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Punk! Heyman! Foley! Ryback! Maddox! Heels! Faces! Teams! WWE Championship!
Last week (Oct. 29) the teams were laid out for Survivor Series: Team Punk is led by the WWE Champion CM Punk, along with Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, and The Miz, while Team Foley consists of Ryback, Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Daniel Bryan and Kane.
Isn't it nice how perfectly that worked out?
Yes, the traditional Survivor Series match should be faces vs. heels; but there should also be something more than that. There needs to be some type of story that shows unity between the two groups. What is pulling everyone together in this match besides "these are the good guys, these are the bad guys, watch them fight each other?"
Because as it stands, WWE is asking its fans to pay for two or three Monday Night Raw and SmackDown tag team main events.
Maybe it's too much to ask for Brock Lesnar or The Rock to make an appearance, but there's nothing here that we haven't seen a hundred times before. Throwing everyone together into one match instead of multiple matches does not make the show more exciting.
On top of that, what is the rest of the card going to look like? WWE has put the WWE Champion, the Intercontinental Champion, and the Tag Team Champions all in one match. Unless this thing is going to go 40-60 minutes, the Pay-Per-View (PPV) is going to be completely barren.
There's writing yourself into a corner, and then there's jumping into a hole because you don't care anymore.
With only two weeks until Survivor Series -- yes, you read that right -- there is not that much time to really advance the storyline. We'll probably get a couple of skits tonight with Punk and Foley rallying the troops. We'll see some in-fighting on both sides, more so with the heels. And then we'll be at the PPV, where there will be some shenanigans so Punk can escape without being pinned.
Pardon me, if I'm not wicked excited about the whole angle.
Mick Foley reminded me last week why I expected more from Hell in a Cell, and why I am so frustrated with how things are going now. He talked about moments in WWE, how a superstar can transcend the business and become a legend. Foley had his Hell in a Cell moment. It was time for Punk to have his. A sick bump, an awesome match, something that would prove Punk's 351 day reign meant more than simply a number. The WWE Champion was the star of the show. "The Straight Edge Superstar" was no longer simply filling out the middle of the card. It was the opportunity for something new and different.
Except we had Brad Maddox's interference, a quick three count, and we stay stuck in the status quo.
To that point, Maddox will be appearing tonight to explain his actions at Hell in a Cell. This is a chance to bring everything full circle. If WWE can connect Maddox with the Survivor Series match, then maybe this can work. If Paul Heyman can form a heel stable with Punk, Lesnar, and Maddox, then perhaps something more can come from this. WWE never fails to have the opportunities to do great and exciting things.
It just tends to repeatedly fail in the follow through, content with going back to the proverbial well.
One! More! Horrible! Thing!
The John Cena - AJ Lee - Vickie Guerrero - Dolph Ziggler angle continues, much to the chagrin of everyone who is forced to watch. I don't want to hear Cena hooked up with AJ. I don't want to see Vickie's horrible acting. I don't want to witness Ziggler eat pin after pin against Cena. I want nothing to do with this entire thing. I pray to the pro wrestling gods that this ends sooner rather than later.
Hopefully, this has prepared you for the night's festivities. Leave a comment below about what you are looking forward to, and please join Nolan, myself, and the entire CSS Monday night gang in the live blog right here.