If you get the original reference point of this week’s column title you get a gold star.
Opening Witty Banter
Wow, I just had an absolutely fantastic Fourth of July weekend, and am a week away from moving into my new apartment so things are going pretty swimmingly for me right now. Let’s get to a pretty eventful week from the crew in Stamford.
The Big Story
It’s become clichéd to have WWE say that every year when they do a draft that they will “shake things up.†This year they actually have followed through on their promises and shook up the landscape of both RAW and SmackDown! Jim Ross, Triple H and the WWE Championship have moved to SmackDown! to try and shore up the blue brand en route to their move to the fledgling MyNetworkTV this fall while CM Punk cashed in the fabled Money in the Bank Title shot and beat Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship and bring that belt to Monday Night RAW. On a brand where John Cena, Batista, Rey Mysterio, Shawn Michaels and Kane dominate the “good guys†locker room, CM Punk has jumped to the top with his completely unexpected victory. Without getting into any speculation about how his title reign will actually be handled for right now it is a moment that should just be basked in and enjoyed. Naysayers have already predicted a Chris Jericho or Chris Benoit level Title reign while men like Cena and JBL actually dominate the main event scene, but for right now I remain hopeful and optimistic that Punk will be able to become a legit main event level superstar. This is has been said ad nauseaum but in an era of wellness violations having a World Champion that is legit drug and alcohol free isn’t the worst idea in the world for a multi-million dollar publicly traded company.
Punk is only the tip of the iceberg in regards to the RAW brand’s new superstar movement. Punk now leads a Champions roll call that includes twenty-six year old Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston and World Tag Team Champions twenty-three old Cody Rhodes and twenty-five year old Ted DiBiase, Jr. Also recently Lance Cade has broken out of the pack and asserted himself in the upper mid-card as a back-up for Chris Jericho in his battle against Cade’s trainer Shawn Michaels.
The brand also now features other young budding acts like Santino Marella, Cryme Tyme, Paul Burchill and the potential for the emergence of Jimmy “Duece†Snuka Jr.
Meanwhile SmackDown! has slowly become the home of some the company’s more established talents with Triple H, Edge, Jeff Hardy and The Big Show leading the way for a mix of new budding superstars like MVP, Mr. Kennedy and Shelton Benjamin, while ECW continues its trend of mixing veteran leadership (in the likes of Finlay, Mark Henry and Matt Hardy) with brand new untested acts like Evan Bourne, Atlas Ortiz, Mike Knox, Morrison & The Miz and Colin Delaney.
Just as outside observer it seems as if WWE is willing to take some risks and try some new things on the flagship RAW brand as it is an established institution on Monday nights and the USA Network and fans from hardcore fanatics like me down to the most casual of fans know that pro wrestling is live on Monday nights on USA. Whereas with the SmackDown! brand moving to a brand new un-established market like MyNetworkTV it is imperative that they bring out “the big guns†in order to make their new venture a successful one.
As for ECW it seems as if the brand is always a work-in-progress as every vision that the company has tried with ECW has failed. First they tried to stick with the company’s original roots but then Rob Van Dam and Sabu’s weed put a kibosh on that. Then the release of Kurt Angle put an end to the short-lived “MMA vision†for the brand. Big Show’s “era†was a safe bet until they were ready to give Bobby Lashley the spotlight. Then last summer it became pretty obvious that ECW would become a developmental show on national TV with a handful of veteran player-coaches overseeing a small, young roster of new talents that haven’t yet worked up to RAW or SmackDown! But then Chris Benoit kind of screwed that up.
The point of this whole little tangent is that I am excited to see the direction of all three brands right now and for the first time in a while all three shows feel fresh and have a sense of urgency about them in regards to the direction they will take in regards to their storylines, characters and match-ups.
Everything Else Fit For Print
According to PWInsider.com, WWE is thinking about doing live editions of SmackDown! on the Fridays before PPVs. This is another attempt to raise the brand’ profile. It seems as if the first of these experiments would be the Friday before WrestleMania XXV in Houston. Kevin Dunn seems to be against the switch as it would wreck havoc on his production crew with all the extra time and work they would need to put in.
Anything that helps raise the profile of SmackDown! is a good thing in my eyes. Having both RAW and SmackDown! at an equal standing makes the company as a whole more successful. Frankly I’m all for the move to live shows and would only add to the excitement to the shows that can’t be created by a taped telecast.
Ashley Massaro has posted on her MySpace page that she would like to get out of her WWE contract because her seven year-old daughter is in ill health and she needs the time to spend with her and take care of her.
Ashley has a daughter? Seriously, I’m not being smarky here, in the information overload era that we are in I’m just surprised that it wasn’t really common knowledge that Ashley had a kid. I figured that might have come out during her whole Playboy run. That being said, I’m all for Ashley taking the time she needs to care for her family. From a fan’s perspective she hasn’t really been relevant in WWE since her Playboy push in early 2007 subsided.
Last week Kofi Kingston’s family did an interview that revealed that Kofi is actually from Ghana, and not Jamaica. In response Kofi has banned his family from talking to the media.
Really I don’t see this being a big deal, as characters come from kayfabed hometowns all the time. Besides Jamaica sounds more babyface exotic than Ghana. Can you imagine the jokes Mike Adamle would make if Kofi was billed from Ghana? (Kofi, you Ghana make me crazy?)
Apparently Brian Kendrick and Paul London were split up in the draft as the company likes Kendrick and thinks he’s a good talent while they think London is inconsistent and has a bad attitude. Kendrick may get a solid mid-card on SmackDown!
So it looks Paul London may be tearing up the dark match circuit with Val Venis, Charlie Haas and Robbie now that Heat is no longer available. That’s too bad, London has always been one of my all-time favorite performers, and really think he could do some solid work if given the chance. I mean it’s right there that Shawn Michaels needs a tag partner in his run against Lance Cade and Chris Jericho.
Joey Styles himself has reported that he’s happy with his role on wwe.com and enjoys it more than the announcing he was doing. He has even become closer with Vince McMahon at tapings and meetings.
Dammit, my colleague Brad Curran beat to the joke about an impending Vince & Joey buddy comedy. I mean WWE Films is always looking for fresh ideas.
JBL’s back injuries are still lingering heavily and it’s apparent to even JBL that his performances aren’t what they should be. His back is in constant pain, and it wouldn’t be surprising if his in-ring comeback doesn’t last for much longer.
I’ve always been a much bigger fan of JBL behind a microphone than in the ring, so a move to a managerial, commentating or GM role wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world in my humble opinion.
There is talk that Umaga may start cutting his own promos on SmackDown!
I’m kind of torn on this as I think Umaga being silent keeps up his kayfabe mystique, but him cutting promos might add another depth to his character.
Trevor Murdoch was released form his contract on July 3.
So far no reason has surfaced as to why Murdoch was released. Apparently Michael Hayes was a fan of Murdoch’s and by all accounts it seemed as if Hayes had decent mid-card plans for him on SmackDown! It’s too bad, Murdoch was one of those guys who stood out in the WWE landscape thanks to his “un-Superstar†like look and body type.
Wrestler of the Week
I’m trying to think of new ways to change up/improve this column so each week I will highlight who I think was WWE’s Wrestler of the Week, kind of like what JR does on wwe.com. As this is still in its early stages I don’t really have any criteria, but I’m sure my choice will come from a combination of kayfabe and real-life factors.
For the week of June 30 – July 6: CM Punk
Duh. I just wrote two columns in the past seven days talking about the importance and relevance of Punk’s victory. I’m not going to waste any more time talking about it.
Week of June 2 – 8: John Cena
Week of June 16 – 22: Lance Cade
Week of June 23 – 29: Kofi Kingston
RAW’s On Tonight!
Nothing substantial has been announced for RAW just generic hype for the Jericho-Michaels and Mysterio-Marella rivalries, plus there should be plenty of TV time for all the brand new young Champions and their new crop of impending challengers.
On Last Week’s Episode…
SmackDown!
ECW: recap and 10 thoughts
How They Rated
A.M. RAW (6.29.08) – .6
RAW (6.30.08) – 3.5
ECW (7.1.08) – 1.38
SmackDown! (7.4.06) –
This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
K Sawyer Paul talks Kevin Nash.
Glazer continues his fantastic fantasy booking of a fictional Ring of Honor TV show.
Wiswell talks Bryan Danielson.
