This week’s No Chance Column is packed full of everything that happened this week in the WWE. So sit back, relax, and allow your eyes to full with all sorts of wrestling goodness. (Cause it looks like we can say wrestling again.)
Raw’s Opening Promo:
When you can keep my attention and high level of excitement throughout the entire opening promo, that’s a good promo. When the promo is over and I realize that the opening promo took up almost a fourth of Raw, that’s a great promo. Of course having Punk in the ring is almost enough to guarantee a great promo these days. And the fact that Punk had a story to tell (why he came back) made it all the more interesting. And Triple H’s contributions to the whole segment were exactly what they needed to be. Showing Triple H as the boss of the show, not the chaotic wrestler form his early days needs to be a high priority for WWE and keeping him in the suit for the time being is just the way to do that. I’ll admit I was concerned that the segment might end in a Pedigree, but not only did WWE refrain from doing that but Punk’s “pipe bomb†comment kept the potential of the feud going.
Ad to this it’s getting hard to tell who’s supposed to be the heel in this situation. Both Punk and Triple H got cheers (as did Cena when he came out) so if this keeps up will Punk actually get a legit face turn once he’s done with Cena, and can start fighting heels? I’m torn. I like cheering for Punk with others, but I like cheering for this Punk. Any change to the character could ruin that. If he has to keep fighting faces to keep this character, then I’m all for it. Even if he does get more cheers than his opponent.
Raw mid-carders:
And then we get the rest of Raw, full of Diva’s battle royale, two tag team matches and Dolph talking. Diva’s was for the most part the same old same old that we’re used to save the ending which I’m sure we all hope leads to some kind of reasonable push for Beth. Do we have any real chance of that? Hopefully so, if any of the Diva’s actually deserves a belt, Beth would probably top the list.
We also got another mid-card face being sacrificed so that we can all be reminded that Alberto Del Rio is a worthy Main Event wrestler. This week it looks like Evan Bourne drew the short straw. Now though, with Kofi running in at the end it looks like he’ll have enough of a feud with Del Rio, until the MITB case finally gets cashed in and Del Rio can take his place among the main event guys.
Zack Ryder on the television:
After what seems like weeks of chants and countless “Ryder or Riot†signs, Ryder has been on my TV in not one but two Raw matches in just as many weeks. Sure it’s looking like he’s going to be a comedy wrestler what with his pairing of Santino vs. Nexus scraps this past week, but at least he’s on now. Still, hopefully his main television appearance for the foreseeable future will be made up of his new role on Smackdown. I’ve never found Teddy Long especially entertaining, so the fact that he’s frequently in the behind the scenes segments have always resulted in those being a bit of a drag.
Triple H’s ability to run the company:
It’s been just over two weeks now sine Triple H has taken over from Vince. Two weeks where we’ve watched Trips do more or less exactly what Vince would have done over the past two weeks. I suppose we’re expected to believe that Punk’s return is thanks to the new COO but Vince spent a whole episode trying to get Punk resigned so it’s not like Trips is moving the company in any new direction. In fact his biggest effect on the company to date seems to be the appointing of Ryder to the Assistant to the General Manager position. Something that I wouldn’t have expected out of the Vince Character who has always ignored the Internet’s new found love for Zack Ryder. As for his dealings with two champions, I don’t know why the solution was teased for two hours, since we all knew that a SummerSlam match would settle this. In fact so far that seems to be Trips solution to every title problem. Two Champs? Solve it at SummerSlam. Orton is upset? SummerSlam match.
And to the future:
Obviously the most immediate future for the WWE would be based on who had the undisputed championship at the end of SummerSlam. Does everything go back to status quo and Cena stays champion? What does this mean for Punk? The guy has far too much heat right now for WWE to let him fade away, but if he’s not fighting Cena for the title, then what would they do with the character. Does this mean that they could actually give Punk a decent run as champion? If so then will Cena still have to be his main rival? After all, Cena has pledged to make his match against the Rock a championship match. So as long as he doesn’t have the belt, it seems that attempting to get the belt would be the only thing that Cena does on Raw.
We’ve also gotten a video from the Rock more or less saying that he was going to be at Survivor Series this year. Hopefully he’s there to rekindle his rivalry with Cena, so that they won’t meet at WrestleMania after almost a year of not talking to each other. Does this mean that whatever business Cena has with Punk has to be done by then? Yea it’s a lot of questions, but I couldn’t even be bothered to ask questions, so for now, WWE you’re doing something right.
Unrelated Random thought:So Daniel Bryan has promised to cash in at WrestleMania. What a classy face thing to do. Does this mean that he will continue to be a classy face and actually have a full match instead of cashing in on an exhausted champion? Then doesn’t that make him have to go for the World Heavyweight title if we are all assuming that the WWE championship will be between The Rock and John Cena? So what’s the winner of the Royal Rumble get this year? A WrestleMania match against that year’s celebrity contestant?
