On the November 21 st episode of Monday Night Raw, a blurry message popped up in the lower left hand corner of the screen. The message revealed the following link to youtube which can be accessed by clicking HERE.
The video starts by showing water flowing, it cuts to a boy sitting alone in a classroom. The boy is at his desk writing with a permanent marker. He begins to write and narrate the following passage:
“Come my people and shut thy doors about thee. For a power shall come to punish the meek for their inequity. For on the second day of 2012, a familiar force shall arrive to claim what it is his. And it will be the end of the world as you know it.”
During his narration the video cuts away multiple times. Showing various clips from a field of grass that has a ball appear in the center of it, a park bench, and a swing set with moving swings. Everything shown appears to be on a wet cloudy day. The video ends by going to a black screen and reading “It begins.”
The big question is who will be returning to the WWE on January 2 nd , 2012. It seems a majority of the WWE Universe think ‘Y2J’ Chris Jericho will be returning. Other names that have been floating around are The Undertaker, Kane, Goldberg, and Brock Lesnar.
Chris Jericho’s name has been floating around because the video appeared on Youtube and the familiar force will return on the 2 nd of January. By taking the ‘Y’ from Youtube, the ‘2’ from the 2 nd day, and the ‘J’ from January gives you ‘Y2J’. This is not a good way to guarantee that Jericho will be returning. Anyone could sit there and put together someone’s name from the letters in ‘Youtube’ and ‘January’ to guess what Superstar will be returning.
It has also been pointed out that a globe is in the classroom. Therefore, Jericho will return to claim he is “The Best In The World” and not CM Punk. Jericho is not a farfetched choice but it seems the reasoning for his return is to simple. A good way to even consider Jericho a possibility would be looking up Fozzy tour dates. Jericho’s band Fozzy does not currently have any tour dates scheduled for 2012. That leaves open the possibility that Jericho could be returning. Even though Jericho may be returning I would not associate Jericho’s name with other words like “Power” or “Force”.
When I think of the words “Power” and “Force” I think The Undertaker. The Undertaker’s career has been built around the word “Power”. It was believed that he could draw “Power” from the urn carried by his manager Paul Bearer. When The Undertaker formed The Ministry of Darkness he revealed he was taking orders from a “Higher Power”. Besides The Undertaker needs to return to claim the World Heavyweight Championship. In 2010, The Undertaker and Kane were feuding over the World Heavyweight Championship. The Undertaker lost to Kane at Night Of Champions. After losing The Undertaker reunited with his former manager Paul Bearer. Bearer would turn on The Undertaker at Hell In A Cell, allowing Kane to pick up the victory. The Undertaker took on Kane at Bragging Rights during a Buried Alive Match. Kane was successful at burying The Undertaker alive with the help of The Nexus. When The Undertaker returned in 2011, HHH challenged him to a Match at WrestleMania XXVII. The Undertaker has not been seen since his Match at WrestleMania XXVII. Therefore, he never had the opportunity to reclaim the World Heavyweight Championship that escaped his hands twice as a result of Bearer and The Nexus. For those reasons I feel The Undertaker will be returning on the second day of 2012.
Kane’s name has also been floating around but he had his own return promo on Raw called “A dark force lurks at the perimeter of the WWE Universe”. Although the video did not come out and say Kane was returning. It clearly showed what appeared to be Kane looking into a mirror and shattering it with his fist. The video ended with a mask that looked similar to Kane’s dropping to the floor. The video did not say when Kane was returning. Which means he could be the one returning on the 2 nd day of January and the WWE created the “It begins.” video to create buzz within the WWE Universe.
Brock Lesnar seems like a longshot. His next UFC fight is scheduled for December 30 th , 2011. The winner of Lesnar’s fight will receive a UFC Heavyweight Championship Fight. A Championship Fight could be in Lesnar’s future making it hard to believe that Lesnar would retire from UFC that night and return to the WWE three days later.
Goldberg seems like a longshot as well; However, it has been posted on his Wikipedia page that rumors have been floating around of him returning for the 2012 Royal Rumble. Anyone can post whatever they want on Wikipedia making this rumor seem more unlikely.
Zack Ryder’s name has been floating around because of the final sentence read by the boy in the video. “The end of the world as YOU KNOW IT”. Ryder’s catch phrase is “Woo Woo Woo YOU KNOW IT”. This had led some members of the WWE Universe to believe that Ryder will turn heel on the second day of 2012. “Are your serious bro?” The video clearly states “a familiar force shall arrive”. That makes it sound like a Superstar will be returning to the WWE. Since Ryder is still competing on a weekly basis, it puts him out of the running.
Batista’s name has been floating around because of the age on the Youtube account. The age on the Youtube account is 43. Batista will turn 43 on the 19 th of January. Batista left the WWE to try his hand at Mixed Martial Arts. He was about to strike up a deal with Strikeforce but the deal feel through when Zuffa, LLC brought Strikeforce. Since his Mixed Martial Arts deal feel through Batista could be a Superstar returning on the second day of 2012.
Brodus Clay’s name has been floating because of his finishing maneuver. Clay’s finishing move is called the ‘Fall Of Humanity’. That could be tied back into “The end of the world as you know it.” Clay would have to claim something when he returns. Clay has not won a Championship within the WWE; Therefore, the only thing he could return to claim is winner of NXT Season IV. Clay came in second in NXT Season IV when the WWE Universe helped choose Johnny Curtis as the winner. Six days after the season ended Clay debuted on Raw. Curtis did not make his in-ring debut until five months later. Curtis debuted against Mark Henry, who defeated him in 54 seconds. Even in Clay’s absence Curtis has not done much. For that reason Clay could return on the second day of 2012 claiming that he deserved to be the winner of NXT Season IV.
Shane McMahon’s name has been floating around. McMahon is the son of Vince McMahon. Making Shane seem like a good choice to replace Vince when he officially steps down; However, Shane left the WWE to become the CEO of China Broadband Inc. Shane could return to claim the company from Stephanie McMahon and HHH. Making it “The end of the world as you (HHH) knows it.”. It could be the end of the world for HHH because he no longer wrestles full time. If Shane returns, HHH would never hold a higher position than him within the company.
Kevin Thorn’s name has been floating around because of a tweet that appeared on his twitter. Thorn supposedly tweeted something along the lines of having big plans in 2012. It Begins. After looking at Thorn’s twitter page I was unable to find a message that was similar to that. Meaning Thorn deleted the message or never posted it in the first place. For that reason Thorn is probably not the Superstar returning on the second day of 2012.
Sting’s name has been floating around because Raw will be taking place in Tennessee on the second day on 2012. Nashville, Tennessee is where the TNA headquarters are located. If the WWE managed to steal Sting away from TNA, it would be a slap in the face to have him debut where the headquarters are located. Not a bad theory but Sting has said numerous times he does not want to work for Vince McMahon. Unless the WWE offered Sting some absurd amount of money, I can’t see him coming to Raw. Besides what would he be claiming? Sting has never been apart of the WWE; Therefore, I’m not sure what he could claim. For those reasons Sting is probably not the Superstar returning on the second day of 2012.
Unfortunately, SmackDown did not air a second promo to help the WWE Universe clear things up. So who do you think will be returning on the second day of 2012? A Superstar mentioned above or a Superstar that was not on the list like Rey Mysterio or Goldust?
Sources:
Kane Promo
Fozzy Tour Dates
Lesnar Information
Goldberg Information
Batista Information
Shane McMahon Information