2010 Year in Review/Preview: WWE

It's Miz's world; we're all just squirrels trying to get a nut
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Fed: WWE

What Happened in 2010: Well, the biggest story of the first part of the year was Shawn Michaels' swan song. It was one that saw him obsessed with ending Undertaker's streak, burying the hatchet with an old rival in Bret Hart along the way. The streak consumed him to the point where he harassed, harangued and even cost Undertaker his World Championship at Elimination Chamber. By that time, he had Taker's attention, and the Dead Man offered his streak for Michaels' career. The match at WrestleMania was yet another classic, but much like the year before, Undertaker put Michaels to bed, this time forever. The next night on RAW, HBK made his last appearance and it was over.

The first half of 2010 also saw Batista leave the company, although in a much different fashion. After his excellently done heel turn at the end of '09, he segued into a feud with John Cena that would span the better part of the first months of the year. It was a great feud, even if Cena was the one getting the upper hand most of the time. For whatever reason though, Batista became disenchanted with the company's direction and decided that a MMA career would be better for him, so he left. Funny, if he had left at that time last year, I'd have said good riddance, but when he did in 2010? I was bummed. The WWE's gonna miss him.

With Michaels and Batista out and Edge, Triple H and Undertaker maybe on their last legs, the WWE needed to create some new stars. Enter NXT. The first season of the show that replaced the WWE's version of ECW featured a wide range of wrestlers from the Internet fan-favorite Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) to the hated for reasons other than kayfabe David Otunga. Wade Barrett won the competition, but all of what happened in the time to complete that first season paled in comparison to what went down June 7th. During the main event of the Viewers' Choice RAW, a match featuring Cena wrestling CM Punk, all eight members of that season one cast stormed the ring, beat the crap out of everyone at ringside (curiously excepting Michael Cole) and tore down the ring in what was maybe the most spine-tingling wrestling moment in the last decade.

Of course, that angle took a hit right off the bat when Bryan was fired for being "too violent" for the act of choking Justin Roberts with his own tie. Barrett, the leader, spent some time off the air because of visa issues as well. Still, the group kept chugging along, terrorizing the RAW brand as they saw fit. They attacked everyone and anyone, including Vince McMahon, presently ending him as an on-screen character. This temporarily culminated in a seven-on-seven elimination match between the Nexus and a team led by John Cena at SummerSlam. The final member of that team, not announced until the match began, was none other than Bryan, who came out to a monstrous pop. Cena's team won, but Barrett's harassment of him didn't stop there.

Somehow, Barrett was able to convince Cena to put his freedom on the line in a match, where if Cena lost, he had to join Nexus. We all know what happened after. Cena lost, was disruptive from get-go one, got fired, came back the next night as a disruptive force and was rehired, all within the span of two months or so. It was a frustrating, and it did more harm for Barrett than good. Still, it happened and there's nothing we can do about it, other than not watch.

But then again, if you don't watch WWE, how can you check out the budding awesomeness of Bryan? After he came back, he was given the mother of all good-faith pushes, booked to dominate The Miz in their feud, capture the United States Championship. From there, he defeated Dolph Ziggler in three straight matches and has been making Ted DiBiase his personal whipping boy in the close of 2010. Right now, he's in a holding pattern with the Bella Twins arguing over which one gets to take his "virginity", but bad storyline aside, that kid from the indies did good, didn't he?

The biggest star the WWE created this year had to have been the guy Bryan beat for the US Title, Michael "The Miz" Mizanin. He spent more time this year with gold around his waist than not. He was given platform after platform to get himself over, and he did so well. When he finally cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Randy Orton, it was official. Miz had arrived, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Really.

WWE's 2010 MVP: Is it anyone other than The Miz? Well, Sheamus and Kane are contenders, but Miz was around gold all year, had gobs of camera time, and then when he won the WWE Championship, he got all kinds of mainstream press for the WWE, the good kind even.

What's Gonna Happen in 2011: Well, going forward, there's going to be a lot of attention on the build to WrestleMania. The card has been ideated, scrapped and reimagined so many times now that it's almost impossible to predict. However, the latest rumblings have John Cena vs. The Miz as the main event for the WWE Championship. That, of course, flies in the face of the current Cena/CM Punk program that just started, although the WWE has started big-time angles around this time of the year only to see them set up something else (the HBK-in-servitude-to-JBL angle ring a bell?) before. Still, I think Miz may just hold onto the title until WrestleMania, where he'll drop it to maybe Randy Orton? I don't know.

What might happen with the World Heavyweight Championship is even murkier. Edge has never held a World Championship longer than 105 days, and he seems like the prime target not to escape Elimination Chamber with his title intact. Would Sheamus or Triple H be candidates to take it to give their potential WrestleMania match a little more oomph? Maybe Rey Mysterio wins it again and defends against Alberto del Rio.

Then there's the question of Undertaker. Will he be back in time to defend his streak, and if so, who will it be against? It won't be Brock Lesnar unless someone performs Inception on Dana White to allow it to happen. It won't be against Michaels again either, seeing that there's a better chance of me climbing Mount Everest than there is of HBK coming back to wrestle anytime soon.

Five to Watch in 2011:

Drew McIntyre - Everyone thought that Scrooge McPoyle would get the big push this past year, but he didn't get over the way they liked, and his wife turned out to be, in the eyes of the WWE of course, a real c-word. I don't know her, so I can't say, but it's hard to imagine that they didn't take a little bit of her behavior out on Drew. That being said, he's really improved in the ring, and if they let him go at least I know he can go in character, he'll be a huge star. He seems to be in the process of a face turn if his interactions with Kelly Kelly of late are any indication, and I think that'd be a good move for him.

Skip Sheffield - Sheffield got a bad break, literally, when he snapped his leg on tour. He was among the scariest looking mofos during the various Nexus beatdowns, which means he's mastered two different kinds of characters. This includes the goofy "Cornfed Meathead" character he ran with during NXT Season 1. Sheffield has the tools to get over in a big way once he comes back.

Ted DiBiase - DiBiase seems to be in the same boat right now that Miz was in last year around the time of the "SummerFest" incident. He's floating around the US Championship and getting some air time, although it might not seem significant now. Still, he's got too much talent and too much of a pedigree to be left to the side. I can see him taking down one of the three possible Money in the Bank briefcases in play this coming year.

Percy Watson - Oh yeah! Watson showed a lot of promise during NXT Season 2, and his return may be imminent since he's been featured in dark matches lately. Of all the guys in either season, Watson had the most raw charisma, and could very well be a breakout star when all is said and done.

John Morrison - Yes, his push has already begun, but while I don't think he'll be hanging around the title scene too long after the Royal Rumble, I think he will hold his first World Championship before the calendar year of 2011 is over. He's charismatic despite having barely any mic skills, and he connects with the crowd in the ring. Those are two very good traits to have.

Three Things I Want to See in 2011:

1 – A real, honest-to-God tag team division. Seriously, this is where future stars are created. I've written about this so many times before that nothing I can say more will add anything meaningful to the conversation.

2 – The end of avoiding any mention of the word "wrestling" on telecasts. I understand that the WWE has a hard on to be considered in the same realm of TV shows as Two and a Half Men or CSI or what have you, but the fact is that the terms "sports entertainment" and "wrestling" are not mutually exclusive. Wrestling is in the damn name of the company. That's what they do no matter how much they want to deny it publicly, and if you ask me, they do it quite well. The in-ring product is not what's hurting them right now. It's everything else.

3 – Three words, King Daniel Bryan. YOU KNOW THIS DESIRE IS IN YOUR HEART AS WELL, SQUIRE.

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