The WWEekly Wrap-Up - Week ending November 26, 2011

Hey folks, sorry it took me so long to post this this week.  As you can tell, my Thanksgiving weekend got me a little on the busy side, so please forgive me.  I'll try to be on time this up coming Saturday.

I was also thuroughly enjoying the Michigan vs. Ohio State game where my Wolverines finally got it right against the team to the south. To my Ohio readers... yes, I'm a Michigan fan, but I still hope we can get along. ^_^

Also, as you could tell, my NES review of Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends didn't go up because of the Thanksgiving weekend.  I AM still working on the first few parts of the Zelda retrospective too... as well as working on Skyward Sword, which is friggin' awesome... so expect those soon.  In the meantime, let's talk about the WWE's week!

I gotta say, this was a WONDERFUL step up from the previous week.  No, it wasn't perfect and there were some really stupid story bits that happened for various reasons, but it was still enjoyable, compounded only by an awesome Survivor Series, which we'll cover first, so let's get to it!

Survivor Series from New York City, NY - November 20, 2011

Survivor Series was an AWESOME show.  No, I didn't care one bit about the return of The Rock.  I cared about it because it was Survivor Series, the first pay-per-view I vividly remember, and I was actually there too.  1991, Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI, The Undertaker topples Hulk Hogan, the lingering feud between Randy Savage and Jake Roberts (stemming from one of the most horrifying moments in my young wrestling fandom), and the massive Survivor Series-style tag matches including all-time greats like the Legion of Doom, Ric Flair, Rowdy Roddy Piper, The Rockers, The Million-Doller Man, The Big Boss Man... I friggin' loved that show and it's the standard I use for all wrestling shows today.

That having been said, this Survivor Series wasn't nearly as good as that one was, but considering some of the garbage the WWE's put out in recent years, it was still a treat.  The thing is, with this past WrestleMania, WrestleMania XXVII, I was venomously disappointed and told myself I woudln't invest in another WWE Pay-Per-View until they improved their product.  No, I didn't buy this event because they improved their product, I'm just a sucker for the Survivor Series.  No, I don't plan on ordering WrestleMania XXVII in April, Rock vs. Cena or no Rock vs. Cena.  I MIGHT order the Royal Rumble because that's another event close to my heart, but that's to be determined.  Maybe the undercard will settle things for me.

Onto Survivor Series and our first event is... Raw General Manager and Executive Vice President of Tallent Relations John Laurinitus telling us it's his 10th anniversary in the WWE.  Okay, fine.  Maybe he'll have a hellish night or he'll play a big part in the events tonight.  Well, I'll tell you right now, he does aproximately jack squat.  Okay, for real, onto the first match.  I'll try to keep this shorter than I did my first WWEekly Wrap-Up.

United States Championship:  Champion Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero def. John Morrison

This was a damn fine match.  Dolph Ziggler continues to prove why he's so awesome and John Morrison is entertaining as always.  What ruins this though, and I'm sorry to say this, are the New York fans.  Yeah, I know, we all wanted it to be Zack Ryder in the match instead of John Morrison, but hey, the WWE rarely favors people wrestling in or relatively close to their hometowns.  Just look at Jim Ross.  Heck, if Ryder was in this match, he probably woudln't have won.  This tells me a few things.  One, with John Morrison's WWE career wrapping up (reportedly not renewing his contract that expires soon), the WWE wanted to push other Superstars who are going to be with the company for the long haul like a Dolph Ziggler... and possibly Brodus Clay tomorrow.  Two, the WWE eventually would like someone as popular as Zack Ryder to be the next United States Champion so that they could push his merchandise and let Dolph Ziggler move onto bigger things, like a meaningful World Heavyweight or WWE Championship reign.  So, yeah.  Great match, shame about the fans.

Diva's Championship Match:  Champion Beth Phoenix w/Natalya def. Eve Torres in a Lumberjill match

This was a very sloppy match and it goes to prove my point about today's Diva's Division.  It's boring.  It's the beer run match of the night.  Sure, some like Beth Phoenix, Natalya, A.J., and Maxine do seem like they honestly try, but who is the WWE kidding trying to sell people like The Bella Twins, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox, Kaitlyn, or Eve Torres as the successors to the greats like Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna, Melina, Gail Kim, Victoria, Jazz, Molly Holly, and the like?  Yes, I know, Eve Torres said on her Twitter that they try really hard to put together a strong match for the fans.  Fair enough, Miss. Torres, but effort does not make for quality matches.  Actual in-ring skill does and, with the exception of the four I mentioned, the Diva's on the roster today do not.  I am not counting Kharma, formerly Awesome Kong, in that because she's sidelined with a real life pregnancy and, well, I honestly don't expect her to come back once she's given birth.

Anyway, Beth Phoenix manages to save this debacle of a match with a Glam Slam from the top rope on Eve Torres which, admittedly, looked pretty sick.  Splat!  But, yes, this was definately the low spot of he show.  Wherever the Fabulous Moolah is up there in Heaven right now, she must simply be facepalming...

5-On-5 Survivor Series Match:  Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Hunico, Jack Swagger, and Dolph Ziggler) def. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan, and Sin Cara)

Before I get into this, let me talk about two things.  One, Dolph Ziggler is pulling double duty tonight.  While I appriciate getting to see him strut his stuff, I just need to ask one thing.  Why?  Was Drew McIntyre busy?  Do you really have something about not using Curt Hawkins or Tyler Reks?  What about Primo?  Or William Regal?  Heck, tell Matt Striker to throw on the tights again!  I get it, you don't want to use those guys at all, but for as long as Ziggler was in this match, you could have put them in and there would have been no harm, no foul.  I know Christian got injured, but you didn't need to use Ziggler like this and hurt his push.  It just makes him look silly after he boasted about being that good.

Also, on a more serious note, the Sin Cara injury.  This really sucks.  There's no other way around it.  Some people are claiming that he botched his jump outside the ring and that's what injured him, but it was also reported that his tendon just snapped as he made the jump, leading to the botch.  Whatever is true, I need to say that, towards someone who just injured himself, the "You f*ck*d up" chants were really tasteless.  I complained about the fans with the Ziggler/Morrison match, but this was just aweful and I'm really embarassed for those who did those chants.  Reports are saying Sin Cara is going to be out around nine months, which means he'll not only miss WrestleMania this year (which sucks in itself), but he may not even be good to go by SummerSlam if his rehab has complications.

One last thing.  The term "classic Survivor Series match."  Ummm... no it isn't.  The old Survivor Series matches had teams of four, just like WCW's War Games matches (which so need to be brought back).  Just a nitpick.

Anyway, this match did a lot of things right.  First, Hunico.  I was really afraid that he was the one who was going to get the shaft in this match.  For a newer superstar like him, he didn't need it.  In fact, I gotta say, I was really impressed with him overall.  I hope the WWE writers don't get bored with him and write him off like they did with people like Reks, McIntyre, Yoshi Tatsu, and Ted DiBiase Jr..  He was the second to last man eliminated in the match entirely, which should tell you all you need to know about how much time he got to shine.

As for the final result, it ended the way it should have.  Team Barrett wins and nobody really looked weak, save for Dolph Ziggler.  Unfortunate injury aside, everyone really got a chance to shine in this match.  Barrett and Rhodes survive for their team, last eliminating Randy Orton, with Hunico more or less sacrificing himself for the end distraction that would lead to the end.  I feel it was the best case scenario and the match ended up being much better than I anticipated, hiccups at the begining aside.  it was a pretty sizable match at 22 minutes... though nothing compared to Survivor Series matches of old that went around 30-40 minutes.

World Heavyweight Championship:  The Big Show def. Champion Mark Henry via disqualification.

I know I said that the Diva's Title Match was the worst match of the night.  This one almost took that crown, if not for one thing.  The Big Show, a 7' tall, 450+ lb man, does a flying elbow drop from the top rope.  That is 450+ kinds of awesomeness.  Seriously, no big man does stuff like that even for spot situations.  Big props.

Anyway, Mark Henry kicks Big Show in the boys, gets disqualified, keeps his title because of it... and gets destroyed by an angry giant.  Whoops.

WWE Championship:  C.M. Punk def. Champion Alberto Del Rio

THIS was the match of the night for me.  Lots of wonderful action between two people who know their way around in the ring.  I won't say it was one of the best I've ever seen, because it wasn't, but it was a damn fine match that I thouroughly enjoyed.  Even better, Howard Finkel, legendary announcer for the WWE for over 30 years, did the introduction for Punk, in Punk's slight against Del Rio's personal announcer, Ricardo Rodriguez, as well as announcing him as the eventual winner.  A fantastic WWE Championship match.

There was only one downside and that this wasn't the main event.  Again, the world-tier championships are the pinnicle of the industry and should be treated as such.  I don't care if The Rock was making his comeback and I don't care if the main event featured John Cena.  They're not the champions.  Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio, now C.M. Puk, are.  That just bugs me.

Speaking of... let's get to it.  The final match of the night.

The Rock & John Cena def. The Awesome Truth

Yeah, we all probably saw it coming, but it was entirely the wrong direction for this match, I think.  I think this match should have pushed the rivalry between Cena and Rock leading to the end of their year-long build-up at WrestleMania.  Instead, we get a match made as a showcase for these two.  I don't understand why we COULDN'T have a showcase of Cena and Rock and still have them lose to get them ready to get at each other's throats.  They don't need the push.  It's John Cena and The Rock.  The Miz and R-Truth, however, do.  I've never been sold on The Miz as a main eventer, let alone WWE Champion, and while I do believe R-Truth IS a main eventer, not many other people do.  THEY needed this match more than Cena and The Rock.  And heck, a loss for Cena and Rock would have done wonders to push their anamosity towards each other in building up the hype for their WrestleMania match, which I think the WWE's done a poor job of building up, which isn't to say they haven't tried to hype it.

Anyway, the match itself was good, though.  Whereas the fans hurt two matches earlier in the night, they added to this one.  With the Rock showing that he hasn't lost a step in being gone for seven-some years, the fans chanted, rightfully so, "you still got it!"  When Cena came in and tried busting out some ugly-looking new moves (for him, anyway), the fans fired back, rightfully so, "you still suck!"  That had me laughing my rear-end off.  Anayway, yes, decent match, not happy with the direction, but we'll talk more about that when we talk about Raw.

Overall, Survivor Series was a great show and I'm happy with this show.  Mind you, I'm not sold on buying other pay-per-views just yet.  The WWE needs to step it's weekly show quality up considerably for me to commit to that.

I give Survivor Series 2011... four out of five stars.  Great show.

Monday Night Raw from Hershey, PA - November 21, 2011

Someone asked me why I'm not refering to this as "Raw SuperShow" like it's supposed to.  Why?  Because it's stupid.  With as shallow of a roster as the WWE has today, it's a wonder the brand exteniton still exists.  And besides, SmackDown has Raw superstars on it every so often too, so why isn't that "SmackDown SuperShow"?

Anyway, Raw... it wasn't bad.  Much better than last week.  Not much to say until towards the end, so let's get started.

C.M. Punk came out and cut a promo with John Laurinitis to help put over Zack Ryder and set his new status quo.  His and Ryder's matches for the night are set and the WWE Title rematch between him and Del Rio is set for next week.  Standard stuff.

Alberto Del Rio def. Zack Ryder

This was a little confusing and short.  I can't say it was a good match, though there were some okay spots.  With them trying to push Ryder, it was also unnecessary because he didn't exactly look strong in this match, nor did Del Rio for that matter.  It felt like filler to me.

Sheamus def. Jack Swagger

Nothing special, but nothing bad either.  It was solid for TV, but I can't hep but feel that Sheamus recovers into a victory way too fast.  When he's on the cusp of defeat, he quickly pulls out a victory in the end.  It's a little lazy, if you ask me, but I don't really want to call him lazy since he does put on quality matches.  It's alsoa shame how far Jack Swagger continues to fall.  He was once thought of highly enough to become World Heavyweight Champion, but even then was considered a jobber.  It felt not only like a wasted reign, but a waste of a Money in the Bank briefcase.  I expected more at this point in his career because he's definately a lot more talented than this.

Kevin Nash came out and cut a promo on Triple H, who should be returning soon if storyline holds true.  Not much to say here, but I would like to see Nash in a match with other people before he climbs in the ring with Triple H eventually.

Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes def. Santino Marella

I'm not as harsh on this match for it's shortness as I am on the Ryder/Del Rio match from earlier because it dida lot in the short time it had... although the length of this match probably made some recent Divas matches feel proud by comparison in terms of length.  Anyway, for as short of a time we had, it was okay and nobody really got hurt by it.  I still hate Cody Rhodes's new theme though.  Who cares if he doesn't have the mask anymore?  Bring back the hoodie, bring back the creepy promos, and bring back the baggers.  THAT was good character stuff.

WWE Champion C.M. Punk def. United States Champion Dolph Ziggler w/Vickie Guerrero

Hot damn was this an awesome match!  Two of WWE's most talented and did it deliver.  And on Monday Night Raw of all places!  This is the type of match we need to have on Raw more often.  In this era defined by the likes of John Cena and Randy Orton, it's great to see two peole in the title picture who can actually make the matches exciting.  Both men proved why they're two of the absolute best today.

Agian, the only thing hurting this is it wasn't the closer to end the show strong.  After all... WWE Champion.  Just saying.

Big Show talks about his mauling of Mark Henry.  ...next!

Wade Barrett def. Kofi Kingston

This was a good match too, but SO unnecessary.  What was unnecessary was Randy Orton, coming out and spooking Barrett at the end of the match.  Why?  Barrett outwrestled and outshined Orton the night before at Survivor Series.  Why does Wade Freakin' Barrett have to sweat Randy Orton AT ALL?  Oh, wait, he's part of the CenOrton Circle.  Nobody gets to truly go over those two.  Sorry Wade.  I predict your jobbing out to Orton at the TLC pay-per-view, and you don't deserve it.

John Cena, The Miz, and R-Truth had a promo to close us out.  Cena came out to talk about Survivor Series... which begs the question... WHY?!  Let's say that the kayfabe (pretend) WWE DOESN'T take interferance into account when scheduling the show.  So, in their infinate knowledge, they decide to have the last for segments be as follows:  WWE Champion vs. United States Champion, Big Show promo, Barrett vs. Kingston, Cena promo.  Look, I don't care how big they try to buff Cena for this generation, him speaking nowadays is about as boring as paint drying in Death Valley.  It's just aweful.  If anything, this whole thing should have been entirely reversed, maybe switching the promos around.  End with the champion vs. champion match to build up to next week's main event, start with the Big Show promo.

Anyway, Cena gets Miz and Truth to turn on each other, resulting in The Miz hitting the Skull Crushing finale on R-Truth on the stage after leading him to believe that they're going to go after Cena.  The real reason this happened was revealed later as R-Truth was found in violation ofthe WWE's welfare policy.  I'm going to ignore some of the other controversies coming out about this and just say that if the wellfare violation was the reason Truth and Miz lost the Survivor Series match, it's still doing a disservice to the Rock and Cena's build-up towards WrestleMania.  And yes, you COULD have done this even with Awesome Truth winning.  And no, WWE, The Rock hitting the Rock Bottom on Cena after the match doesn't have the same effect, either.

Overall, Raw was good.  A little mind-bending, but good.  Cena and Orton being so spotlight to the WWE really hurts C.M. Punk the most tonight in terms of his standing in the company, but it isn't worth crying over too much.

I give Monday Night Raw for November 21, 2011... three out of five stars.

Friday Night SmackDown from Wilkes-Barre, PA. - November 25, 2011

The show tonight was another mix of good and bad.  I'd say it was definately more solid than Raw, but I still say Punk and Ziggler on Raw trumps anything done tonight.

The show begins with Mark Henry talking about Survivor Series, coming out in crutches, selling the nearly-broken ankle he suffered at Survivor Series at the hands of The Big Show.  Big Show comes out and runs him down, Mark Henry responds, and Big Show punches out Mark Henry with the W.M.D. for his troubles.  Fun stuff, basic stuff, Big Show leaves.  And then, with Mark Henry still unconcious in the ring...

MONEY IN THE BANK CASH-IN FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP:  Daniel Bryan def. Champion Mark Henry

Daniel Bryan rushes down the ring, cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase, slowly... slowly... slowly rolls over Mark Henry and gets the pinfall victory!  The man is really milking the celebration after, even taking time to rub it in Michael Cole's face, who has criticized him from day one in the WWE.  It's just a great celebration in the end and awesome to see a well-liked, TALLENTED WRESTLER get to win the...

Yeah, okay, we know what happened.  SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long comes down and nullifies the match on the grounds that Mark Henry wasn't cleared to compete.  He gives Daniel Bryan back his Money in the Bank briefcase and puts him in a fatal four-way for the #1 contendership later tonight.

Are you kidding me, WWE?  No, it isn't the fact that you did this fake out, it's the disregard for what the Money in the Bank briefcase is.  It's meant to be used anytime, anyplace, anywhere.  By doing this, it pretty much disregards that clause in the contract.  It shouldn't matter if Mark Henry was deemed "not cleared to compete."  the whole thing is just boggling.  Even worse was Theodore Long's promo about it, acting like he's giving Daniel Bryan an even trade-off.  Are you high, WWE?

That rant out of the way, let's continue.

Hunico def. Justin Gabriel

A decent match, all things considered.  While I'm glad Hunico isn't quite being forgotten about yet, I can't help but feel that Justin Gabriel is.  It's just sad the standing some once promising wrestlers are at nowadays.

Diva's Champion Beth Phoenix & Natalya def. A.J. & Kaitlyn

This was just a squash match and not even an entertaining one.  Really, the only one who didn't belong in this match was Kaitlyn, but the other three are very talented in-ring competitors.  Then again, so was Savannah and she was fired before having an actual match in the WWE.  Anyway, after the match, we get the makings of an A.J. and Kaitlyn split... and I normally woudln't care, except... A.J. is a tallented wrestler.  Kaitlyn is not.  Knowing the WWE, they'll push Kaitlyn and poor A.J. will be future endevored (fired) within a year.  I mean, heck, they put her over A.J. and Naomi on season three of NXT.

Also, it looks like Alicia Fox will get the next shot at Beth Phoenix, even though I think she was technically supposed to get it at Survivor Series.  And seriously, there are three Divas in the WWE today whom I think can go toe-to-toe with Beth Phoenix.  First is A.J., who just got squashed.  Second is Natalya, who is Beth's running buddy.  Third is Kharma, who is currently sidelined due to real life pregnancy.  Yeah... the WWE's Diva's Division is a mess.

Daniel Bryan and A.J. were seen talking backstage about the missed opportunity Bryan had earlier.  Wade Barrett, also in the Fatal Four-Way tonight, comes up and mocks the two, calling A.J. a 14-year-old girl to boot.  So wonderfully evil you just love to hate him, that Wade Barrett.  Anyway, the promo ends with Bryan telling Barrett off and A.J. kissing him on the cheek for good luck.  Oh goodie, another spontanious romance angle for Daniel Bryan.  Careful, A.J.  The last three didn't work out so well.  Gail Kim got buried in the company and was driven to quit and the Bella Twins are still the Bella Twins.  Careful now.

Sheamus & Zack Ryder def. Dolph Ziggler & Jack Swagger w/Vickie Guerrero

Pretty strong tag match here and everyone got the chance to look good.  Not much to say, really, except I think this helped balance out Ryder's showing on Raw... which admittedly wasn't his fault, it was WWE's stupid booking practices.

Ted DiBiase def. Heath Slater

Oh, lookie!  Fresh off his suspension, Heath Slater is back!  I did not care.  Oh, lookie!  Ted DiBiase's son, Ted DiBiase, is tryingto become a face and he apparently has DiBiase Possie gatherings in parking lots before the show!  I do not care.  Oh, lookie!  Jinder Mahal is yelling on the Titantron in supposedly Punjabi!  I REALLY do not care.  The match was just basic, too.  Nothing special, but I won't call it bad either.

World Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Match:  Daniel Bryan def. Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Wade Barrett

This match... bugged me.  It seemed really slow to me and I wouldn't accuse either of these superstars of being slow wrestlers, because they're not.  Sure, Orton's BORING in the ring, but he at least has a good pace to his matches, as do the others.  And heck, sometimes, Daniel Bryan can be downright speedy.  Yeah, this one was a bit of a let-down considering three of the four are superb in-ring competitors (Orton being the odd man out), but it did it's job.

I know I nitpicked, but I think SmackDown this week was actually somewhat stronger with high points and low points.  While the story wasn't as coherent this time around in terms of figuring out what's coming up, there were some enjoyable moments tonight.

I give SmackDown for November 25, 2011... three out of five stars.

Next week, SmackDown will be live on Tuesday.  No, I'm not going to do the WWEekly Wrap-Up on Wednesday in response, because I want to keep a schedulehere.  Tuesda for the Back Stack, Thursday (finally!) for Grave Issues, and Saturday for the WWEekly Wrap-Up.  It'll also give me time to add in any news stories that happen during the week.

So thank you for reading this week!  This has been the WWEekly Wrap-Up.  I'm Master Graveheart, tagging out.