The State Of The WWE

With the Armageddon pay-per-view now history, 2008 is coming to an end and soon it'll be Royal Rumble season. So with that in mind, I wanna take the rest of this Friday afternoon to rant, rave and generally express my feelings on the past year in WWE and where the company is headed as Wrestlemania 25 plans loom closer than ever. Let's call it The State Of The WWE......

Like I said, Armageddon has now come and gone, and the big thing everybody is talking about is the fact that Jeff Hardy finally won the big one, surprising millions across the world and defeating Edge and Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship. Hardy's long journey to championship stardom came to an end when he hit the Champion, Edge with a Swanton Bomb after Triple H connected with the Pedigree and covered Edge. The momentum of Hardy's off-the-top-rope move knocked the Game from the ring and Jeff had finally grabbed the brass ring after three seconds.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see Jeff finally get a chance to run with the ball. He's had his personal demons in the past, including two past suspensions for violating the WWE's drug policy, but to me it seems he's really cleaned himself up and is more focused than ever on being the best in the ring. However, MY problem with Hardy winning the gold is that the WWE missed a golden opportunity to show the conclusion to this journey at Wrestlemania.

If it were me calling the shots over on Smackdown, I would've had Edge win this match and go on to face Triple H at the Royal Rumble. He'd retain the Title there, too, while Hardy would almost win the Rumble match itself. Edge would prevent him from doing so and from there, the feud would get really hot, with Hardy winning a #1 Contender match at No Way Out. They'd fight at Wrestlemania with Jeff THEN winning the belt. I have no idea what the plan is at this stage, with Jeff now the Champion, but I can't help but feel the WWE jumped the shark on this one.

The quick results from Armageddon were as such:

1. Matt Hardy vs Vladimir Kozlov: When this was announced as a non-title match, that pretty much told everyone Kozlov was going over. And he did. He pinned the ECW Champion after some new powerslam move he debuted.
WINNER: Vladimir Kozlov by pinfall

2. CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio: This was the final match in the Intercontinental Title contender tournament. Haven't seen it on YouTube yet but I've read this was a good one, with some saying this was Punk's best WWE match ever. He beat Rey with the GTS, giving him a bloody nose in the process. Good, cuz I'm really starting to dislike Mysterio. The whole "I'm-the-underdog-but-with-the-heart-of-a-lion" thing is getting old.
WINNER: CM Punk by pinfall

3. Finlay vs Mark Henry: Billed as a Belfast Brawl. It's nice to see the ECW brand get some attention and not just a once-in-a-while ECW Title match. I don't watch the show but I read good things. Finlay took this one after cracking Henry with his shillelagh.
WINNER: Finlay by pinfall

4. Batista vs Randy Orton: I'd like to YouTube this one, too. I read good things about it as well, which is rare when it's a match involving Batista. I still like the big guy, but he can be really hit-and-miss with his performances sometimes. Anyway, he put Orton away with a Batista Bomb which didn't surprise me. Orton got a clean win over him at Survivor Series and on Raw before the PPV, so it was time to return the favor, I guess.
WINNER: Batista by pinfall

5. Eight-Woman Tag match, Maria/Michelle McCool/Kelly Kelly/Mickie James vs Maryse/Natalya/Victoria/Jillian Hall: Your standard women's match. Plus they were dressed in sexy Christmas costumes so you've got the T&A factor. The good girls win when McCool hits her "new" finisher on Hall (pssst! It's just the Styles Clash from TNA Wrestling!)
WINNERS: The first team I said by pinfall

6. World Heavyweight Title match, John Cena (C) vs Chris Jericho: Was hoping they'd put the belt back on Jericho, seeing how he won the Superstar of the Year award on Raw. Oh well. Cena retained after making Chris tap to the STF. Yes, I know it's billed as the STF-U, but that's just plain......well, idiotic. Especially when Cena is marketed towards kids.
WINNER: John Cena by submission

7. WWE Championship match, Edge (C) vs Jeff Hardy vs Triple H: You already know the result.
WINNER: Jeff Hardy by pinfall, NEW WWE Champion

So now, where does the WWE go from here? Well, the Royal Rumble is next month and rumors are flying all over the place as to the winner. Myself, I see 3 possible candidates:

Chris Jericho - He can carry the momentum as the WWE's hottest heel and after his failed attempt at winning back the World Title from Cena, fans would go ballistic if Y2J managed to sneak a Rumble victory.
Edge - I'd like to see him win simply because it's the only thing he hasn't done in his wrestling career. He's won every belt there is several times, won the King of the Ring, main-evented both Wrestlemania AND Summerslam (both against the Undertaker) and has had memorable feuds and matches with the best in the business. Besides, he's won battle royals on TV before, who's to say he couldn't do it on PPV on a bigger scale?
Randy Orton - Out of all 3 choices, I think Orton's got the better shot at winning it, seeing how Jericho and Edge have been so close to the title scene lately. Orton has stayed outside the championship picture so I think he's the smarter move on WWE's part.

Of course, when it comes to the Rumble, the rules have changed over the years. Now the WWE says that the winner can challenge for ANY World Championship, so maybe somebody will be jumping to another show. Anything's possible when Wrestlemania starts creeping up on us.

Well, time has seemed to jet by for me actually, so I'll have to cut this short for today. Next week, I'll delve into possible No Way Out matches and of course, possible matches for the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, including a Smackdown vs Raw match that's been hinted at in the last 2 Royal Rumble matches and the highly-rumored return of the Texas Rattlesnake, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

For now, I've got a weekend of hockey and Christmas celebrating to do, as well as my holiday shopping.

Until then,

TO BE CONTINUED... D.