- 30,184
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I was going to start this thread fresh for 2011 by not mentioning WWE in 2010, but last week's Raw was quite newsworthy, so I'll address it. First, we had Cena come out and cut an absolutely obnoxious promo. It was the type of stuff that makes (intelligent) people hate him. Luckily, CM Punk came out to interrupt. Punk said he would call Cena out later in the show for something we would never forget. In the main event segment of the show, John Cena came to the ring and instead called out "CM Sucks". He repeated this "nickname" over and over and over. Instead of Punk coming out, The Nexus minus Wade Barrett came to the ring. David Otunga declared himself as the new leader of Nexus. He offered a truce to Cena, and Cena basically said he was full of it. Otunga left with the Nexus, but they then decided to run back to the ring and attack Cena. I had nightmares that it would be another three months of Cena burying each member of The Nexus. After they laid out Cena, they left the ring. CM Punk's music hit, and he came to the ring. He got a steel chair to attack Cena, but instead sat down in the chair next to Cena. He picked up a Nexus armband and put it on. He then hit the GTS on Cena. Punk raised his fist, and Nexus (minus Gabriel who apparently forgot his spot) raised their arms back in solidarity. We all saw how well Punk worked in a group with the Straight Edge Society. Although I think that dynamic was better because he wasn't with a group of green geeks, I still look forward to Punk leading The Nexus. The plans right now are for Punk vs. Cena at WrestleMania, but I'm very skeptical that they can hold off that match for three months.
The next question is what happens to Wade Barrett? Right now the plan is to keep him off TV for a little while, but what do you do with him when he returns? Does he rejoin Nexus? Does he create a new stable of ex-Nexus members? Does he turn face and join Cena? Does he go to Smackdown? The only thing I've seen is that the current plan is for The Undertaker vs Barrett at WrestleMania (if Taker is able to go), so it would seem that Barrett would be going to Smackdown. I don't see Barrett working as a face at this point of his career.
John Morrison challenged Alex Riley to a match that if Riley were to win, Morrison would lose his title shot, but if Morrison were to win, he would be able to pick the stipulation in his match with The Miz for the WWE Championship. Of course Morrison went on to beat Riley. He chose to have a falls count anywhere match against The Miz tonight on Raw. Two questions... Why isn't this match being saved for The Royal Rumble? And more importantly... Why the hell are they having a stipulation match in their first match? It's such assbackwards booking (typical to TNA). Now the word is this match will open the show tonight which basically guarantees some type of angle or interference.
Despite Morrison being the #1 contender, most of the focus has seemed to be on Randy Orton. I have a bad feeling this may be Morrison's one and only shot at the title and they will go with Miz vs Orton at The Rumble. That's a shame. I'm not a Morrison fan by any means, but I'd rather see him in a fresh main event rather than another boring Orton title match. Orton beat Sheamus cleanly last week which only leads me to believe they are "building" Orton for a title shot.
The other big match last week was The Miz vs Jerry Lawler. Lawler won by count out after Morrison interfered knocking Miz out. There is the possibility that they could do a Fatal Fourway at The Rumble with Miz vs Morrison vs Orton vs Lawler, but I just don't see it. I still think a properly built Miz/Lawler match would do more buys than any of the other options.
Lastly, I just have to mention the burials. Ted Dibiase continued to be buried, but not to be outdone, Tyson Kidd and more surprisingly Jackson Andrews were both squashed and buried by Mark Henry. Andrews must have done something to really piss someone off because I've never seen a new talent, especially with his size, buried so badly. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him again.
Now for some fun stuff... Throughout the week, I'll ask everyone to make anywhere from 1-5 predictions of what you think will happen in pro wrestling in 2011 in this thread. It can be WWE, TNA, ROH, or whatever you want. I'll save all of them, and I'll recap them at the end of the year to see how everyone did.
My first prediction:
Michael Cole will hold a championship in 2011.
(Don't make stupid predictions like Cena will win a championship or WWE will be the #1 company in the US. Try to go out on a limb and have some fun).
