By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

If you’ve been watching WWE television lately, you know Twitter has become a larger part of the presentation. When a wrestler’s name appears on screen, his/her Twitter handle now appears underneath it. At the start of broadcasts, WWE now encourages fans to “follow the action on Twitter” with hashtags. If a WWE-related topic is trending worldwide, a little graphic will pop up on screen and the announcers will acknowledge it. It’s now to the point where wrestlers are talking about Twitter in their promos. When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made his big return this past week on Raw, he made a point to say that that #bootstoasses was now trending worldwide. Within moments, that was indeed the case. Several minutes later, he did it again with #cenasladyparts.

My feelings on Twitter’s heavier integration into the product is mixed. On one hand, it’s not like this is something specific to WWE. Networks are using official hashtags more and more for their major TV shows in order to generate buzz, and WWE’s use of Twitter is a logical extension of that. What The Rock did was also really cool. The fact that a someone on Raw can generate worldwide trends at a moments notice speaks volumes not only of that star’s power, but of WWE’s.

On the other hand, WWE needs to be careful not to overdo it. You want to encourage fans to follow the action on Twitter? That’s great. You want to do the trending graphs? That’s never been done before on a wrestling show, so go for it. But as far as wrestlers continuously talking about Twitter in their promos, that might be pushing it, especially if it’s more than once a night. While The Rock’s Twitter stunt came off very well, that same night John Laurinitis also made a point of talking about his Twitter page in a promo, and it came off contrived. Granted, every time Laurinitis gets on the mic it comes off contrived, but still. WWE doesn’t want to push Twitter too hard, or fans are going to start turning away from it. That would be a shame, because Twitter can be a great thing for WWE or any wrestling organization, not just from a PR/publicity standpoint, but because it makes the content more interactive. So long as the wrestlers behave themselves and don’t act like douchebags (I’m looking at you Kurt Angle and Matt Hardy), that can mean a lot. Zack Ryder alone is living proof of the power social media can have in the wrestling world.

Long story short: We get it, WWE. Your wrestlers have Twitter accounts, and that’s great. But don’t push it.

WWE DIVAS TITLE MATCH:
Beth Phoenix (c) vs. Eve Torres

This is a tough one. The way I see it there are two directions to go here. The first one has Beth winning, and slowly but surely moving into a feud with her ally/tag team partner Natalya. The other has Eve winning, and doing the same thing with her partner Kelly Kelly. From a wrestling standpoint, a Beth Phoenix/Natalya program looks a lot better. But from a company standpoint, I feel like WWE would lean toward Kelly and Eve. It’s definitely a toss up…but I’m going to go with Beth. While these past few months have established her as someone who can indeed be beaten, she’s still a very strong champion who deserves to hold on to the title.

Rob’s Prediction: Beth Phoenix
Actual Winner: Beth Phoenix

TRADITIONAL SURVIVOR SERIES MATCH:
Randy Orton, Sheamus, Sin Cara, Kofi Kingston & Mason Ryan
Vs.
Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger & Hunico

Chances are if you’ve seen a Survivor Series, you know the rules here. Five men on each team, and each team member has to be eliminated one by one. The match goes until an entire team has been eliminated. These matches can be a lot of fun, and if given ample time they can create some great drama.

Matches like these are too big a wild card to predict who will actually be left on the winning team when the match is over, so I’ll simply hazard a guess at which team is going to pick up the win. I know I’m being a mark here, but is it just me, or does Orton’s team seem stronger than Barrett’s? Though he’s now entering a program with Orton, Barrett himself hasn’t had much momentum in the past few months. Jack Swagger, while a great wrestler, has become a joke lately. The strongest presence on the team is Dolph Ziggler, but he’s pulling double duty again this month, so his involvement in the match may be limited at best. All in all, I’m liking team Orton here. Because this is a team-ortiented match, I highly doubt a loss would hurt any individual on either team. This match is basically just for kicks, so let’s hope we get a few out of it.

Rob’s Prediction: Team Orton
Actual Winners: Team Barrett (Barrett and Rhodes survive)

UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH:
Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. John Morrison

Are you serious, bro? Why is Morrison getting the title shot, and not Zack Ryder? WWE has been doing a storyline where Ryder is petitioning the fans to get a rematch against Ziggler for the title. If they’re drawing that story out to get Ryder the most signatures possible, that’s one thing. But Ryder’s from Long Island, and this event is in Madison Square Garden! It’s basically Ryder’s back yard. Fans are going to be chanting for him all night. Why not give him the match now and let him have a career moment?

But alas, Morrison has the match. There’s been a lot of talk lately about Morrison’s future with WWE and whether he’ll be sticking around. A pay per view championship match is definitely a good sign in that regard. But a title isn’t what Morrison needs to further his career. It’s a personality. Morrison was once thought to be the next break out main event star in WWE. Obviously that hasn’t happened, and that’s because when he turned face a few years ago, Morrison lost most of his charisma. He’s one of the most unique performers WWE has right now, but he needs to give the audience a reason to care about him, whether we’re cheering or booing. So sure, let’s put the US Title on JoMo. But it’s not going to help him. You know who it would help? Zack Ryder.

Rob’s Prediction: John Morrison
Actual Winner: Dolph Ziggler

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
Mark Henry (c) vs. The Big Show

The Big Show has about as much a chance of winning the title this month as he did last month at Vengeance. Which is to say he’s not going to win. Show’s job right now is to continue to build Mark Henry as an unstoppable terror of a champion who simply can’t be beaten, even by a towering giant. This way, when someone actually does beat Henry, it’s a huge deal. If it were up to me, I’d keep the belt on Henry at least until Wrestlemania. The longer his reign, the better the payoff. As for the match itself, I’m not expecting much. At Vengeance they recycled the spot Big Show did with Brock Lesnar several years ago when they staged a ring collapse after a superplex. Another stunt like that might be cool, but I wouldn’t expect much more from a performance standpoint.

Rob’s Prediction: Mark Henry
Actual Winner: The Big Show (by disqualification, thus Henry retains the title)

WWE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH:
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. CM Punk

Punk has done a better job with Del Rio than Cena did, but that’s not saying much in my opinion. Ironically, a few weeks ago Punk unintentionally (or perhaps intentionally, given the source) pointed out the reason for the staleness of the WWE Title picture lately: Del Rio is one dimensional. Despite his great look and wrestling ability, he’s still basically a Hispanic version of JBL. He wasn’t ready to get the title when he got it. For my money, if WWE wanted a strong heel champion they should have gone with The Miz, or even R-Truth. Del Rio simply needed more time to cook before being elevated to the position he’s in now. But as long as he’s there, let’s go ahead and get a little more mileage out of him. Let’s give Punk the shaft this month, and then we’ll come back next month and have him with the belt in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match.

Rob’s Prediction: Alberto Del Rio
Actual Winner: CM Punk

John Cena & The Rock vs. The Miz & R-Truth

Poor Miz. He keeps getting put next to John Cena and The Rock in these big pay per view matches, and as such is rendered completely irrelevant. First it was this past spring at Wrestlemania, now this. At least he’s got R-Truth with him this time, so he won’t be irrelevant AND lonely.

The sad thing is they shouldn’t be irrelevant, but they are. The story for this one was always going to be about whether Cena and Rocky could co-exist in a tag team environment. But if Miz and R-Truth had been booked a bit better, and been allowed to hang on to some of that heat they had a couple of months ago, the build up for this match would have been a lot better. Imagine the two of them coming out week after week and beating the crap out of some wrestlers with lead pipes, or whatever weapons they’d happen to be using. Then they’d take the mic and say: “Rock, Cena, we’re coming for you at Survivor Series!” Thus, there’d be some added tension to the Cena/Rock dynamic. If they don’t get along, they’ll be destroyed by these two merciless bad guys! Unfortunately, Miz and R-Truth have been left as the afterthought here. That’s a real shame.

I’ve got mixed feelings about The Rock wrestling before his big match with Cena this spring at Wrestlemania. I think one of the big selling points for that match was that if was going to be Rocky’s first match back in eight years. What would The Rock be like in the ring after such a long absence? Would he have lost a step? Would he be as good as he ever was? Would he be able to hang with Cena? Now, all that hype has been transferred to this match. Granted, this is Madison Square Garden, where The Rock made his WWE debut in November 1996 at this very event. It’s not necessarily uncalled for to have him wrestle. But it removes what would have been a very special ingredient in the Wrestlemania match. Here’s hoping they can  plug something in to make up for that.

For storyline purposes, I’d love to see Miz and R-Truth take this one, not only because it would vindicate them,  but because it would add more heat to the Cena/Rock feud. But because it’s Rock’s first match back in so long, and it is MSG, I don’t see him losing. That’s fair enough. This match can be dramatic whether Rock wins or loses. My big hope for this one is that they format it so that everyone involved can benefit.

Rob’s Prediction: John Cena & The Rock
Actual Winners: John Cena & The Rock

What’s Missing?
- Zack Ryder. I mentioned this above, but it’s really a crime not to have him on this show.
- Evan Bourne. A suspension via the WWE Wellness Policy has left Kofi Kingston without his tag team partner.

Front page image from wwehunks.com. Rock/Cena image from bleacherreport.com. All other images from WWE.com.