Royal Rumble Picks

With the Royal Rumble coming up in a weeks time, it's that time of year when all wrestling fans start dipping into their piggy banks and heading down to the bookies to put money on who they think will win the Royal Rumble.  Let us take a look at the favourites and I will make my final pick at the end.

Sheamus

A popular pick for many, Sheamus appears to be one of the frontrunners to win the Rumble this year.  Having largely floundered around Smackdown, squashing everything in his way, Sheamus has had no notable feud and barely challenged for the World Heavyweight Title since he has been drafted to Smackdown - something everybody expected from him this year. The former two-time WWE champion seems to be a main event star of the future for WWE, but I don't think they're going to give him a 'Mania title match just yet.

Wade Barrett

Like Sheamus, Barrett has been mostly directionless since he was drafted to Smackdown - that was until his rivalry with Randy Orton. Appearing regularly on both Raw and Smackdown every week as of late, Barrett seems like he is in the favour of the higher-ups in WWE at the moment and after coming off strong in his feud with Randy Orton, there is a case to be made that he will be the winner of the Royal Rumble this year.  However, like Sheamus, I don't think Barrett will be involved in the title match at WrestleMania this year - my prediction is that Sheamus will fight Wade Barrett in a grudge match at the biggest PPV of the year.

Randy Orton

The hometown hero is surely the odds on favourite to win, right? Don't expect it.  Randy Orton is already a Royal Rumble winner, having won the match in 2009, and though we have seen others win the Rumble two or even three times in the past, Orton doesn't need this win to elevate his career any further right now. Of course, if you think back to the draft, you could believe promises could have been made to Orton that he would be in one of the main events of WrestleMania the followng year. Despite being the company's second biggest draw, Orton was coming off the back of a second WrestleMania in a row in were he fought a mid-card match and then had the slap in the face of being drafted to the B-show, Smackdown.  I still think Orton will be in a World Title match at WrestleMania, but I believe he will be going in as champion - perhaps against..

Cody Rhodes

...the Intercontinental champion, Cody Rhodes. But is Cody Rhodes a serious pick to win the Royal Rumble? It seems as though a feud with Goldust is on the cards at the moment, and though his elder brother wanted to have that match at WrestleMania, it could easily be over and done with by Elimination Chamber. Royal Rumble winners tend to have filler matches at Elimination Chamber PPV between the Rumble and WrestleMania to give them heat going into their big match, such as Alberto Del Rio last year beating Kofi Kingston.  While Cody Rhodes is on the brink of becoming a bonafide main eventer in WWE, he is definitely a dark horse for the Royal Rumble.  Though the theme tune of the PPV is indeed "Dark Horses" - perhaps a subtle clue?

Undertaker

If the gong were to chime after a countdown during the Royal Rumble match, nobody would see it coming and the WWE fans would go crazy.  It is around this time every year that Undertaker makes his bombastic return to the WWE for his annual WrestleMania match and doing it at the Rumble would be a huge shocker. The Rumble is always full of surprises and this would be a big one - but Undertaker winning the Rumble? While there is a possibility he could return, I can't see him winning the thing as he doesn't need to be fighting for a title at WrestleMania..

Chris Jericho

..and neither does the recently returned Chris Jericho.  Nobody can truly predict what is going to happen with Y2J, but one popular theory is that he will win the Rumble and face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, putting over Punk in the process and elevating him to being a true main eventer. While that would make for a great feud, I think WWE has different plans for Jericho. Though the mystery videos haven't been mentioned since his return as of yet, the WWE wouldn't go to all the trouble of making those clips if they did not have any meaning. I think there is a stronger possibility that Jericho will go on to face Undertaker at WrestleMania, rather than CM Punk - the January 2nd videos seemed to imply a feud with 'Taker more than Punk, with many being fooled into believing it could even be videos promoting the return of Undertaker.

Alberto Del Rio

Amongst the WWE fans, all the above mentioned names are being thrown around as possibilities to win the Royal Rumble this year, but Alberto Del Rio, last year's winner, is one name that is hardly getting a mention. Though he has only been off TV for a couple of weeks, it's almost as if he has been away forever, with everybody seeming to have forgotten that he even exists. Though out with an injury, reports indicated he would be back around the time of the Royal Rumble and so it is likely he will be making his return as a surprise entrant. Will he go on to win it for the second year in a row, though? It is likely CM Punk will be headlining the WWE title match at WrestleMania this year, as Raw's top babyface behind John Cena and I can't imagine the Del Rio-Punk feud that ended a month or so ago reigniting already.

John Cena

John Cena would be a shocking and dramatic pick to win the Royal Rumble and one that would piss many fans off, as Cena is already booked to face The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania. Why would he win the Royal Rumble? Say he wins the Rumble and uses his shot as a means of facing CM Punk for the WWE title before WrestleMania, as to defend the gold against Rock in their super main event. Cena did allude to facing Rock for the WWE title just under a year ago, after WrestleMania, but rarely since then has it been mentioned as a possibility. The popular thinking is that the Cena-Rock match does not need the WWE title for it to be any bigger, but it is also a known fact that Vince McMahon prefers for the final match of the night to be a WWE title match - as nothing should be bigger than the WWE title. It is an outside chance, but not completely impossible.

Dolph Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, Mark Henry, Big Show or CM Punk

It almost went unnoticed, but recently WWE announced that competitors involved in title matches this year will be eligible for participation in the Royal Rumble event. This leaves a whole host of big name main eventers that could be involved in the match. Daniel Bryan or CM Punk could even lose their titles and then go on to win the Rumble that very night, booking themselves into a main event at the Rumble. While this is a chance, I'd guess that WWE are only doing this to bring more star power to the Rumble, than to throw any spanners into the works.

My Pick - The Miz

Since Survivor Series I have believed that The Miz would face CM Punk at WrestleMania for the WWE title, after headlining arguably the second biggest PPV of 2011 against The Rock, as well as headlining WrestleMania earlier in the year.  I just did not know exactly how they would get to that point, but now I'm pretty confident in my assumption that The Miz is going to win the Royal Rumble and go on to face (and beat) CM Punk for the WWE title at WrestleMania 28.

WWE would not invest so much time and effort into The Miz over the course of 2011 if they didn't have a big match planned for him at WrestleMania.  Of course, a match with R-Truth is a possibility at this point, but I believe that WWE has much grander plans than that for the Awesome One.  Like I said in my WrestleMania article, I think Miz and Punk could pull of a show-stealing match at 'Mania.  Both are good workers and great on the mic and we have yet to see any real feud between the two except for the light, inconsequential feud going into TLC.

One other reason is that The Miz has had barely any screen time as of late. Surely that means he won't be winning this year then? To me, it's a red herring from WWE - the Rumble is always full of surprises, and this year I think The Miz will be the surprise pick to win.

Super 20 - 2012, Week 4

Super 20 - the top 20 wrestlers this week in wrestling.

Week 4 of 2012

A revolutionary week this week, as 11 newcomers make it into the chart, some returning faces, a couple of brand new stars and the very first ever NXT entries.  Read on to find out...

20 new		Titus O'Neil After a decent match with Darren Young, Titus O'Neil cut a hilarious and random heel swerve promo for seemingly no reason.  The first ever NXT entry onto the prestigious Super 20.
19 new		Mickie James A great match with Madison Rayne this week on Impact, TNA knockouts keep showing the WWE barbie dolls how it's done.  Mickie James is probably the best female in-ring worker around, an underrated talent.
18 new		Jack Swagger That two minutes of Swagger beating the crap out of Zack Ryder and then pinning him to steal the U.S. title was one of the most satisfying things on Raw as of late.  About time that farsical run came to an end.  The U.S. title suits Swagger perfectly.
17 new		Vickie Guerrero If you didn't see Vickie Guerrero daning on this week's episode of Smackdown make sure you find it on Youtube. She's had some funny moments in her career, but this was amongst the best of them. She also played her part well on Raw in the opening promo, laughing in Mick Foley's face as Laurinaitis told him he couldn't be in the Rumble.
16 -13		Gunner A big win over AJ Styles for Gunner this week on Impact, but unfortunately no DDT to the concrete.
15 +2		Cody Rhodes After posting my Top 5 Hornswoggle moments article this week, I got a kick out of Cody Rhodes going after the little troll and beating on him until Justin Gabriel made the save. They had a decent five minute match, Cody showing how talented he is in the ring as always.
14 -10		Chris Jericho Jericho falls down 10 places, but his performance on Raw was still gold, walking out in the middle of the tag team match after hyping up the crowd. Still no idea where this is all leading to, it's keeping us all glued to find out week after week - great writing
13 new		Eric Young EY was hilarious as usual and his "match" with Angelina Love. He keeps finding news ways to make his grapple spot funny, even though we've all seen it 100 times already. His chemistry with ODB is amazing, they should become a legit tag team.
12 +3		Sting The boss of Impact was great in his role as GM, as he has been every week the last couple of months. A feud with Bully Ray could make for some great matches and promos.
11 +3		Mark Henry The WSM running down Teddy Long and his Vegas wheel on Smackdown was priceless. His match with Bryan wasn't so good, but that was down to bad booking more than anything. Desperate to see Henry take the gold against Bryan and Big Show at the Rumble - he deserves to main event WrestleMania.
10 new		R-Truth As I go through the list it feels like there were lots of great comedy segments in wrestling this week.  Truth's photoshop slideshow at Disneyland was brilliant, and the "I'm not even sure if that's PG" line was hysterical. I though R-Truth as a babyface might be terrible but it's actually turning out better than him as a heel.
9 new		Garrett Bischoff The training video of Garrett Bischoff on Impact this week was hilarious and epic, channelling the spirit of Rocky Balboa and Tony Montana with a cheesy 80's movie style montage. Just who is Bischoff's trainer?
8 new		Sheamus Sheamus and Wade Barrett put on a spectacle of a match on Smackdown this week and one of the best TV matches in a while, with their tables match. Less leprchaun and Irish comedy and more intensity like this from Sheamus and he will find a regular spot in the illustrious Super 20.
7 new		Wade Barrett Barrett just about gets the nod over Sheamus, but he had the benefit of enjoying the previously mentioned promo with R-Truth to get him there. The win over the Irish fella helps too. He seems like one of the odds on favourites to win the Royal Rumble in a few weeks.
6 new		Dolph Ziggler Mr. Ziggles has truly arrived. His promo destroying Mick Foley was incredible and for the first time ever Ziggler felt like a bonafide main eventer, with the mic skills to match his stellar in-ring work.
5 +13		John Cena Cena showed a side of him we haven't seen for a long time this week on Raw, physically decimating Jack Swagger in revenge for his assault and title win over Zack Ryder earlier in the night. He looked great as the pissed off tough guy and even showed heelish tendencies in his assault, Swagger coming off as kind of sympathetic. The Rise Above Hate angle continues, but where will it lead to?
4 -2		James Storm It's stupid that James Storm had to fight another #1 contendership match this week - this time against Jeff Hardy - but nevertheless Storm looked like a legit main event star on the mic and in the ring. He has it all to be the lead face of TNA and take them to next level, I believe - as I wrote in this article.
3 -2		Bully Ray If Storm is the top face in TNA right now, then Bully Ray is the top heel. A fantastic backstage segment with Sting showed off a great chemistry with the Insane Icon and the post-main event beatdown on Storm and Hardy with his trademark chain was a mark-out moment. After a feud with Sting, Bully deserves a PPV world title match sometime in the next few months.
2 new		Michael Cole Any Cole Miners out there who didn't watch this weeks episode of NXT: Redemption - go and watch it. Cole was good on Smackdown and heeled it up to his usual high standards, but on NXT he gave a blistering performance. He destroyed everyone and everything associated with the show, all in typical Cole fashion and turned what would have been a terrible, unwatchable wedding angle between Johnny Curtis and Maxine into a work of art with the gift of his voice. Vintage.
1 +11		John Laurinaitis John Laurinaitis becomes the first ever star to win the historic Super 20 for a second time, after a blistering performance on Raw. If the Ziggler-Punk title match at the Rumble had no heat going into it, that all changed after Laurinaitis completely sold the match with his brilliant promo work. Credit has to be given to Punk for his promo against Laurinaitis also, and he narrowly misses out on the top 20 this week - but Laurinaitis was on another level with his end promo, finally snapping after weeks of back-and-forth with CM Punk. His mannerisms when he finally snapped were amazing and I had flashes of early Vince Mcmahon, fixing the tie and wiping down his suit. Decking Foley with the microphone was a touch of class to finish the show. If CM Punk can keep his game up, this feud could be the next Austin-McMahon - and hopefully they will have some matches down the line.

Top 5 Hornswoggle Moments

Narrowly missing out on the top 5, R-Truth bullies, then kicks Hornswoggle in the face

He is everyone's favourite leprechaun and has been a comedy staple of the WWE for over half a decade now, so lets recap the little man's top five moments so far in his storied wrestling career.

5. Mr Kennedy hits the Green Bay Plunge off a ladder on HornswoggleIn what may be Mr. Anderson/Kennedy... Anderson/Kennedy's finest ever WWE moment, the man from Green Bay, Wisconsin hit the Green Bay Plunge from a ladder on Hornswaggle at WrestleMania 23.


4. JBL rapes Hornswoggle
After showing the world how to cut a heel promo, JBL turns the lights out on Hornswoggle while he sits in a mini hospital bed and proceeds to do horrible things to him.. we can only imagine.


3. Triple H pedigrees Hornswoggle after the little man asked to be part of DXHornswaggle was begging DX to let him be their mascot for a long time, and we all took pleasure in DX telling the little man no.  Then when it looked like Triple H was about to let him don the green and the black and join together for a "suck it", Triple H hit the pedigree on our favourite wrestling leprechaun to the delight of all the fans watching in Madison Square Garden.


2. Dolph Ziggler chokes out Hornswoggle with the sleeperI think this is the moment that woke me up to just how good Dolph Ziggler could be.  Nothing is funnier than seeing Hornswoggle get decimated at the hands of evil heels, but being choked out?  That was just too funny.


1. JBL destroys Hornswoggle in front of his "dad", FinlayJBL enters the chart for a second time in what was probably the funniest moment in wrestling history.  He couldn't have done it without Finlay selling despair, handcuffed to the ropes.  Throwing the little fella into the cage especially got me.

Wrestler Of The Year 2011

This is it.  The grandaddy of them all, the most prestigious award in the wrestling world as we know it today - the WDA for Wrestler Of The Year.  All things are taken into consideration in this category - quality of wrestling, microphone work, notable angles, star power etc.

It has been a rollercoaster year for some - namely CM Punk.  While Punk was on course to be the wrestler of the year for a few weeks back in the breezy summer of 2011, or the "summer of Punk", his stock has plummeted since his disastrous face-turn.  So, with Punk out of the way (lets just say he was 11 for the sake of it) - just who will be named the wrestler of the year for 2011?  Let the countdown commence..

10. Sting
Sting over CM Punk, you ask already..  Sure - why not?  Sting main evented a plentitude of PPVs this year, and though many of those matches stunk, it was his presence as the Insane Icon on Impact that helps him land at number 10 in the Superstar Of The Year Award.  Though the critics panned the idea of a Sting-Hogan match from the moment it was implied back at Lockdown, the two veterans put on their boots and showed the rest of the TNA locker room how to work a match.  X Division take note - slow down, tell a story.  The crowd ate out of Hogan and Sting's collective hand that night at Bound For Glory as the culmination of an almost two year long angle came to a glorious end.  Of course, Hulk was the biggest part of this spectacle, but Sting was the guy who was getting the best out of him week in and week out on Impact.  The Dark Knight Joker rip-off gimmick, mixed with a random, camp accent was gold and one of the reasons to watch Impact over the last year.  His rumoured match with The Undertaker at the beginning of the year also proved how much of a presence Sting still has in the wrestling industry, in a year where young stars are beginning to make a name for themselves..

9. Dolph Ziggler
..such as Dolph Ziggler. Dolph started the year feuding with Edge for the World Heavyweight Title and ended it feuding with CM Punk for the WWE title.  Despite this, you could hardly look back at 2011 as a time Dolph Ziggler got a main event push.  He barely had any notable feuds on TV and his only in-depth storyline played out on Zack Ryder's Youtube show.  But it was on this Youtube show, and on Twitter, where Ziggler finally found the panache he had been missing to turn him from just a great worker to a great wrestler.  Regularly he outshone Ryder on his own show, with his unique promo style and assortment of smark-baiting catchphrases, #HEEL and "later... marks".  And if Ziggler was a good worker at the start of the year, he had become one of the best by the end of the year, with many arguing that he is the best on the current WWE roster.  Look for 2012 to be a big year for the #HEEL.

8. Kurt Angle
When Kurt Angle says he is the best wrestler in the world right now, it's pretty much an accurate statement.  There is nobody better in the ring than Kurt right now, but Randy Orton could make a claim to that in a year or two if he keeps progressing.  One of the funnier feuds of the year was Orton vs. Angle, starting with Orton stealing Angle's Olympic Slam move as one of his signatures.  After Angle went on a drunken rant on Twitter about the lack of respect Orton shown and then blamed it on a hacker, or his dog or something, he went and scored even - so he thought - by RKO'ing Jeff Jarrett in one of their great matches.  And how great those matches were, as Angle and Jarrett became THE feud of 2011 in TNA.  A feud that deep rooted in personal issues that dated back years and spread out over half a year, every match of theirs, every promo, regularly stole the show..

7. Jeff Jarrett
..but Jeff Jarrett just tips Angle in this countdown.  He came into the year strong on the back of his Double J Double M A gimmick, reintroducing the great Karen Jarrett who became one of the promo masters of the year.  But Jeff's promos were sublime too - regularly funny, if not hilarious, but when he needed to go serious he did so.  Everything about Jarrett and Angle just clicked - their wrestling skills, their promo styles, their size and weight and their whole history together.  Jarrett's vignettes at home as "Big Daddy" were gold, and surely a Youtube favourite for many years to come.  They also fought one of the best matches of the year, at Lockdown in the "Ultra Male Rules" match, which Jarrett won in his typically cowardly heel fashion.  Though many smarks had been calling for Jarrett to step down in recent years and give the young guys a chance, Double J went and proved himself to still be one of the best wrestlers in the business today.

6. Christian
Christian was one of the most successful heels in 2011, most notably for his extended feud with Randy Orton.  But let us not forget how joyous the moment of his first title win was at Extreme Rules, defeating Alberto Del Rio in an excellent ladder match.  That all came crashing down two days later, as Orton went over Christian for the gold on Smackdown - to the outrage of thousands of fans who went to Twitter in protest.  But how short-sighted and stupid they were, as Christian went on to become one of the best heels of 2011.  He evolved first into a character you actually wanted to see get the shit kicked out of by Randy Orton because of his genuinely annoying demeanor.  They went on to have some of the best matches of the year and regularly stole the card together, turning mediocre PPVs into good ones.  Then Christian became one of the funnier heels on the roster, starring in such classic segments as "Randy! Riley! Jimmy!!!" and frequently begging for "one more match".  Sadly getting injured at the end of the year, he still managed to milk that for all it was worth, sporting a comical neckbrace after suffering a "devastating" choke slam from the Big Show.  It remains to be seen if Christian can capitalise on his new found character and take it into the next year.

5. Bully Ray
It would seem bizzarre this time last year to say that Bully Ray would be one of the top 5 wrestlers of the year - and the best in TNA - but that is how far the former Team 3D star has come since his split with D-Von.  Not only has he got in the best shape of his life, not only is he cutting the best promos of his life, but he is working some of the best matches of his life since his TLC days in the WWE.  Great matches such as his Last Man Standing match with AJ Styles, or his hardcore bout with Mr. Anderson.  True, his better matches have come in the form of gimmick matches - but he is still one of the best right now when it comes to telling a story in the ring.  Which has been one of his greatest successes this year and has set him apart from his former tag team partner D-Von.  His promo work deserves an article all of its own though, how good it has been.  So good, in fact, he managed to turn the Philadelphia crowd against him with a masterful heel promo at Bound For Glory - essentially his homecoming crowd from his ECW days.  He rose up through the ranks and became the mouthpiece for Immortal, directing the likes of Jarrett, Steiner and others.  He even helped get over the unconvincing Robert Roode at the end of the year, losing to him in the finals of the BFG series as well as becoming his mouthpiece during his dodgy title run.  He goes into 2012 as one of TNA's golden assets, with rumoured WWE interest - so strong has his singles rise been in the last year.

4. Mark Henry
Just like it would seem bizarre to cite Bully Ray as one of the top 5 wrestlers of the year this time last year, that would be the case even more so when it came to Mark Henry.  Floundering around the mid-card in his big red kool-aid suit, Mark Henry was surely on the brink of being future endeavored.  Boring matches, no promo style to speak of and out of shape, Henry was 10 years past his prime.  But somebody saw something in Mark Henry and drafting him to Smackdown and turning him heel, he became one of the best draws of the year for WWE.  It is undeniable that the Smackdown ratings went up as Henry became the World Champ, in what was probably the best title run of the year.  Henry's in-ring work became good and he even had exciting matches with Big Show, in what could have easily been thought of as a nightmare feud before we got to see it in action.  Of course, Big Show deserves credit for his role and is also one of the more improved wrestlers of the year - but the fact Mark Henry came from nothing all the way to the top is the real success story.  His ad-libs during his entrance and his matches were the icing on the cake, as was his Hall of Pain.  Anyone else that would have sounded cheesy as hell, but for Henry it worked.  Watching Henry shatter the ankle of wrestler after wrestler was amazing, and taking out random members of WWE staff was also hilarious - such as throwing the sound guy over his desk, or laying out a cameraman with a chair.  Hopefully now Henry will go on to have one of the big matches at WrestleMania, perhaps a final match with Big Show to end the feud once and for all - he deserves it.

3. Cody Rhodes
Maybe not one year ago, but if you told me two years ago that Cody Rhodes would be were he is at now, again I would have laughed.  I remember when Cody first came to the WWE, getting slapped by Randy Orton on Raw, wearing yellow trunks.  His generic rock music entrance and tagging with Hardcore Holly - I thought, this kid sucks and the only reason he's got a job is because he's the son of Dusty Rhodes.  How wrong I was though, as Cody has gone on to become a legit main eventer.  I've talked about how well his character development has been already in prior award articles, from "Dashing" to "Undashing" to his current borderline-psycho thing he's got going on now.  His in-ring work has blossomed too, and his Beautiful Disaster kick/knee move is one of my favourites in wrestling right now.  His feud with Rey Mysterio held some of the better matches of the year, including one of the top 2 or 3 matches at WrestleMania and a brilliant falls count anywhere bout with Rey Mysterio at Extreme Rules.  Rhodes is in the process of bringing prestige back to the Intercontinental title, and after he is done with that he is bound to be ready for a main event push for the World Heavyweight title or the WWE title.  A feud with Randy Orton over either belt would be great...

2. Randy Orton
..because despite the fact it has been a relatively quiet year for the Apex Predator, Orton has cemented himself as perhaps the best worker in the world right now.  Even Bret Hart - a man all about the wrestling - came out to say Orton was the best in the business at the moment.  And he proved it time after time, putting on fantastic matches with seemingly everyone on the Smackdown roster - Christian, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Mark Henry and even one of the TV matches of the year with Kane in a long Smackdown main event.  He may not have the charisma or the energy that he did during his main event heel run on Raw a few years ago, but his reserved and cold style is a refreshing change to all the tag-hands smiling happy-go-lucky babyfaces in the WWE.  Of course, the smarks turned on him - especially during his feud with Christian - but regularly the boos in those matches turned to cheers as he regularly kept on working the best matches on the card, and so no "Lets go Randy, Randy sucks" chants broke out...

1. John Cena (Winner)
...which was really the story of the year for the undisputed wrestler of the year, John Cena.  Since The Rock returned in February and buried Cena in his comeback promo, the boos that were once eminating from 25-35% of the crowd became more in the region of 50-80% and occasionally 100% as we saw in Chicago at Money In The Bank.  Despite being the ultimate babyface in wrestling, Cena was getting the most heel heat in the business - an amount of heat even Michael Cole would be proud of.  But still, he was getting bigger babyface pops than anyone else too.  I attended a Raw TV taping this year and despite the fact half the crowd was wearing CM Punk shirts, everyone had come to chant "Lets go Cena, Cena sucks" before the show had even started, and long on into the night.

This whole reaction from the crowd from the moment Rock buried Cena was the catalyst for the paradigm shift we see in the WWE today.  The rise of CM Punk would not have come about if not for Cena to be the guy for him to play off, and how little credit does Cena get when it comes to talking about that feud.  His in-ring work has been brilliant and despite chants of "you can't wrestle" on the night of Money in the Bank, Cena and Punk together put on a clinic in what was the undisputed match of the year.  And how many other great matches there were too - Cena-Punk II at Summerslam, Cena-Mysterio for the WWE title on Raw and Cena-Miz for the WWE title on Raw.  But admittedly, Cena's PPV matches with Miz were all terrible.  His WrestleMania match was poorly booked and overshadowed by The Rock's presence, the I Quit match with The Miz was overshadowed by the fact that Cena is never going to say "I Quit", especially on a secondary PPV, and the triple threat cage match with Miz and Morrison was overshadowed by Bin Laden being captured and killed halfway through the event, taking the world's attention away from the match.  But Miz and Cena had their final great title match at last on Raw - one that does not get any of the credit it deserves.

Which is the main problem with Cena - he gets no credit for how good he is in the ring, how good his promo work is and just how important he is to wrestling as a whole.  Sure, he isn't perfect and sometimes his promo work sucks, his matches are not at the level of Orton's - but the problem is people want to hate him now.  People are sick of SuperCena and The Rock's promos only emphasised that.  But don't forget this is Vince Mcmahon's TV show and it is all by design - he wouldn't let The Rock say half the things he did if he didn't have an agenda, and what we have seen throughout the year has all been part of the Cena agenda.  The feud with Rock, the feud with Punk and now the feud with Kane - all have been a long story arc with the ultimate goal of who knows what, but there are subtle hints as to what is to come.  Ultimately, we are expecting a Cena heel turn, and all the clues are there - and that is one of the best things about wrestling.  Like Jericho's recent return, we were still all guessing who it could be until the last minute and we are still guessing what his motives are - even if he is heel or face.  That is the success of the angle, and it will be the success of this whole Cena angle when it is all played out.

The fact Cena is wrestler of the year, is because everything the WWE has done this year has revolved around Cena, even if he wasn't in the picture.  Even though it looked like the "Summer of Punk" and many people would say he was the star of the year, that whole angle came back to the ultimate nexus of the WWE, John Cena.  With Cena vs. Rock undoubtedly set to be the biggest match in wrestling since, perhaps, Hogan vs. Andre, this year had to be about John Cena - and it was.  He is the wrestler of the year.