The 10 Count! : Morrison’s Last Shot, Cole Going Overboard, Del Rio’s Push, and More!
Monday
Aug 1, 2011
Welcome to this week’s edition of The 10 Count! This is a weekly column that will feature 5 things from Raw and another 5 from Smackdown! that could use improvement. This week’s Raw saw the return of CM Punk. Punk’s epic return sparks controversy surrounding the WWE Championship. Over on Smackdown!, Triple H announced that Randy Orton will face Christian at SummerSlam for the World Title. Yes friends, you read correctly. They will lock up yet again. Let’s start the count!
On the flagship RAW brand, Punk returns and Mysterio steals the show!
1!
Raw has been turning it up lately with their television matches. It was shown at the start of the night with Miz/Mysterio. But I disagree with having The Miz lose to Mysterio in the finals. It makes fans feel as though The Miz was a one hit wonder as WWE Champ. Don’t get me wrong Rey was the M.V.P. of the night and I loved it. But The Miz needed more for his career. Where does his leave The Miz storyline wise? Will he now feud with Mysterio? They have already had a couple of encounters since Mysterio came over from Smackdown! and even before that as well. Hopefully Creative has something big planned for The Most Must See WWE Champion in History as we head into SummerSlam.Side note: All the naysayer’s on the net that thought Rey Mysterio was going to hurt the Raw Brand since he was drafted better well have been watching the past couple months of Raw. Even with the CM Punk saga going strong, Rey continues to shine on Raw unlike he was able to when he was first drafted to Raw back in ‘08.
2!
Creative, what are you doing with Alberto Del Rio on Monday Nights? This guy was on top of the World going into Wrestlemania earlier this year. He got off track for a month or two after Mania, but seemed to bounce back by grabbing the briefcase at MITB. Now, they are making him look like a clown with his failed attempts at cashing in. Eventually when he does cash in and win, who is going to take him seriously as champ? It also ruins the surprise of when he will actually cash in for his title match. Surprise the fans need because it is already known when D. Bryan will get his shot. Let Del Rio build his character to what it once was, then you will have a great heel champion that everyone will detest like The Miz.Side note: This may very well be a trick. It is possible after all these sad attempts; he’ll eventually get tired failing on Raw and attempt to cash it in on Smackdown!’s World Champ. I always thought it was fishy that they drafted him to Raw in the first place after a stellar year on Smackdown!. Stay tuned.
3!
Our prayers have been answered! Good Ol’ J.R. is back on commentary where belongs! But don’t keep Cole there along side with him. Keep him on Smackdown!. Michael Cole has turned down his heel antics on commentary since The King humbled him two months ago. But I believe J.R. is going to bring that side back out of Cole. It is just too darn distracting. I’ve constantly considered muting the TV just so I can enjoy a match. Keeping Cole there only ruins Jim Ross’ return. Let’s pray that this three man booth will shortly turn into the two man booth that will all know and love.
4!
John Morrison’s attack on R-Truth was a good way for him to return, although it was overshadowed by Jim Ross returning to commentary. This attack could have waited ‘til next week. What we need to see is a promo from Morrison. A strong promo that shows us he’s ready for a World Title push. If we get Truth/Morrison at SummerSlam, we will have a classic Grudge Match on our hands, friends. In this day and age of Pro Wrestling, Grudge Matches are extremely rare and highly underrated. I believe this match will make or break John Morrison’s career. A year ago, a feud with Truth would have done nothing for “Jo-Mo”. Now that Creative has established Truth as a force to be reckoned with, Morrison needs to take full advantage of this opportunity and I believe he will.
5!
Ah, the return of The Straight Edge Messiah, CM Punk! I know what you’re thinking. And you’re wrong. Punk’s return couldn’t have come any sooner in my eyes. SummerSlam is around the corner and no one else will sell that PPV like CM Punk can. The biggest issue I had with this past Raw was the fact that a new champion was even named. Crowning a champ at the beginning of the night makes a case that CM Punk isn’t the rightful title holder. Something I, like everyone else, believe he is. Then, having Cena beat Mysterio tears at the heart of the viewer because Rey put on two great matches and had you attached to him the whole night as the “new” WWE Champion. This all points to what looks like a rematch to see who the “true” champ at SummerSlam is. I honestly believe Cena/Punk could rock this year’s ‘Slam without having any titles involved. Let’s hope that the feud dwells more on Cena and Punk’s chemistry and less on the WWE Championship controversy.
Over to Smackdown!, with a roster full of identity crisis!
6!
Let me “axe” everyone a question. Why was John Morrison and R-Truth on Smackdown!? Is the roster that thin that you need to send guys from Raw over? Furthermore, you have both Morrison and Truth on the same show and there was no altercation between each other. Instead of naming two singles matches have Orton and Morrison team against Christian and Truth. That way, a returning Morrison doesn’t take the job to Christian and Orton doesn’t take a weak DQ loss to Truth. Morrison can’t afford to take a loss like this amidst a return.
7!
To quote one Chris Jericho…”Michael Cole, would you please shut the hell up!” Daniel Bryan is Mr. MITB and has punched his ticket to main event Wrestlemania next year. Promo time for him is very important at this stage in the game. Michael Cole was talking over him while he was trying to cut a promo on Barrett. Yes, talking over him! So the viewer can’t hear what he is saying. I have never heard a commentator deliberately talk over a wrestler while they were on the mic. I get that Cole has a heel persona and his character hates D. Bryan but that right there is just too over the top. I hate on Booker T a lot but I’d rather listen to Booker attempt a horrible Jamaican accent rather than Cole chew up the talent while they are cutting promos.
8!
Smackdown! Creative has their work cut out for them in order to build their part of the card for SummerSlam beyond Orton and Christian. They seem to not know where they are going with feuds. It looked as though we were going to get a Sheamus/Barrett feud last week. That obviously has been scratched with Sheamus turning face against Mark Henry. And what are they doing with Jinder Mahal? This guy hasn’t even debuted at a PPV, yet they continue to put him on TV every week. Hopefully they have bigger plans than to Khali turn face and feud with Mahal. I believe the main issue with Creative is that they don’t give enough time for characters to develop. A turn from face to heel takes time to work properly. You can’t expect to throw one video together of a wrestler in his hometown and expect the crowd to cheer for him right away. It takes more effort than that for a turn to succeed.
9!
If there is any hope for the buried Tag Division, it lies within The Uso Brothers. These young guys are extremely talented in the ring and are also charismatic. Not to mention their entrance is pretty cool. I don’t see anyone else doing much with their entrances. That tells us they care to get the crowd into it before the bell even rings. Much like their father (Former WWE Star Rikishi), I see tag team and single career success for both men in the future.
10!
Randy Orton, what are you doing out there? You’re scaring all John Cena’s 5 year old fans away when you stick your tongue out like that. Seriously though, He is Smackdown!’s top baby face. I’ll repeat that word. BABY FACE! The top face of a show should not go out there and annihilate his competition after the matches. The Viper is a face with extreme heel antics. The expressions and mannerisms Orton has been showing isn’t a good way to sell that he is a face. I get that they want people to be excited for when he finally gets a hold of Christian. But that’s not for a whole two weeks from now. What is he going to do next week? Light an opponent on fire? Tone it down a bit with him. Give Christian some super heat so that the crowd can sympathize with Randy. If Orton continues to show this sadistic side, a heel turn is imminent.
Ring the bell! That’s the count for this week. Thank you for taking the time out to read my column and hopefully you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition of The 10 Count!. Don’t forget to read next week! Please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to get back to you.
