This Week in WWE: Burning Questions from This Week's Action

The final week of 2011 was a fairly quiet one in the WWE. The major talking points were the return of R-Truth, Kane's reply to John Cena and Randy Orton's legitimate injury at the hands of Wade Barrett.

This week's action seemed more focused on setting up for the first week of 2012 which should be a more than action packed start to the year.

While that's for next time, let's take a moment to reflect on the goings on of this week. Here's my take on this week's action.

Is Johnny Ace Here to Stay?

Let's take a brief moment to realise how brilliant the start of Raw was this week. I'll admit, I've been criticising Johnny Ace for being a boring character for a while now, but that opening two minutes was genuinely brilliant.

Since his arrival on the scene of Raw, I've always been under the impression that Johnny would be a temporary arrangement before Triple H was somehow restored to power, but now this is obviously not going to be the case.

Tomorrow night's Raw will really show if Laurinaitis is a long term fixture on Raw, because the only way I can see him going is if a new GM is behind the "It Begins" promos.

Who Is Behind the "itbegins" Promos?

Yes, it's an obvious question, but it's one which will dominate every WWE fan's thoughts going into Monday Night Raw this week.

After month's of speculation on the IWC, we will finally find out who is making their return to the WWE. Foremost ideas have included the Undertaker and the McMahon family but the frontrunner has to be Chris Jericho who seems to have gone out of his way to make it look as if it isn't him.

This past Monday we saw the final vignette of the series which proclaimed that "the end begins" this Monday. Maybe one of the most telling clues of the promo is when it says "the powers that be will be shaken" which could suggest a change in the hierarchy rather than the locker room.

I'd personally love to see the WWE shock us, but with all the signs pointing to Jericho, Taker or the McMahons, it's hard to believe otherwise.

Will Booker T Win the Intercontinental Championship from Cody Rhodes?

When this feud first began I thought that Cody would never lose his title to Booker, but it seems to be becoming more and more probable as the weeks go on.

The fact is, Rhodes needs to drop the title in the near future in order to pursue greater things and if the IC title is to keep it's current prestige, then Booker T could be the perfect Superstar to pick up where Cody is leaving off.

With there being an IC title match on Smackdown this week, could Booker cause a big upset?

Will Tyson Kidd Be Reuniting with Natalya in the Near Future?

After David Hart Smith received his future endeavors in the summer, it seemed as if we'd never see the Hart Dynasty reunite on the WWE again.

However this past Monday we saw Tyson Kidd and Natalya team up to face the pairing of Zack Ryder and Eve. It seemed odd that WWE would pair them together again on WWE TV if they didn't have plans for them, I mean we'd think the same if say Big Show and Miz paired for a match wouldn't we?

Now Natalya is currently in the middle of her "pin-up strong" gimmick with Beth Phoenix, but could Tyson Kidd offer something to them as a member of their stable?

For those of you that aren't aware, Tyson and Natalya have been a couple since 2001 so could "reality era" WWE be about to use this?

Either way Tyson needs to start doing something, otherwise his WWE career could end very similarly to DH Smith's.

Does the Return of R-Truth Offer Us an "itbegins" Clue?

R-Truth returned to Raw this past week and attacked his former partner the Miz, making it more than obvious that these two are set to feud. Truth pretty much assured his turn back to being a face, and it looks like there two are going to have an awesome rivalry with some epic promos.

With Miz now up against Truth and Del Rio injured, CM Punk isn't left with a feud on Raw.

The "Best in the World" without a rivalry? Who would possibly want to fight with him? Who indeed.

Does Ziggler's Title Shot Signal the Start of the Year of the Zig?

This past week, Dolph Ziggler earned himself a shot at CM Punk's WWE title next week on Raw.

In the second half of 2011, Dolph began to establish himself as one of the biggest stars on the WWE roster, and his title shot this week on Raw could be the start of the biggest year in Ziggler's career.

Now I'm not expecting Ziggler to win on Monday (although it wouldn't be too far fetched), but what I am expecting is a good match. We could be getting a five-star PPV match, or we could be getting a match which whets our appetites for a rematch at the Rumble.

Either way, Monday night is going to be a massive milestone in Dolph Ziggler's career.

What Is Going on with Hunico?

There are so many questions surrounding Hunico at the moment.

1. Is he still aligned with Epico and Primo?

Since these two began their endeavors into the tag team division they don't seem to have had much to do with Hunico. Are they still part of the same stable or not?

2. Who is this Camacho guy who keeps coming to the ring with him?

Now I personally loved the tag team move between them at the end of Hunico's match on Friday night, but what's the deal with him? Are they going to become a tag team? Surely that wouldn't make any sense since Primo and Epico are currently competing for the titles.

Kayfabe aside, I can't find anything about Camacho on the Internet, mainly due to the fact I don't really know what to search for. Can anyone shed any light?

3. Is he going to feud with Justin Gabriel?

This rivalry could be awesome in terms of spots, but is it actually going to happen? They've had a couple of matches in the recent past that have been great, and they are both young Superstars who need to get over. Maybe this could be the perfect opportunity to do just that.

4. Are Hunico and Camacho pretty much LAX reincarnated?

LAX were a great tag team on TNA, have the WWE literally lifted their gimmick? Hunico has a pretty similar image to Homicide and Camacho could probably pass for a more pint-sized Hernandez. Tenuous similarities aside, I'd love to see either of them to start using the Gringo Killa'.

5. What's with the bicycle?

Seriously.

Is Drew McIntyre's Career About to Get a Breath of Life?

Drew McIntyre made his return to Smackdown this past week in an uninspiring loss to Ezekiel Jackson. Someone help me out here, who was the heel in this match? Because I sure as hell couldn't tell.

It was a pretty poor match to be honest, that didn't really showcase either of the Superstars' talents, and it put forward a case that maybe neither have a place in the WWE anymore.

This match aside, I have upheld for a number of months that Drew McIntyre is an underutilised act in the WWE, and he hasn't been booked well for a long while. It seems Creative could be about to throw him a bone but if he doesn't bite, then 2012 could be his last year in the company.

Has the Legitimate Injury to Randy Orton Ended His Feud with Wade Barrett?

Randy Orton picked up a legitimate injury against Wade Barrett this past Friday, which threatens to end what is currently the biggest rivalry on Smackdown.

WWE.com has reported that Orton will be out for a few weeks, so you'd have to assume that his return would be at the Rumble on January 29th.

So does this leave Barrett in limbo until Orton returns? Sheamus is replacing the Viper at the live events so it could well be that Barrett has a mini feud with the Celtic Warrior until Orton makes his return.

One thing's for sure, Barrett is bound to make it known that he put the Viper on the shelf, even if only for a few weeks. This feud isn't over.

Will Any Titles Change Hands Next Week?

We found out this week that 2012 will kick off with at least three title defenses on WWE TV. CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler will face off for the WWE title on Raw, While the World Heavyweight title and the Intercontinental title will be defended on Smackdown.

The fact that these are televised matches suggests that we won't be seeing any new champions, but do the WWE want to set out their standards for 2012? Do Creative want to show the WWE Universe that they are going to be getting more edgy?

The WWE Championship match will be heavily overshadowed by "itbegins", and the Smackdown results will be spoiled on Wednesday morning so it won't really be productive for any of the Champions to drop their titles before the Royal Rumble.

The WWE Championship definitely isn't changing hands yet, despite the speculation suggesting that the WWE wants to take it off of CM Punk. Out of the three champs, I'd say D-Bry is the most likely to lose out next week, but I don't think that any will change hands unless Smackdown goes out live.