WWE/TNA: My Top 10 Moments of the Week (12/18-12/23)

This was another great week to be a wrestling fan.

WWE TLC was a great pay-per-view, and Raw and SmackDown both presented good shows.

TNA Wrestling presented another strong episode of Impact Wrestling as well.

Overall, both companies are going out with a bang as 2012 draws closer.

I have a feeling that next week will be a phenomenal week of wrestling, but we won’t find out about that until it happens.

Quite a bit happened this week, though, but only 10 moments can make the cut.

Here are my top 10 moments of the week!

10. Eric Young and ODB

Thanks to the Wild Card Tournament, Eric Young and ODB are now a team.

The lead up to their tournament match makes me believe that Young and ODB could be together for a while.

It started with them having dinner in some restaurant. Young was getting jealous when other men looked at her and even locked up with the waiter because of that.

EY thought it was a date, but ODB kept shooting him down.

That led to him going into the kitchen and grabbing some random items to give to her as a gift.

During their match with Shannon Moore and Anarquia, Young’s unorthodox style meshed well with ODB. Not only that, but they won their match and advanced to the semifinals.

They make a great pairing and could be an entertaining version of ODB and Cody Deaner.

I can’t wait to see where this is going.

9. Prophetless

 “I cannot help you anymore. Do you understand?”

The latest video in the “It Begins” saga was entitled “Prophetless” and was silent in terms of speech for the first 30 seconds.

Every video we’ve seen featured the little boy speaking about a prophet who would be returning to claim what was his.

A little girl would soon show up but wouldn’t say a word. She just stood there and looked over the boy’s shoulder.

Last week we learned that she held the key to the mystery person’s identity, but this week everything changed.

The boy stayed in the corner for each shot we saw him in and the little girl looked a bit menacing.

She threw the notebook the boy was writing in on the floor and she finally spoke up. During the shot of the notebook on the floor, we see a name crossed out with an X.

Some say that it says “Chris” and that the X resembles the one CM Punk uses on his wrist tape.

It could be, but at the same time it could not be.

The girl seems to be punishing the boy for telling us that someone was coming. This just got even more interesting than it already was.

Next week will be the final video. Will we find out who it is, or will we have to wait until the second day of 2012?

8. Zema Ion vs. Anthony Nese: Match 2 of a Best-of-3 Series

Zema Ion and Anthony Nese put on another great match here with some very good, fast-paced, high-flying action.

These two performed a great series of moves throughout the whole thing, which made for a very entertaining match.

Both wrestlers are real spectacles in the ring and are the future of the X-Division.

The series is now tied and match three will take place next week. The winner joins Austin Aries, Kid Kash and Jesse Sorenson in a fatal-four way X-Division Championship match.

With the performances these two are putting on, either one will be a great addition to the match.

I do feel, though, that Ion has a lot more charisma then Nese and because of this, I think he’ll reach real heights in the division compared to Nese.

I have no doubt in my mind that both will go far in the division, but Ion will go farther.

It’s because of that I hope to see Zema Ion win this series.

7. Tie: Cody Rhodes vs. Zack Ryder and Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

I know I said only 10 moments could make the cut, but I couldn’t decide which of these matches I liked the best.

Rhodes vs. Ryder was a good match between two great talents.

The match had some nice back-and-forth action and had a very good pace to it.

Seeing Booker T sing “Cody the Red Nosed Reindeer” was quite entertaining and added to an already entertaining match.

Both Rhodes and Ryder are destined for great things in WWE.

If Cody Rhodes is not WWE or World Champion sometime next year, it’ll be very disappointing.

I don’t see Ryder being a World Champion anytime soon, but he will be a solid mid-card wrestler much like Christian was years ago.

Maybe one day he’ll be a World Champion but not for a couple of years.

If he’s able to keep this momentum and keep having good matches, then anything is possible.

I’d like to see these two have a legit feud. I feel it could be a great feud and their matches would be phenomenal.

Bryan and Ziggler also had a hell of a match.

It featured a good pace with some nice back-and-forth action.

The back drop from the top rope that Bryan delivered to Ziggler was really cool to see.

Bryan is proving why he deserves that title, and Ziggler is proving he deserves to be in the main event.

After his feud with Ryder is over, I can see Ziggler challenging a World Champion.

Perhaps we’ll be getting a Bryan/Ziggler feud over the title if Bryan keeps it long enough.

2012 is really looking great right now!

6. Kane Attacks John Cena Again

I was incredibly excited for the return of Kane. His first night back was in no way a disappointment, and his second night gave the fans a glimpse of why Kane was after John Cena.

On Monday Night Raw, Cena was in the ring talking like he usually does and brought up Kane. That brought out Mark Henry, who wanted to induct Cena into his Hall of Pain.

Henry didn’t get the chance, as the fire appeared on the stage and Kane’s music started to play.

He walked out with the same metal mask as before and chased off Henry before turning his sights on Cena.

I liked the close up of Cena as Kane took off the first mask. He gave a big gulp and looked quite worried. It’s not often that the face of the WWE is scared of someone.

Kane entered the ring but Cena clotheslined him out. Kane then pulled him to the outside and put his hand over Cena’s face.

It looked kind of weird, but I guess he was trying to smother Cena.

As Cena was lying on the announce table, Kane ripped off his “Rise Above Hate” shirt and left with it.

I found it strange that Kane would leave with Cena’s shirt of all things.

Perhaps this is a clue as to why Kane is attacking Cena.

If Kane starts speaking again, will he say that he did “rise above hate,” but it only made the voices louder?

I am very interested to see where it goes from here!

5. CM Punk, Daniel Bryan and Zack Ryder vs. Miz, Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler

Monday Night Raw’s main event saw the three face champions take on three of the losers from TLC.

Even before the match started, I knew we were in for a show. The three champions all made their entrances through the crowd, celebrating with the fans that got them where they are today.

The match itself was very good. There wasn’t a dull moment as these six superstars went at it.

The wrestling was excellent and they told a story in the ring.

The faces are on a role and it seems like there’s no stopping them.

While he’s still feuding Ryder, Ziggler is certainly on his way to the main event. He’s really proving himself in the ring with the main event stars.

The Ryder Revolution is here and the mid-card will be his playground.

CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are quite deserving of those world titles and their in-ring ability alone is proof of that.

They, along with the other stars in this match, put on a great show here.

These six superstars are not the future of the company. The future is now and with these six leading the way, 2012 is looking bright for the WWE.

4. Jeff Hardy and Sting vs. Bobby Roode and Bully Ray: Street Fight

I thought this was a great match that saw Hardy and Sting pick up the victory when Hardy put Roode through a table with a top rope splash.

It was very physical—the way a street fight should be.

While Sting still looked great competing in the ring, I hope he remains mainly as the authority figure, as it really is time for him to step aside.

It’ll be nice to see him get in the ring from time to time, but he needs to let others have the spot he’s had in TNA for years.

Bully Ray was finally allowed to be Bully Ray again, and his heel persona was knocked up a couple of notches here. His character has been dragging as of late due to his cowardice when it came to Abyss, so it was good seeing him beat someone down.

If TNA can keep him going strong as a heel into 2012, I can see him as World Champion by the summer.

Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy are two of the best workers in TNA right now and this match showed that. Their match at Genesis should be great, but I don’t think Hardy is ready to have the title back yet.

This was a great way to end a good episode of Impact Wrestling, and I can’t wait for next week.

3. Zack Ryder Wins the United States Championship

Do I really have to explain why this is in my top 10?

Zack Ryder is a superstar that literally clawed his way to the top.

After being an Edgehead with Curt Hawkins, Ryder became nothing more than a jobber that appeared at house shows.

He came up with the Long Island Iced Z gimmick himself and shot himself to superstardom with his YouTube show Z! True Long Island Story as well as Twitter account.

WWE finally took notice of the fanbase he was generating and started his push. Since Ryder did the creative team’s work for them, this is a push they couldn’t fail at.

After months of trying to capture the title, Zack Ryder is the new United States champion!

The Ryder Revolution has begun! Woo woo woo, you know it!

2. The TLC Match

This was a tables, ladders and chairs match at its finest.

It was filled with good wrestling and some great spots featuring all three weapons.

All three superstars put on great performances here and CM Punk was, of course, the star of the match.

The spot with Ricardo Rodriguez was quite awesome and was one of many good spots throughout the match.

I wasn’t surprised that Punk retained, but I’m quite glad that he did.

The Miz is in no way ready to hold the title again, and I highly doubt Alberto Del Rio will ever hold the title again.

This was a great match, though, and I hope it means good things for the WWE Championship picture.

1. Daniel Bryan Wins the World Heavyweight Championship

Bryan Danielson was an indy sensation. He was one of the best wrestlers on the independent circuit and was a huge star in Ring of Honor Wrestling.

His fans were excited when he was signed by WWE and couldn’t wait until he became a superstar.

Unfortunately, he was stuck on NXT and was fired the day after the Nexus storyline began.

He was thankfully brought back, but he pretty much became a jobber after losing the United States Championship.

Hope shot up after winning the Money in the Bank, but he once again began jobbing.

When world champion Mark Henry started screwing with him, there was speculation that he would cash in. He did, but Teddy Long took it away from him.

At TLC, Bryan did it again, this time on the new champion, the Big Show.

Daniel Bryan is the new World Heavyweight Champion and the future is looking bright for WWE.