Ladies' night at the Royal Rumble

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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I realize I'm a few days late with this, but I did want to weigh in on the announcement from Monday night with the all-women Royal Rumble match coming up next month. 

As mentioned in this week's Pro Wrestling Unscripted podcast it's a great move by WWE. But the execution of the announcement was nonsensical. A brawl involving several of the women on the Raw roster was interrupted by Stephanie McMahon. She announced the history-making match and the ladies all seemed to be overcome with the news and stopped their fighting. In fact, they all celebrated in the ring.

We've talked about an all-female Rumble before. Earlier this year, listener Devin Dinkins posed the question on an Ask My 1-2-3 Cents podcast. It's a great move by the company, which has done women matches in the Hell in a Cell and Money in the Bank. The Royal Rumble only makes sense.

I'm not going to speculate yet on a winner until all the competitors are announced. Early favorites have already picked Ronda Rousey. I don't have a problem with that as I believe a match between her and Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania could actually be the main event. Main eventing WrestleMania will be the last major accomplishment for the women's division. 

There are plenty of talented women on the current roster, including NXT and from the Mae Young Classic. There's also a lot of Legends and indy stars who could and should be included in the Royal Rumble. Something else to note, I'm a believer that champions should be in the Rumble match too. In my 1-2-3 cents, it's logical that the Universal or WWE Champion or in this case the Raw or SmackDown Live Womens' champions to want a shot at their counterpart for the gold. I know for the time being WWE will not unify any championships and the champ in the Rumble wouldn't have to win. I'm just speaking from a logic standpoint. 

Who do you think will enter and win the first Women's Royal Rumble match? We'll discuss more on the podcast and here on the blog in the coming weeks.

Shaking things up

Maryse & the Miz
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Superstar Shakeup 2017 is in the books, and overall I'm impressed with how it was executed. There weren't any splits of tag teams or manager/valet setups, which is good. Lana is staying with Rusev on SmackDown Live and the Miz and Maryse will remain a pair on Raw. I had concerns teams like the New Day or Enzo and Big Cass would end up getting separated.

Wooo!
Courtesy: WWE

It's interesting that Bray Wyatt is now on Raw. I'll be curious to see if there's any kind of interaction with Braun Strowaman on the show. It seems like neither man would really need to have their alliance anymore. I'm happy to see Charlotte Flair coming to SmackDown Live. As mentioned before, the Bayley, Sasha, Charlotte story was getting a bit stale. Injecting Alexa Bliss into the Raw Women's Championship picture is great, but all signs are pointing to a Sasha heel turn, at least it appears that way to me. I'm hoping Tamina is ready to get back into the ring because the SDL women's roster lost two full-time and talented women along with Maryse (I don't know how much more she'll wrestle). 

The KO Show moves...
Courtesy: WWE

I'm not sure why they traded the Intercontinental and U.S. champions between shows, but I'm glad they didn't keep both champs on the same show. Maybe the IC title will get some shine on Raw with Universal Champion Brock Lesnar being a part-time Superstar. I believe Kevin Owens will beat Chris Jericho at Payback and remain on SDL. But I was hoping for a faction with him, Samoa Joe and possibly Cesaro on Raw. 

The rosters have new looks for the post-WrestleMania season. Change is good and I'm looking forward to the build up to Money in the Bank (I'll be there) and SummerSlam.

My plans for the WWE Women's Division

Women's Championship
Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Allow me to do a little fantasy booking with WrestleMania and the Women's Division. I know the likelihood of any of this actually happening is nil, but I had fun coming up with a plan that I know WWE could easily execute. I'm no booker, so I'd have to rely on WWE Creative to fill in the gaps of my plan.

Asuka
Courtesy: WWE

It all starts with NXT Saturday night before WrestleMania 33. Asuka drops the Women's Championship to Ember Moon. Later in the night we see Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan speaking to the former champion backstage. Fast forward to Sunday at WrestleMania and just before the Women's Championship match, Bryan announces that Asuka has agreed to the terms of a SmackDown Live contract and has joined the roster. She goes on to win the title that night.

Charlotte Flair
Courtesy: WWE

The Raw Women's Championship match comes down to Bayley and Charlotte Flair. Charlotte pulls off the win and regains the gold. The next night on Raw, Charlotte vows to never lose the Women's Championship and talks about how she's the most dominant female of all time. Cue Daniel Bryan's music. He and Shane McMahon come to the ring along with the new SmackDown Live Women's champ, Asuka. 

At some point during the back and forth, Stephanie makes her way to the ring too. Daniel gets to his point and lays down a challenge. A best of seven series between Charlotte and Asuka to unify the Women's Championship. The winning brand's champion then gets the women's division exclusively on their show.

Courtesy: WWE

Steph and Charolette finally accept and the matches will rotate between Raw and SmackDown Live. Of course we'll go to seven matches, with the championship to be determined either at Money in the Bank (because I'll be there) or a special event that features matches from both brands so there's no 'home field advantage'. During the course of the series, Charlotte reforms the Four Horsemen to help run interference. Sasha Banks (who works better as a heel IMO), Nia Jax and Natalya make up the new group. Stephanie "buys" Nattie's contract out from under the noses of Bryan and Shane.

Honestly, I don't really care who wins it all, I just want to see the women all on the same brand to offer more variety of matches, especially on Raw shows. 

Road Block preview

Courtesy: WWE

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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WWE is closing out the year with one more Raw “pay-per-view” event. Road Block: End of the Line features several championship matches and brewing rivalries. The show also makes the bold promise to be the “end of the line” for women’s competitors Sasha Banks and Charlotte Flair.

That’s the match I’m going to talk most about. I’m guessing this Ironman (woman) match will close the show. Like most fans, I’ve enjoyed the matches these two women have put on over their time on the main roster and while they were both in NXT. But at the same time, I agree it’s time for both women to move on to new opponents. Years ago two wrestlers could get away with feuding for more than a year because there wasn’t so much TV time to fill.

Charlotte needs the win here. Her undefeated singles streak on PPV can’t be broken on a smaller show. Also, when Charlotte does finally lose it needs to be against someone who hasn’t already beaten her. The smart money is on Bayley, however, I’d rather it be Nia Jax. If it doesn’t happen at WrestleMania, I’d wait until SummerSlam for this to happen.

Kevin Owens will come out of the match against Roman Reigns as Universal Champion, however, I don’t think he’ll beat the U.S. Champion. A disqualification or count out are more likely results to this match.

Seth Rollins will beat Chris Jericho. Jericho really doesn’t need the win. He’d still be strong for the much-anticipated championship match against Owens.

The New Day should hold on to the tag team championships, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sheamus and Cesaro finally win the gold (or copper). I’d hate for the new record breaking champs lose the titles in such quick fashion, but it’s a huge possibility now. Other than Big Cass and Enzo, Sheamus and Cesaro are my next picks for tag team champions.

Sami Zayn will survive his 10 minutes against Braun Strowman. But then what happens next for both men? WWE hasn’t seemed to have much of a plan for the big man lately.  

I want to be a fan of the Cruiserweight Division, but I’m not sold on it yet. Rich Swann should retain the title, I see no reason to pass it off again, but like I said before nothing would surprise me.

Enzo will cause Big Cass to get disqualified in the kick-off match against Rusev. It keeps all parties involved looking strong and further advances the issues between Enzo and Rusev.

Despite a number of rematches as a part of this show, it should be a great event with the crowning of at least one new champion. Long live Charlotte!

Streaks are meant to be broken

Cubs win!

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter
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I'm not a huge sports fan. But I did get caught up in the buzz of the Chicago Cubs quest for a World Series championship. By now you know they won the trophy after a 108-year drought. Growing up in St. Louis I've always been a Cardinals fan. However, I tip my hat (if I was wearing one) to the Cubs and their fans. 

One thing I don't understand is the snark on social media. Yes, the Cardinals have more championships under their belt. But how could you not be excited or at least happy for a team that has not played in the World Series since World War II? Rivals or not, I'm proud of the Cubs and happy for my many friends who have rooted for the Cubbies through the tough times.

Undertaker's streak ends

The breaking of that World Series winless streak got me to thinking about other streaks (in wrestling of course).  The most impressive streak in the business is, of course, the Undertaker's WrestleMania streak. In March 1991 he beat "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka. Year after year (except 1994 and 2000 when he didn't wrestle at Mania) the Undertaker was victorious. Then in a move that still kinda baffles me, Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker at WrestleMania XXX. The Deadman is now 23 and 1. Still impressive, but that one little one is the fly in the ointment.

Charlotte Flair wins again
Courtesy: WWE

Another streak that I'm loving right now is that of Charlotte Flair. The Raw Women's Champion has not lost in singles competition on pay per view since debuting on the main roster last summer. Charlotte is 13 and 2 on PPVs, with the only two defeats happening in tag team competition. She has the best record of any WWE Superstar on pay per view. It's impressive and word on the street is WWE plans to continue it until WrestleMania.

Goldberg
Courtesy: WWE

Goldberg once touted a streak of 173 (alleged) victories before finally losing to Kevin Nash at Starrcade 1998. It was done in less than stellar fashion and could have been so much more.

So there you have it, a few streaks that have been broken and one that remains intact. What are your favorite streaks in sports and wrestling?