM Punk were showing they were worthy of going further, while Morrison didn't prove he's worth something. Some of the blame for Sin Cara not doing well falls on WWE's marketing of the guy, but Morrison has himself to blame for his bad spot and thus not working out another deal with WWE. You don't get many opportunities to be a main eventer, so you got to make the most of your chances. Morrison didn't do that. Sin Cara at least will still be working for this company come next year, while Morrison might be wrestling in Orlando. That's a disappointment if I ever saw one. 

Best Storyline of 2011

Christian's heel turn/rivalry with Randy Orton

Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler go back and forth

CM Punk leaving WWE with WWE Championship

Robert Roode's heel turn/gets the brass ring

Fan's Choice- CM Punk leaving WWE

My Choice- CM Punk leaving WWE

This was an easy choice. In fact, you folks said the same thing as well since CM Punk got over 88% of the vote. Robert Roode's rise to the top was probably TNA's best storyline for this year. I didn't like how some of it went down, but it was still pretty interesting. Christian's rise was pretty interesting as we;;. I was one of the people that was upset when Christian lost his first WHC, but I also wanted to see where this was all going. It was interesting to see Christian's transition to be a humble guy to being a spoiled brat. I liked this storyline, but not quite the best in my book. Ryder and Dolph was also pretty good. It was WWE testing to find out if this Ryder craze was legit or just a flavor of the month. They did a slow build up for Ryder and the US Championship. As I've said in my reviews. I want to see more slow build ups since it gives the audience enough time to sit back and enjoy the storyline. The other thing I liked about this storyline is that it put some importance to the US title. Most of the time, they crown a mid card champion and…..that's it. No next opponent until they want to give the title to someone else, no character development, and not a lot going around for the character himself. I saw an improvement with the mid card division this year since Cody and Dolph used those titles to make strong cases to be in the main event., which makes a strong case for the Ryder/Dolph storyline. I gave this to CM Punk because he went out there and proved to many people in the WWE that he can main event and can make things fun and interesting. Punk said some things that really caught a lot of people off guard. It really came off as a surprise that Punk would leave the WWE with the championship. The only problem with this storyline is it was rushed. Punk should've stayed off TV for a lot longer than two weeks since it would've added so much to the storyline. The conclusion might've been disappointing, but the beginning and middle were one hell of a roller coaster ride. That's why CM Punk leaving WWE is the best storyline of the year. 

Stupidest Storyline/Segment of the year

Immortal (the entire thing)

Jeff Hardy's "party" before a PPV match

Michael Cole getting out of control

Jinder Mahal

Abyss' out of the blue face turn

Fan's Choice- Tie between Immortal and Jinder Mahal

My Choice- Immortal

Now we look back at more failure of 2011. I will note that Michael Cole was about four votes off from being tied in this grouping. I kinda threw Abyss in there at the last moment, but wanted it known how silly it was since it made no sense. I also added Hardy in here to see how much attention it will get. I didn't want to give it to this because I already acknowledged the PPV and the match itself, so this stupid moment doesn't need any more hardware. There was a lot of people that were upset with the Michael Cole deal. I think I was more ticked off when WWE went out there and tried to let this all die down, but they would continue to go back with it when JR got back in the picture. Why? Nothing was getting accomplished and I was just an excuse to kill the time. It had a few funny moments, but the segments were getting more dreadful than fun. The whole Jinder deal seemed like an idea WWE had brewing, but didn't quite know what to do with it. There was even a point where they kept padding this storyline. That's great, padding a storyline that people were already losing interest in. The reason I pick Immortal is because it was an example of an idea that TNA should've killed a long time ago, but kept it going and going and going. They added new swerves and stuff in other to make it interesting, but it wasn't working. When you have things like MMA, Jeff Hardy, pointless face and heel turns, and random people coming and going, it was a very hard series of events to go through. And here's one more kick in the balls…..this storyline isn't over yet. Why is it still going on? Just get rid of it already and move on, but TNA loves to beat that dead horse. That is consistently one of the TNA's biggest issues, not knowing when to kill a storyline when it has nowhere else to go. Believe me, they love to keep storylines going just for the sake of not knowing what they want to do next. Immortal….f*** Immortal. 

Breakout/Comeback Star of the Year

Bully Ray

Christian

Sheamus

Dolph Ziggler

Zack Ryder

R-Truth

Fan's Choice- Zack Ryder

My Choice- Zack Ryder

This was a really difficult choice. I felt all these guys deserve a share of this award since all made tremendous strides to rise up in the rankings. As for the voting, Ryder beat Truth by one vote. Bully Ray is hands down TNA's most improved talent. I have been harsh on the Dudley Boyz/Team 3D for a long time, but Bully went on his own and showed that he can be a great singles competitor. Who knew he had this inside him? If he did this years ago, I think we would be looking at Bully a lot differently. Sheamus made a face turn this year and damn did he show that he can play that part. As much as Sheamus improved, I can't give this to him since he didn't win any major championships and hasn't done much for the last month. I think WWE has big plans for Sheamus in 2012, but this award isn't quite for him. Christian went from upper mid card talent to full time main evener. He finally got to win the big one and prove to WWE that he can be a decent main eventer. He isn't perfect, but Christian did get a chance to shine this year. Dolph has had a pretty good second half of 2011. He went from full time mid card talent to getting an opportunity to jump in the main event. Dolph has improved on his mic skills and charisma and seems like big things will happen in 2012. R-Truth is someone that was a pretty big surprise this year. He was playing face for the beginning of the year and nothing about it was special. He then made a heel turn and who knew Truth had this in him? He was very quirky, but showed that he can be a decent addition to the main event. I don't really see Truth as a world title holder, but he can fill in for the time being if they ever wanted him to. Lots of great choices, but Ryder gets this one. Why? Ryder looked like a guy who was going to get fired or continue doing nothing for the WWE. He decided to take it upon himself and try to get a connection, despite not being on WWE television. He spread the word on his Youtube show and it opened the doors for him. Not only to keep his job, but get featured on a weekly basis. He even worked his way to get the US Championship. Ryder might be goofy, but that's why people follow him and that's why he is in a better spot now than ever before. Zack Ryder, your comeback/breakout star of the year. 

That will do it for Part II. We have six more categories to get through. Check back in on Sunday and see the final results. See you then. 

2nd Annual WrestlingNerd Awards (Best and Worst of WWE & TNA for 2011) Part I

Well, time to reveal the winners of those polls and talk about the best and worst of WWE and TNA for 2011. The fans/readers have their choice and I will have mine. Well, let's begin. 

Comic Relief Character of the Year

Santino

R-Truth

Eric Young

Michael Cole

Fan's Choice-R-Truth

My pick-R-Truth

The results for this category wasn't even close, and I honestly can't blame you. With nearly 70% of the vote, the fan's choice was R-Truth. Truth is also my choice as well. Cole had his moments here and there, but he also had some really annoying moments. Eric Young was second in this poll (which isn't really saying much). If you have read my reviews this year, you will know that I don't find Eric funny at all. He used to be funny…..back in 2007. These days, it just comes off as stupid in my opinion. Of course, people have a different sense of humor, which is why I can see some people liking Young. Eric lost my vote with that stupid deal involving Scott Baio. What did it accomplish? All it showed was an out-of-work celebrity who probably did this entire deal for a turkey sandwich. Damn, the recession is hitting Hollywood. Santino really didn't have a great year in this category. He had a few moments here and there, but it was Truth and his bat s*** insanity that made for the most laughs of 2011. Laughter for days.

Worst Wrestler/Superstar of 2011

Jinder Mahal

Jeff Hardy

Johnny Curtis

Robbie E

Gunner

Abyss

Ezekiel Jackson

Fan's Choice- Jinder Mahal

My Choice- Ezekiel Jackson

The results of this poll were a little closer, but Jinder got twice as many votes as the person who was in second place. Abyss and Johnny Curtis were really just throwaway nominations. Still, I don't know what WWE was thinking if giving Curtis all those hype-up videos if they were just going to have him be a jobber/ghost. Then again, I really didn't see anything that special out of Curtis since he looked like your generic wrestler. I have made it well known in my reviews that Gunner has the tools inside the wrestling ring, but his personality is just dreadful. I can't stand this guy talking or doing something. Mr. Intensity? What's so intense about Gunner. My cat makes more intensity in a litter box than Gunner has done his entire TNA career. Jeff Hardy was an interesting inclusion in this poll. Over the last few years, I have lost so much respect for both Matt and Jeff Hardy. Two guys with talent who continue to do stupid things. Jeff seems to be turning it around as of late, but this is the same tune Jeff has played before. He starts to do things better and then he screws up again. I don't want to think it will happen again, but who really knows? Robbie E is someone I felt has done a little better as of late, but everything about this guy is a rip-off of Zack Ryder. And now he's doing that traditional disappearing/reappearing act, something that TNA is really know for with some of their talent. Jinder really was pretty bad to watch, but why did I not select him as the worst star? Well, the guy is still young, so he still has upside. He also has an interesting look to make something out of himself. I still think this guy is underdeveloped, but he's a talent that has a chance to have a future with WWE. Zeke is someone I don't see having much a future with this company.  Big Zeke was second in the voting by the fans. I am not much of a Zeke fan. He has muscles…..great. Why should I care? The man's charisma is pretty underdeveloped. No wonder WWE took the IC title off of him, because he added nothing to the title. Zeke has been given a couple of chances in the WWE and hasn't made the most out of his opportunities. I think WWE is realizing that despite his freakish size, nobody seems to care about him and he might be on the wave of next releases in the WWE. Jinder is someone I can see avoiding the cut and might be able to make something happen. If WWE give Jinder a good program, he might be able to make it work. However, if he can't, then Jinder isn't cut out for this business. For the time being, Zeke is the worst superstar of 2011. 

Rookie of the Year

Brodus Clay

Crimson

Sin Cara

Fan's Choice- Crimson 

My choice- Crimson

The results for this poll were a lot closer than I would've expected. Keep in mind that Brodus Clay did debut earlier in the year, but there's no way I can give him this honor. Why? Well…..what did he do? He was Alberto Del Rio's bitch for the first half of the year and…..nothing afterwords. Simply put, the other two guys just showed more promise. Sin Cara made some things happen in 2011, but it was a little underwhelming at times. If only they would've done some character development with him. It honestly felt like WWE put him on TV and just hoped for the best. I realize he's rusty with the English language, but you can still build him up properly. In many ways, I had higher expectations for Sin and it simply didn't happen, but I don't think it was entirely his fault. The injury and suspension doesn't help either. A very rough first year for Sin to say the least. This one has to go to the rookie out of TNA. Crimson continues to remain undefeated as a single's competitor and is currently one half of the tag team champions. In many ways, Crimson didn't have that big of a rookie year, but he was good enough. Part of the reason is because he's still green and still needs more development. If TNA wants Crimson to be big, they would feature him every week and have him cut more promos. Instead, he barely talks and is gone for months at a time. Oh, but Garett Bischoff and Gunner make more consistent appearances. Yeah, that's how you build up a talent….

For the most part, I found 2011's rookie class to be underwhelming. 2010 had Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Alberto Del Rio and Justin Gabriel. Yeah, not the best year for rookies, but Crimson does enough to win this award. 

Diva/Knockout of the Year

Kharma

Madison Rayne

Beth Phoenix

Gail Kim

Kelly Kelly

Mickie James

Fan's Choice- Beth Phoenix

My Choice- Beth Phoenix

Yeah, another category where I agree with the vast majority. This was a close poll as it came down to Beth and Kharma (47% to 35%). Kelly Kelly and Mickie James are women I can't give this award to. Mainly because Kelly's title reign was underwhelming and dull while Mickie seems to be getting worse in the ring. I know that's a cruel thing to say, but I've seen her do much better than this. Gail Kim got some votes, but it's kinda ridiculous to give it to her since she basically overtook the entire Knockout division in one month. She was also in WWE and really didn't do much there. Just not enough consistency to win this award. Madison Rayne is what I believe to be the most underrated KO. She had a good first half of the year, but her second half did kinda suck. There's nothing amazing about her character, but I feel she plays it rather well and is deserving of getting featured better on this show. Yeah, what the hell were they thinking with that one episode run of being the VP of the KOs? I thought about giving this to Kharma, but I couldn't pick her because she was out of action most of the year. Still, I think you have a pretty strong argument in saying what Kharma did in 1-2 months is more that what any diva/KO did for the whole year. She brought an interest level to the division that has been missing for years. Kharma deserves recognition for what she did in her short run of 2011, but I have to give it to Beth. She has had better years with the WWE, but she put on some decent matches with some interesting finishes. She also made for a better divas champ than Kelly. She might be involved in a storyline that hasn't been interesting in months, but she had the most consistent year out of any diva/KO between the two companies. 

Best PPV of the Year

WWE SummerSlam

TNA Destination X

WWE Vengeance

WWE Money in the Bank

WWE Extreme Rules

Fan's Choice- WWE Money in the Bank

My Choice- WWE Money in the Bank

This wasn't even close. 92% of the vote pointed towards this PPV, and who can blame you. Two great MITB ladder matches, passable Big Show/Mark Henry match, tolerable divas match, Christian wins the world title, and one of the bigger cliffhangers when CM Punk walked out with the WWE Championship. Simply put, nothing came close to the magnitude of what this PPV brought to the table. There would be PPVs that came close like SummerSlam or Vengeance, but it became clear that MITB couldn't be duplicated. I said the same thing in my MITB review earlier in the year when I gave the show a perfect 10 out of 10, which I have never done before. I want to say that WWE had a pretty good year in the PPV category. Extreme Rules, SummerSlam and Vengeance were all pretty good. You can even make the argument that Survivor Series and TLC were up there in quality as well. TNA had a couple of okay PPVs, but they had a lot of crappy PPVs. Destination X was probably the best PPV they put on all year long. Other than that, there isn't a whole lot to say. Every PPV I just talked about are shows I highly recommend watching or adding to the DVD collection. Then again, maybe we can watch these shows once WWE Network goes in full swing. Money in the Bank is hands down the PPV of the year. 

Worst PPV of the Year

TNA Victory Road

WWE Over the Limit

TNA Turning Point

TNA Hardcore Justice

WWE Capitol Punishment

TNA Against All Odds

Fan's Choice- TNA Victory Road

My Choice- TNA Victory Road

With over 60% of the vote, you folks said Victory Road was the worst PPV this year. Honeslty, I don't blame you one bit. Victory Road can be summarized by Jeff Hardy and his dumbass. Now, the PPV was already going down the crapper prior to the main event. You had Tommy Dreamer winning a Falls Count Anywhere match against Bully Ray, a pointless KO tag title match, a First Blood match in which the winner won by spraying a bottle of ketchup on someone, and a #1 Contender's match end in a double countout. With all that garbage, how could TNA do any worse? Well, let's have Jeff Hardy all f***ed up and send him in a 90 second match against Sting on PPV. What in the world was TNA thinking? Imagine everything that could've gone wrong? Hardy could've gone insane and beat up the audience. He could've injured Sting in the match. Hell, how in the world did Sting agree to do something so reckless? It should've been illegal for them to air this match. In fact, it was so bad that TNA offered people a six month subscription to TNA on Demand in exchange to people who wanted their money back (TNA claimed they only offered people their money back for ending the PPV early, but we all know the truth). Even as I look back on it, that wasn't good enough. TNA should've given people double their money back and have Dixie Carter visit anyone who watched this and give a public apology for having to witness this horrible abomination. Sure, there was some silly PPV moments like R-Truth getting GOT by little Jimmy, or John Cena overcoming the odds for the one millionth time in a I Quit match, but Jeff Hardy's screw up at the PPV takes the cake, rapes it, remakes another cake, gets covered in vomit , gets s*** on, and THEN you finally eats the f***ing thing. And that's a cake nobody wants. Damn you, TNA!!!

Tag Team of the Year

Air Boom

Awesome Truth

Beer Money

Mexican America

Fan's Choice- Tie between Awesome Truth and Beer Money

My Choice- Beer Money

I want to say this was a REALLY close poll. Beer Money and Awesome Truth had the same number of votes. To add to the insanity, Air Boom lost this poll by two votes. Think about it, another two more votes for Air Boom and we would've had a three way tie. Yeah, everyone was divided with this one. I will be happy to note that Mexican America got zero votes. In fact, I kinda threw them in this poll as a complete joke. Hopefully, you got a good laugh out of it. Even though the poll was very close, it was a no brainer that Beer Money was the best tag team. I can understand a lot of love for Air Boom. They put on some exciting matches and jump started the WWE's rise in restoring the tag team division. Then you have Awesome Truth, which featured the pairing of Miz and R-Truth. This was sort of an odd couple pairing since both guys had different personalities. I kinda like it, but the reason I can't give it to them is because they didn't last long enough. Beer Money was hands down the best tag team of 2011. They put on some great matches and were the tag champs from the beginning of the year to around September. Both Robert Roode and James Storm would break up Beer Money and both are working their way in the main event. I know people will make the argument that it's TNA and that's why they don't get enough love. The other argument is how TNA's tag division has been in shambles for most of this year, but Beer Money at least made things interesting to keep you invested. Ever since Beer Money dropped the tag titles, nobody cares about tag team wrestling in TNA. That pretty much sums it all up right there. I try to be fair with these awards and that's why Beer Money was the best tag team of 2011. As for Awesome Truth and Air Boom, sorry about your damn luck. 

Mid Carder of the Year

Cody Rhodes 

Dolph Ziggler 

Daniel Bryan

Zack Ryder

Fan's Choice- Tie between Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler

My Choice- Dolph Ziggler

Another close poll. In fact, Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan got a good chunk of votes in their own right. I couldn't give this to Bryan since he was back and forth all year long. He got lost in the roster when he dropped the US title, but would get drafted to SD in order to shine. He comes out of the blue and wins the MITB, which is still a bit shocking since Bryan didn't have a lot of stock going into the match. In fact, Bryan didn't have a ton of stock when he cashed in MITB in December. At the moment, it seems they are trying something with Bryan, but his 2011 was too much of a roller coaster ride to give this award. Ryder got a lot of his popularity through his Youtube show. He would begin a long program with Dolph Ziggler. It did a couple of things. It showed the WWE that Ryder was more than IWC Kool-Aid since the casual fans were latching onto this guy. It also got Ryder a push through the mid card rankings. I really can't give this award to Ryder because it's called the best of 2011, not just the second half of the year. Cody and Dolph just had more consistent years than Ryder, but I can't take away Ryder's rise in the WWE. Cody and Dolph have impressive resumes to win this award. Both were mid card champions and had them for a lengthy time. Both took different approaches to get to the top. Cody became this shallow person who would try to make people feel just as bad as him. Dolph improved on his overall character. At the beginning of the year, Dolph was just you average mid card talent who didn't seem like would go up in the rankings. All of the sudden, his charisma and mic skills really improved. He has shown that he can be something special in WWE. In many ways, this character reminds me of Mr. Perfect. Both Rhodes and Dolph had some impressive victories over some main event stars. It might have been through cheating, but that's what heels do. Needless to say, both have done very well and it seems both guys are primed to get a world title in 2012. Both are very deserving for this award, but I have to give the edge to Dolph since I felt he made a little more improvement than Cody (just a tad). The other reason I chose Dolph is because he seemed to bring in more opponents for the US title. He worked a long program with Ryder involving the US championship. With Cody, he hasn't done as much as I would've liked with the IC title. I think he's still a good champion, but it would help if had more rivalries with the title and would defend the title more. I think that was the main reason I chose Dolph to win this award, but it was a tough decision. #Heel is on the rise. 

That's going to do it for now. The award show is too much to fit into one article, so come back tomorrow when we dig into Part II. Tell me what you thought of my choices or how this article turned out. See you then. 

WrestlingNerd Presents: WWE Raw Review 1/2/12 (It Begins is revealed...)

What up wrestling fans, I'm the WrestlingNerd bringing you another written review. Today, we take a look at WWE Raw on 1/2/12. Who was behind the "it begins" promos? Well, let's find out and start the review. 

We open up the show with the reveal of the It begin promos. It turns out to be Brodus Clay. He kills the entire WWE roster….and Skeletor….and the Cookie Monster. The audience seems pissed off. Laurinaitis teams up with Tony Montana and goes ape s*** with guns. That's also how the show ends. Well, I guess this review is over. What a kick in the balls, but you can't predict these things. I guess I will see you next week….

Okay, that wasn't funny. The real show started when John Cena showed up. He talks about how he wants to be himself and if people want to boo him, he's fine with it. He says he doesn't like Kane's approach since Cena won't embrace the hate. Kane's voice is heard throughout the building and says Cena will learn to embrace the hate and there's no way around it. That's how the segment ends. In many ways, a continuation from how Raw ended last week. It's more of the same old with Cena as of late. He knows people hate him, but continues to shrug it off because that's what all boy scouts do. The question is will he be consumed by the hate or will he actually embrace it. It does make you wonder. 

Match #1: Daniel Bryan vs Cody Rhodes

This was a pretty short match. It ended with Daniel got a small package for the victory. It kinda make sense to go with this booking since both guys can't go into the title matches this week looking weak. A small package victory doesn't make Cody look bad since it looks like it was sheer dumb luck. After the match, Daniel was going bat s*** insane as he kept mentioning to the audience that he's the WHC. Is it possible that Bryan is being consumed by the thought of not wanting to let go of the title, thus he pulls off some shenanigans to retain his championship? It's very possible. Guess we will wait and see what happens on SD this week. 

Winner via pinfall: Daniel Bryan (YES!!!)

Backstage where Miz complains to John Laurinaitis about the R-Truth attack. Laurinaitis says Miz kinda had it coming since he attacked Truth last month. Laurinaitis tells Miz he will have a match against Sheamus tonight. Laurinaitis says he will try to keep Truth at bay. Yeah, if you watched the show, how did that turn out? Miz tells Laurinaitis that he's a sitting duck. As Miz leaves Laurinaitis' office, Truth standing in the shadows and starts to do a duck impression. I think this gives new meaning to the phrase, shucky ducky quack quack. What kind of drugs was Booker smoking to come up with that? Don't answer that question. 

Match #2: Wade Barrett vs Santino

Wade cut a short promo in taking out Randy Orton and winning the Royal Rumble. Santino comes out and talks about the Santino Choo Choo Train, which was a mock to the Barrett Barrage. Leave it to Santino to come up with something completely ridiculous. Very short match. It ends with Wade hits Winds of Change. It was your basic jobber match. You really shouldn't be shocked in the booking of this match. By the way King, Angry Birds is overrated. Plants vs Zombies is much better, but that's just my honest opinion. 

I think Truth had a Elmer Fudd moment backstage. Be very quiet, I'm hunting awesomeness. 

We are about to get started with Miz and Sheamus match. The match never got started. Miz attacked Sheamus early, but Sheamus would follow up with about nine million arm shots to the chest. Miz decides to run away in the audience, but Mr. Unstable would arrive. Truth says little Jimmy doesn't like Miz and he needs to get GOT. Miz gets back towards the ring, but Sheamus greets him with a Brogue Kick. Once he leaves, Truth come down and gives him another water bottle attack. How is this attack not banned yet? Anyway, Truth leaves through the audience. This segment was brought to you by little Jimmy…..and the letter T. This was a replay of Truth's attack from last week, but it was to get people caught up in case they missed it during the holiday week. Miz vs Truth seems like it will happen at Royal Rumble. There was moments where Truth was trying to play to the crowd, but would also go back into his crazy gimmick. It's kinda bazaar. 

Dolph cut a pretty good promo backstage in which he talked about his greatness and how he will be the WWE Champion tonight. There was also a backstage scene with Eve and Zack Ryder. Zack acts like a goof as Jack Swagger says Ryder is a terrible US champion. Potential new rival for Ryder? I hope so or else it would kinda be a waste of time to push Ryder if you weren't going to do anything with him as champ. Roboinaitis arrives and says Swagger needs to earn a US title match, but they will both be in action tonight. It will be Mark Henry, Swagger, and Kane vs Big Show, Ryder, and John Cena in a elimination tag match. I wonder if Roboinaitis' logic circuits sense a big amount of bulls*** with this match? Probably not.

Match #3: CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship 

This was hands down the best match of the night. Both Punk and Dolph know how to put on a good match and they are making it work out pretty well. The finish comes when Punk rips off the turnbuckle padding. Laurinaitis arrives and tells the referee to fix the padding. During this time, Punk locked in the Anaconda Vice and Dolph was tapping, but no referee to end the match. Punk tries to get his attention, but Dolph is back up and tires to hit the Zig Zag. Punk scouts it and counters it. Dolph ended up hitting Laurinaits on the ring ropes. At some point, Punk goes off the ropes, but Laurinaitis pulls down the ropes, thus making Punk fall outside the ring. The referee makes a ten count and Dolph wins the match via count out. That was a mouthful. I apologize if my explaining it was confusing as hell, but everything happened so fast and visual aids are always better. Check out the actual match to find out what happened. What it all boiled down to is Laurinaitis screwing over Punk for a second week and Dolph gets another victory over Punk. After the match, Punk is pissed off while Dolph is celebrating with the WWE Championship. I like how none of the commentators mentioned that Dolph isn't the champion because of a count out victory, but who cares? I would talk more about this, but there would be another scene involving this later in the night, so I will save it to then. 

Winner via count out: Dolph Ziggler; CM Punk is still WWE Champion

Match #4: Bellas vs Kelly Kelly and Eve

The match sucked. Plain and simple. There was mistakes left and right, it didn't flow, fan service up the ass. Yeah, it was pretty horrible to watch. Even the small package was screwed up since it looked like Eve had to intentionally throw the match just so her shoulders would be legally down. The finish comes when Bellas do the switch out and get a small package. These matches are really starting to get old. Do something new!!!

Winner via pinfall: Bellas

Backstage where Punk confronts Laurinaitis. Punk says he's tired of being screw over by Laurinaitis. John says he won't tolerate that attitude and Punk is just being a sore loser. He tells Punk he will defend the title at Royal Rumble against Dolph, but Laurinaitis will be the special guest referee. Punk says if Laurinaitis screws him out of the title at RR, he will beat him like a bitch. Why do I get the feeling parents of America will complain about this bit? Anyway, now we understand why the Punk/Dolph match ended the way it did. They wanted to set up a rematch between Punk and Dolph and once again stack the deck against Punk. I can see people being pissed off in how it makes tonight's title match filler since they will do it again at the PPV, but it's classic build up. Although, it seems kinda odd that Punk and Laurinaitis are the focus while Dolph is just that random third guy. It's possible Dolph will walk out with the WWE Championship at RR, but I can also see Punk with a trick up his sleeve to make sure he wins the match. 

Okay, now it's time for the It begins reveal. I promise, no more jokes. The lights go off and it's…..it's…..IT'S!!! Are you sure you're ready for this? Okay, enough screwing around. Chris Jericho is posing on the ramp and he has made his return. He is playing towards the crowd as the fans are going nuts. The commentators are completely speechless at the return of Y2J. Jericho keeps playing to the crowd. He continues to get the crowd excited and it seems like he's ready to talk. Instead, more padding. Jericho keeps this going for a while. He gives high fives to the audience members in the front row. It seems like he will finally talk, but leaves the mic on the ground and just leaves. Okay, well the first thing I want to do is this…

That clip never gets old. Yeah, so Jericho was my #1 choice behind these videos and my little prediction turned out to be right. The other thing to bring up is the return itself. I can see some people being very upset or angry that Jericho didn't say a damn word. Well, here's the way I look at it. Jericho has been hyped up for the last six weeks. Now that he's here, let him get into his character slowly as opposed to just rushing it and saying who he's going after. Build it up and take your time. WM is April 1st, so what's the damn hurry? I think people were more upset that he didn't talk or explain his motives or reasoning behind his return. By saying nothing, it sets up the possibility that Jericho is a heel and just Rick Rolled the entire audience just to fool you. I personally prefer Jericho as a heel since that's where he shines the most. Plus, Jericho remaining silent hypes up next week's show. I am sure plenty of people will want to tune in and see what Jericho has to say next week. I'm definitely invested in what Jericho has to say. There has to be a connection behind what the videos were saying and why Jericho has returned. At the end of the day, I can see people being pissed off that he didn't talk, but I thought it was a brilliant move since it adds more suspense to his return as Jericho gets into his new character. The funny thing is the IWC wanted the promos be about Jericho. Now that it has happened, they are complaining in how the scene was delivered. Amazing. IWC got what it wanted, but are still throwing a fit.  Once again, is the IWC every satisfied? Just be happy Jericho is back and you will get your answers in the next few weeks/months. You never get all the answers in one night since pro wrestling is storytelling. Jericho and WWE are building this up, so I don't expect all the answers in one night. I think people really forget that aspect sometimes. Never gonna give you up, Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you….

Match #5: Big Show, Zack Ryder, and John Cena vs Mark Henry and Jack Swagger

Notice I didn't write Kane in the match. Well, Kane wouldn't show up. David Otunga would arrive and inform the ring announcer that Kane will not be competing tonight and it will be a handicap elimination tag match. Show and Henry get themselves DQed because of a steel chair, so it was shortened up rather quickly. Henry is still on light duty. Most of the matches were pretty boring and lackluster outside of the Punk/Dolph match. The finish comes when Ryder is struggling with the Ankle Lock. He tags in Cena and Cena kills Swagger. Cena and Ryder win the match. After the match, Kane's music hits. Cena pays attention to the entrance ramp, but Kane comes out from under the ring and attacks Ryder. Cena realizes this and tries to save him, but can't do anything against Kane. Kane takes out Cena by suffocating him. I guess Kane's new finisher is death. There's a point Kane can continue to attack Cena, but turns his attention to Ryder. He grabs him and wants to pull him under the ring. Oh no, Kane's gonna rape you, bitch. I like how King and Cole refer to the hole as the abyss. Someone has been watching TNA. It's the vortex of death, somebody help Ryder!!! It's Super Cena to the rescue as he pulls Ryder out of the hole and saves him. The show ends with fire coming out of the hole as Cena and Ryder look on. A fire pit? What is this, Super Mario Bros? Anyway, I like how Swagger actually put up a fight against Ryder. If the plan is for Swagger to to be the next #1 Contender for the US title, it makes sense for him to hold his own against the US champ. As for the Kane attack, it was interesting. It shows that Cena is having a tough time going up against Kane, thus maybe he has no choice than to embrace the hate as oppose to rise above the hate. Yes….let the hate flow through you and join the dark side. To be honest, I think I would've preferred for Jericho to end the show the way he did as opposed to Cena/Kane. This is just a minor issue, but it doesn't really matter. Still, I thought the scene was a bit campy since it seemed like a bad horror film. When Monsters Attack. 

Winner: John Cena and Zack Ryder

Overall Impression:

l have mixed views with tonight's show. The in-ring action was very lacking tonight. Outside of the Punk/Dolph match, there wasn't' a whole lot to check out. Most of tonight was dedicated to the promos/segments. I liked Jericho's return since it adds more mystery for what are his real intentions, but there was a good chunk of this show where it did seem to drag. I think the first hour didn't offer much since it addressed the two major SD angles and the Miz/Truth angle. Not a lot of new things to report, so that's where I lose some interest. The show did pick back up when the WWE title match started. Then we took a step back with a pretty bad divas match, then Jericho's return, then an uninteresting main event. Although, I did like how the show ended. This is really a mixed bag sort of evening. I can see a lot of people not happy after tonight. I wouldn't call this an entertaining Raw since I've see much better from WWE, but there was a few interesting moments here and there to keep my interest. I personally thought last week's show was a lot better. For the most part, I can't recommend the whole show and mainly recommend the Punk/Dolph match, Jericho's return, and the ending to get the basics for this week. Still, they have set up next week's show pretty well. Jericho might reveal why he came back and what is his plan, more stuff involving Kane and Cena and there should be something involving Punk and Laurinaitis. I think the entire show was dedicated to Jericho's return, despite the fact he didn't say anything. Jericho is very skilled at what he does and he will make his character work in any way possible. He's just that talented. I am sure there is a connection with Jericho and the videos, but it would've been silly to answer all of those questions tonight when we can build it up Well, we'll see what happens in the next few weeks. Jericho is back, so that's good enough in my book. That's going to do it for the review and I hope you enjoyed it. As always, tell me what you thought of my review or tonight's show. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.

WrestlingNerd's Corner: My thoughts on the It Begins 2012 promos

Well, this is going to be a little different than what I normally do, but I like doing things differently. If you have been watching WWE programming the past few weeks, there have been several cryptic videos that keep saying a familiar face will return on 1/2/12 and "the end of the world will happen". I heard some guy made this prediction back in May. How did that turn out? Anyway, if you have read my reviews, I have purposely avoided discussion on this topic since I wanted to talk about it in a separate article. Well, let's go ahead and dive into this topic.

On Nov. 21st, 2011, we saw the first video….

It was during Jack Swagger's entrance, but it was only mentioned in a link. The link was blurred out. This definitely added more mystery to this video. The main thing that was mentioned was a familiar force would return and claim what is his. This would mean the return of a wrestler/character back in the day. When I first saw this, I instantly thought Chris Jericho. It just seems to fit Jericho's style. Plus, it mentioned the "end of the world", and there was a time Jericho referred to himself as the best in the world at what I do. Then again, Wolverine said something very similar to this. I got it, it's Hugh Jackman making everyday appearances as Wolverine on WWE programming. Great, now the Adamantium punch will be a weekly occurrence. Okay, I'm just joking around about the Jackman/Wolverine stuff. The other person I was thinking of was Undertaker, since the video had a pretty dark atmosphere. At this stage of Taker's career, he's mainly there to do a WrestleMania match. Since WM isn't until April 1st, it might be a little premature for a Taker return. Plus, who would Taker end up going up against? Then again, that's another subject on it's own. The video also said a familiar force, meaning it can be more than one person, like a stable. So, would that mean a return of the NWO, DX, or the Kliq? Well, the NWO is kinda a long shot since Hulk Hogan works for TNA. Part of me would be disappointed if it turned out to be DX. Mainly because a DX revival has happened many times for the last decade, so I don't think we need another one. The Kliq seems to be a better option since the majority of those talents are still working or affiliated with WWE. Either way you look at it, it was smart marketing. The video was pretty broad and it could mean a number of possibilities. This got the IWC buzzing, but it would eventually get the casual fans drinking the Kool-Aid of what the WWE has brewing in the old creative pot. 

With most of these hype-up videos, they would often give you clues into who or what is going to happen. Well, that's exactly what happened. The next week on Raw, this video was aired…

Unlike the first video, this one was broadcast on WWE television. It was aired during a divas match. Since the commentators didn't mention this video, it appears in the realms of kayfabe that the wrestlers or producers aren't aware of these messages. Almost as if someone is hacking into the WWE and airing subliminal messages on their program. Of course, that isn't the case since WWE is aware of what they put on TV, but this is for the sake of the storyline. In the beginning, they talk about a thief of the night. This only adds more to the theory that it's Taker since Taker is a dark character and he's all about the darkness. The real interesting thing about this video is now the presences of a little girl. It was at this point that I wondered if it's the team of Shane and Stephanie McMahon? Now, I'm aware that Shane has left WWE and is now working for another company, but he could secretly be coming back and teaming up with his sister. So far, this theory fits since we haven't seen the McMahon siblings for a while and they could be ready to raise some hell in the WWE. Since this bit was aired during the divas match and the inclusion of a little girl, I also thought Kharma. I had to kill this theory. Mainly because Kharma left WWE in May for pregnancy. I'm pretty sure she hasn't had her child yet, nor would be in physical condition to get back in a wrestling ring. A Kharma return would be interesting. The diva division has been on life support since Kharma left, so they really need her back asap. I think a Kharma return is more likely after WM, but it's a thought. Anyway you look at it, these videos only add more to the mystery.

The follow week on Raw, yet another video hit the air-waves…

Not a lot has changed with the videos. It's still saying the basic stuff, but I just realized something. They keep showing the little girl's face, but haven't really shown the little boy's face. He either has his head down jotting down notes or he's facing a wall. It's probably nothing, but it's an interesting note. Once again, it adds to the mystery. I realize I'm going overboard and over analyzing the hell out of it, but people have been wanting my thoughts on this matter and have been putting most of it on hold until now. The phrase at the end is "look within". Look within what? The video? The WWE? The death note? Very mysterious. 

There would also be a fourth video the follow week on Raw…

The title of this video was "control", and it's very appropriate. The girl has a more important role in this one. It talks about how "she" holds the mystery of my arrival. This could mean a number of different things. This video really feeds the theory that it could be the McMahon siblings. Back in the day, Stephanie's character could be considered out of control in many ways. She craved power and wanted to be the one calling the shots. The other thing I noticed is there's a ball that keeps showing up in these videos. In many ways, I almost thought of the girl and the ball as a metaphor for the WWE's PG era. Maybe this person(s) is growing tired of the PG era and wants to shake things up? The video also says things will never be the same again when they return. The term "rebirth" has also been tossed around, thus feeding the theory that it could be Jericho. Maybe Jericho returns as his original self as opposed to the "suit and tie" kind of person? Kinda like they're saying it isn't Jericho that isn't returning, it's Y2J. 

One more week has passed and we have another video…

The music and atmosphere is pretty dark this time around….or at least darker than before. This was also the first time the girl spoke as opposed to the boy. The theme of this one is "prophet-less". It's interesting, but I'm still thinking the three major possibilities from before.

There was one last video that aired near the beginning of Raw this past week…

At first, I noticed something was written on the chalk board, but quickly disappeared. If you pause the video, it says "He is coming". In many ways, this might kill the theory that it could be Shane and Stephanie since they are referring to one person as opposed to multiple people. This also takes Kharma out of the equation since they're referring to a male as opposed to a female. The boy finally shows his whole face. Seriously, the boy gave a smirk like Jericho. The video also came on when CM Punk was hoisting up his world title. Is this person basically calling out Punk and wants to get the world title for their own? It's a strong theory, but could be purely coincidental since these videos have come on different times. Still, I think this is the second time one of these videos popped up during a CM Punk bit. It really makes you think….or somewhat. 

Now, I don't really go into over analyzing these types of things. With that said, you're probably asking yourself why did I break down every video and give brief notes on each one? The answer is I was building up the article. It was all for dramatic effect. Okay, now time for me to simplify it. I had five possibilities on who could be the person behind these videos. Consider these my Fave Five of the It Begins videos. These are in on particular order…

Stephanie and Shane McMahon

Batista

Brock Lesnar

Undertaker 

Chris Jericho

Let's first talk about the possibility of it being Batista. I know a lot of people didn't really like Batista. Mainly because of his in-ring ability and his charisma. He really didn't shine in this department, but I think he really hit his stride towards his last rivalry with John Cena. Batista was actually cutting some pretty good promos and seemed to have found his own persona. I would welcome a Batista return, just as long as he plays the heel character he was doing when he left the company. Batista has made some rants over the internet in his displeasure with the WWE and how it sucks. Could Batista already be in character and setting himself up with the IWC, or is he just that pissed off? Then again, Batista's autobiography and his recent outburst are very similar, so it can be just Batista being Batista. The drawback on it being Batista is that it doesn't really fit Batista's character. What was mentioned in the videos are things Batista would say, but the vibe of the videos doesn't really fit. I just think Batista is a long shot compared to other people at the moment, but his name has been tossed around. 

Brock Lesnar has had a rough relationship with WWE, but it seems to be improving. He was one of the playable characters in WWE 12 and has talked about being open to the idea of going back to the company. The major flaw in this theory is that Brock still works for UFC and seems pretty content with staying in the octagon ring as opposed to the wrestling ring. I think Brock is still set on the MMA business, so that brings a hole in this possibility. Still, I think fans will think of the possibility of Brock coming back….just as long as we don't get a repeat of his final performance in the WWE. That was dreadful. 

MAJOR UPDATE: I wrote this prior to having knowledge of Lesnar announcing his retirement from UFC. It really opens up the possibility that Lesnar COULD be coming back to WWE. Still, he might have his own set up videos as opposed to these videos. As of now, I would say Lesnar moves up to #3 of possible candidates for this return. In fact, I would like to add that if it's Lesnar, I can see him going up against Undertaker at WM. Taker usually goes up against big, well-known guys. Who bigger than Brock? It's smart marketing….if that's what ends up happening. It's possible there is a connection between Lesnar's retirement and these videos, but it might just be a strange coincidence. 

Shane and Stephanie have been strong possibilities for a while, but there are some flaws with this theory. Mainly because Shane left WWE and is now doing his own thing. It's possible he's coming back to the WWE, but he seemed pretty sure of himself in leaving the company when he did. If there was a team set to show up, Triple H and Stephanie would be a better outcome. Then again, it would be very disappointing since we are lead to believe these videos are bringing back someone who hasn't been featured on WWE programming for a while. Trips just got done working a match with Kevin Nash at TLC, while Steph was last featured when CM Punk and Trips were fighting each other. Still, the Shane/Steph theory isn't a bad one, but there are holes in it. 

Now we're getting serious. Undertaker has been one of the more popular choices in relation to these videos. Taker is reserved for WM, but it might be a little soon for him to return. Then again, it's not too early to start his WM build up. Many people have speculated that Taker is returning, but as his American Bad Ass form as opposed to his deadman gimmick. Personally, my favorite version of Taker has always been the deadman. Plus, I think Taker will keep his deadman gimmick from now until the end of time. He came into the WWE as the deadman, so he should leave as the deadman. The videos are pretty dark, so they do fit Taker in that sense. Still, you almost expect something more darker from the deadman. I don't know? Maybe I just want to see cemeteries or bad weather with a Taker hype up video. 

That leaves me with one more person… Chris Jericho. When I saw the first video, I was instantly thinking Jericho. It seems to fit his style the most and the messages being broadcast seem like something Jericho would say or do. One of the common phrases being mentioned is "it's the end of the world as you know it". I think I have an idea on what could be happening (or at least what I would like to see happen), but we need to side track for a bit. Currently in the WWE, we have CM Punk as the WWE Champion and John Laurinaitis as the interim Raw GM. Punk and Laurinaitis don't like each other since they both have different view points on what's entertaining and what's good for business. For the last few weeks, Laurinaitis has put Punk in some questionable predicaments. Based on kayfabe, Laurinaitis is making it seem like he's embracing the idea of Punk as champion, but Laurinaitis has also stated he doesn't like Punk and they have had issues in the past. So far, everyone one of Laurinaitis' ideas hasn't really worked. He tried Alberto Del Rio and Miz, but both failed. Of course, this possible storyline would be more powerful if Punk had been champion for at least 3-5 months. Punk has been champion for about 6-7 weeks. It does put up a dent in the possibility that Laurinaitis is running out of ideas of getting the title off of Punk, but you might have to go along with it in this case. To be fair, ever since Laurinaitis has been an on-screen character in July, he has showed displeasure towards Punk. So, this could be Laurinaitis' answer to simply get rid of Punk or make his life a living hell. Maybe it will be revealed that Laurinaitis brought in Jericho to take down Punk, as if Jericho is his ace in the hole. The videos refer to this being the end of the world. Well, Punk does refer to himself as the Best in the World. So, could these messages be saying it will be the end of Punk's world?

This upcoming episode of Raw, we have CM Punk vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship. We also have the reveal of the "it begins" promos. Based on my early thoughts of Laurinaitis bringing in Jericho; I can see Jericho arrive either during the match to have it end in a no contest, or Jericho attacks Punk after Punk has defeated Dolph. I also thought about the possibility of Jericho costing Punk the WWE title, but I think it would be a mistake since Punk/Jericho should involve the world title. Then again, that's just my personal preference. Either way you look at it, Punk and Jericho would be at each other's throats and this would continue until their matchup at WM. Punk and Jericho are some of the better wrestlers out there, but both guys always have something interesting to say on the mic. It would be fun and interesting to see what these two have to say towards the other. Overall, it would be a lot of fun.

Now, people are probably asking me what if it doesn't turn out to be Jericho, would there be disappointment? Well, it really depends on who ends up being the person behind the "It begins" promos. There is tremendous upside with these videos, but there is the possibility of some disappointment. I really hope that isn't the case because these videos have been very interesting and it would really make for a TNA moment if the reveal turned out to be someone like Brodus Clay or Skip Sheffield. I personally hope it's Jericho. Chris Jericho has always been one of my favorite performers in a wrestling ring and I feel can add a lot to the table if he's working with the right person, and who better than CM Punk? We really didn't get a chance to see Punk and Jericho get into a rivalry together, and I think it would be awesome. In other words, don't be too surprised if you hear this on Raw….

Okay, it's time to wrap this up. I am a bit disappointed that I couldn't come up with a more interesting idea on who will return since I'm aware most people have been pulling for Jericho to be the person. I hope it's him because Jericho always makes wrestling fun and it would be great to see that Jericho/Punk rivalry we never got to see. Tell me what you thought of my rant here today and give me your thoughts. I will see you guys and girls on the next WrestlingNerd show, see you next time.