Watching WWE is a gamble. No matter how excited you are, or how good things are looking, there's always a risk that the next show is going to stink. Wrestling fans – myself included – are quick to point out what stinks on a regular basis. They make it easy. Veering away from the depressing but understandable cynicism and apathy which makes up much of the wrestling discussion, here are five things I enjoyed about the week that was in WWE.
Warning: you're almost certainly going to see recurrent themes here.
Honourable mention – You're Welcome, John Cena (TLC):
For those who didn't see TLC, John Cena was handcuffed to the ropes by Randy Orton during their double title TLC match. So what did he do? Cena tugged and pulled at the rope before unscrewing the turnbuckle and taking the bottom rope off completely and saving his skin. For those who don't have good memories, CM Punk did the EXACT same thing two years ago. So in a way, it was only because he watched CM Punk do it that Cena managed to get free. :-P
1. Best in the World (at handicap matches) (TLC):
I may be a big, far too serious know-it-all nerd, but my inner-fanboy did enjoy seeing my superhero CM Punk beat The Shield all by himself. What I loved most about the situation was that Punk didn't have to be a WWE babyface and cheat to win anything, he just used his experience and his brains to overcome the most legitimate tag team in the entire company in a believable way.
Not only that, but it's nice to finally have some ammo when I get into debates about wrestling with a child at work. Sure, he can bring up the fact that John Cena beat Brock Lesnar and Punk didn't. But has Cena ever beaten The Shield by himself? I don't think so. IN YO FACE.
2. CM Punk and Shawn Michaels (Raw):
After beating The Shield BY HIMSELF (did I mention that?), CM Punk came out to gloat and to have a pop at Triple H. Instead of Triple H answering Punk's challenge, Shawn Michaels came out to try and divert Punk's attention. And yeah, I know nothing's going to come of this. Shawn Michaels is retired, and I'd be willing to bet he stays that way. And even if he did come back, he's not going to do it for a skinny fat-ass (am I right, Hunter?).
Nonetheless, this was a fun interaction between these two. Shawn was in full-on sarcastic mode which is HBK at his best in my opinion, and CM Punk was CM Punk. I loved watching the interaction, and I enjoyed the fantasy of what this would be like if it ever happened.
3. Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan (Raw):
Say what you want about Randy Orton – and I do – but I won't deny him when he's done good. And he did good against Daniel Bryan on Raw. Like, really good. Not to say his match with Cena wasn't good, too, but the one with Bryan took the cake in my opinion. It was just tremendous, and well worth going out of your way to see. Both men put everything they had into it, and Orton had to have been sore after going through a few tables at TLC. Not to mention the fact that Bryan nearly knocked his teeth out here. So yeah, great match.
4. The Brotherhood vs. The Wyatt Family (SmackDown):
If there's one thing WWE are really good at these days, one thing you can count on from them, it's tag team matches. And we got a really, really great one from The Brotherhood and The Wyatt Family on SmackDown. It was lengthy and meaty, and even though the Champs lost a non-title which I'm never a fan of, at least they lost after a difficult match.
With Bray Wyatt carrying the character side of The Wyatt Family and otherwise stealing the spotlight, Harper and Rowan need something to do other than JUST being Bray's henchmen. That's cool for a while, but I think it's stupid for WWE not to let them do their own thing, too. Having them wrestle good quality tag team matches is a perfect way to give us something to talk about them for, and as they proved here, they're good at it.
5. The Reigns vs. Langston Tease (SmackDown):
I talked about it at length in my SmackDown Ramblings yesterday, and I'm still reeling from it. I love those little moments in wrestling that catch you off guard and surprise you in a pleasant way. And that split second when WWE teased Roman Reigns vs. Big E. Langston was one of them. The feeling it left me with is a testament to the fact that WWE are doing well building them both up as unstoppable forces, and if WWE play their cards right, Langston vs. Reigns could legitimately be a match I get excited about as part of a pay-per-view.
Written By Matt Saye of The Wrestling Journal
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