Happy New Year here on Let's Talk Wrestling and it's that time again. Another year, another new wrestling wishlist.
As you all know, I did this last year as well, so let's start off by looking back at my wishlist for 2014:
Daniel Bryan gets the babyface push that he has deserved since WWE Payback 2013- SEVERAL midcarders need to break the glass ceiling - especially Kofi Kingston, Antonio Cesaro, Damien Sandow, and Dolph Ziggler. -- Ziggler and Cesaro have their face's pressed against the ceiling, banging, and begging to break through. They aren't quite there YET.
AJ Lee loses the Divas Championship- WWE finds a consistent creative direction for BOTH WWE Tag Team and Divas Divisions
Make me give a damn who is holding the Intercontinental and/or United States Championships-- Rusev vs Ryback and Ziggler vs Luke Harper are a good start.John Cena Challenges The Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX and Ends The StreakBrock Lesnar ended the Streak at WrestleMania XXX and I can live with that- Sting to induct The Ultimate Warrior into Hall of Fame Class of 2014 -- At least Warrior got inducted. Rest in peace.
- "Macho Man" Randy Savage to be inducted into Hall of Fame Class of 2014 -- Vince McMahon confirmed that Savage will be in the HOF at a later date, namely the centerpiece of the Class of 2015.
No Celebrity Involved in any Bullshit Matches at WrestleMania XXX- All of the remaining WWE Divas are added to the cast of Total Divas -- The only Divas not on Total Divas are Naomi (removed after Season 2), JoJo (removed after Season 1), Emma, Layla, Lana, Renee Young, Eden Stiles, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Alexa Bliss, Stephanie McMahon.
The Divas Championship to be defended at WrestleMania XXX
Better Finishers on NXT-- This happened in a way. The only lame finisher is CJ Parker's high five to the face, a poor man's Shotei.- Sami Zayn and
Leo Krugerto move to the main WWE roster -- Leo Kruger was repackaged as Adam Rose on the main roster to lackluster results. Find a direction for the NXT Tag Team Division-- Between the Lucha Dragons, Vaudevillains, Enzo & Big Cass (w/ Carmella), Buddy Murphy & Wesley Blake, Tye Dillinger & Jason Jordan, The Legionnaires, and Hideo Itami & Finn Balor, NXT has more than enough tag teams to keep this division fresh.
TNA signs more women to the Knockouts division-- We saw Santana Garrett join as Brittany and Jessicka Havok join as the new female powerhouse, Havok.- Reinvigorate the X-Division
Reinvigorate the TNA Tag Team Division-- There's only a few tag teams left, but good Lord, TNA went out of their way to keep tag team wrestling alive in 2014 with the Best of Three Series between the Wolves, Hardyz, and Team 3D.- Push Samoa Joe as a main eventer again
End the Joseph Park/Abyss angle- If Magnus truly is going to be the future of TNA, then he shouldn't have the entire locker room of Dixie's cronies to bail him out of potentially losing title matches
- Ring of Honor obtains a mainstream audience with a consistent primetime TV slot
- Decade needs a better direction with their goals than coming off as a mediocre replacement to S.C.U.M.
The Top Prospect Tournament needs more exposure-- ROH are doing a better job with advertising this tournament this year with some strong candidates in the tournament this year, including Ashley Sixx and Will Ferrera.
My Wishlist for 2015
I wish to maintain my wishes from last year that didn't pan out and build onto them with the following.
Daniel Bryan wins the 2015 Royal Rumble
In 2014, it's was Daniel Bryan's year to take the reigns and drive the momentum and hype to WrestleMania and end with the biggest win of his career. It almost didn't happen but we got HALF of that last year after CM Punk's departure followed by angst . Sadly, it was deterred even more after Daniel Bryan's injury that almost put him on the shelf for good.
I just hope and pray that Daniel Bryan calm down a bit on his reckless fighting style a bit and take it easily. He's not invincible.
If there's any justice in the world, Dolph Ziggler or Antonio Cesaro would win the Royal Rumble, but I think there's a better chance of either Hulk Hogan, Sting, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker or even John Cena himself winning the Rumble than that.
I just hope and pray that Daniel Bryan calm down a bit on his reckless fighting style a bit and take it easily. He's not invincible.
If there's any justice in the world, Dolph Ziggler or Antonio Cesaro would win the Royal Rumble, but I think there's a better chance of either Hulk Hogan, Sting, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker or even John Cena himself winning the Rumble than that.
Keep Total Divas from influencing storylines and feuds in the Divas Division
Cool. I get the reality TV show draws in new viewers and interest to the Divas, but WWE doesn't have to cater to those fans. Focus on the WRESTLING aspect. That's why everything the girls on NXT do shits on everything the Divas on the main roster have done in the past 2-3 years in comparison.Keep AJ Lee FAR away from the Divas Championship this year
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sick of seeing AJ Lee at the top of the division for the past two years. Let's allow some of the other Divas to grow and have opportunities to shine.To create something truly special at WrestleMania for the Divas, I would love a Four Corners Divas & NXT Women's Championship Match between Natalya (w/ Bret Hart), Charlotte (w/ Ric Flair), Paige (w/ Saraya Knight), and Stephanie McMahon (w/ Vince McMahon)
This is HIGHLY unlikely but I'm throwing it out there. I know the AJ Lee marks want their Steph vs. AJ match but I decline to that feud namely for the fact that it would pretty much demand that CM Punk get involved and that's not happening as long as he's in UFC. Alternately, Tamina Snuka with Jimmy Snuka could replace Stephanie and Vince here.
WWE keeps Sting and Hulk Hogan FAR away from the WWE World Championship
I implore WWE not to do what Impact Wrestling did with Hulk Hogan and Sting and try to hand them the strap to add some sense of prestige to it just because it would give one of the "Big Four" PPVs a sense of nostalgia. WWE already made this mistake with handing the title to The Rock (effectively ending CM Punk's length title reign) only to drop it back to John Cena two months later.
Enough with the stupid and silly gimmicks
Los Matadores (Epico, Primo, and El Torito need to be RUNNING to Lucha Underground after their contracts expire), New Day (the black fraternity crossed with a stereotypical black church isn't clicking with me at ALL and I'm black... It comes off as more of WWE's typical stereotypical stupidity), Adam Rose (despite the fact that I love how a ton of names from the indies have appeared as Rosebuds, Leo Krueger deserves better), Damien Mizdow (it's long past due that Sandow becomes his own star...)Less commercial breaks in the middle of matches (RAW, SmackDown, NXT, etc.)
As a media form, WWE is failing to keep their viewers immersed into their on-screen spectacle. All media wants to keep their viewer/spectators immersed into what's going on on-screen. Commercial breaks in the middle of the matches isn't doing anyone any favors. Wrestlers aren't getting over, fans have a reason not to care (even less than they already are), and it's distracting - even disrespectful at times - to the in-ring talent.
Oh the irony... The company that put WCW out of business is literally transforming into WCW Nitro with their flagship show.
Wrestle Kingdom 9 proved that there's great wrestling OUTSIDE of WWE's kingdom. The only thing you have to do is be willing to find it.
Monday Night RAW becomes less of a chore to watch
As it currently stands, this is the most mentally draining broadcast to watch out of ALL of WWE's weekly events.Oh the irony... The company that put WCW out of business is literally transforming into WCW Nitro with their flagship show.
Friday Thursday Night SmackDown becomes must-see programming as part of WWE's line-up again
More fans and namely more wrestlers realize that there's more wrestling out there than WWE
I think the biggest story of 2014 was the phenomenal (no pun intended) year that AJ Styles had once he broke away from TNA and became the hottest commodity to hit the indies in a long-time. AJ Styles proved that you don't have to be a part of WWE to have a successful career.Wrestle Kingdom 9 proved that there's great wrestling OUTSIDE of WWE's kingdom. The only thing you have to do is be willing to find it.
NXT maintains their high-standard they have set for their product in terms of wrestling and storytelling in both their weekly programming AND with the future Takeover events
All eyes have been on NXT since Takeover: [R]Evolution, but I honestly don't think that the weekly tapings have been as great as that monumental event. That being said, they are still miles and beyond better than the weekly episodes of Monday Night RAW and Friday Thursday Night SmackDown!
I hope NXT continues to live up to this high-standard. I would hate to see them flop and crumble underneath the pressure.
Sasha Banks wins the NXT Women's Championship
I want this to happen sooner more than later, but as long as Flair's daughter is on the NXT brand, I have a feeling that she's going to have a longer title and more dominant reign than Paige & AJ Lee combined.
More Alexa Bliss on weekly tapings please
She's cute as a button and has a VERY marketable gimmick, plus let's not forget that she's a great worker. Why haven't they pushed this girl to the moon?
More tag teams get a chance to shine in the NXT Tag Team Division
Impact Wrestling continues their strong series of events since their NYC tapings during the end of their deal with SPIKE TV
Destination America is a network that isn't available by many people, so TNA are going have to work even harder to draw in people to want to have this obscure network from their television providers. I personally have DirecTV and I have this channel, the local networks that air Ring of Honor, El Rey Network for Lucha Underground, and even AXS for New Japan Pro Wrestling. Sadly, not everyone are as fortunate as I am to have all of those networks to check out all of the wrestling that's out there.
TNA signs some of the female wrestlers from Knockouts Knockdown 2014, such as Veda Scott, Deonna Purrazzo, Marti Belle, and Mia Yim.
Mia Yim might be wishful thinking since she's currently reigning and defending SHINE Champion, but it's not a far stretch to see Deonna Purrazzo, Marti Belle, and Veda Scott in TNA later down the road. With the departure of Velvet Sky, they are going to have a pretty big gap that needs to be filled in the division.
Taryn Terrell doesn't allow the return of Awesome Kong and the potential feuds between Kong and Havok/Gail Kim to make her into a forgettable Knockouts Champion
With or without Brittany (Santana Garrett), Samuel Shaw needs to continue being a Creepy Bastard
He doesn't even need to stalk Knockouts anymore either, set him loose against Bram's crazy ass or give us a definitive ending to his feud with Gunner.Don't make the Beat Down Clan dominate/terrorize TNA as long as Aces & Eights or Main Event Mafia did in the past
The last thing TNA needs is another nWo style stable to weigh the company down. I personally rather see that faction dissolve over the World Championship as Samoa Joe, Eric Young, Low-Ki, Kenny King, and MVP all want to be the top guy.
Better Television Deal at a respectable hour/timeslot
All I ask is some consistency. Their talent deserves a better platform to shine. Sinclair Broadcasting needs to have a foot shoved up their asses for not taking the initiative to do this themselves sooner more than later.
As for the time slot, I don't know about anyone else, but I have to wait until either midnight or 1AM on Saturday evening/Sunday morning to get my weekly ROH fix.
Cohesive Storylines on TV Tapings
Same as on my wishlist last year. Some angles would start but won't continue for weeks on end.Lock talent to legitimate contracts
This way their talent won't be so easily swept up by Impact Wrestling, WWE, or even Lucha Underground.
Seriously... how the HELL does Alberto Del Rio/El Patron have a contract with Lucha Underground yet he's appearing on Ring of Honor? Sinclair Broadcasting is a bit TOO flexible on their contracts...
Give fans more information on their partnership with NJPW
If they aren't full-time talent exchanges, then I believe that ROH should save some of these bouts for iPPVs and NOT shown on TV tapings for free. This goes double for some of their title matches.Give women more of a presence on ROH TV
Every broadcast doesn't have to be a sausage fest - highlight or show an occasional match from Shimmer (maybe once a month).As much as I loved Veda Scott and Maria Kanellis as valets over the past year, I wouldn't mind seeing more women actually wrestle on ROH's programming. From what I've heard about their TV tapings for last weekend I may be getting my wish here already as ODB has been working TV tapings, siding with the Briscoes in their feud against the Kingdom.
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