WWE/TNA Recap: My Top 10 Moments of the Week (12/5-12/9)

While I felt that last week was a bit weak, this week was a good one to be a wrestling fan.

We had great action on Raw, SmackDown and Impact Wrestling, as well as some good in-ring promos that advanced their storylines nicely.

Not everything can be picked, though.

So here are my top 10 moments of the week!

10. Lillian Garcia Returns

When it was announced that Lillian Garcia would be leaving WWE after 10 years, I was quite disappointed. While I respected her decision to leave, it was still very sad to see her go.

She left Monday Night Raw in 2009 and we ended up with Justin Roberts. I personally can’t stand the way Roberts announces and I had hoped that WWE would eventually convince Lillian to come back.

Earlier this week, I got the announcement I’ve been waiting for.

Lillian Garcia would be returning to WWE, but on SmackDown instead of Raw.

When she appeared on screen, she was as beautiful as ever and she sounded great. She hadn’t lost a step; it was like she never left.

Now let’s hope that she returns to Raw sooner rather than later!

9. The Mask Is On; the Big Red Monster Is Resurrected

A few weeks ago we saw the first video hyping the return of Kane. It wasn’t until the second video where it was revealed that Kane would be returning “Resurrected.”

The ending of each video would feature Kane’s masking falling to the ground, engulfed in flames. Rumors starting swirling that Kane would be coming back with his mask on.

This past Monday on Raw, we got the latest video and not only did the mask make another appearance, it appeared in his hands and on his face!

Some are excited, others don’t find the sense in it. We’ve seen his face, why would he put the mask back on?

I think of it this way: Kane recognizes that he has gone soft over the years. When he had the mask on, he was a sadistic monster, so he’s putting it back to reclaim what he has lost.

The way the Undertaker’s urn gave him unworldly powers, Kane may see the mask working that way as well.

Either way, it seems like Kane is returning with his mask, and I’m quite excited about it!

8. Traci Brooks Defies Karen Jarrett

This may not have been a “top moment” for others, but for me it was.

Traci Brooks was one of the first women in TNA, way before there was a Knockout’s Division. She wrestled on occasion but mostly acted as a manager to various wrestlers.

Even when the division started, she didn’t wrestle much. When she did, though, she put on a decent match.

Traci returned to TNA earlier this year and wanted the job that Karen Jarrett now has. Instead of getting the job she wanted, she got the job of Karen’s assistant.

Since then, Karen has been verbally abusive towards Traci and you can tell that she was at her breaking point.

Traci would finally return to the ring this past Thursday as she was scheduled to face the champion, Gail Kim. Her orders were simple: lay down for Gail.

She did that but decided to kick out. She then snapped and completely went off on Gail.

She beat the hell out of the champion and it seemed like she was going to win the match. Unfortunately for Traci, Karen made her way down to the ring and distracted the referee long enough to let Madison Rayne smack Traci with her title.

Gail Kim picked up the win, but at what price?

Gail is scheduled to defend her title against Mickie James tomorrow night, and there’s a chance Traci wore her down enough for Mickie to take advantage.

Seeing Traci defy Karen was a breath of fresh air. It’s now only a matter of time before the Knockout’s rebellion occurs.

7. Sheamus Continues to Destroy Whoever Gets in His Way

I have been a fan of Sheamus since day one, but he seems different as a face.

Since becoming a good guy, he seems more dominate. Over the past month or so, we’ve seen Sheamus destroy his opponents.

The wrestlers in the opposite corner fear having to face the Great White Sheamus because they know they’re in for a beating.

This Friday on SmackDown, we saw him continue his dominating ways when he went up against David Otunga.

While Mr. Jennifer Hudson got in bits and pieces of offense, Sheamus dominated the whole match. He really beat the hell out of the man who graduated from Harvard.

I think it’s only a matter of time before Sheamus brings this new, dominating attitude back into the World Championship picture.

Hopefully we’ll see him with some gold early next year.

6. Bobby Roode Is Getting Better and Better

A lot of people were upset when Bobby Roode didn’t win the TNA World Championship at Bound for Glory.  I was at the event and it was a disappointing moment. 

His heel turn a few weeks later caught some off guard and upset some since he took a shortcut to win the title.

I, on the other hand, love his heel turn.

Roode works best as a heel and he’s been progressing nicely as one since returning back to his evil ways.

Since turning his back on the fans, Roode has been a quintessential heel. He has attacked people from behind, sat at the announce booth while he was supposed to be wrestling and defying the new man in charge, Sting.  He has even attacked TNA president Dixie Carter.

This past Thursday on Impact Wrestling, he spit at Dixie and without a doubt solidified himself as a great heel.

His mic work gets more and more solid every week and his actions are that of a true heel.

Bobby Roode is becoming the best heel in TNA, rivaling Bully Ray, who has really been on a downward spiral as of late.

I can’t wait to see what Roode does next!

5. Look Within

The “It Begins” mystery finally made its presence known on Raw when it interrupted a Beth Phoenix and Natalya video package and on SmackDown when it interrupted a commercial for WWE ’12.

This thing gets creepier and creepier with each new video.

This one states that “the prophet will emerge to destroy the weak.”

It looks like WWE is leaning this particular video towards the Undertaker. Perhaps negotiations with Chris Jericho aren’t going too well?

What I found most interesting about this video were the little girl and the boy’s new actions.

The little girl appeared last week and she just sat on the counter behind the boy. Now she’s dancing around, looking over the boy’s shoulder and looking a bit menacing.

The boy continued to write but something changed at the end. This time around he was standing in the corner facing the wall. It’s almost like he’s being punished for something.

Maybe he’s being punished for giving us these cryptic messages.

It will be interesting to see what the next video has in store for us.

4. John Cena Drops out of the WWE Title Match; Zack Ryder Gets US Title Shot

During the opening segment of Monday Night Raw, interim general manager John Laurinaitis made some matches to determine who will get to challenge for the WWE Championship at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view. One such match was John Cena vs. Zack Ryder.

The match stipulation was that if Cena won, then he’d be added to the WWE title match at the PPV, but if Ryder won, he’d get a shot at the United States Championship.

The two men had a pretty good match. Cena won, though, and Ryder was left to hope he can get a shot at the title another way.

After the match, we went backstage with Cena and Laurinaitis, where WWE’s Superman went off on Mr. Excitement. He said that Ryder deserved another chance.

Laurinaitis said that he could have it, but there was a condition. That condition was that John Cena had to drop out of the WWE Championship match.

At first, Cena’s heart sank. His dream of having a title match at WrestleMania against the Rock was sinking. Cena ultimately decided that he was a 10-time champion because he was given an opportunity, and that Ryder deserved the same kind of opportunity.

He agreed and now Ryder has his shot at Dolph Ziggler and the United States Championship at the PPV after defeating Mark Henry. John Cena, on the other hand, is now left with nothing.

After Piper’s Pit went down, I said that it was going to be the catalyst of a new John Cena. I believe we got a glimpse of that on Raw.

If this was a year or two ago, John Cena would have never given up an opportunity at a shot at the title.

The fact that he gave it up knowing that his match with the Rock could have been for the title if he won shows us that he is a different person.

WrestleMania has had some huge matches in its history. We’ve seen Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, the Rock vs. Hogan and Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, to name a few.

The Rock vs. John Cena will go down in history as one of the biggest matches off all time. It doesn’t need the WWE Championship to be involved.

With Cena giving up the title shot, I’m very interested in seeing what kind of decisions he’ll make next.

3. The Beat the Clock Challenge

On SmackDown, we saw the return of the Beat the Clock Challenge. The rules are simple: The wrestler who beats his opponent the quickest is the winner.

Usually we’d see this challenge pop up when it came time to determine a No. 1 contender, but this time things were a bit different.

We saw two matches in this particular challenge: Wade Barrett vs. Ezekiel Jackson and Randy Orton vs. Dolph Ziggler.

The challenge was for Orton and Barrett, and the man who could defeat their opponent the fastest got to choose the stipulation for their match at the TLC PPV.

Wade Barrett was up first and he defeated Jackson in just under eight minutes in a decent match.

Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler got the main event and Orton won the match with just two seconds to spare. The celebration didn’t last long, though, as Barrett hit his version of Abyss’ Black Hole Slam on WWE’s Apex Predator.

Barrett tried putting Orton through a table, but the Viper got away. To send a message to Barrett, he put Ziggler through the table.

The choice was clear: Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett will be a table’s match.

Despite Barrett having to face a robot, he had a decent match. Orton had a damn good match with Ziggler, though. Not as good as their match on Raw last week, but they only had about eight minutes this time around.

Randy Orton has the momentum, but there’s still a week until the PPV. It will be interesting to see what will happen next between them.

2. James Storm and Kurt Angle’s in-Ring Promo

A few weeks ago, Kurt Angle attacked James Storm and left him with a crimson mask and a concussion. While the two have discussed the situation before, this past Thursday was different.

Angle is usually pretty good on the mic, but Storm blew me away.

After Kurt Angle said how Storm was entering into his world at Final Resolution and that he was going to be well prepared and will win, it was the Cowboy’s turn.

He went over all the times he has faced death in his life and how because of that, he has looked it in the face. He wasn’t afraid of death and certainly wasn’t afraid of Angle.

There was nothing on Earth that intimidated him and after he kicks Angle in the face, he’ll crush his head like a beer can.

He turned his back to let Angle attack, him but he didn’t. Storm then got right in his face and said “It’s real, it’s damn real.”

I think that James Storm surprised a lot of people here. He was truly great on the mic and showed up Kurt Angle.

This was a great way to hype their match at Final Resolution, and it should be a great one.

1. A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode and Jeff Jarrett

The main event of this past Thursday’s Impact Wrestling was a tag-team match putting two feuds up against each other. The match itself was quite good, but what I liked most about it was the story it told.

First you have the team of A.J. Styles and Jeff Hardy. When Hardy returned a few months ago, he went around to various TNA wrestlers asking for forgiveness. The first one he went to was Styles.

Styles shot him down quickly and told him what Jeff Jarrett has been telling him over the past month—just go away.

Hardy has since earned Styles’ trust and it’s good to see the Phenomenal One and the Charismatic Enigma getting along once again.

Each feud was advanced nicely, with Hardy and Jarrett beating the hell out of each other as they brawled to the back, and Styles picking up the win by pinning Roode.

Throughout the match, Roode worked over Styles’ leg, trying to make sure he wouldn’t be able to make it through a full 30-minute iron man match. As Styles was celebrating his victory, Roode attacked him from behind.

All four men told a story in the ring and it added to their respective feuds.

Their matches at Final Resolution should not only be very good, but they should also seem personal as they beat the hell out of one another.

FInal Thoughts

Between the three shows, I think that TNA Impact Wrestling had the superior show this week, which dethrones Raw.

WWE Raw has had a very strong couple of weeks, but I thought that this past Monday’s show was a bit of a step down from previous weeks.

SmackDown was miles ahead of last week’s holiday episode and only slightly nudges ahead of WWE’s flagship show.

Let’s see if TNA can keep its title next week, or if Raw will reclaim my top spot.

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