2013 - What would you like to see happen?

So it's the beginning of a new year and one that for me has the potential to be huge in wrestling.
WWE is undergoing a period of transition it seems with them finally going ahead with pushes for new guys at the top and whilst Mania will drag out the tried and tested bums on seats money spinners it promises to be a year where the next generation stake their claim at the top of the table.
So what would you like to see happen in 2013?

1. The Shield to continue to cause mayhem.

It's no secret that I'm über mark for Dean Ambrose, Ive bleated nonstop about him since WWE first signed him from the Indys but even I couldn't have imagined the fantastic push he and the other members of the Shield have had since debuting at Survivor Series. For me its a fantastic stable with no weak link, whilst eyebrows were initially raised at the inclusion of Roman Reigns at the expense of IWC fave Kassius Ohno he's quickly shown that he's just a vital a cog as the others and each member has a clear and defined role within the stable which is where so many stables such as Nexus etc failed to do.
In the coming year they will need to start turning their shock and awe tactics into actual wins and hopefully title reigns. I'd like to see them initially continue their feud with Team Hell No! and invoke the Freebird rule with the tag titles, that would continue their all for one style and allow them to still play the numbers game.

2. Ziggler to get an extended run with a main title.

WWE seem ready to be be pushing the button on Ziggler and whilst its been a slow build up with the MITB briefcase it looks like its coming to fruition. Personally Id like them to continue to hold fire on the cash in now until Mania and give him a moment of cashing it in on Ryback after he's beaten Big Show, it'd give Ryback a World Title moment at Mania as well and then get the crowd further behind him for the injustice and create a strong feud going into the summer.

3. The continued introduction of new talent with reasons behind them

For far too long guys were brought onto our screens with a lame gimmick and just a sink or swim mentality by creative. Case in point guys like Brodus Clay, a fairly decent wrestler for his size but saddled with a gimmick that despite being initially amusing for all of ten seconds then quickly became lame. He's been in WWE for a yer, yet what is his motivation, is his sole aim to just dance badly each week? What do we know about him? Absolutely nothing. And then compare him with the debut of the Shield, a clear and defined purpose to them, instantly they have a role and direction forward. This needs to continue with other talent debuting, there is a huge wealth of talent currently in NXT and I hope that guys like Kassius Ohno, Adrian Neville and Bray Wyatt have plans beyond their initial debut.

4. The tag team division to further flourish

It's seen with the popularity of Team Hell No that there is still life in the tag division and at present it has probably the strongest set of tag teams in a long time with Rhodes Scholars, Rey & Sin Cara, The Usos, Prime Time Players and 3MB. Id like to see this further continue with Wyatt and Harper continuing the relationship from NXT as well as a returning Evan Bourne (remember him?) partnered with Adrian Neville as a real high flying duo once the eventual break up of Rey and Sin Cara takes place.

Well that's enough for my aspirations, what would you like to see occur in the twelve months ahead?

Here's mine -

WWE

1) Daniel Bryan to be given a run as the lead babyface in the company.

Bryan continually gets one of the best crowd reactions, and deserves to the pushed harder. He's shown he's more than capable of working great matches, has massively improved his mic work, so deserves to be booked stronger once Team Hell No have played out

2) Paige to debut on the main roster

In my opinion he's the best female worker to step foot in a WWE ring for many years.

3) Scaling down of the GM/managing supervisor role, so they do not take up as much airtime as present.

I don't see the point of authority figures taking up so much TV time anymore. Most match-making can be made off-creen, which will allow more time for in-ring talent to get over.

TNA

1) Get back to what differentiated them from WWE, i.e, give the X division greater prominence, and re-establish the Knockouts and tag team divisions.

2) Less airtime for the Hogans - I understand Hulk's still popular with the fans at the Impact Zone, so he still has a part to play, but he shouldn't be dominating air time like he does. Like with WWE, I think TNA spends too much TV time on authority figures

3) OVW to bear fruit - For TNA to really improve, they need to start developing their own stars,as only Aries and Roode have broken out recently.

TNA:

As a man who was sold on TNA being different and individual, not things WWE have never done but things WWE has neglected. Their X Division stuff, their tag team stuff, it was heralded by TNA converts as majestic. From the moment I started watching it there was nothing of the sort. Poor stories that crushed other things they had worked on, Hogan ruling the world and a desperation to throw things onto people that had a second of love from audiences.

Rejuvenating the Tags and X division would be must watch if they got it right. Less TV drama and more wrestling stories. I was barely interested in Storm vs Roode cos it was about 3rd or 4th down the roster of importance. It was the biggest story before I started watching, but they lost interest in it (like they did with Aries) and their best story was overshadowed by Aces n Eights and Hardy. Cashing in on a popular figure and a 'crazy' story.

Hero made a perfect point in the podcast. They need to separate themselves from reproducing WWE product. Get the IWC behind them with real core wrestling. They want to see the glory days recreated, and those glory days are nothing like WWE now. And all wrestling fans bemoan that. If TNA can get closer to replicating that, make their own and work with the best Indy guys and make new feuds that demand you watch. Like Dean Ambrose has been the most exciting man pumped into WWE this year, even more so than Lesnar, someone with that kind of relevance who could become a star in TNA.


I also want to see their Knockouts as a real wrestling area. Adam told me that I'd for once enjoy seeing women who could wrestle. The first match I watched was better than any in the Divas division WWE has offered for a few years, not great but promising. Since then its been a bunch of crap.

In fact, I'm pretty much 100% in agreement with Nakatomi Plaza on TNA. The Hogans can bugger off, simple as that. And TNA need to produce someone of their own. I would be happy for Gut Check to completely die and them to just bring in people like companies used to, as new characters who come in wrestling.

Sting can finally leave. TNA he is awful, I think he should have a final moneymaking match at Wrestlemania with Taker, cap off a long and much respected career. But he is almost tiresome in TNA, although maybe its just that Hogan has sucked the character from him.

I wanna see Magnus main event, Samoa Joe back into the main event and maybe to bring back that feud further down the line.

In turn, I'd have Aries, Styles and a couple more mixed into the X Division and make that title and the stipulations interesting.

Lastly, all the Boot Camp guys to come in, especially Marty as I have known him loosely for years and always found him to be a hard working, lovely guy. The girls are charming, and Spud is fantastic to sit and chat to, warm and pleasant who is a cracking guy under the mask of wrestling.

Nakatomi Plaza wrote:Here's mine -

WWE

1) Daniel Bryan to be given a run as the lead babyface in the company.

Bryan continually gets one of the best crowd reactions, and deserves to the pushed harder. He's shown he's more than capable of working great matches, has massively improved his mic work, so deserves to be booked stronger once Team Hell No have played out

2) Paige to debut on the main roster

In my opinion he's the best female worker to step foot in a WWE ring for many years.

3) Scaling down of the GM/managing supervisor role, so they do not take up as much airtime as present.

I don't see the point of authority figures taking up so much TV time anymore. Most match-making can be made off-creen, which will allow more time for in-ring talent to get over.

TNA

1) Get back to what differentiated them from WWE, i.e, give the X division greater prominence, and re-establish the Knockouts and tag team divisions.

2) Less airtime for the Hogans - I understand Hulk's still popular with the fans at the Impact Zone, so he still has a part to play, but he shouldn't be dominating air time like he does. Like with WWE, I think TNA spends too much TV time on authority figures

3) OVW to bear fruit - For TNA to really improve, they need to start developing their own stars,as only Aries and Roode have broken out recently.

Wow, is this a new she-male gimmick that WWE have came up with? Will he/she make history by being the first person to simultaneosly hold the WWE title and Divas title?