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Archive for December, 2011

Alberto Del Rio might not be headed for the compost bins just yet, but he is off the house show tour and off TV (at least on an in-ring capacity) for a short time.

That’s because Del Rio is rehabbing a groin injury suffered in the main event of last Monday’s RAW broadcast. While he’s not expected to be out a long time, he will be out for a little while, as a precautionary measure, so that the injury doesn’t lead to a more long-term issue.

Although he played it within his cocky heel persona, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin recently told the Chicago Sun-Times in an interview that he prefers WWE divas to reality show females. Miz is currently dating WWE diva Maryse.

Of his former Real World cast mates, Miz said, “MTV makes sure they pick out girls that are off their rocker, so there are more meltdowns. No thanks on that one.”

That might come as news to Coral, Nicole, Rachel and Lori. Had they not given him a chance on that show to come out of his shell, he might not be in the WWE today.

Now that WWE is allowing a free flow of superstars between RAW and Smackdown, I’m not sure this makes a big difference. However, about ten days ago, WWE officially moved Kane from the Smackdown roster to the RAW roster. This kind of explains why he was set up to feud with John Cena after a return to the ring following an absence since last summer.

Kane was injured by Mark Henry and his english riding boots, which caused him to be written out of TV while he rehabbed. It was widely expected that upon his return, Kane would feud with Henry, possibly over the World Title. But with the storylines going where they’ve gone, Henry nursing a real injury of his own, and other changes, Kane’s shift to the RAW roster gives Cena someone interesting and fresh to feud with until his big WM match against The Rock.

Happy holidays was the message the WWE seems to want to send to folks in the days following the TLC PPV. In the wake of the last big event of 2011 on WWE’s calendar, two titles changed hands that night, and one more changed hands on RAW.

The WWE Divas title changed hands on RAW, when Alicia Fox scored an upset victory over Beth Phoenix to win the title. Fox is a babyface compared to the heelish Phoenix. I guess that leaves Phoenix free to browse stylish maternity clothes.

At the WWE TLC PPV, in perhaps the most enjoyable match of the night, Zack Ryder scored an upset win over Dolph Ziggler to obtain his first legitimate title since entering WWE. Woo, woo, woo! You know it!

Also at the PPV, Big Show won his first title in nine years, scoring a victory over Mark Henry. His reign, though, lasted all of forty-five seconds as Daniel Bryan cashed in his Money In the Bank contract four months earlier than he had promised, taking advantage of a Henry post-match attack on Big Show to pin a passed-out Show and score the World Heavyweight Championship.

At TLC, the only champ to retain his title was face champ, WWE Title holder, C.M. Punk.

The WWE Tag Team titles are held by Air Boom, meaning that the only meaningful WWE title currently held by a heel is the WWE Intercontinental Championship, currently held by Cody Rhodes. Does this make Rhodes the top heel in the WWE?

Probably not. But it does mean that we could see some potential heel turns in the near future if the current set of champions lasts for a while. And I wouldn’t complain at all if John Cena was among them; a heel turn could be a career-saver, in his case.

After being the star of 11 of 12 PPV events this year, John Cena currently has no match going into TLC 2011 tonight. The best match of the night promises to be C.M. Punk defending against The Miz and Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Title in a three-way tables, ladders and chairs match in the main event.

Also of interest is the Mark Henry vs. Big Show rematch. In the first go-round, they wrestled to no decision after a reverse body drop of Show by Henry off the top rope collapsed the ring, a callback to the Show/Brock Lesnar match on Smackdown several years ago. If WWE is wise, they’ll put this match on last if they intend to collapse the ring again.

Finally, the long-delayed payoff to the Kevin Nash-Triple H feud will take place tonight as well. Those are three main-event-worthy matches, and set the table well to leave 2011 in a high note, if they all deliver.

Will Cena really no-show TLC? Or will a last-minute match be found? We’ll know soon enough.