WWE/TNA: My Top 10 Moments of the Week (11/28-12/1)

I felt that this week in WWE and TNA was a bit weak.

Monday Night Raw and Thursday’s Impact Wrestling gave us solid shows and were the most enjoyable parts of the week. This week’s live special of SmackDown on Tuesday, though, was a bomb, to say the least.

This week was a bit easier to pick out the moments as there just wasn’t many to pick from.

So here are my top 10 moments of the week.

10. More “It Begins” Mystery

On Monday’s Raw we were given the latest hint at the “It Begins” mystery.

This one entitled “Second2012” gave us more creepiness and more mystery. The kid from the first one was back, but towards the end, a little girl appeared and was sitting behind him on the counter.

This one says that someone was returning to “claim what others have taken.” He said destruction was coming and that the world as we know it would be ending.

The popular choices are still Chris Jericho and the Undertaker. In fact, most believe it’s for Y2J and that the Deadman it backup if Jericho ends up not wanting to return.

We’re getting elements for both superstars in the videos, so it could be either one of them.

Chris Jericho has had things “stolen” from him since he left, most notably his “Best in the World” moniker. I really hope it is Jericho, as a match between him and CM Punk at WrestleMania would be huge.

At the same time, WWE could screw us and someone else could be returning instead.

Time will tell I suppose. We just have to wait 30 more days.

9. The Miracle on 34th Street Fight

You’re probably saying, “Why would he include anything from SmackDown on his list?”

True, SmackDown was quite bad on Tuesday.

This match was one of the very few moments of the show that I actually enjoyed. I thought this was quite an entertaining match.

I really enjoyed the destruction of the Christmas decorations around the ring and stage, and I had a good, hard laugh when Orton threw the box at Otunga’s head.

The match itself wasn’t the greatest; in fact, it was pretty much a squash match that saw Randy Orton in control of the whole thing. The only time we saw David Otunga get in some offense is when Wade Barrett interfered.

This was definitely one of the more entertaining moments on a SmackDown that was extremely lacking.

8. The TNA Television Championship Was on the Line

It wasn’t the match itself that’s in my top 10, it’s just the fact the title was on the line.

Robbie E vs. Rob Van Dam was a decent match, but it had a lot of interference that took away from it.

A title called the “Television Championship” should be featured every single week on television.

When the title was renamed as such by A.J. Styles last year, he said that he would defend the title every time he was on television. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

The title almost went into complete obscurity when Eric Young won the belt. What did he do as champion? He ran around Hollywood looking for Scott Baio.

Eric Young is a comedy act that should not hold a title that has the potential to become a legit mid-card title.

Giving it Robbie E isn’t much better, but he at least won’t run around looking for celebrities to fight.

This was a step in the right direction for the title. If TNA allows Robbie to get serious and away from Eric Young, he could make for a great champion.

While it may take a while to bring some legitimacy back to the title, things are looking up for the mid-card belt.

7. Daniel Bryan’s Strong Performances

On Monday Night Raw, Michael Cole was interviewing Daniel Bryan in the ring. Cole put him down for various reasons, mainly cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase early.

Bryan took the mic and completely went off on Cole. He saw an opportunity and took it, just like all the other Money in the Bank winners before him.

Daniel Bryan is finally being given a voice in the WWE and that’s great. It seems like they’re letting him be the American Dragon once again. This was truly great mic work by him.

The next night on the live SmackDown, we saw him take on Mark Henry in a steel cage match with the World Championship on the line.

While the finish saw Mark Henry deliver a World’s Strongest Slam from the middle rope to retain his title, Bryan looked strong during the match.

When Daniel Bryan took control, the pace got quicker and I started to enjoy the match more.

When Henry was in control, I was bored since all he was doing was clotheslining Bryan.

Despite the domination from Henry during the first part of the match, Bryan kept getting up. There was multiple times where it seemed like Bryan could actually win the match.

He got Henry in a few submission holds and also almost escaped the steel structure on numerous occasions.

WWE is finally doing something with Daniel Bryan. They are giving him a fighting chance and when he cashes in the briefcase, he could very well become the new champion.

6. Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler

This was a great match that saw some good back-and-forth action.

Ziggler looked great inside the ring with main-eventer Randy Orton. Not only was this a good match, both superstars are advancing their careers nicely.

This is the second week in a row where Ziggler faced a main event star. Last week he had a five-star match with CM Punk, and this past Monday he had a good match with Randy Orton.

I think WWE is slowly transitioning Dolph Ziggler to the main event, which is a great thing!

WWE’s main event picture is very, very small and adding Ziggler to it is a step in the right direction. I can definitely see him winning a World Championship sometime next year!

As for Randy Orton, he’s doing what a true veteran does and that is putting people over.

Orton is one of the biggest stars in the company right now and he can’t go any higher. He has reached the pinnacle of WWE. His climb to the top is over.

Over the past few months he’s put over Intercontinental Champion Cody Rhodes, World Champion Mark Henry, Wade Barrett and now the United States Champion Dolph Ziggler.

He’s giving others the chance to shine and I respect him for that.

As the weeks go by I believe Orton will continue letting others get over while Ziggler will continue his rise to the main event scene.

5. Bobby Roode vs. A.J. Styles vs. Jeff Hardy

Here’s a match that saw Bobby Roode pick up the win after some help from Jeff Jarrett.

This was a great triple threat match that was fast-paced with some great back-and-forth action.

Each wrestler did his job in the match and each of the two storylines here were advanced nicely.

Bobby Roode is really coming along great as a heel. He’s really getting over with the crowd as one and is believable as a bad guy.

Even after almost 10 years, A.J. Styles is still the best TNA has to offer. I hope that he’s able to get the World Championship back sometime next year.

These two will have a five-star showcase at Final Resolution in their iron man match.

Jeff Hardy did his thing and looked good doing it. I think it’s great that he’s finally getting his life straightened out, and I’m behind him 100 percent.

The second he screws up again, though, that’s it. He burned his last bridge with me.

His feud with Jeff Jarrett is very interesting and will culminate at Final Resolution. Due to Jarrett interfering, Sting booked the two inside a steel cage.

With the stipulations of if Jarrett wins, Hardy is gone and if Hardy wins, he gets a title shot at Genesis, this will surely be their last match for a while. 

These three men put on damn good performances here and it will no doubt carry over to next week, and Final Resolution on December 11th.

4. The Ending of the WWE Championship Match

I loved the way this match ended. It really added to the storyline between CM Punk and interim Raw general manager John Laurinaitis.

Johnny Ace made it so that if Punk got disqualified, then he would lose the WWE Championship.

The nod to Eddie Guerrero put a smile on my face. As soon as Punk threw that chair back at Alberto Del Rio, I all but cheered. It took me back to when Guerrero used to do that to entertain us.

Then Punk slammed Del Rio’s face onto the exposed turnbuckle to knock him out long enough to get the three-count.

I was waiting for Laurinaitis to come out and disqualify Punk for using a weapon to win the match but he didn’t. I suspect that’ll be brought up this coming Monday.

Punk would have a good argument, though. It wasn’t him that exposed the turnbuckle—it was Del Rio. The Mexican superstar fully intended to use it himself, but Punk beat him to it.

This gives Laurinaitis another reason to want to get the title off of Punk, and this gives something else for Punk to shove in his face.

While John Laurinaitis bores the hell out of me, his feud with Punk interests me. I’m actually very interested to see what will happen next.

3. Mickie James vs. ODB: Street Fight

Since Karen Jarrett took control of the Knockout’s Division, the division has really taken a step down.

I remember a time when the women of TNA would have matches that were better than the men’s.

Last week started what I think is the eventual rebellion of the Knockouts. Karen ordered them to wrestle in their lingerie and they weren’t too happy about it.

This past Thursday they were forced to wash a car in bikinis.

All is not bad, though, in the division. This past Thursday we got a street fight between Mickie James and ODB.  Mickie picked up the win when she kicked a chair into ODB’s face.

This was a great match and was very physical. We saw these two beat the hell out of each other with the steel steps, trash cans, the stage and a powerbomb to the floor.

Mickie and ODB put on a show for the fans and proved that the Knockout’s Division isn’t completely dead.

Mickie is great in the ring and WWE made a huge mistake in getting rid of her. ODB is good in the ring as well. The two meshed very well together and it delivered something enjoyable to watch.

This match gives me hope that the Knockout’s Division is heading in the right direction despite the ridiculous things Karen is making some of them do.

2. The Miz Continues His Climb Back to the Top

Ever since the Miz exited the WWE Championship picture, he slowed down quite a bit.

Things picked back up when he joined forces with R-Truth. Then his momentum started to go down again. WWE was dropping the ball with the Awesome Truth and both superstars needed a change.

R-Truth’s wellness suspension may have been a blessing in disguise for the Miz.

The night they broke up, Miz gave a Skull Crushing Finale to Truth on the stage. This past Monday, Miz got to be the one to take out John Morrison on his final night with WWE.

Before the match, Miz beat him with a pipe. I figured that was it, but the match started. The ending saw Miz slam Morrison’s face into the WWE sign on the stage, then deliver his finisher on the stage.

We saw Morrison taken out on a stretcher and the Miz head to the ring. Miz grabbed a mic and said that he took out R-Truth last week, then John Morrison this week. Next week? “We’ll see.”

I love this new, determined Miz. He’s looking more like a star right now then when he was partnering with R-Truth.

The Miz can only go up from here.

I honestly can’t wait to see who he’s going to take out next.

Come the Royal Rumble, I’ll think we’ll be seeing him in the WWE Championship match.

1. Piper’s Pit

On Monday’s Raw we saw the return of the legendary Rowdy Roddy Piper and his equally as legendary segment, Piper’s Pit. His guest for the night was former WWE Champion John Cena.

Roddy Piper hadn’t lost a step, as he really laid into Cena.

He first played a game of word association with the fans. Names like Steve Austin, the Rock and Bret Hart got overwhelming cheers. When he brought up John Cena, though, he got a very mixed reaction.

The Rowdy one started to really stir the pot as he told Cena that while he may be the face of the WWE, the boos from the audience were getting louder. Cena needed to suck it up and tell the fans what was really on his mind.

Cena told Piper that the boos didn’t bother him, but Piper told him that they did and if he didn’t get everything off his chest, he’d be in denial for the rest of his career.

Piper tried one more thing to get under Cena’s skin. He slapped Cena across the face and it looked like he would knock out Piper.

Instead, he shook his head and walked away.

Roddy Piper was never afraid to say what was on his mind during Piper’s Pit. He spoke quite a bit of truth here and was damn good when he did it. The man has still got it on the mic; he never lost a step.

I felt that John Cena was also very good here. His mic work was solid and he seemed to tease a heel turn.  

Piper has made a lot of history on Piper’s Pit over the years, and I think this will be the catalyst to another history-making moment.

John Cena needs a change. There is no one more stale in the business right now then he is. He either needs to make a major change or take a break to freshen up his character.

I don’t know what Piper’s Pit is going to lead to, but something is going to happen.

Final Thoughts

Between Raw, SmackDown and Impact Wrestling, Monday Night Raw was the show of the week once again.

While this week was better than their Thanksgiving special, Impact Wrestling still fell short of WWE’s flagship show.

We won’t get into SmackDown, as it was just that bad.

With WrestleMania on the horizon, things should really be picking up, and WWE may be overtaking Impact Wrestling every week until the Super Bowl of wrestling!

Agree with my top 10? Disagree? Feel free say what your favorite moments of the week were down in the comments! Thanks for reading!