Monday, November 24, 2014

Survivor Series Reaction / Monday Night Raw Preview


I'm writing this at 2am in the morning. I can't get to sleep simply because of how hyped I am about the ending of Survivor Series. The reason I'm so pumped however might be different than most.

Most people are excited simply over the fact that Sting made his debut tonight and rightfully so. I've never been a huge fan of his so I'm not gonna pretend that I marked out over his return. However, I will say that it was an epic moment in the history of professional wrestling. Whether you're a fan of Sting or not, you have to admit that. So while most are flipping out over Sting, the main reason I'm excited is because tonight we saw Dolph Ziggler get launched into superstardom.

For years, Ziggler has been deemed by many as the next big thing. He's got the look plus the in-ring skills and charisma to back it up. WWE has pushed him several times over the years, but never quite like they did tonight at Survivor Series. We've seen Dolph win the World Heavyweight Title and even defeat John Cena in a Ladder Match in the main event of PPV. However, none of that compares to what took place tonight.

Before we get into that though, let's take a step back and think about how much of a surprise it was for Dolph to be the sole survivor. The whole match was built around Ryback in recent weeks. So much so that if anyone was going to be the sole survivor, I expected it to be him. When Ryback was eliminated early in the match, I was confused and a bit aggravated because I thought things would end up like usual - the odds stacked against Cena. Well thankfully, I was wrong.

I think the fact that everyone expected Ryback or Cena to be the sole survivor made it even more impactful when the long time fan favorite Ziggler took Team Cena into his own hands and eliminated 4 out of the 5 people on Team Authority including Kane, Rusev, Seth Rollins, and Luke Harper.

Tonight, we saw Ziggler placed in a role that has only been played by the likes of John Cena in recent years. That alone is enough to realize how monumental this was for Ziggler. But throw in the high stakes and Sting returning to help him and you've got a career making moment.

I'm fully convinced that WWE is going to make a go with Dolph at this point. When you look at their track record with him, you may shy away from this train of thought, but as I mentioned before - they've never gone out of their way to make Dolph look like a star like they did tonight. The whole match was built around him overcoming the odds. To the point that many people are saying that Team Ziggler won, not Team Cena.

What happened last night was amazing, but now the question is - where do they go from here? Not just with Ziggler. With everyone that was involved in the main event.

In my sleepless state, I had millions of fantasy booking ideas running through my head. Some of which I'm about to share with you.

The first idea obviously involves the guy this whole column has been based around, Dolph Ziggler. I'm pumped to see how they book him tomorrow night and I think there's one perfect way to do so. Book him in the main event of tomorrow's show against Triple H.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Triple H on Raw? Yes, it should happen.

We saw Triple H ragdoll Ziggler at the end of the match last night. Don't you think the crowd wants to see Ziggler get payback? Don't you think Ziggler himself wants revenge? I would think so. Beyond that, it's the perfect story and will invoke alot of emotion out of the fans very similar to Triple H's match with Daniel Bryan except with slightly less build.

Some may be wondering how this could happen since Triple H is technically fired, but if you remember, Vince said they wouldn't be fired, they would just be out of power. This leaves the door open for HHH to return to in-ring competition and I think Dolph would be the perfect guy to place him against tonight.

As far as the outcome of the match, I don't think it should end with a decisive winner though because it's too big of a match to give away on TV. I'd give them a solid 20 minutes to create something special though and let HHH work his wonders with Ziggler. As for the end, I'd have Seth Rollins interfere only for Randy Orton OR Roman Reigns come down to stop him. I'm not normally a big fan of no-finish matches, but sometimes it's necessary in order to leave the door open for bigger matches between two competitors down the line.

The other thing that's been running through my mind is what the main event of the TLC PPV will be. Brock isn't around (even though no one even noticed or cared last night) so there won't be a title match so it leaves a big main event slot open. I think the best way to go would be a four way Ladder match for the Money in the Bank briefcase. Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns.

Ziggler pinned Rollins last night plus Orton & Reigns both have issues with Rollins that have yet to be settled so this match would be an epic way to finish all those feuds in one fell swoop.

As for the other guys in the main event of last night's match, I think the obvious feud we will see going into TLC is between Harper & Rowan for the IC Title. And personally, I can't wait for it. WWE did the right thing by adding some layers to Rowan's character with the comedy segments with the rubix cube. I had mixed feelings on how he would fare on his own if he was serious all the time like Harper, but adding more dimensions to his character has erased my doubts on the future of Rowan.

I think there's a possibility that we will see a feud between Ryback and Rusev over the US Title heading into TLC. I think it's the best way to go. Two legit looking big guys clashing makes for good TV.

One thing I'm really interested to see is if The Authority group will stay together. I hope they do although I'm not sure they will considering Triple H is probably pissed about his team losing. If they don't stay together, I have no clue where Kane and Mark Henry will go from here. I'm not sure anyone cares at this point however no one cares about Big Show's booking either yet he'll probably get put into a "big" match with John Cena at TLC. But hey as long as Cena's out of the main event for a bit, I'm not complaining.

As of this writing, Raw is about 8 hours away and I hope the time flies by. This is honestly the most excited I've been for an episode of Raw since the night after WrestleMania. Raw's after PPV's like this are always intriguing because it's almost a fresh start as new stories will begin and there are many questions left to be answered. Why did Sting return, what's his purpose and role going forward? Why did Big Show turn on John Cena? Where do Triple H & Stephanie go from here? What's next for Dolph Ziggler? What's next for Seth Rollins?

All of these questions and more will hopefully be answered tonight. But until then, thanks for reading and be sure to follow this blog on Twitter @ThePWTruth as well as my personal account @EthanPWT for all my thoughts on Raw during the show tonight.

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