WWE/TNA: My Top 10 Moments of the Week (1/2-1/6)

2012 is here and this was the first week of professional wrestling of the new year.

Raw, SmackDown and Impact Wrestling all put on solid shows this week, which made the first week of 2012 an enjoyable one for wrestling fans.

Between the three shows, SmackDown was a step down from Raw and Impact Wrestling.

When it comes to choosing who had the best show this week, I’m personally torn between Raw and TNA.

Both were great shows and it’s hard to choose a winner.

With the big return that happened on Monday, I’m leaning towards Raw.

Here are my top 10 moments of the week.

10. Gail Kim and Madison Rayne vs. Mickie James and Traci Brooks

I hope WWE was taking notes on this because this was a good match.

It wasn’t as good as the Gail Kim-Mickie James match last week, but in terms of a tag-team match, it was pretty good.

WWE has been putting on a lot of women’s tag-team matches lately, and they typically end in two minutes and are very one-sided.

This match was right down the middle and there were times where I felt that it was anyone’s game.

While I hoped that Gail and Madison would retain, which they did, there were points in the match where I thought Mickie and Traci were going to pull it off.

The Knockouts have been a part of a lot of ridiculous storylines as of late. In fact, one happened this past Thursday where the four women in this match fought in a swimming pool.

Their ability in the ring more than makes up for the dumb angles that creative comes up with.

As long as TNA allows the women of their Knockout’s division to keep wrestling, 2012 will be their year!

9. Cody Rhodes vs. Booker T

I thought that this was a good match. It featured some good back-and-forth action and is really helping legitimize Cody Rhodes as Intercontinental champion.

Booker T has proven that he still has it in the ring, and while it would be nice to see Booker return to the ring full time, I hope that he doesn’t.

Guys like Rhodes deserve the spotlight, not wrestlers who have already had it.

Cody Rhodes really is the best Intercontinental champion WWE has seen in quite some time.

There was at one point in WWE’s history when the Intercontinental Championship was considered just as important as the WWE Championship, and Rhodes could be the man to make that happen again.

This reign as IC champion will most certainly lead to a run with the World Heavyweight Championship later this year.

Working with Booker T has worked wonders for Cody Rhodes and his career has nowhere to go but up from here.

8. Daniel Bryan’s Teased Heel Turn

Since winning the World Heavyweight Championship, Daniel Bryan’s ego has increased tenfold.

He has bragged about winning the title the way he did, and while the Money in the Bank contract states “anytime, anywhere,” that’s not typical behavior for a face wrestler.

This Friday on SmackDown, Bryan bragged about the way things happened at TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs right to the Big Show’s face, which is something you wouldn’t expect from Daniel Bryan.

In the main event, Bryan had to defend his title against Big Show.

Bryan fought hard, but there was nothing he could do to keep his much bigger opponent down.

While at ringside, he got in the face of Mark Henry, who was on commentary, and the World’s Strongest Man pushed him to the floor, causing a disqualification.

Whether Bryan knew that getting in the former champion’s face would cause him to get defensive is not known, but it sure looked like the world champion knew what he was doing.

WWE has teased a heel turn for their SmackDown champion, and I couldn’t be happier.

I think Daniel Bryan would work much better as a heel champion!

7. Kane Almost Blows Up John Cena and Zack Ryder

So Kane wants John Cena to “embrace the hate.” What better way to do that than to blow someone up?

Right when the main event ended, Kane’s music hit and John Cena jumped out of the ring to cut off the Big Red Monster.

Kane ripped through the mat, though, and attacked Zack Ryder. That brought Cena back, but Kane was able to smother him once again.

Kane then reentered the ring and attempted to drag Ryder into the hole. Super Cena emerged and rescued the Long Island Iced Z in time as the hole exploded in a ball of fire.

This was a very cool sight to see in this PG-era, and it makes me wonder how Cena is going to respond.

How do you respond to that?

Kane tried to murder Ryder, and if Cena wouldn't have been able to pull him away in time, the face of the WWE would have been caught in the explosion as well.

From the look on Cena’s face as the explosion went off, you can tell that the psychotic Kane is starting to get to him.

6. R-Truth

When R-Truth failed the wellness program, I thought his push was done and over with. I hoped, at the very least, he’d still be crazy upon his return.

On the final Raw of 2011, he came back from suspension and was just as crazy as he ever was!

This past Monday, the fans were given a little bit more of his new, crazy face character.

As Miz was leaving John Laurinaitis’ office, he screamed, “I won’t be a sitting duck!” That brought in Truth, who stared directly into the camera and quacked like a duck.

Later on, Miz stopped walking backstage, as he thought he saw Truth but quickly just walked off.

His suspicions were correct, as Truth came out of a corridor and simply said, “shhh.”

During Miz’s match with Sheamus, Truth appeared in the crowd.

He declared that not only did he run into Little Jimmy, but that Little Jimmy didn’t like the Miz. It was time for the Miz to get got.

After a Brogue Kick from Sheamus, Truth hit Miz with the water bottle of doom.

“This weekly Miz beatdown was brought to you by Little Jimmy, where you get got,” he said and then a lucky kid got some mic time.

This was a great night for R-Truth, and he may be the best character in WWE right now.

Little Jimmy is going to be the slogan of the year and it will skyrocket R-Truth to the top. 

5. A.J. Styles and Kazarian vs. Samoa Joe and Magnus; Kaz’s Heel Turn

This was quite a good tag-team match that featured good back-and-forth action and had a nice pace to it.

Joe and Magnus really make a great team. While I doubt they’ll win the titles at Genesis, I hope that TNA keeps them together.

Both are very good in the ring and have proven to have chemistry together as a team.

Samoa Joe has been disturbingly underutilized in TNA over the past year or two and this is a step in the right direction to make him relevant again.

As for Kazarian’s heel turn, I’m quite happy with it.

Since Kaz has been with TNA, he has always been with someone. Whether it was Michael Shane/Matt Bentley, Raven and Serotonin or Fortune, Kazarian has been a team player during quite a bit of his TNA tenure.

It’s about time he breaks out on his own.

While he may be aligned with Christopher Daniels for a bit, this heel turn will no doubt lead to some great one-on-one matches between him and Styles.

Once the feud is over, and if TNA can keep a heel Kaz fresh, I can see gold in Kazarian’s future.

4. CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler

Despite the horrid ending, this was a great match.

CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler put on a wrestling clinic, showing that the future is the present in WWE.

Both wrestlers gave the fans everything they had and put on a very enjoyable wrestling match.

CM Punk is still the best WWE has got and having him as champion is certainly helping his fellow wrestlers get a chance to shine.

One of those wrestlers is Dolph Ziggler, and he’s been shining for weeks in matches with Punk as well as Randy Orton.

With Punk’s feud with John Laurinaitis, I don’t think he’ll be champion for much longer, but he’ll get it back in time for WrestleMania.

I fear that Ziggler’s WWE Championship hunt will turn out like his title hunt over on SmackDown.

If the overall quality of this match is any indication, their match at the Royall Rumble should be a five-star showcase.

3. Jeff Hardy, James Storm and Abyss vs. Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle and Bully Ray

Unlike the ending of the CM Punk/Dolph Ziggler match, I loved the way this match ended.

It may have ended in a no-contest when all six wrestlers brawled in the ring, but it showed the hatred the six had for each other going into their respective matches at Genesis.

The match itself was quite good, and it featured good wrestling and great storytelling to set up the three big matches at Sunday’s show.

Thanks to this match, the fans found out that the heels have all the momentum going into Sunday.

As the show went off the air, Roode locked in the crossface on Hardy, Angle put the ankle lock on Storm and Bully Ray hung Abyss with a chain.

Those are big statements from the heels, and they plan to come out on top at the show.

The three matches at the PPV have great stories behind them and that will make for three great matches.

2. Austin Aries and Kid Kash vs. Jesse Sorenson and Zema Ion

This X-Division tag-team match was, without a doubt, match of the night this past Thursday.

This was a great match between four great wrestlers. It was very fast paced and featured some nice, high-flying moves.

Austin Aries continues to prove that he’s one of the best in TNA right now. He needs to lose the X-Division Championship soon so that he can enter into the hunt for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Can you imagine Austin Aries vs. A.J. Styles for the world title at Bound for Glory? It screams match of the year to me!

Kid Kash has still got it and while I don’t see him ever holding the title again, he’s an established talent to help get the youth of the division over.

Jesse Sorenson has really come into his own over the past year and is a great talent. I definitely see an X-Division title in his future.

The same goes for Zema Ion. With his in-ring ability and charisma, he is truly the future of the division.

When you add all of that together, you get the great tag match the fans saw on Thursday.

Now imagine all four going at it in a fatal four-way match.

These four wrestlers will steal the show this Sunday at Genesis.

1. The Return of Chris Jericho

For six weeks, the fans were teased about a superstar returning to WWE. Everyone from Chris Jericho to the Undertaker and Shane and Stephanie McMahon to Brock Lesnar were rumored to be behind the mysterious videos.

This past Monday on Raw, the fans continued to be teased as shorter videos aired throughout the night.

Then as the little boy and girl appeared on the screen and declared that “he was here…now,” the fans waited to see what all this hype was leading to.

The lights went out and a man appeared in a jacket with blinking lights, posing with his arms stretched out.

The pyro went off and the music hit! It was Chris Jericho, and the fans went absolutely nuts!

He entered the ring and soaked in the excitement from the fans.

The entire 10-minute segment was silent in terms of words, as Jericho just pumped up the crowd the whole time.

He walked out and made his WWE return without saying a single word.

I think this was pure genius by WWE creative.

It didn’t tell us whether he was a face or a heel, as he acted like both to a certain degree.

This coming Monday will be very interesting.

Will he just walk out to the ring, pump up the crowd and leave? Or will he finally address his return?

I have a feeling that Jericho is screwing with us, and it will all lead to a heel Y2J.