Randy Orton, CM Punk, and ECW to Lead WWE In 2009

Here are some things that I would love to see (and quite frankly, need to happen) in 2009.

Randy Orton Wins the Rumble, Becomes Champion at Wrestlemania

He is the top heel and top dog of the WWE as of today. There is almost no other way to go about this. If he doesn't win the Rumble, then who? If he doesn't defeat John Cena at Wrestlemania for the title, then who? An RKO out of the F-U would be perfect.

Orton is an amazing superstar and is the new face of the new WWE.

His title reign should last at least until Summer Slam due to the sheer dominance of the Legacy.

Legacy to Become the Next Great Stable

It's too good to let pass without first dominating the WWE. Legacy has Evolution-like swagger and potential. Along with Orton becoming champion at Wrestlemania, Wrestlemania should be the introduction to "The Age of Legacy." 

Orton champion, Ted DiBiase as the Intercontinental Champion, and some combination of Cody Rhodes, Manu, and Sim Snuka as Raw's Tag Team Champions.  It's been a good while (too long in my opinion), since a true stable with DeGeneration X-esque lasting power has been formed, and this should be it. Raw in 2009 will belong to legacy.

Give ECW a 2-Hour Time Slot, Please!

You can't have a real wrestling program in an hour.  It's impossible; it's unfair. 

Let ECW Be ECW, PLEASE!

Extreme Rules Match? On Extreme Championship Wrestling? Why isn't it understood that the ECW championship is always defended under extreme rules? And who decided Matt Hardy was extreme enough to be its champion?

Here's what needs to happen: First, give ECW it's swagger back.  Every match needs to be extreme; It's in the name. Then, let the show's angle be: "The Superstars on Raw and SmackDown! can't hang with us..."  ECW stars can then go on Raw and SmackDown! and challenge their competitors to be "Extreme"; engaging in extreme rules matchups to prove themselves. It's a simple scheme that will make ECW a legitimate brand again.

Let ECW Keep its Stars, PLEASE!

Put CM Punk and John Morrison back.  Let them be the faces of ECW again.  I may be one of few, but I am a huge fan of John Morrison and his ability to be a brand-carrying, show-altering champion.  CM Punk, before that awful handling of his title reign, was a huge face, and can be again. 

ECW needs to stop being treated like a step child; stop having its biggest stars spend all their time on Raw and SmackDown!  With a classic guy and now-proven WWE superstar in Punk back in the ECW fray, things will be better for the ECW program, as long as the first two ECW points happen.

Finish Pushing the Up and Coming Stars

Why isn't Mr. Kennedy a legitimate title contender/former champion already? I don't know either. There is a plethora of future champions on all three shows: Evan Bourne, Vladimir Kolzov, and Mr. Kennedy are the immediate heirs to the throne and at least one of them needs to taste gold in 2009.

As fate would have it, none of them are Raw Superstars, so the reign of Legacy is still in tact along with fresh faces in other places headlining main events as well. 

WWE has a tendency to half-push some superstars and then leave the star and fans hanging, i.e. Mr. Kennedy.  Hopefully that will change, and one of the listed superstars will be champion in late 2009 (Summer Slam or later).

Fans Are Tired of the Same Old Thing 

Along with the new faces due in for the title, some other championship-caliber stars will do an excellent job mixing it in for 2009 title stories. 

On Raw, challenging Legacy for the World Title should be: Cena (by default, not necessity), Batista (same reason), and Shawn Michaels (yeah, age and JBL, but somewhat of a tragic hero angle), but I hope those don't come to fruition. The headliners for the better part of the year should be Chris Jericho and CM Punk.

Jericho is a heel now (and I love what they did with him, but for the love of God, go with the "King of My World" theme song), but against Orton, the WWE could turn George Bush into a face. He wouldn't win the title, but the athleticism of these two men should make for an historic match at Summer Slam.

The Legacy empire should fall at the hands of CM Punk. Now, of course, Punk couldn't possibly defeat Legacy by himself, and he won't. Punk, at some point prior to Armageddon, would be brutally assaulted by the Legacy faction. The following week on Raw, Punk reveals that he is not alone as the entire ECW locker room will have his back from now on.

At Armageddon, the two face off, Punk hoists Orton on his shoulders and Legacy runs to Orton's aid, with ECW close behind. A war on the outside ensues, Orton gets hung up on the ropes and Punk hits the GTS, and wins the title in dramatic fashion.

I won't lose sleep if Batista and John Cena don't compete for the WWE title, I promise.  Cena got his belt back at Wrestlemania 26 or something, but '09 is for the new blood, the new (or old) attitude of the WWE.

Brothers of Destruction Revitalize the Tag Team Division

What if the Undertaker goes back to the druids and cult-like sacrifices that made him so great not so long ago alongside Kane, who is in need of a new look and gimmick? 

Really push the Brothers of Destruction (and ditch the name) as the tag team to defeat in 2009.  Of course, they are too evil to simply compete for tag team titles. They'd have no interest in that. They'd only defend their titles in Casket, First Blood, and Hell Fire (whatever they were called) matches, putting up the titles in exchange for the opponents' livelihoods. 

They would destroy each and every competitor on SmackDown and ECW, "sacrificing" their lives/souls at the conclusion of the match. Come Armageddon, they would challenge the Legacy (who would still have the tag titles at this point), and be the first team to possess the championships of both shows. 

They could also recruit the FCW wrestlers that were originally supposed to feud them (Black Pain and two others) and form a faction that will challenge the likes of Legacy, eventually making Legacy the faces and creating a DeGeneration X vs. The Corporation war.  Wow, I'm reaching.

So that's what I would love to see from the WWE in 2009.  I'm not saying it can or will happen, just that I would greatly appreciate it. Fans deserve the old school things that made wrestling great (feuding stables, athelticism, dynasty-like champions fans can stand) with the fresh talent of this generation.

WWE fans, here's to 2009 and the Road to Wrestlemania.