WWE 2011 Edition: What Was the Point of That?

Hello my fellow Bleacher Reporters.

The end of 2011 is near, and it is around that time again that we look back on some things that either didn't make sense or in the long run was put to no use.

Most fans, internet and casual, agree that the year 2011 in all is one of the best years in wrestling. From the rise of CM Punk to the revival of the mid-card division and talents such as Zack Ryder, 2011 proved to be a very notable time for all wrestling fans.

However, there were still some moments (actually, plenty of them), that made you go "WWE, what was the point of that?"

Now let's examine and poke fun at those moments...

What Was the Point of CM Punk Leading Nexus?

With Punk's successful second half of the year, this storyline seems to already be buried in the back of people's minds.

However, to me, it was the angle that almost ran Punk out of the WWE in the first place.

When CM Punk joined Nexus as leader and replaced Wade Barrett, I remember a lot of fans on here saying it was the best thing for both sides.

But when Punk first came to the group, he pretty much buried the group himself—more than John Cena ever did. He forced the group to torture themselves where they seemed more like an immature Greek sorority rather than a dominating stable.

It did no favors for the pushes of its young stars Michael McGillicutty and David Otunga who would go on to have tag team title reign, but they were ignored to the point that even Jerry Lawler called them out on their lack of personality.

Mason Ryan is a guy who people are still very iffy on. He has the look but is still very green in the ring, and I can tell WWE notices that and are still hesitant to give him the go ahead.

CM Punk damn near was reduced to jobber status with this storyline. Granted, it produced a noteworthy feud with Orton, but he really didn't need Nexus for that anyways.

All in all, thank God CM Punk went on his own again and produced one of the best promos ever cut in WWE history.

What Was the Point of Alex Riley?

Alex Riley is another case of a guy who has the looks, but his talent is questioned.

Early 2011 witnessed The Miz taking Alex Riley under his wing.

While Alex Riley did his job in helping Miz get heat, I honestly don't think the job was done of helping Riley get over as a young, bright star. Riley was barely used in an in-ring capacity, and when he was it was jobbing for Miz's sake.

Already, there was a snag.

Then, Alex Riley turned face after The Miz fired him and started to show more personality and character.

Many believed Alex Riley was on the way to becoming the next face of the company. He has the appearance, he cut promos and he was looking credible in the ring.

However, WWE halted on his push fast after several botched matches.

In one way, I can't say I blame them. You need a lot more than good looks and a cliche persona in order to get over with the fans.

But, I also believe his run with Miz didn't really do enough for him to go out on his own or help him to become a main go-to guy in the first place.

In addition, I think that Riley's character was cliche and grew a little stale. A guy in a suit smiling all the time tends to wear thin unless they have to humor and Rock-like mic skills to back it up.

Hopefully in 2012, he will not be so green in the ring and will get a character makeover.

But for now, A-Ry is in A-Doghouse.

What Was the Point of the Corre?

Earlier, we touched on the New Nexus and how that group did nothing for the members involved.

A "spin off" even more pointless was the formation of The Corre.

When Wade Barrett was kicked out of Nexus, he was shipped to Smackdown. Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater followed, and the group, along with Ezekiel Jackson, went on to form The Corre.

The only noteworthy feud I can even remember was the feud against Big Show, and even that feud I only remember in bits and pieces.

For Wade Barrett, I believe this was detrimental to him. Barrett is a guy who has enough talent that he really doesn't need a group. There was a reason why he was the leader of Nexus in the first place. He has the mic skills, charisma and the in-ring ability.

But, for them to automatically make him the leaders of a Nexus rip-off showed that WWE didn't believe that Barrett could stand on his own.

And to add insult to injury, Jackson was added to the group. He was supposed to be the enforcer of the group, but Jackson is a guy who has limited personality and his in-ring skills aren't all that special.

What made it even more stupid was that Jackson was just getting from a face turn, just to turn heel, and then he turned face again when the Corre didn't last that long.

The group didn't do any favors for Heath Slater (who will probably be released soon) and Justin Gabriel.

For these reasons, I shall dub this group "The Slorre".

What Was the Point of the Michael Cole/ Jerry Lawler Feud?

This is a feud deserving a special place in fans' hatred.

Michael Cole vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler began due to the simple fact that everyone realized how much of a pain Michael Cole was.

Too bad a pointless feud with a veteran commentator wasn't needed to further that point.

But we got it, and we got it served to us with a crappy showing at Wrestlemania.

Did a Michael Cole vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler really need to happen at the "Grandest Stage of Them All"? That spot should've been used to showcase more talent or to give the Divas, who have talent, a credible match.

Anything would've been better than what we got here.

Sure, it may have been a treat for some of us to see a foot stuck in Cole's mouth—though he does that himself all the time—but in the end, it all just needed to disappear from our television screens.

And what was the purpose of it all anyways? If Jerry Lawler and Cole ended up going back to commentating together and doing the same ole routine,then the feud didn't enhance or further anything.

Yeah, I'm ready to move on from this already...

What Was the Point of Sin Cara?

Out of all the topics, this is one that I've been busting my chops to get an opinion on.

Let's be honest with ourselves: The Sin Cara experiment as of now is a failure.

When it became clear that Rey Mysterio was getting older and winding down in his career, WWE searched for a new Mexican-masked hero to take his place.

Enter Sin Cara, originally played by Mistico, a guy with immense popularity in his homeland as being one of the best luchador wrestlers.

Too bad we haven't gotten much of that since he's been in America.

For one, evident by the clip you see here, Mistico's Sin Cara is absolutely clueless when it comes to wrestling WWE-style. I haven't seen any of his Mexico promotion work, but what I've seen here has led me to label Sin Cara "Sin Botcha."

His timing is very off and he is God-awful with his spots. To be honest, WWE is lucky that Sin Cara has only hurt himself and not anyone else.

Then, as it turns out, Mistico grew somewhat of a bad reputation backstage for his botches and his attitude.

It certainly didn't work in his favor when he was suspended for violating the Wellness Policy, and then proceeded to go back to Mexico and put WWE on blast about his violation in an attempt to clear his name.

The character was taken over by Hunico. He, unlike Mistico, was a bigger guy who actually can speak English.

Too bad even he showed some rough patches. Apparently, one of his matches on Smackdown had to be re-taped due to him botching too much.

All of these hurdles led to Sin Cara vs. Sin Cara feud when Mistico returned. But in all honesty, watch that feud and check out the dead silences the matches received from the crowd.

No one knew who to root for.

And then, right after the feud was over and Mistico took over reigns as Sin Cara again, he got injured at Survivor Series.

It was planned that for next year's Wrestlemania there was to be a Sin Cara vs. Rey Mysterio match. However, seeing as how both guys are injured for a long time, that probably isn't happening.

In summary, the Sin Cara experiment has failed and did absolutely nothing that WWE wanted it to do.

My suggestion? Cut their losses with Cara. If by the time the dude gets back and still can't pull off decent spots and injures someone else in the process, then it's not worth the hassle anymore.

What Was the Point of Kevin Nash?

Kevin Nash returned as Diesel in the 2011 Royal Rumble to a huge crowd reaction. People were nostalgic to see Big Daddy Cool back.

But when he returned again as himself, it set up a storyline full of blunders, halts and pointlessness.

Nash returned in order to help his former Kliq friend Triple H, who was in charge of Raw. Triple H at the time was dealing with a rebel in CM Punk who was focused on changing the WWE.

In the beginning, it seemed as if this was all leading up to something bigger. There was a conspiracy and Nash had something to do with.

However, all of this slowly began to wither when too much focus was put on Nash and how he felt and whatnot. His God-awful whining promos made Bret "The Hitman" Hart look like Ric Flair when it came to mic skills. It literally bored people to tears.

And then, Nash slowly made his return to the ring. But even that was marred by a horribly botched power-bomb that could've done some serious damage to Triple H, who already has dealt with a plethora of injuries.

The whole Kevin Nash bit grew very tiresome to the point where it was even reported that Triple H backstage wasn't even pleased with how the feud was panning out.

Hopefully, their match at Tables, Ladders, and Chairs will be the last time we see anything of Nash. In all honesty, he should stay backstage and be more of a presence there—whether he likes it or not.

In all, the whole Nash saga served no purpose at all. It didn't fuel "The Conspiracy," and he was never tied back into the angles with Awesome Truth or CM Punk.

Punk was right on the money when he said that when Nash comes on, channels on flat-screens start changing with clicks of remotes across the world.

What Was the Point of Alberto Del Rio's Title Reigns?

Last but not least, we shall examine the debacle that was Alberto Del Rio and the WWE championship.

The year 2011 witnessed the fast rise of the Mexican aristocrat. With his personal ring announcer Ricardo by his side, Alberto Del Rio rose the heel ranks. He was blessed with the mic skills and his  wrestling abilities. Unlike Cara, he adapted to the WWE style of wrestling much more easily.

However, WWE backstage heads went back and forth on exactly when to give Del Rio the title in the first place. The sudden rise of CM Punk coupled with the retirement of Edge put them between a rock and a hard place when it came to Del Rio.

Del Rio won Raw's Money in the Bank Ladder match and went on to cash in and win the title at Summerslam with the help of Kevin Nash.

However, his first title reign was overshadowed by Punk and declining ratings.

He only held the title for a month before it immediately switched hands to John Cena in order to boost the ratings. Clearly, Del Rio's light was burning fast.

Del Rio went on to regain the title, but then that title reign witnessed more overshadowing and faulty booking of the champ, causing him to lose the credibility he had as a rising star earlier this year.

Maybe Del Rio fulfilled his destiny too soon. It killed any more progression that could've been made.

But I am one who believes that Del Rio is another case of a midcarder who may have gotten the strap too soon just to be overshadowed by bigger story lines around him. It happened with Miz too when Cena was feuding with The Rock.

Usually, a WWE Championship reign is supposed to firmly established that guy as THE GUY.

However, all it did for Del Rio was demote him even more and caused people to lose faith in him and his power as a main eventer.

Much like Riley, I believe Del Rio needs a reboot of sorts. Send him back to mid-card and help him gain some momentum again. Tweak his character a bit to have his character follow a new purpose since he has already fulfilled his "destiny" of winning a WWE championship.

And stop with the faulty booking. One minute Del Rio wins clean and looks very credible, and then the next minute he can't do squat and Ricardo's foolishness has to save him.

With Del Rio, it's time to go back to the drawing board.

Conclusion

These were the story lines, angles and personalities that I feel disappointed in the year 2011.

It has been a year where a lot of the unexpected has happened. WWE has taken us on a ride that will be remembered for years to come.

They have to capitalize on that ride though, which means improving on the topics that I've touched on here.

While some of these angles and story lines may have not been the worst of the worst, they were not up to par with what many of us were hoping and expecting. They weren't even up to par with what WWE was expecting themselves.

Hopefully, there will be less of these disappointments in the year 2012.

After all, we gotta go out bigger in the Doomsday year, right?