Is the WWE finally ... and once again Unpredictable?

[Blade]

For years and year, people have been able to work out what's going to happen up to months into the future in WWE. As soon as Randy Orton returned last year, everyone knew he was going to win the Royal Rumble. Halfway through last year, everyone had a feeling that a CM Punk heel turn was imminent. People knew that when it was announced Jeff Hardy was taking a break, WWE would bring back Undertaker on Smackdown to feud with CM Punk. People have just been able to figure the future out cause WWE usually goes for what's safe these days rather than taking risks like they did back in the attitude era. We saw Randy Orton vs Triple H and Orton vs Cena for months because it was safe. Big names were in the main event, that's all WWE needed.

But now, things are actually hard to predict when you look at the future. Take the Royal Rumble for instance. Who the hell is going to win it? It won't be Cena or Undertaker, they're probably still going to be champions then. It won't be DX, all sources are saying it'll be HBK vs Triple H in a non-title match. Jericho or Big Show? Again, sources say Jericho and Show will split up and feud for a while once they lose the tag titles. Batista? He's not the star he once was. Punk, Kofi and Morrison aren't ready, and the Miz is nowhere near ready. Ted Dibiase would've needed to turn face months ago for him to be ready to win the Rumble. It's very difficult to tell right now.

And what about the feuds we're seeing? Sure, Sheamus isn't going to beat Cena. But Batista winning the world heavyweight title is definately a possibility. As is Drew McIntyre winning the Intercontinental title and DX winning the tag titles. Will Kofi go over Orton clean or will Orton be the one coming out on top at the end of the feud?

And with so many midcarders being built up, no one can tell who's going to make it to the top first. Who'll win the world title first? Morrison? Kofi? It's too hard to tell.

So, I ask you.... Has WWE successfully got us not knowing what's going to happen next, for the first time in years?

 

[Toroc102]

I think Orton's going to win the Rumble again this year since he's currently banned from anymore title shots, that type of thing always happens so the guy can win the Rumble(Brock Lesnar comes to mind most immediately.)

I would say the WWE is more undpredicatable right now though, I can usually figure out what is going to happen within in a show, like I can call a Raw from begining to end, but its a lot harder to call things from week to week now. I'd say that is mostly due to the guest host thing at the moment.

However as for calling Championships, and who is going to come out on top in a feud, I still think I can call em, the Kofi-Orton feud is the only one thats really perplexing me at the moment though. However I will say that Orton's will get the win at TLC but give Kofi a nice rub at the same time(Kofi will probably get a lot of offense but lose from a quick RKO). Batista is probably going to feud with Taker till Wrestlemania rolls around since thats pretty much the biggest match SD can put together at the moment. Another possibilty is they make it a three way somehow so UT keeps the streak alive without beating Batista. Having said that though I don't think Taker is going to lose at TLC, Batista's been dominating him too much and its the first match in what seems to be the beginning of a feud.

 

[X]

Eh...not really. I mean, the Sheamus thing kind of came out of left field, but it's fairly obvious he's just going to be fed to Cena. This is just something to occupy his time until a more meaningful feud comes up. The Kofi-Orton thing was unexpected as well, but it wasn't because of brilliant writing by the WWE or something along those lines so much as it was just shocking to see the WWE start a new feud that wasn't their typical by-the-numbers writing these days.

It's not very unpredictable though. Perhaps if Punk had never had to job out to 'Taker I might agree here, but for the most part it's business as usual in the WWE right now. Raw last night was fairly good though, the show has definitely been better in the past month or so than it has been in a long while.

But it's not like the Attitude Era. That was unpredictable, you literally just had no idea what was going to happen every Monday when you tuned in, and it was fucking awesome. The WWE hasn't had that feeling of "anything can happen" in a very long time though.

 

[Kenny Powers]

Sheamus and Kofi was really the only unpredictable thing we have seen from WWE this year. Along with the idea of celebrity guest hosts which has been more miss then hit recently. The programming has become better compared to what it was this past summer.

Orton and Triple H actually started a decent feud, but it was dragged out too long. The same can be said about Orton and Cena. One thing I thought I would never see is someone like Hornswoggle be a full time competitor. He has been wrestling almost every Raw. He actually wore a cow head while doing a frog splash onto Chavo Guerrero, while the loud speakers echoed the word MOOOOO!! into the arena.

That made stop watching wrestling for a while. I won't say it is totally unpredictable. Some bits and pieces here and there are. It's not like ten years ago, when you had to catch Raw because if you didn't your life depended on it. Those VHS tapes were a hassle too, thank God for DVR.

I think WWE could become unpredictable again, especially with a little competition to kick start them into overdrive for once.

 

[MeanGene]

Everything is wayyyy too predictable when it comes to the WWE. You know they are never going to give into the almighty dollar, aka Merchandise..John Cena lunch pails, etc. I mean that Hornswoggle/DX shirt, and another RAW host who knows nothing about the WWE - and people are suppose to take Cuban stepping up to Sheamus seriously?? If they were really unpredictable, they would not care about riding the gravy train all the way to the bank and make Cena a Heel..get some credible hosts, and make people question whether a segment was real or not....the last time I checked, Ric Flair vs Hogan press conference got hella ratings and some people thought that was real for some reason..By now, all of us can script it all by heart, we know when they are about to hit somebody's music etc.

 

[CardiffCam]

I'd say from a smarks perspective, yes the WWE has become much more unpredictable, with surprises like Sheamus getting a world title match while still incredibly green, and Kofi's awesome push.

But from a mark's perspective- WWE never stopped being unpredictable. Its only predictable... because we think of every possible outcome of everything that happens, and then get told exactly what will happen a few days to a few months before it does. It's only predictable to the smarks you see.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Unpredictability is overrated in my opinion. As long as I'm entertained by what's going on, I don't really care if I see it coming or not. C'mon people, we all know that it's damn near impossible to keep things secret in the Age of Information. Leaks happen all the time, whether they be in TNA or the WWE so unpredictability is a rare luxury in wrestling now.

The Kofi Kingston and Sheamus pushes have come out of left field I admit, but those instances seem to be the exception rather than the rule. When I look at either the WWE or TNA, I have seen very little come from either of them that's been what I would term as unpredictable. For the WWE, I'd say the Kofi and Sheamus pushes have been among the most unpredictable things the WWE has done this year. For TNA, it'd have to be the signing of Hulk Hogan to the roster. Nobody really expected it to happen, but it did happen.

Unpredictability is something that's not really a relevant force in pro wrestling these days, not with the internet around. We'll get surprised every now and then definitely, but those are pretty rare occassions. If unpredictability is something that is essential for someone to enjoy pro wrestling, then some can't be very happy at all no matter what shows you watch or what company you prefer or whatever.

 

[The Ultimate]

Yea, I used to be able to call an entire Smackdown, and got so tired of watching the same matches over and over again, but now things are finally becoming hard to predict, and what Jackhammer said is completely true, it is pretty hard to hide something in this day and age, there is always some leak somewhere that is going to ruin the surprise, but it's just a start, right now is a transitional time in the WWE the veterans are getting excited for their retirement, and the newer guys are coming in fast and hot. And what with TNA becoming legitimate competition, WWE is undoubtedly going to step their game up. So we are just going to have to wait and see how this turns out.

 

[Kanye South]

Not really, but they've obviously been trying. Sheamus has gotten a nice little Goldberg push, but that was because of lack of contenders and because he and Triple H are buddies. Which is fine, because everyone knows that those who kiss ass are bound to get what they want.

The Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton and Legacy thing was because WWE has no African American main eventers, heel or face. Plus they needed a new main event face.

The Royal Rumble thing is really just abundance of speculation on the IWC's part. Everyone assumes that we're going to get a new star because we haven't had a 1st time/non main eventer winner in a while, but we don't really know that for sure.

While things aren't seemingly set in stone like they have been for the past year, the WWE has a long way to go before I'm actually, really and truly, anticipating Raw. It has become somewhat of a habit.

 

[mattcubs13]

remember back in the day there was no leaked spoilers online. according to wikipedia, raw draws in the 4-5 million range now but 10 years ago drew closer to 7-8. smackdown used to outdraw raw.

People couldnt go online and hear about WWE house shows featurign title shots and what not. I couldnt go online and read what happened. People tuned into the show to find out.

Im not putting down wresltezone but when you only know the WWE from what you watch....and there is no online community....its much more unpredictable.

 

[Undercurrent]

God no. I humbly believe a first time viewer could predict the majority of the show from start to finish. The common excuse I tend to hear is "it's all been done." Well that's inexcusable as the WWE doesn't necessarily need to concoct something fresh and unique to put on enjoyable television. What would be truly unpredictable at this point would be taking it back to the basics where a wrestler is gunning for the title and nothing more. Simple as that.

 

[Sean Valjean]

I'm not so sure. Yeah, theyr'e starting to push mid-carders, which is a nice surprise, but I wouldn't call it "unpredictable"; it was going to have to happen sooner or later.

But in general, WWE storylines are still pretty much the same in terms of predictability. I can't really think of any big, shocking moments this year at all (other than HHH beating Orton at Wrestlemania, which I'd rather forget.) There may have been something that I'm forgetting, but the fact that I have to think about it isn't a good sign. It seems that they're trying to get back to that level of unpredictability, but they have a LONG way to go before hitting it again.