C.M. Punk worked as a babyface on last week’s Smackdown but John Laurinaitis, booker of the house show matches, has been told by WWE to book Punk as a heel. This is part of a long-term plan for Punk to go heel and feud with Jeff Hardy.
Vickie Guerrero decided to leave WWE about a month before Extreme Rules. The day after she handed in her notice was when the pig angle with Santino Marella began. Vickie wanted to be able to spend more time at home with her daughters, one of whom is about to finish high school. She agreed to come back to work one extra date on last week’s Raw so she could be written out of the storylines for the TV audience.
Chris Masters met with Vince McMahon at the controversial recent TV tapings in Los Angeles. Randy Orton had recommended that he be rehired by WWE. There is a lot of curiosity backstage surrounding his return because of Masters’ physique. He was fired in late 2007 after his second Wellness Policy violation rather than his third one, although he had been in rehab for a prescription painkillers issue a few months earlier than did not count as a policy strike as it was not associated with a drugs test failure. It remains to be seen how WWE will incorporate his previous suspensions into potential future violations, as well as whether his work has improved to the level that he could be hired for anything more than an enhanced physique.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 15th June 2009 (subscribe here)
