WWE Superstars Keeps the Balance

Probably the main benefit that comes out of this show is the chance to see what you typically only got on special occasions (usually three hour specials of Monday Night RAW) or during the WWE draft… mixed brand wrestling. Although that is obviously the marketed benefit, it is still quite a perk for any WWE fan and deserves some stressing.

One night you might get matchups mixed with inter-brand bouts, or you might even get an occasional Number One Contender’s match as was the case a while back between Christian and Finlay. In this respect it is kind of cool and I view it like the show for those who see pro wrestling as their past time; you’re just going to get a good, random mix of entertainment with the occasional contest that has something at stake.

I would not expect to see Super Card type matchups on this show but you’ll definitely have a Super Card player here and there in the ring with someone else (see John Cena versus Ted DiBiase Jr.).  

And aside from what the show does for the fans it also helps out those superstars that aren’t scheduled to see action quite as often as others would on Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown and ECW. So for that, WWE Superstars is pretty interesting television.

Make things Interesting – Have CM Punk Lose after Cashing in Money in The Bank

Looks like the Pepsi logo tattoo laden CM Punk, aka Money in the Punk, is so eager to live up to his name one more year by becoming champion like a punk. Last year, Punk capitalized on Batista’s beat down of Edge on the opening segment of an episode of Monday Night RAW the night after a Pay-Per-View which saw Edge cheat like a mother heffer just to beat him. At the time, World Heavyweight Champion Edge was “incapacitated.” Then out came the biggest Punk of all… CM Punk, cashing his Money In The Bank, administering a GTS, and scoring the pin fall to become one of the lightest Heavyweight Champions in recent WWE history. What a crock, and what a punk.

 

This past Friday on Smackdown, CM Punk was looking to cash in his briefcase again. The night’s matchup card already had Punk facing Edge in an exhibition contest in the main event. Punk then made a stipulation where if he won the match, he was going to instantly cash in his Money In The Bank, hit a GTS, and then pin that punk (not himself). However, shortly after CM Punk got Edge to go to sleep, Umaga came in and pummeled him before the referee cold ring the bell to start the match.

 

Here’s the thing. I don’t mind it too often when wrestlers slime their way into title opportunities and reigns. In fact, I think it’s quite hilarious. However, when the man being dubbed the Straight Edge Superstar keeps doing it, I just don’t see how it helps his reputation. CM Punk is a pretty big fan favorite, but when he keeps weaseling his way into titles like this, I feel his character loses respect. Because of this, I hope that when he finally does cash in his opportunity that he screws it up. I hope whoever he attempts to pin counters his GTS with their own finisher, and lays him out cold for a quick pin. And no matter what anyone thinks, that probably will happen eventually to one of the Money In The Bank winners just to keep things unpredictable. I just hope it happens to CM Punk.

Thoughts on This Year’s WWE Draft

Last night on Monday Night RAW the WWE “shook things up” as they’ve been calling it by holding a draft wherein any random wrestler can end up being drafted between the three brands of RAW, Smackdown and ECW (in order of significance of course). Even though the draft is a complete crock where you almost always see big names come back to RAW like Batista and Rey Mysterio did last year, and chump jobbers like Vladimir Koslov (ECW’s only draft pick) go to the land of extreme, it is still interesting.

I thought it was a great idea to get Jericho and Mysterio over to Smackdown now that Triple H is back on RAW because of one simple great reason; every championship contender on Smackdown now actually looks like they matchup. In fact, the only guy that doesn’t match up other than the other true superstars (Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk, Edge, and perhaps a few others) is Kane who also was drafted from RAW to Smackdown. None of those guys would be much more than transitional champions as long as Triple H were around. Plus, Kane is a bum and can be used to create some awesome “David vs. Goliath” type matches. And honestly, let’s not get started on Great Khali. He could be thrown in to stir some ratings, but no title for him. I also think that the moves make way for guys like Shelton Benjamin and R Truth.

Another thing I liked was the switch between the middle titles; Rey Mysterio takes his Intercontinental Title to Smackdown, and MVP takes his US Championship to RAW as he was drafted from Smackdown last night. In all truth, I think that US title is the sweetest looking belt of all the WWE and will look much better on RAW than on Smackdown. Finally, you got that chip off the big chin block Vladimir Koslov over on Sci-Fi where he can scrap it up a few matches and make others like Christian, Jack Swagger, and Finlay look good. I wouldn’t mind seeing Koslov go at it with Tommy Dreamer either.

All in all, I think it was a decent draft, and there weren’t really many head scratchers. Pretty good job WWE.

Jeff Hardy Supplants the Big Show on Friday Night Smackdown in Non-Title Action

On last Friday Night Smackdown, it appeared that a feud might be brewing between Jeff Hardy and Big Show. The kind of feud that starts off with the champion, Hardy, losing a few times to the Big Show, but inevitably ends with Jeff Hardy retaining his title to further build up the drama of the moment when he actually does.

 

But to my surprise, Smackdown did things a little different this time. They had Hardy actually beat the Big Show. Although the victory wasn’t without question as Hardy won by count-out, it still makes things fairly interesting for the next few episodes of Smackdown as we still do not know who will be Hardy’s opponent for the Royal Rumble.

 

Another interesting tidbit is the fact that there may be three Divas matches at the Rumble. First, there is the obvious Monday Night Raw, Women’s Championship match that may take place. Second, Maryse just beat Michelle McCool on Friday night to become Divas Champion, so she too could be defending her title at the Royal Rumble. Third, in the match that Maryse won, Maria was the guest referee, and Michelle McCool decided to take out her frustrations of losing on Maria.

 

So the WWE is attempting to create a somewhat “gripping” women’s feud, and surprisingly, this one isn’t all that bad. And I mean, that’s pretty cool but then again not really. Don’t get me wrong. The Divas are really hot and they are truly great eye-candy, but most of the time as soon as one their matches begins, the “God please let this end” woes ensue. Tune in to see what the hell unfolds!

 

Two Hardys and a Hardass!

How about those three champions in the WWE! On ECW we have Matt Hardy holding the ECW Championship. This guy had been jobbing pretty hard perhaps a year, and then some, or so ago on Smackdown before MVP made his debut and they began their feud and Tag Team Championship reign. The enigmatic Jeff Hardy gained his first main title by winning the WWE Championship this past Sunday at Armageddon with his lights-out performance. And then we have the ultimate hardass… John Cena. And I don’t mean hardass in the sense that he’s a jerk. If anything, Cena is one of the prime examples of a face player… and he has the World Heavyweight Championship. I’m talking about an unbreakable good guy hardass.

 

Speaking of faces, all three of these guys are face characters for the WWE. I just think it’s a little different and interesting to see them all with the titles of the brand they wrestle for. For guys like the Hardys, this type of success was a long time coming. The Hardy boys were constantly subjected to drawing “Oohs” and “Ahhs” from the crowds purely on wrestling ability, and both had a history of coming up short as singles competitors whenever they weren’t tagging it up.

 

However, in that time that Matt Hardy began to rise on Smackdown in the time of the MVP feud, the Smackdown brand did a decent job of giving him some mic time so that the fans could get a feel for the personality of the guy who had always played second fiddle to his brother Jeff.

 

Similarly, Jeff began to voice himself up when he returned to the WWE on Monday Night RAW. He came out and had a plenty of title matches, held the Intercontinental Championship a few times, had big battles with the likes of Umaga, and once again, had been coming up short in championship opportunities. The only difference in his second stint has been the sense that his time would eventually come to be a brand champ.

 

Then we have Cena. I already did my story on “The Champ.” (See ‘John Cena… A Man to Be’). He looks like he’ll be hanging onto his belt for quite a while. But with the recent heightened frequency of titles changing hands on RAW and Smackdown, perhaps neither of the three is a lock to hold onto their belts for an extended period of time. Either way, all three reigns have the potential to be very exciting.