Post by Goldash on Jun 9, 2009 17:47:55 GMT -5
Extreme Rules is over, and the WWE has three new major champions...again.
The first is David Batista himself, as his win over Randy Orton at Extreme Rules makes him the WWE Champion on a pretty lackluster main event card that has grown anything but fresh in the last few months.
The second is Tommy Dreamer, whose long overdue push has finally culminated with a win over both Christian and Jack Swagger. How his championship reign will hold up, now, is another question. He seems to have some of the audience on his side. We'll see if he'll be able to draw as the world's biggest mid...I mean, ECW Champion.
On the SmackDown end, Jeff Hardy won the World Heavyweight Title back from Edge...only to have CM Punk cash in his Money In The Bank clause and defeat Hardy after the ladder match to begin his second WHC reign in two years. Punk had already competed against Umaga earlier that night.
So, WWE changes all major titles for the second time this year on one event, with two choices appealing to the smarks among us (CM Punk and Tommy Dreamer) and one to really piss said smarks off (Batista).
I think WWE now has a chance to bring Punk and Dreamer into the limelight with these moves, especially Punk, who apparently seems to finally be turning heel and feuding with Hardy over the WHC. Now that Punk has some good competition in the main event, his reign will ultimately not be as transitional as it was last year with possible contenders such as Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Edge and possibly even Chris Jericho (if WWE decides to pass on a Punk heel turn).
Dreamer may just be an eventual stepping stone for a hungry young ECW competitor such as Swagger or Tyson Kidd but, knowing Dreamer's history, he is an expert at putting others over. Hell, in that category, I'd even put him beside Michaels and Flair. Yes, I said it. If Tommy Dreamer didn't risk his body and take cane shot after cane shot on that night in 1995, he and Sandman wouldn't be the cult figures they are. I think, for Dreamer and the ECW Championship, this is a win-win situation. That's if WWE doesn't royally fuck it up like it always does.
In other ECW news, Christian's dropping of the ECW Championship may set up an inevitable Edge and Christian reunion, which, hopefully, will do wonders for the tag division. Edge "breaking up" with Vickie on last night's Raw may just foretell a long-awaited face turn for Edge, which may work wonders in his favor if Punk replaces him on the Smackdown pecking order.
As for Batista, this may turn into something very interesting. The inevitable Batista/Cena main event may headline Summerslam this year and should rake in a lot of money from casual fans. It's nothing the smart marks will want to see, mind you, but it has the potential to become the year's biggest non-Wrestlemania draw if built up well enough.
As I ranted around this time last year, it's time for Punk to finally break out of his shell, face or heel. Will this be another embarrassing reign or a chance for Punk to bring his great skills as a heel to the forefront? Will this be the second coming of "Straight-Edge Means I'm Better Than You" or will it be the second coming of "Straight-Edge Gets Royally Screwed?" Hmmm....
EDIT: This angle idea will NOT work in the TVPG era of the WWE, but if Punk played up Hardy's notorious off-camera drug use in an angle, it could work wonders for his heel "asshole straight edge" character. Too bad Austin's not around and challenging for the WHC, because Punk could even trash his beer stash. However, in this TVPG era, such talk is off limits, especially on My Network TV. Too bad.
The first is David Batista himself, as his win over Randy Orton at Extreme Rules makes him the WWE Champion on a pretty lackluster main event card that has grown anything but fresh in the last few months.
The second is Tommy Dreamer, whose long overdue push has finally culminated with a win over both Christian and Jack Swagger. How his championship reign will hold up, now, is another question. He seems to have some of the audience on his side. We'll see if he'll be able to draw as the world's biggest mid...I mean, ECW Champion.
On the SmackDown end, Jeff Hardy won the World Heavyweight Title back from Edge...only to have CM Punk cash in his Money In The Bank clause and defeat Hardy after the ladder match to begin his second WHC reign in two years. Punk had already competed against Umaga earlier that night.
So, WWE changes all major titles for the second time this year on one event, with two choices appealing to the smarks among us (CM Punk and Tommy Dreamer) and one to really piss said smarks off (Batista).
I think WWE now has a chance to bring Punk and Dreamer into the limelight with these moves, especially Punk, who apparently seems to finally be turning heel and feuding with Hardy over the WHC. Now that Punk has some good competition in the main event, his reign will ultimately not be as transitional as it was last year with possible contenders such as Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Edge and possibly even Chris Jericho (if WWE decides to pass on a Punk heel turn).
Dreamer may just be an eventual stepping stone for a hungry young ECW competitor such as Swagger or Tyson Kidd but, knowing Dreamer's history, he is an expert at putting others over. Hell, in that category, I'd even put him beside Michaels and Flair. Yes, I said it. If Tommy Dreamer didn't risk his body and take cane shot after cane shot on that night in 1995, he and Sandman wouldn't be the cult figures they are. I think, for Dreamer and the ECW Championship, this is a win-win situation. That's if WWE doesn't royally fuck it up like it always does.
In other ECW news, Christian's dropping of the ECW Championship may set up an inevitable Edge and Christian reunion, which, hopefully, will do wonders for the tag division. Edge "breaking up" with Vickie on last night's Raw may just foretell a long-awaited face turn for Edge, which may work wonders in his favor if Punk replaces him on the Smackdown pecking order.
As for Batista, this may turn into something very interesting. The inevitable Batista/Cena main event may headline Summerslam this year and should rake in a lot of money from casual fans. It's nothing the smart marks will want to see, mind you, but it has the potential to become the year's biggest non-Wrestlemania draw if built up well enough.
As I ranted around this time last year, it's time for Punk to finally break out of his shell, face or heel. Will this be another embarrassing reign or a chance for Punk to bring his great skills as a heel to the forefront? Will this be the second coming of "Straight-Edge Means I'm Better Than You" or will it be the second coming of "Straight-Edge Gets Royally Screwed?" Hmmm....
EDIT: This angle idea will NOT work in the TVPG era of the WWE, but if Punk played up Hardy's notorious off-camera drug use in an angle, it could work wonders for his heel "asshole straight edge" character. Too bad Austin's not around and challenging for the WHC, because Punk could even trash his beer stash. However, in this TVPG era, such talk is off limits, especially on My Network TV. Too bad.
