It’s a new year for WWE and New Japan closes out another fantastic year of wrestling.
Happy New Year everyone, my cohort and I both hope you all had a happy holidays and now we’re both back to business!
1) This past Tuesday we got to see a surprise heel turn from Dolph Ziggler. What do you see becoming of this?
Corey: I LOVED it! Absolutely loved it and from the way the crowd popped for it I think they loved it as well. Also I actually prefer Dolph as a heel (it also makes more sense since his twitter name is @HEELZiggler) and I think the next step could be a feud with Kalisto in which those two could easily put on a 4-star match. Now he also attacked Apollo Crews as well which could also mean a feud between those two which could be good for Crews because even though he’s great in the ring he lacks personality and having a feud with a vet like Dolph could do wonders for Crews.
Josh: Great move and great timing. Ziggler’s biggest career push came as a heel and while his work as a face is really solid, his natural brashness and ‘I’m always going to steal the show’ shtick works better as a heel. I’m more than ready to see what he can do with the rest of the Smackdown roster and maybe we’ll get another Cena and Ziggler feud too.
2) After a well fought match on this weeks Smackdown we saw Dean Ambrose recapture the Intercontinental Championship from The Miz. Do you see a long term feud coming out of this?
Corey: Possibly. I wouldn’t mind a feud between these two, but as of late The Miz has been on a roll so there’s a chance this could be WWE’s way of getting him into the main event now after the stellar year he’s had. Time will tell but I do know I would LOVE to see The Miz have another WrestleMania moment.
Josh: Yes. There’s a lot of untapped potential left in this story and it bleeds real life dynamics as well. Could we see Renee Young get involved in a match down the line? Absolutely, she’s said as much in interviews that she would be willing to compete in the ring in the right scenario and what better way to get involved in a match than against a veteran like Maryse in a mixed-tag setting.
3) Looking at NXT we’re seeing for the NXT Takeover: San Antonio event the main event will be Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode. But as of this week Chris Hero, known as Kassius Ohno in NXT, has returned and seemingly thrown his name into the NXT Championship picture. What would you make of this?
Corey: For one I’ll say that I am beyond excited for Roode vs Nakamura which is going to be amazing, but now with the addition of Ohno it could later be a triple threat between the three or it could mean that Nakamura will eventually drop the title to one of the two which will lead to his main roster debut.
Josh: Firstly, welcome back Kassius Ohno! I’d say they have some big things planned as the WWE’s YouTube was filled with old Kassius Ohno matches from 2013 so fans could get reacquainted. If I’m going to read the tea leaves I think it may mean that Bobby Roode could be main roster bound. Could we see Roode do double duty over Royal Rumble weekend? I’d say it’s a real possibility.
4) Wrestle Kingdom 11 was this past week and we saw Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kenny Omega in the main event. What were your thoughts on the event?
Corey: The card as a whole was pretty good but the last 4 matches … dear lord its going to be extremely hard to top what those men did ESPECIALLY Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada. This was easily a 5-star match. When Omega took that back body drop to the outside my jaw dropped. Honestly I wish Omega would have won but the match was so good I’m not even bothered.
Josh: As is typical with New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom show it was a stellar display of in-ring prowess. The main event was a near hour long piece of perfection. And there were some very interesting comments from Omega on Twitter after the match that he is stepping away from Japan for a while. Omega has held firm to not return to WWE after his last stint in developmental, but with many changes over the years and several of his longtime friends already with the company, it’s hard not to wonder if Kenny Omega could appear in a WWE ring sometime soon.
Additional notes:
Corey:
– I wish the Women’s Division had some type of Royal Rumble for them as well.
– I really wish that New Day would stay off of tv for a few weeks and then return as heels. I think they’re still great but just operate better as heels.
– A dream scenario of mine would be for Cena to win the title at the Rumble and Undertaker return to win the Rumble match and go on to have his final match be at Mania to defeat Cena for the title and then retire that same night. It would never happen but I can dream can’t I?
Josh:
– Gotta imagine there’s a few more WWE signings coming in the near future. As the WWE continues it’s international expansion and more wrestling shows get added to the Network there is definite need to fill these shows with talent. Most of which is going to be international. Expect to see some familiar faces from ROH or New Japan popping up on WWE television soon.
– Speaking of international talent, I’ve started my deep dive of British wrestling to prepare for next week’s United Kingdom tournament and if they give these guys the same freedom the Cruiserweight Classic had then it’s going to be the wildest two-day tournament we’ve ever seen.
Corey Stewart
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