This Week in ‘E – The King of Memphis

Columns, Features

The King looks to become Mayor, John Cena reminds everyone that he is truly Captain America and Seth Green of all people is going to commandeer the RAW brand tonight. It can’t be any worse than when Rob Schneider showed up.

Opening Witty Banter
Congrats to my fellow South Dakota boy Brock Lesnar destroying Frank Mir Saturday night at UFC 100. His post-match promo was a thing of beauty and something Dana White should be promoting as opposed to condemning, as stunts like that will only help to draw viewers and pay per view buys. Also I just saw that full cast list for The Ultimate Fighter 10 (the one with Kimbo on it) and Jon Madsen will be on the show. Madsen is another South Dakota boy who beat Lesnar back in high school. Should be a fun season, full of douchey goodness. Also congrats to Dan Henderson for putting Michael Bisping to to sleep. A knockout like that will be replayed for years to come.

Let’s take some ‘E…

The News of the Week
The big news (and virtually only news) of the week is the continued talk of Jerry “The King” Lawler running for mayor of Memphis. He attempted to run back in 1999 and got a surprising amount of the vote. He admitted that on the off chance that he were to win the election he would have to step down his duties as RAW color commentator.

It seems as if Lawler winning is a long shot but it would certainly shake up WWE’s pitch man rotation. In the past year the company has already lost superb color guys in JBL and Tazz and losing The King would definitely be a blow to the ranks. They’ve got the play-by-play rotation down pat with Cole, Grisham, Matthews and Jack Korpela waiting in the wings, but their color guys are getting slim. Perhaps there a couple charismatic young guys down in developmental that could be cultivated in color guys. God knows if Abraham Washington’s show continues to fail as bad as it does perhaps he could slide behind the desk. Or perhaps it’s time to give Tony Schiavone a call. He and Jim Ross could reprise their old comedic stylings.

John Cena got married this past weekend to his high school sweetheart. (Yeah this counts as news in a slow week like this.)

Could this guy be any more of a Captain America? He’s the clean, wholesome hero to millions on television, has movie star looks and still finds time to marry the same girl he’s known since high school.

It’s expected Matt Hardy will miss 8 – 10 weeks of in ring time after his abdominal surgery.

So with him coming back on the SmackDown brand, does this mean he’s gonna lock up with his brother once again, or will Jeff be gone from the company by that point?

Apparently the October pay per view Cyber Sunday is back on and the name Annihilation was been dropped.

Annihilation was such a generic name, and even though Cyber Sunday usually produced middling results it at least stood out with its voting concept in WWE’s crowded pay per view landscape.

Because Edge’s Achilles tear and subsequent surgery haven’t been addressed on television, WWE has made no official announcement regarding his status. Apparently he will have to stay off his foot for 10 – 14 days before rehabbing can officially begins. Early timetables peg him coming back for Royal Rumble 2010 at the very least but WrestleMania XXVI more likely.

Here’s hoping Edge comes back at full strength and doesn’t try to rush it. He’s not getting any younger but he’s consistently one of the most entertaining performers on WWE television, and a guy that never seems to wear out his welcome in my eyes.

Newsweek has a great article up on how hands-on USA Network honcho Bonnie Hammer is with WWE and Monday Night RAW. The article mentions that Hammer sometimes watches RAW from home and stays on the phone with cameramen, instructing him on exactly when to pull the camera back. She is also the force that urged WWE to hire soap opera and comedy writers.

So now we know to blame…

The Road to…Night of Champions
World Heavyweight Championship
CM Punk (c) v. Jeff Hardy

WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) v. John Cena v. Triple H

ECW Championship
Tommy Dreamer (c) v. Christian

WWE Unified Tag Team Championships
Edge & Chris Jericho (c) v. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes

WWE Divas Championship
Mickie James v. Maryse (c)

rumored matches:
Kofi Kingston v. The Big Show
Melina v. Michelle McCool
Rey Mysterio v. Dolph Ziggler

Wrestler of the Week
Week of July 6 – 12: Chris Jericho
On Monday night he and Edge retained their Tag Championships against The Colons on a taped Monday Night RAW and then put on a fantastic main event match with Rey Mysterio on SmackDown. Jericho and Mysterio had fantastic chemistry during their spring and summer run and each week Jericho reminds us why he is one of the best in the world.

RAW’s On Tonight!
Tonight it’s week three of RAW’s guest host summer and television and movie star Seth Green will be on hand to run the red brand. Plus with Night of Champions only two weeks away expect more heat to be added to fire on the WWE Championship and WWE Divas Championship rivalries. Plus Kofi Kingston still needs a challenger for the pay per view, and by the looks of it The Big Show will probably be that guy. And with Edge definitely not able to make the pay per view as one half of the Unified Tag Team Champions expect the situation to be resolved tonight. Will Chris Jericho be allowed a new partner? Will he be forced to vacate the belts? Will be go it alone against Rhodes & DiBiase? So many questions, so little time.

On Last Week’s Episode…
SmackDown

ECW

RAW

How They Rated
Superstars (7.2.09) – .9

SmackDown! (7.3.09) – 1.6

A.M. RAW (7.5.09) – .6

RAW (7.6.09) – 3.6

ECW (7.7.09) – .7

This is Boring, What Else is There to Read?
Glazer talks Florida Championship Wrestling.

Wiswell switches from ROH this week and gives a great analysis of NOAH.

Ditch looks at the best of Misawa’s career.

For more relevant, interesting and exciting wrestling information from your truly, check out my gig as the Pro Wrestling Examiner over at Examiner.com.

Mark was a columnist for Pulse Wrestling for over four years, evolving from his original “Historically Speaking” commentary-style column into the Monday morning powerhouse known as “This Week in ‘E.” He also contributes to other ventures, outside of IP, most notably as the National Pro Wrestling Examiner for Examiner.com and a contributor for The Wrestling Press. Follow me on Twitter here.