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Follow @TheDocLOP QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who are the top candidates to win the 2016 Royal Rumble and who would you like to see win it? The following is a case study of WWE’s product for the month of December 2015. WWE TLC Review Match of the Month: The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. The Usos in a Ladder Match at TLC This was a rather easy decision. I find it incredibly engaging when nearly everyone involved in pro wrestling (the fans, the promoters, the superstars, etc.) gets on the same page about something; and the triple threat Ladder match for the Tag Team Championships a few weeks ago earned almost universal praise, to the point that the three teams involved had a segment on Raw the next night reminiscent of the Edge, Christian, Matt and Jeff Hardy segment on Raw the night after No Mercy 1999. There was genuine acknowledgment that they had all accomplished something special and potentially career-uplifting. I felt the legitimate tone behind the scripted, storyline-advancing promo work from all parties. That was cool. The match was the best stunt brawl-version of the gimmick in several years and ranks right up there with the Money in the Bank Contract match from last year and the Smackdown Money in the Bank match from 2010 as the top iterations of the multi-man Ladder match of the decade. It was a reminder that, even with a stipulation done so frequently, there is still more that can be done and spots yet to be innovated. I felt refreshed by the effort, happy for the tag team division, and thrilled for the seven participants. If 2015 was the year when the Divas of NXT and WWE rose to greater prominence, could 2016 be the year of the Tag Team Championships? Previous MOTM winners: Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena at Royal Rumble (Jan), Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns at Fast Lane (Feb), Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (vs. Seth Rollins) at WrestleMania (Mar), Big Show vs. Roman Reigns at Extreme Rules (Apr), John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Elimination Chamber (May), John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank (Jun), John Cena vs. Kevin Owens at Battleground (Jul), Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn (Aug), John Cena vs. Seth Rollins at Night of Champions (Sept), Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at Hell in a Cell (Oct), and Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro on Raw (Nov) NXT Takeover: London Review I was not anticipating this event as much as recent NXT Takeover specials, I'll admit. Aside from the main-event, the card was full of matches that I thought were mildly intriguing instead of must-see. Emma vs. Asuka was second on my list of most anticipated matches; talk about polar opposites on the hype train, Emma is perhaps the most underrated female in all of WWE while Asuka is getting a ton of love from her Japan-earned reputation. Their match in London was quite good. Emma is onto something with her new character. Asuka, to me, is still finding her way when it comes to selling emotion. Overall, the pair worked well together and I'm intrigued to see where both go next (***1/2). The Tag Team Championship match was sloppy, but had enough standout moments (aided by an awesome series of chants from the incredibly fun British crowd) that the presentation worked well enough. This is one of those matches in which caution should be exercised in not overvaluing crowd response; it's easy to get sucked in when the audience is that hot, but not everything that happens in the ring on NXT is awesome even if the character definition is really strong and engaging. Baron Corbin vs. Apollo Crews was decent. Corbin is an okay wrestler, but the charisma to accompany his size is lacking; Crews is a great athlete, but I'm waiting to see what else he's got. I thoroughly enjoyed the NXT Women's Title match. It's an important step in a wrestler's career to be able to carry an inexperienced talent to a good match; and that's what Bayley did against Nia Jax. To her credit, Jax performed well in the spotlight and there's some serious potential there as the monster female of WWE (especially considering her pedigree). What a chant for Bayley by the Brits, by the way! The crowd really enhanced this card (***1/2). Match of the night by hair over the opener was Samoa Joe challenging for the NXT Championship. You won't find many better examples of a heel dominating a babyface while still allowing the hero enough offense to keep the match engaging for the modern audience. Borderline 4-star effort from NXT's two current top guys. Wrestler of the Month: Roman Reigns I sincerely hope that, in my Wrestler of the Year column, it came across clearly just how good a year Roman Reigns had despite his not being named the winner. As a performer, Reigns exceeded every expectation I had for someone of his stature and experience level. From the Daniel Bryan match in February onward, Reigns rounded into one of WWE's top in-ring producers of 2015. As a character, though, he rarely connected on a level that I found stimulating...until this month. After his loss at TLC, his reaction was relatable; and if there's one criticism I continued to levy at Reigns throughout his run of Match of the Year candidates, it was that he wasn't conveying a relatable personality. Coming up short does wonders for babyfaces when it is booked the right way. When Reigns was booked to lose this year, it was often in spectacular fashion. The end result was that his eruption of emotion - his demolition of The League of Nations and Triple H - struck a chord with even the most jaded of fans. When he won the WWE Championship on Raw in the same city that popularized the anti-Reigns movement back in January, the reaction he received reflected that the formula for getting him over as the top WWE babyface is to have him be more Wolverine and less Superman. Wolverine of Marvel lore is intensely bad ass, but is flawed enough that he's often beaten for various reasons; that said, you want to see him tear people apart when the time is right. When Reigns is Wolverine, he wins people over. All in all, a 2nd straight month of main-eventing PPV, a huge shift in momentum for his character, and a WWE Championship victory were quite enough to earn him the Wrestler of the Month award for December. Previous WOTM winners: Brock Lesnar (Jan), Daniel Bryan (Feb), Seth Rollins (Mar), Sheamus (Apr), Dean Ambrose (May), Kevin Owens (Jun), John Cena (Jul), Seth Rollins (Aug), Seth Rollins (Sept), Roman Reigns (Oct), and The New Day (Nov) January Predictions The Royal Rumble is upon us and WWE is leaving much to our imaginations through the first of four Raws before the Winter Classic. Roman Reigns looks firmly entrenched as WWE Champion moving down the Road to WrestleMania, but to build the kind of momentum he needs to main-event such a historically significant Show of Shows may require more of the same kind of booking that made his WWE Title win on Raw so enrapturing. Don't be surprised, then, if Triple H vs. Reigns is booked for the Royal Rumble. The Rock confirmed his status as an active participant at WrestleMania in some fashion, so if that fashion is wrestling and if he wrestles The Game as once rumored, then HHH vs. Reigns taking place before Mania makes sense. No question about it in my mind: Roman vs. Hunter for the title at the Rumble would give the January spectacular a Mania-caliber feel. If we continue down the above train of thought, the next logical question is "Who wins the Rumble?" Brock Lesnar would seem the very heavy favorite at this stage. He never actually lost the title and never got a fair chance to regain it thanks to Undertaker last July. I'm personally itching to see Lesnar in the ring with so many potential suplex and F5 recipients. There's a novelty to seeing such a destructive force entered into WWE's most popular gimmick match; he's a very different Beast than he was when he last competed in the Rumble back in 2003. Triple H would be a favorite if he was in the Rumble match. The possibility of a John Cena vs. Roman Reigns passing of the torch moment at Mania would make the Golden Boy a favorite too. Outside of those three, nobody jumps out (which I know will upset some people). Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, and Kevin Owens could all be considered dark horses, but favorites? Not if I'm playing the bookie. Speaking of Ambrose and Owens, their feud has been one of the hottest things on WWE TV lately. If they can keep that going for another few weeks, then we surely have a red hot Intercontinental Championship match on deck at the Rumble - one that I'd get as excited about as the Rumble match itself given the 30-man Over-The-Top Rope Battle Royal's decade-long struggle to live up to its lofty reputation as a yearly highlight. Throw in a Tag Team Championship match involving the always entertaining New Day and this could be the best Royal Rumble in years; and how refreshing would that be?
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