2009 Is the Year for WWE

2008 was just like 2007. It looked promising and everything you could imagine might happen went down the drain—and you were snapped back into reality.

WWE did an excellent job when Randy Orton defeated both John Cena and Triple H in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 24 in Orlando, Florida. Then Triple H once again became WWE champion soon after at Backlash. Another Triple H title run—WWE sure knows how to keep things fresh.

On the Smackdown side, as soon as Undertaker won the Elimination Chamber at No Way Out, I had no reason to watch the World Heavyweight Championship match at Wrestlemania 24. Despite Edge's stellar performance, Undertaker still came out victorious...what a surprise. Then he gets injured just like he did after he defeated Batista at Wrestlemania 23, in Detroit, Michigan.

So, two big pushes, two predictable main events, and two wasted Wrestlemania main events. Then comes the draft. WWE gets shook up a little and Triple H ends up on Smackdown and Batista ends up on raw. On a side note, CM Punk wasted his money in the bank push opportunity that looked like a huge mistake. Punk was a horrible champion, and the feud he had with JBL just made you want to strangle yourself.

In 2008, Jericho held Raw on his back just as his character claims to have done. He was a great champion and had the mic skills to go with it. Then came the return of John Cena. He gets more pushes than buttons and doors. First, a Rumble return—and victory—at the No. 30 position...just great. Fortunately, Orton retained his title at Wrestlemania, making him the second heel in history to defend a world championship at Wrestlemania (Triple H did it at Wrestlemania in 2000).

After getting injured again in a Summer Slam match against Batista, Cena was gone again. Inevitably, John Cena returns again at Survivor Series, and what is his first match back? A title shot, of course, in which he won. He still holds the title to this day.

On Smackdown's side, Jeff Hardy finally realized his dream and became WWE Champion. I'm sorry, I know there are Hardy fans out there, but he is NOT championship caliber. I understand, though, he had given so much for the company and gave us all moments through TLC's, among other jaw-dropping "OH MY GOD" moments. He deserves at least one title run. His mic skills are terrible and he couldn't cut a promo if his career depended on it.

I almost forgot Matt Hardy was ECW Champion. I guess Edge was right, no cares about Matt Hardy. So, 2009, huh? Still in the first month and WWE has everyone buzzing like bees and humming like birds thanks to shockers like Jack Swagger's upset championship win over Hardy and Orton's punt to Vince that nearly took his head off. In that moment, I felt like I was in 1998 again.

Let's not forget Christian's return. It is gaining hype from every direction, and all signs point to Captain Charisma's return at the Rumble this Sunday. With Vince out of the picture, the future of Raw and Smackdown look brighter. WWE will surely try to pull out every card they got in the sleeve, especially for Wrestlemania 25.

It's going to big a big year for superstars the likes of Jeff Hardy, Edge, Chris Jericho, Jack Swagger, Hopefully Ken Kennedy, Miz and Morrison, Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiease Jr., and the surging Randy Orton.

Creative has been on a roll lately and has the chance to make some classic storylines this year, and so far the company is off to a fantastic start. In a deck of kings, queens, jokers, among the rest, the question is, who is going to shock the world and be the wild card?