By Ryan Kester

Welcome to the Reaction. In this weekly editorial, I take a brief look back at the previous week in professional wrestling and determine what I liked, what I didn't, and then explain what I want to see happen in the coming week. This Reaction covers January 15-21, 2012. Without further ado, let's get started.

What Went Right

- TNA Impact was paced well and had a good focus throughout. For the first time in a long time, I wasn't left with a feeling that nothing had really been accomplished. By extension, Jeff Hardy and Bobby Roode really came into their own on the mic, and they both seemed comfortable with their current character for the first time.

- Last week, I called for Chris Jericho to do something new with his silent promos. Instead, Jericho was put into a match, spent the entire time revving up the crowd, and when he finally got a hot tag he worked the crowd into a frenzy before simply walking away. I thought his antics were brilliant, and I am impressed by the fact that he can still get such a rise out of a crowd after failing to respond to the pops week after week.

- C.M. Punk and John Laurinaitis cut a pair of promos at the end of Raw that sold the hell out of the WWE title match at the Royal Rumble. Punk showed the most fire and intensity on the mic since his initial "shoot" promo, and Laurinaitis delivered his best performance ever.

- Austin Aries finally got an opportunity to speak on Impact Wrestling, and he ran with it. Aries displayed a level of cockiness and bravado that is needed in the X Division, and when he was joined by Alex Shelley the pair showed a great chemistry. They haven't missed a beat from their initial feud before Bound For Glory.

- Daniel Bryan seems to be getting more and more comfortable with his new character by the week. While I was skeptical of WWE creating another chickenshit heel when he started down this path, Bryan seems to be becoming more of a tactical heel. His backstage promo on WWE.com showed that his motivation is to retain the World Heavyweight Championship at all costs, and form the moment a match is announced he'd looking for any way he can to walk away with his belt. That type of smart heel is a rare thing in WWE, and it's that novelty that is paying dividends in getting Daniel Bryan over since his turn.

What Went Wrong

- Despite my excitement over the end of Raw promos from Punk and Laurinaitis, Dolph Ziggler continues to be lost in the shuffle. Ziggler is still doing some of the best work of his career, but that is being overshadowed by the fact that he's been given no focus in his feud with Punk.

- Smackdown had too much gimmickry and comedy for this time of year. A little bit of filler is fine, but with only a little over a week left until the Rumble, WWE would have been better served devoting that time to building towards the PPV.

- Speaking of the Royal Rumble, where has the hype been for the actual Rumble match? WWE has shown a few clips here and there of past Rumbles, but this is the first time in a long time they have devoted almost no attention to the main draw of the PPV. I can respect that the Rumble sells itself, but WWE has done itself a disservice by not properly hyping one of their biggest traditions.

- TNA continues to do their damnedest to get Garret Bischoff over. This past week it was with a video montage of Garret Bischoff training. On an already solid show, this corny video sat out like a sore thumb, and it failed to make me care anymore about Garret Bischoff. TNA is trying to shove the young man down viewer's throats, yet Garret continues to fail to make a meaningful connection with the fans.

- There is no fifth mark this week. Despite the above misgivings, this past week in wrestling was better than it has been in some time, and I am quite excited to see the follow up this week.

What Needs to Happen This Week

- WWE has already done enough to sell the strife between Laurinaitis and Punk. Dolph Ziggler needs to be made to look like somewhat of a threat so that the deck can truly be stacked against Punk heading into the Rumble.

- WWE needs to dust off the old Rumble statistics video package. That is one of the quickest and easiest ways to give the Rumble a sport feel and make its Impact on the Road to WrestleMania readily apparent.

- TNA needs to back off on the Garett Bischoff hype. He's not getting over in his feud with his father, and I get the sense fans see the whole efforts for what it is; a wrestling promoter desperately trying to get his son over due to his lineage rather than allowing him to try and make it with his own talent.

- TNA needs to deliver another solid show with serious focus. I've said before that their frantic pace is one of the key things holding them back, and if they consistently deliver like they did last week, then they could actually see some growth.

- With the Road to WrestleMania right around the corner, it's time for WWE to scale back on the camp and comedy and focus on setting up the feuds for WrestleMania. I'm looking for a hard sell across the board tonight on Raw and on Smackdown, and I hope there is at least one surprise in store for viewers heading into the Rumble.

If you have any questions or comments or just wish to chat with a fellow wrestling fan about whatever, then feel free to email me at ryan.kester@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter at @TheRyanKester. Have a great week.

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