2006 was definitely an eye-opening year for World Wrestling Entertainment in more ways than one. Firing Kurt Angle & Paul Heyman; bringing back Jeff Hardy, D-Generation X, many legends, and, of course, ECW as the third and hopefully last brand; the rise of Edge; the rise of Rob Van Dam; the fall of Rob Van Dam; & so very much more. Last year at this time, WWE set the pace for 2006 by shocking the fans and finally giving them what they wanted by having Edge defeat John Cena after a grueling Elimination Chamber bout for the WWE Championship. This year’s New Year’s Revolution PPV does not have nearly as much intrigue as that night though…or the previous’ year as well. For the first time since its inception back in 2005, New Year’s Revolution will not have an Elimination Chamber match tonight as WWE decided to pawn that off onto the ECW PPV last month in hopes of making it a worthwhile show, which of course, naturally didn’t happen. Also for the first time since its inception, the WWE Championship does not have an overwhelming feel of a big change in the air. While Umaga could very well become the next WWE Champion, it definitely does not match up to 2005 when there was a vacant title on the line and last year where WWE basically had no other way out of the hole they had booked themselves into. This year, there is no person waiting in the shadows with a guaranteed title change nor is there an absolute feeling of a title change being the only decision.
What this does by removing that drama & the epic match at the top of the card is actually create the best New Year’s Revolution card yet. While there will be no epic match hovering around the thirty minute mark tonight, there will be a full card as opposed to the one-match formula as used in 2005 and 2006. Tonight, in addition to John Cena taking on Umaga, Rated RKO will be going against D-Generation X, Jeff Hardy will defend his Intercontinental Championship against Johnny Nitro in a steel cage, Mickie James will make her first serious title defense against Victoria, Carlito will look to settle the score (somewhat) against Chris Masters, & Ric Flair will most likely unsuccessfully try and fend off another newcomer trying to build a name off of his. While there may be some title changes tonight, no doubt will there be no breaking news like last year or even 2005, but from top to bottom, this will easily be way more solid as a WWE Supercard than any of the past two incarnations…even if it doesn’t match up to some other WWE Brand PPVs. While the buyrate may not even be anywhere near the past two years or even against PPVs like Unforgiven or No Mercy, the fact that it will deliver where the past two have not might finally please fans forking out forty plus dollars for a PPV in the past that just delivered one good or great match, which last year was not even something people remembered come December. Tonight, I’ll be doing live play-by-play reviewing of New Year’s Revolution at TheWrestlingVoice.com. It is the fastest on-line and there are no pop-ups so that will definitely be a plus even if the PPV itself is not. For more information on that, just click here. For now though, let’s look at the first PPV of 2007 match-by-match.
Random Match
As it stands, this is already miles better of a card than 2005 or 2006, but I can still see WWE adding one more match onto this card at the last minute. Based on things going on in RAW and rumors from places like PWI, Observer, or F4W (can’t remember where I heard it to be honest though), I’ll have to go with Cryme Tyme taking on The World’s Greatest Tag Team which will either be a train wreck or an average match which will not doubt be overrated because of the internet’s love for both Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Don’t get me wrong…both are good wrestlers, but no doubt that Shelton Benjamin has become lazier over the past year and Charlie Haas hasn’t improved much since 2003. Seeing as TWGTT couldn’t carry a mediocre or bad team to good matches back then, why should I expect them to here? Cryme Tyme, like or hate them, are definitely nowhere near ready in the ring and are just another example of a gimmick WWE saw in OVW and decided to run with before giving them both time to improve. I only hope they have enough sense not to put Shad Gaspard into a singles match. Oh, the nightmares that will follow. TWGTT could surprise me and actually carry Cryme Tyme to a good match, but I’m really not counting on it. Really, my only hopes for this match…or whatever random match they saddle on the PPV is that it doesn’t turn out so badly that it brings the rest of the PPV down. Though considering they’ll be lucky to go ten minutes, I don’t see that being a problem. Winner? If the match had been added to the PPV before hand and WWE showed they actually cared, I would have said TWGTT via screwjob to keep the feud going. But with WWE just slopping this together probably and showing how much they care, I’ll go with WWE’s new pet project, Cryme Tyme.
Carlito Vs. Chris Masters
Last time these two faced, they actually had a surprisingly decent match, but then again, it was kept under ten minutes for obvious reasons (see: Cyber Sunday and any Chris Masters match not with Shawn Michaels). I really expect this one to be worse because like Shelton Benjamin, Carlito has only gotten lazier and Chris Masters has just become a running joke in WWE. I really don’t expect this to be as bad as it looks on paper though simply because Carlito always tries to prove himself on PPV when given time (when he should be doing that every night, not just once a month). Of course, after the match, the Carlito strike force will come out in numbers to proclaim how Carlito is underutilized in WWE again since he carried Chris Masters to a decent match by using whatever flippy move he decides to bust out tonight because he’s losing the crowd. Who will win? Well, if you really think Masters stands a chance, you really need to look into the pecking order in WWE a bit more. Like I said, Chris Masters is the running joke of RAW most weeks. I’d really be surprised if he’s still in the company come SummerSlam. With that said, Carlito and Masters will hopefully finally put to rest their on again, off again feud that started ironically at New Year’s Revolution last year when Carlito turned on Masters in the Elimination Chamber. I don’t think anyone will care it’s over or even remember it started.
Predicted Winner: Carlito
Ric Flair Vs. Kenny Dykstra
Let me introduce you to WWE’s other running joke: Ric Flair. This time, it’s in a different form though…instead of how many times can we make him look like an utter goof and make fun of his roid rage as is the case for Chris Masters, it’s how many times can we squash Ric Flair, job him out to a newcomer for a “rub,” and totally demolish him before he starts to lose the crowd reactions? The answer I’m pulling out of nowhere: 72. By my estimates, that gives WWE about a month left. Seriously though, nothing against Umaga, who’s seriously underrated, or Kenny, who’s got a great future if he keeps improving like he has, but the way WWE instantly puts any newcomer right against Ric Flair is just absurd. I get the idea behind wanting to give someone the rub, but if they keep rubbing people off of on Ric Flair, eventually nothing’s going to be left. Especially if they keep having Edge, Triple H, or some other heels totally massacre him every three months or so. All that aside, there’s no reason this shouldn’t be at least a decent match even if it’s just a squash or given a screwjob finish. Like I said, Kenny’s got a great future and this should really be his chance to show that away from the failed Spirit Squad. Granted, he already has a win over Flair, but this should be his chance to deliver a solid or good ten to fifteen minute match with someone rookies would still die to be in the ring with. Obviously Kenny’s going over, but I really, really, really hope they don’t do in a squash manner or with Kenny picking up a win via cheating so Kenny can actually prove something. Let’s face it though: most heels in WWE don’t win cleanly when it comes to PPV so I’m really deluding myself here and so are you if you’re hoping for a clean Kenny win.
Predicted Winner: Kenny Dykstra
WWE Women’s Championship
Mickie James (c) Vs. Victoria
Oh, Mickie James. Easily the best and worst female wrestler of WWE this past decade. As Alexis Laree on the Indy circuit, I’ll admit it: I loved her. I even saw her live once right before she left for OVW. But as Mickie James plus however many pounds in the chest area? She definitely doesn’t deliver when she should. Honestly, I think she’s a perfectly sound wrestler, but when it comes down to it, she really doesn’t deliver and that’s not a good thing at all. Every single last big match she has, she mucks it up with botches after botches. Look at WrestleMania 22, Cyber Sunday, Survivor Series, and even her title defenses. With all that said though, the person she really does have a best chance of having a good match with: Victoria. Granted, the chances are very slim after WrestleMania 22, but still. If this match doesn’t at least deliver as a decent or average match, then I’m giving up on Mickie James completely. If it does, well then there’s still hope not only for WWE’s new head Diva but for the Women’s Division itself. With this match, I really expect Victoria to pull out the win simply for them to change the title back and forth and keep the feud going, while keeping people somewhat interested as opposed to how they normally are during most women’s matches. Really though, it could go either way, but a cheap Victoria win with Mickie James winning it back on a big RAW episode or at WrestleMania 22 is the way I’m going.
Predicted Winner: Victoria
WWE Intercontinental Championship
Steel Cage Match
Jeff Hardy (c) Vs. Johnny Nitro
I honestly think this has a chance of being a great match and really will be the best match of the night. Worst case scenario though, I can’t see them messing up so badly that it’s not even a very good match. The amount of improvement Johnny Nitro has made as a singles star has been very subtle, but in the last maybe two months, it’s really come out in force against Jeff Hardy. Meanwhile, Jeff Hardy himself is just getting better and better since re-debuting in WWE after a lackluster TNA run where he literally could have cared less. They’ve already had countless TV matches as well as a ladder match and some tags as well so I really can’t see them doing anything else which would make this the last in the series. Really, it’s a toss-up as to what will happen. Either Jeff Hardy will win cleanly or Johnny Nitro will win via Joey Mercury running down (since I really can’t see Melina making that much of a difference in this kind of match). While Jeff Hardy did get the last big win, I really think he’ll pick up the win again here and retain it while Nitro goes on to feud with someone like Carlito probably (good God). A Nitro clean victory to propel him would be very, very good, but again, it’s WWE and I really doubt we’ll be seeing a heel win cleanly even if it is a steel cage match. One things for certain: someone’s going to take a big dive off the top of the cage and while the money would be on Hardy, I really think it’s going to be Nitro as he’s going to attempt to prove himself despite losing. Similar to Kurt Angle Vs. Chris Benoit from RAW in June of 2000, this could be Nitro’s chance to really make an impact with a breath-taking move (that would probably miss like the aforementioned match) only to lose out to the better man at the time. No matter how you cut it though, I expect this to be a great match which should easily stay in the top ten matches of WWE in 2007 for a good part of the year. Anything less and I’d be disappointed.
Predicted Winner: Jeff Hardy
WWE World Tag Team Championship
Rated RKO (c) Vs. D-Generation X
I can’t even begin to bring myself to talk about this “feud.” How it started? Well, they had a match at Cyber Sunday and in the process of building up that match, they let it be known that Triple H could easily take on both of them in a 2-on-1 confrontation. Yep, that definitely sold people on the idea of Rated RKO being on the same level as DX. Giving them the tag team straps as means to rectify that situation? Sure, if the belts meant something like they are starting to on SmackDown! or even like both belts did back in 2002 or even more, back in 2000 with just these belts. The Cyber Sunday match the two had wasn’t bad, but it was just a horribly standard DX match with a horribly standard WWE finish by giving the heels a screwjob victory. They followed that up by defeating Team Rated RKO at Survivor Series five to nothing (only good part was the CM Punk rub). After that, Rated RKO finally got some heat back by demolishing Ric Flair and taking out DX as well, but it still doesn’t cover up the track record of DX thus far or what has gone down in this feud so far. Rated RKO desperately needs a clean victory; Edge especially after the year he had in 2006. But if anyone’s going to get a clean victory, it’s going to be DX and really, I don’t see how DX would put them over again after already doing so in November (even if they did already get revenge). No doubt this will be at least a decent match, but if it’s the same effort as Cyber Sunday, I’m not going to get too excited about it. Still though, with the talent going into the ring, it does have the potential to be great, but so far, DX hasn’t lived up to much of its potential in both matches and feuds.
Predicted Winner: D-Generation X
WWE Championship
John Cena (c) Vs. Umaga
I can’t believe the IWC hasn’t imploded from the site of this match headlining a PPV yet. On one side, you have John Cena, the poster boy of everything wrong with WWE in general and mainstream wrestling post-Invasion. On the other, you have Umaga who practically almost made the IWC go to war already by being called a name similar to Samoa Joe’s moniker in TNA and basically being a Samoa Joe rip-off in their eye, all this before squashing Ric Flair quickly at Backlash. The reality? John Cena is not now or has he ever been as bad as people make him out to be. He’s an average guy with a gimmick that appeals to wigger teenagers, girls, and little kids and turns off some older women and most guys over the age of 18. It’s not like Cena hasn’t delivered some memorable promos, feuds, and matches. He’s an average worker to me who can easily be carried to a good or great match and moves a lot of merchandise & (like it or not) is a big draw thus making money. Umaga? Just a smash-mouth Samoan gimmick giving you some strong-style in WWE with some actually heated moments and matches for a change. Seriously, what is wrong with this? There are going to have to be a lot of botches in this match for it not to end up at least good in my eyes cause with the heat it’s going to have and the pounding Umaga’s going to give, I don’t see how they could possibly mess it up…and I don’t see how anyone else could view that either even if they are part of the anti-Cena or Umaga bandwagon.
Will Umaga become WWE Champion? I really don’t know. If Umaga becomes champion though, then the implosion will definitely occur and TNA fans will furiously write up column after column about how WWE is represented again by another mediocre star while great athletes like Shelton Benjamin are barely in the undercard. Reality, the little thing TNA fans like to ignore most of the time, is that Shelton Benjamin is not getting even close the reaction Umaga is nor putting in the effort Umaga is and TNA fans really have no room to talk with someone like Abyss as champion who is far past his prime and needs a bag of thumbtacks every single match just to keep the iMPACT! Zone interested. Even more, do you really hear people bitching that Yokozuna had the strap? Are you really going to tell me Yokozuna was better than Umaga? But back to the point, I really don’t know. I guess the outcome of this match depends on the rest of the card. If the show is full of screwjobs, then this one will probably clean. Flip it and this one will probably have a screwy finish. If it does turn out to be a cheap finish, then it’s pretty easy to deduce Umaga’s going to win via DQ probably in the same fashion WWE always goes to what with the face using the weapon the heel (or Armando in this case probably) brought in just as the ref conveniently wakes up. With Umaga’s momentum riding high and Cena already being a proven commodity, no way are they going to give it to Cena in a finish like that. No matter what, I really can’t think of anything else for Rumble except Umaga-Cena II and if that’s the case, it’s either going to go the route of the DQ…or Umaga taking the strap cause let’s face it, the heat’s definitely not going to be anywhere near this level if Cena wins cleanly tonight. So will Umaga become WWE Champion? I don’t know, but I really don’t see him losing this match…
Predicted Winner: Umaga
There you have it. Six announced matches and most likely a random surprise match to be added last minute as filler. Doesn’t look like much on paper, but when compared to two versions of Shelton Benjamin against Maven, a three minute Trish-Lita affair, Christian & Tomko against Regal & Eugene, Snitsky (thank God he’s not on this one) taking on Kane, and The King failing against Muhammed Hassan…it’s definitely an amazing improvement. I’m not expecting a great PPV tonight. Far from it. What I am expecting is three or four matches that would have to have a lot of mess-ups for them to drop below being good…and at least one of those matches being great. Like I said in the beginning, I’ll be reviewing the PPV live play-by-play at TheWrestlingVoice.com pop-up free, but I don’t expect to be raving and praising the PPV extraordinarily tomorrow to my friends. No, the real question of tonight seems not to be of quality, but how WWE plans to go in 2007. Will they continue with the same tiresome screwjob finishes to try and “create” new stars or will the give us decisive victories with heels like Kenny, Rated RKO, and Umaga to finally give fans a reason to view them as a legitimate threat?
Before I’d go, I’d also like to plug the return of my radio show, The Wrestling Crossfire, which returned yesterday with the results to the 2006 TWV Wrestling Awards. You should all check it out for a big in-depth look at 2006 in wrestling for WWE, TNA, ROH, and even some puroresu. To check it out, just click here.
You can leave me feedback on this column via e-mail at douglasnunnally@thewrestlingvoice.com, my MySpace at http://myspace.com/dougnunnally, AOL Instant Messenger at Douglas Nunnally, and/or MSN Instant Messenger at douglasnunnally@hotmail.com.
I welcome any and all feedback through any and all means so please do not be afraid to contact me.
