CM Punk, John Cena, and Triple H could get in a ring and go back and forth on the mic for hours and I’d listen to every word of it. Their exchanges graze so many topics that could be explored that it’s always a little disappointing when one of them has to get back to the main focus of the storyline and wrap things up. You know that Punk could probably debate just about anyone and win, but instead he has to threaten to kick their ass, because it is, after all, wrestling. That’s not a complaint – it’s a comment on how good the WWE Title storyline has been as of late.
Oh, wait. Punk’s not the champion, and neither is Cena. Alberto Del Rio currently holds the strap. And after this week, I’m hoping his reign doesn’t last long. You don’t want to bury the guy by having his first win lead to a pathetic reign, but the fact that Punk and Cena’s rivalry took center stage over the championship this week should tell you something.
Del Rio is fine. He does everything fairly well, and I have no problem with him being a main eventer. But Cena and Punk are on another level. They are giants right now. And the fact that neither has the belt when WWE has done everything to make them look like titans draws makes the whole situation seem wrong. Del Rio had no presence in that opening segment on Raw. Hell, he jumped Cena to close the show, and he’s still an afterthought. He’s such a product of the modern WWE system that he couldn’t keep up with Punk and Cena’s loose, unscripted exchange. It aint his fault – there’s just no way that anyone can look like a big deal in the face of such a huge feud.
Furthermore, why do they keep using talented faces who really can’t afford losses right now to put him over? Bryan and Morrison have been losing quite a bit as of late despite putting in good work, and yet they were made to tap to him. It makes Bryan, in particular, look weak to have him tapping out.
Speaking of looking weak, Cena lost his Superman status on Raw! Punk very clearly had him beat, clean as a whistle. Cena picked up a cheap win after the distraction. That is huge and says a lot for just how committed WWE is to keeping Punk as a major player. I do wonder, though, if having that match tonight was a good move. Their feud still had enough steam in it that another big showdown a few pay per views from now would still have been huge. Imagine if, after all the smoke had cleared from this current storyline, and Del Rio had dropped the belt, it came back to just Cena and Punk, one-on-one, to decide who was the best. Ah, you know what, given the shady finish, along with the match quality, I guess that’s still an option.
Still, it does remind me of why WWE’s thick schedule can be annoying sometimes, in that they pull the trigger on certain matches and storylines too quickly. There’s a lot of pressure to do something big every week, and in order to deal with that, they sometimes blow a big long-term payoff. That’s why this Cena/Rock feud seems so bizarre and drawn out. Twenty years ago, when they didn’t have multiple televised show every week and pay per views every month, that wouldn’t be the case.
Thankfully, in order to keep us watching from week to week, WWE has remembered the power of the cliffhanger. This storyline has made for particularly compelling TV because there always unanswered questions at the end of each episode of Raw. There is a reason to tune in the next week. That hasn’t really been utilized effectively in quite a while, which is funny when you consider how often pro wrestling gets compared to a soap opera.
One question that has been looming over the WWE Universe as of late: how come none of these interesting storylines can get passed onto Smackdown? WWE often seems to forget that there are two major shows each week. Raw is stacked so much more than Smackdown, it’s disgusting. Without Christian, that battle royal showed just how thin the Smackdown roster is. Hence why it wasn’t a surprise when Mark Henry won. As long as Orton’s just going to bury him like he did with Christian, I suppose it’s fine to let him take up a pay per view title match.
- Though I’m never going to be a fan of Cena’s character, I actually don’t hate the dude right now. He’s firing on all cylinders, isn’t being invincible, and even has an equal (who he acknowledged as such). Punk is his most definitive rival since Edge (sorry, Orton).
- How mad must the Usos be right now? I mean, Kofi and Evan Bourne as tag champs? Who does that help? No, the former Nexus members weren’t good, but at least they were a team, and it was assumed that they would hold onto the belts until they dropped them to the only other real team in the company or someone new came along. These stitched together teams of guys who have nothing to do are always boring. Remember when Kofi and Punk were champs a few years back? I try not to.
- The Miz and Truth pairing was amusing, but let’s hope it doesn’t last long. The Miz is really talented and just makes Truth look like garbage.
More on how awesome the Miz is in the next article…
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