CHEAP HEAT: WHO'S GOING TO STEP IT UP IN 2008?

by Matt Loede, Let's Wrestle

It's officially the longest stretch of the year between PPV's, as we will end up going over a month by the time the 2008 Royal Rumble comes to us live from Madison Square Garden on January 27th. It's a time to reflect, get storylines for 2008 in motion, and start pushes for guys that hopefully will start to take it to the next level this year. There are plenty of guys on the list that look like they are in line for pushes this year, but in the end, they will be the ones to determine if they become stars or not. Here are a few guys that appear on the verge of getting pushed hard in 2008:

Jeff Hardy - This is the most obvious one since it's actually already happening with his main event title program right now with Randy Orton. We've thrown around Jeff's past enough to know that they are going to let him run with the ball, and if he can keep it rolling, I would not doubt a main event push all the way to a Mania co-main event in 2009.

Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang - This pair have put together some of the better matches recently on ECW, and it seems they are the next in line for tag belts. I can see them in the mold of the London and Kendrick team that dominated the SmackDown! scene for sometime before losing the belts and then being lost in the shuffle on RAW.

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder - The company made a good move when they took away their "brothers" status as the Major Brothers and made them sidekicks of Edge. Remember when Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin were paired up with Kurt Angle and eventually they won tag gold? Look for the same thing to eventually happen here.

The Miz - Long term I think the Miz is going to make a great manager, and they should start to think about him more in the role of what they have made Matt Striker, a manager/wrestler. His mic skills are solid, and once he and John Morrison drop the tag belts, they should find a guy or two that he can pair up with that he can do the talking for.

Shelton Benjamin - To a man, many on the WWE's rosters think that Benjamin has the most talent of anyone in the company. He's been thrown around in various dead end storylines that tend to go nowhere, then gets the shaft with losing to someone they want to push. Look for an ECW title program with C.M. Punk that if done right can be one of the better feuds of the year in the company.

Maira - This is a slam dunk in the women's department, as any diva in the company who takes their clothes off for Playboy automatically gets a push. That is happening here, as she will be this years flavor as she'll bare all for the magazine in an issue that will come out right before WrestleMania. With that, look for a Mania match of some sort, or at least a big presence at the show.

* The company continues to add wrestlers into the Royal Rumble, as they are using matches at house shows to qualify guys. This past week we saw more wrestlers get their names added to the list of what will end up being 30. Here is an updated list as of now

- Umaga
- Snitsky
- Hardcore Holly
- Hornswoggle
- Mick Foley
- The Undertaker
- Batista
- Shelton Benjamin
- John Morrison
- The Miz
- Kane
- Shannon Moore
- Jimmy Wang Yang

* Rumor has it that former TNA star Chris "Wildcat" Harris has signed with the WWE. Harris' contract had expired last week, and he took the opportunity to jump ship to the WWE. Look for him to possibly be on ECW or SmackDown within the next few weeks.

* There are some backstage rumblings that Triple H's popularity has been going down the tubes since he refused to put Ric Flair over on RAW recently in Flair's on-going "Win or Retire" storyline. HHH also totally buried King Booker over the summer and it was one of the factors of Booker leaving the company, and then took a few shots at Chris Jericho upon his return. Of course as we write this the plan for HHH is to headline one of the two main events at WrestleMania, which won't help his backstage presence one bit.

* The WWE has released details of their DVD's that will release in 2008, with the PPV's for the year on the list, but also some interesting DVD's that will be dedicated to Sting, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, The Rock, and another one dedicated to Steve Austin.

* Word recently was that the company was trying to lure The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) to come back and be a presenter at the WWE Hall of Fame inductions this March the evening before WrestleMania 24. The thought was that Dwyane would come back to introduce either his grandfather, Peter Mavia, or father, Rocky Johnson, into the Hall. No word on if that will take place or not.