WWE TLC 2011: 10 Huge Surprises We Could See at the Upcoming PPV

The final WWE pay-per-view of 2012 is almost upon us.

WWE TLC takes place this Sunday, and it will be the last PPV before we head to next month's Royal Rumble and perhaps most importantly, WrestleMania season.

At least on paper, TLC doesn't seem like much. In fact, it looks pretty much like your ordinary B-level pay-per-view that the WWE has about seven or eight of each year.

But, if Money in the Bank taught us anything, it's that a non-Big Four pay-per-view can definitely deliver, and all it takes is some quality wrestling and a few shockers to do so.

Here are 10 huge surprises we could see at WWE TLC this Sunday.

10. No Match for John Cena

I know there are many fans who are expecting John Cena to finagle his way into the WWE Championship match or even for him to face Kane at WWE TLC.

But either of those decisions would be bad booking.

We're tired of Cena getting title match after title match, and given that his feud with Kane could be the first interesting thing he's done in a while, there's absolutely no need to rush it.

Let Cena cut a promo or something at the pay-per-view, but keep him out of any match because he just doesn't fit on the card at the moment.

I'm sure many of you are just waiting to see Cena added to the PPV, but believe it or not, I actually don't think that will happen.

9. Goldust Inserts Himself into the Feud Between Cody Rhodes and Booker T

Goldust has been campaigning for a Career vs. Intercontinental Championship match against his brother Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 28, and here's how WWE officials heel about that possibility, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via WrestleNewz.com):

"

As noted before, WWE officials are open to the idea of a Cody Rhodes vs. Goldust match. Word now is that they aren’t too keen on holding it at WrestleMania 28, but are open to it.

"

OK, well it might not take place at WrestleMania, but I could see it going down before then.

Goldust has been out of action since early in the year after undergoing shoulder surgery, but he's made two appearances on WWE TV in as many weeks (one on the live SmackDown special and one on Monday's Raw).

This could be a coincidence that Goldust returns to TV just as Rhodes starts a feud with Goldust's former tag team partner Booker T, but I'm not buying that.

I think Goldust will get involved in Rhodes' business sooner or later, and if it's sooner, then it could very well happen at TLC. 

8. Interferences by Christian And/Or R-Truth

Christian suffered an ankle injury last month that caused him to miss Survivor Series, and though he appeared at Monday's Slammy Awards, he's been largely absent from WWE TV since then.

Meanwhile, R-Truth hasn't appeared on TV since The Miz turned on him on the Raw after Survivor Series, and though he's not technically eligible to return at TLC because of his 30-day suspension, I don't think that WWE officials care about that all that much.

There seems to be at least somewhat of a chance of Truth, Christian or both returning this Sunday—Christian because he wants "one more match" for the World Heavyweight Championship and Truth because he wants to cost The Miz the WWE Championship.

I'm not sure if either of those things will happen, but if I had to pick one, it would Truth coming back to screw over his former tag team partner.

7. Brodus Clay Finally

Where in the world is Brodus Clay?

The WWE started promoting his "debut" (which is actually his return) roughly three months ago, but it keeps getting pushed back every week.

When Clay's return first started getting delayed, at least John Laurinaitis gave some sort of explanation for it in backstage segments. Now, however, Clay is almost being completely forgotten about.

I don't know if this is intentional or not in order to make his debut a surprise (which I highly doubt), but unless the creative team wants us to completely lose interest in Clay, then he has to come back within the next couple of weeks.

If Clay's going to get a big push right out of the gate as well, then it would be wise to have him make a huge impact at WWE TLC.

6. Dolph Ziggler Drops Vickie Guerrero

Let me explain the very simple way I would book Dolph Ziggler to drop Vickie Guerrero as his manager.

The WWE TLC pay-per-view opens with Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder for the United States Champion, and Vickie interferes in the bout, inadvertently costing Ziggler the US title.

A furious Ziggler then screams at Vickie, they have a huge "breakup" and Ziggler leaves her in the arena as he makes his way to the back. Having Ziggler lose by interference keeps him looking strong, it puts the title where it belongs (on Ryder) and it will allow Ziggler to move on to the main event scene without having to have a manager by his side.

Plus, with a rumor floating around that Ziggler could be pulling double duty again by wrestling for the WWE title later in the night as well, this could be an easy way to do that.

You'd have Ziggler complain to John Laurinaitis about Vickie's interference, and Laurinaitis would then grant him another championship match...for the WWE title.

It's a win-win situation for everybody, except maybe Vickie.

5. The Debut of an FCW Superstar

There are two guys down in WWE's developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling, who are just as talented—if not more so—than a big chunk of the main roster, and they appear to be close to a call-up to Raw or SmackDown.

From PWInsider.com (via SEScoops.com):

"

Two of the top talents at WWE developmental are set to be evaluated be WWE producers, as FCW standouts Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) and Seth Rollins (Tyler Black) will be appearing at WWE live events later this month.

"

Obviously, this doesn't mean that either Ambrose or Rollins is going to be immediately called up to the main roster. But both of them should be.

Ambrose and Rollins seem to be far and away the two most talented men in FCW, and they could make a huge splash in the WWE right away.

Maybe we still have another six months or so until we see them on Monday or Friday nights. Then again, maybe WWE TLC will prove that we don't.

4. A Women's Champion Back in the Ring

A couple of weeks ago, F4Wonline.com (via WrestleNewz.com) reported that the WWE was considering bringing back a former Women's Champion to feud with Beth Phoenix and Natalya.

When Lita showed up on Monday's Raw, I got quite excited because I thought to myself, "Oh, man. Lita could be coming back."

Though there was no physical contact, Lita did actually have some brief interaction with Beth, Natalya and Kelly Kelly, and that leads me to believe that there's a possibility—however slight it may be—that we could see Lita come back for a brief run against the Divas of Doom.

I certainly wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't be shocked if this (or something like the return of former Divas champion Layla) happened either.

3. The Big Show Wins the World Heavyweight Championship

At least 90 percent of wrestling fans seem to believe that there's no way The Big Show is going to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WWE TLC.

I, on the other hand, am never going to totally count out The Big Show.

While I don't think the WWE should put the title on him, it seems completely pointless to extend this feud all the way to TLC just to have a shady finish and/or have Mark Henry retain his title again.

Perhaps the WWE booked those controversial endings to their first two matches because the plan all along was to slowly build toward a Big Show title win.

Hey, you never know. 

2. The Return of Vince or Stephanie McMahon

Kevin Nash and Triple H will battle at WWE TLC in what is sure to be a terrible match from two guys who have had an awful feud so far.

But the one saving grace I think we could get out of this Nash/Triple H mess is the return of a McMahon, most likely Stephanie or Vince.

Though John Laurinaitis is coming into his own as Raw's interim GM, I don't like that Vince's last appearance in this feud was a random one (to essentially fire Triple H, the same man who fired him?) or that Stephanie was basically just forgotten about after SummerSlam.

I know it's probably dumb of me to think we'll ever get any explanation about the WWE's ridiculous booking, but I'm still holding out hope that we do.

Maybe, just maybe Vince or Stephanie comes back on Sunday to make this Nash/Triple H feud at least somewhat interesting. 

1. Daniel Bryan Cashes in to Become World Heavyweight Champion

Daniel Bryan vowed to wait until WrestleMania 28 to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase, but he's already proved that that isn't exactly the case.

When The Big Show laid out Mark Henry with the Weapon of Mass Destruction on an episode of SmackDown, Bryan took advantage and cashed in, seemingly winning the World Heavyweight Championship before Henry was deemed unfit to compete.

Bryan's explanation of his cash-in attempt was that he saw an opportunity and took it, so if he sees another opportunity at WWE TLC, then why wouldn't he take that one, too?

I think he would, primarily because I have my doubts that the creative team is really going to have Bryan win the World title at WrestleMania 28.

WWE officials may not want to put the belt on Bryan at the biggest pay-per-view of the year, but they may be willing to do it at a lesser pay-per-view.