Curtis Axel's Slowed Momentum

I've spoken about Curtis Axel recently mainly in terms of being a possible opponent for faces to feud with. But how has the Intercontinental Champion been doing?

Things certainly have slowed for him since that big push started. No angle with Triple H. Lost to Chris Jericho. No real feud for him right now. After so much hype for the guy when he first aligned with Paul Heyman, it seems like he is not living up to the push. I don't blame him. I have my doubts about how serious the WWE was about this push to start with. Having him pick up these fluke wins would get him over? Really? People would buy into him just because certain top individuals put him over in promos. I don't think so. They didn't keep the ball rolling by having him get proper feuds with top stars. If they built up his credibility better, he might have stood a better chance of getting over. He still might not have gotten over, but he would have had a better chance. This guy isn't good enough to get over without a proper build.

Right now, he is a pawn in the issues between CM Punk and Paul Heyman. That is not a bad thing. I like how that feud is set up. I wish there were a few more Heyman guys on his side for Punk to run through before Brock Lesnar and eventually Heyman, himself. I also wish they had not wasted Curtis Axel's first loss on Chris Jericho. Save it for CM Punk on his road to Heyman. It would have meant more. I don't need to say too much about potential feuds Axel could have been getting now. RVD and Miz are two options I have already mentioned in recent days. Despite no personal feud, Curtis Axel may have lost momentum, but he's not entirely buried, yet.

RVD Has No Feud

Rob Van Dam came back a few weeks ago. The WWE knew for quite a while that he would be coming back. And who did they pick to have him work with in his first official feud since returning? Still waiting to find out.

This is a disappointment. Rob Van Dam is a former WWE Champion, is popular, is good in the ring, and probably does have several options to enter some kind of feud. And yet, just random matches. You can criticize him for his mic skills, but that is really no excuse for not developing some kind of feud for him. I am not really complaining because I personally really want to see him feud with someone in particular, but because I feel they are dropping the ball here. They hype him so much that he is going to return, then they just let things fizzle out so easily. I would expect that kind of thing from TNA.

Whom should he be feuding with? Randy Orton was originally the choice I would have made. That was before Orton's recent push. How about have RVD feud with Curtis Axel over the Intercontinental Championship? If it won't be Miz, how about RVD get a title shot for Summerslam. This can also transition to some kind of tag match down the road. Combine CM Punk's feud with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman with RVD's title feud against Curtis Axel. RVD and Heyman definitely have a history, so RVD would fit into that story. There is also the possibility of throwing him into some type of multi-man match at Summerslam for the World's Heavyweight Championship. I won't spoil who gets the title shot. I will talk about that later on. But I will say that adding an extra body or two would not have been a bad idea. No one says RVD has to win a title, but giving him a good feud would make sense after his hyped return.

Thoughts On Miz And Randy Orton

Miz is going to "host" Summerslam. No one might agree with what I am about to say. I actually think having him do that is sadder than that losing streak he had over a year ago. Wrestlers pushed well at one time get losing streaks or angles that make them look weak. Sheamus had a losing streak after his big push ended a few years ago. Daniel Bryan just had this "weak link" storyline. Even John Cena had this angle where 2012 was the worst year in his career. It happens. But having Miz "host" Summerslam? I can't even put it without the quotation marks. It's one thing to have The Rock do this for Wrestlemania shortly after he returned in recent years. He is a major star outside of wrestling now and that gig fit into his feud with John Cena. Miz is not in The Rock's league and this doesn't appear to be a part of a bigger angle for him. They just have nothing for him.

What would I have done? Give him a wrestling feud. I usually don't like extending feuds needlessly, but they could have extended his feud with Curtis Axel for the Intercontinental Championship. Have it culminate at Summerslam in a gimmick match. That would be doing something interesting for both guys and the title.

Randy Orton took a few days off, then came back for some tapings. That means no injury angle. It looks like the situation really is just as Orton made people believe on Twitter. It was just a minor thing. Regardless, I mentioned before the possibility of the WWE taking advantage of the situation to run a bigger angle. I don't see anything wrong with that. They take advantage of deaths and heart attacks. Some people may say that kind of thing is tasteless. Taking advantage of a minor injury is not as bad. And it isn't like the WWE has never done this kind of thing before. The Undertaker came back to Smackdown a few years ago and quickly got injured. That led to an elaborate storyline involving Kane. He ended up getting one of the best main-event pushes he ever had. And it all revolved around that injury that was not scripted. They could have done something similar with Orton now.

Question is, would the WWE be willing to pay Randy Orton to stay home and wait? Technically, he would be good to go, but he would just be staying home to sell the angle. No Orton to draw at shows? Well, you do have other stars. Besides, I see it as an investment. If they ran with the angle, people would be wondering whether Orton is seriously injured or not. Depending on if they ran it in such a way that people knew it was a work, people would be interested in when Orton would strike. They didn't have to make it happen at Summerslam. Night of Champions? Somewhere in between? Shortly after? No one says Orton has to be gone a year. This is a situation that could draw interest. What if Orton drew more interest staying home than actually being on Raw and Smackdown? The whole point of Money in the Bank, in terms of drawing viewers, is that the unpredictability of when the guy with the briefcase will cash in will get people to watch. I don't feel it is working out as it should. Running that injury angle with Orton would have been a good idea to cause some excitement.

The Decline Of The KO Division

TNA recently released a number of workers. There were a few women among them, including Tara and Taeler Hendrix. You also have the fact that the KO tag titles are gone. Financial problems are obviously significant. You can't keep around a lot of workers when your company is not making enough money to pay them all, cover other costs, and still make a profit. Regardless, what is TNA doing with their KO division?

There is definitely a change going on in TNA's women's division. They have always sold this image of being respectable since the KO division really got started. They were better than the WWE diva division. Just like the diva division is about more than just that sexy, glamorous image associated with the eye-candy divas, the status quo about the KO division is about more than this theme of respectability. The division isn't simply about the company saying they are better. What makes, or made, them more respectable and better? I would say it is two things. First, they do not hold their women back in matches. There was a ladder match just a few weeks ago featuring the KOs. Second, they featured their women more and regularly by having multiple feuds and angles going.

That last point is where there is an obvious problem. They just released some of their women and there is no debuting to fill the spaces. The fact that you don't hold back your women is nice, but how interesting can your division be when you keep on featuring the same women? Currently, they are still trying to have multiple things going. Mickie James is the KO Champion, likely still feuding with Velvet Sky. Gail Kim looks to be feuding with ODB now. Not very creative right now. A lot of fans like that Mickie James is now a heel. Technically, TNA isn't really giving her a great storyline. It's up to her to make her heel character work. And Gail Kim's recent feuds also show a lack of creativity. She just lost a title match against Mickie James. She now looks to be entering a feud with the ref of the match, ODB. Go back a few months. Gail Kim lost a title match to Velvet Sky, then went on to feud with the ref of the match, Taryn. They obviously put on some respectable matches, but in terms of the quality of the actual feuds and angles, TNA is not delivering.

They should have kept the tag titles. Of course, that only works if they brought in more women to feature. But if they kept the tag titles, that would make for more feuds with more on the line. They are currently heading in a direction where everything is either a title feud for the KO Championship or a grudge match that will most likely lead into one of those women getting a title feud for the KO Championship. There are no intriguing storyline ideas, stables to feature multiple women, and development of women outside of this cycle. They had Tara involved as the valet as a tag team. If they had kept her, that would not have been a bad use for her. If there was ever a tag team or stable who got another KO member, you could have a 6-person feud and match. But keeping the tag titles would have been a great move. Getting rid of that was a sign that things really are heading in the wrong direction.

They need fresh workers, workers that can connect with the fans, and workers with unique looks and gimmicks. They can't keep pushing the same women in these cycles. At the same time, releasing a generic blond and hiring a generic blond that looks basically the same isn't really bringing anything unique. I think they should have done more with Taeler Hendrix. She is sexy and she has a unique look. TNA has redheads still employed, but they don't wrestle. Give the fans some variety in who they are seeing wrestle.

Respectability can only take you so far. Not holding your women back is fine, but if you are not featuring a wide variety of women and interesting angles on a regular basis, things will get boring. And that is the problem. They lack depth. They cannot afford Mickie James or Gail Kim getting injured. Who will be your other heels? If TNA does not plan to change things, the status quo of the KO division could really change. Their agenda is no longer about featuring their women prominently in terms of letting them go at it in the ring and having multiple fresh storylines and feuds going. It is about making do with what you have. That's not aiming for greatness. Pretty soon, the KO division might just become more hype than substance.

Where Is Big Show? Et Al?

Where is Big Show? I could have sworn he was supposed to be coming back this week. When they announced that Daniel Bryan would run the gauntlet, it seemed obvious that Big Show would be in there somewhere. Even after Ryback put Daniel Bryan through a table, I expected Brad Maddox to still force Daniel Bryan to face one more wrestler, which would be Big Show. Nothing. If you are running a storyline where Daniel Bryan is not big enough and strong enough to be WWE Champion, bringing Big Show in as a supporting player would be a good idea. He has held the WWE Championship before, and he's definitely big and strong. He would be better than Ryback.

Where is Randy Orton? The WWE has been suspicious in their lack of mentioning him. Leads me to believe that this really is all just an angle. If he was really seriously injured, they would definitely make a bigger deal out of that. If it is just an angle, Randy Orton going on Twitter after WWE.com reported his injury and downplaying it by saying not to believe everything you read on the Internet really becomes funny. The company is trying to make people believe you are injured to set up a surprise cash in, but you just shrug it off like that? Should he have gotten on the same page as the WWE and played it up better? If the WWE is planning a swerve, would it have been better if they just took Orton out of everything after last week's Smackdown without any explanation at all? The whole injury thing led many fans to immediately suspect what can be coming for Summerslam. Not saying anything at all might have made people wonder a little longer. It might sound stupid that Orton could disappear like that and the commentators would not mention it, but you can also say it is stupid for them to say Orton suffered a serious injury and not make a bigger deal out of it to get people to buy it.

You don't need to ask where Kane is anymore. He is coming back. Technically, because Raw has already been taped for next week, he is already back. The Wyatts had taken him out when they debuted. Is Kane coming back for revenge? No, he's coming back to face Daniel Bryan. I don't like that. It is true that Kane and Daniel Bryan have a history together. The fact that Kane is a big man also makes him a good choice to face Daniel Bryan in the current storyline. I still say Big Show was the best choice. Kane should be coming back with focus on Bray Wyatt and his stable. Whether he is coming back as a brainwashed member of the stable or to call them out for revenge, they should be his target when he returns. I already get the feeling that the WWE will mess up with Bray Wyatt.

AJ Lee: Climbing Down The Periphery Ladder Of Success

Lita started off with a cruiserweight at a time when he was getting pushed and won a title. She moved on to being a member of a stable with a popular tag team that won multiple tag titles. After an injury, it was only a matter of time before she found herself paired with a monster that once held the WWE Championship. That transitioned to her being involved with a man who has held multiple World titles and is currently in the Hall of Fame. When she did retire, she was part of a group with that individual and another man who has held numerous World titles and will likely be in the Hall of Fame. Lita spent the majority of her WWE career getting angles with the guys. She spent it in the periphery. That is what I would call climbing the ladder of success in the periphery.

And then, there was AJ Lee. After AJ Lee officially debuted on Smackdown, the WWE really started developing her alongside Daniel Bryan, who was World Champion at the time. Not bad. That soon moved into her being involved in a feud between Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and Kane over the WWE Championship. That's a step up. They made her Raw GM. How many female wrestlers can say they were Raw GM for all those months? She then had a storyline with John Cena, the centerpiece of the company. Things started to go downhill since then. She was involved in a stable with Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston. Ziggler did eventually win the World title, but his injury ruined the chances of AJ getting a good rub from that. Ziggler has since been depushed. With those two breaking up, AJ is left with Big E, who is now feuding with Ziggler. AJ Lee is a periphery diva, much like Lita, but her career hasn't taken that steady rise to the top as Lita's did. That's not her fault, of course. The WWE developed her hard to make her a success. They just couldn't keep the ball rolling properly.

Of course, no need to feel bad for AJ. Not only does she still have a spot in the periphery, she is holding the Diva's Championship still. In time, they will come up with something better for her. They didn't put all that effort into her to drop it just like that. She has never been pushed as a jobber to the centerpiece, so none of her development has been for that. But which direction will show go on that ladder in the coming months alongside Big E Langston?

What about the WWE diva division in general? What is the landscape currently like? Everything seems to be in the periphery. What do I mean by that? All the diva angles seem to be on the sidelines of the title matters. AJ Lee, the Diva's Champion, has her angle against Ziggler currently going on. Those divas involved in that reality show, which I don't care to watch, don't have a proper wrestling feud going on. And Mrs. Fandango, Summer Rae, is still out there with Mr. Fandango, who has been depushed. She is still a likely candidate to one day be centerpiece. In terms of actual wrestling, there are no good feuds going on. Periphery divas are getting featured a lot. There are once again rumors that Kharma might be returning. Why not? This is the time in the diva division that would make the most sense and when she is likely to be treated as more than just a tool to put over a centerpiece. The WWE does not seem to be ready to develop a new one yet.

Oh Look, It's Vickie

A new Smackdown GM has been named. Teddy Long? Brad Maddox? Booker T kept his spot? None of the above. It is Vickie Guerrero.

That is not the person I would have chosen, but now that she does have the position back, I hope they do something different with her. She was getting stale as Raw GM and not really contributing anything of value for a while at one time. The fact that she draws so much heat was her only redeeming quality, but they were not even featuring her properly to let that do anything. Besides, do people really tune in just to see Vickie screaming over being booed? Let her be a true heel GM now. Don't let her be one of those GMs that pander to the fans and bosses to try to do a good job. You have Brad Maddox to do that. If you are going to make Vickie a GM again, have her get a storyline where she wants revenge against the fans that had her fired, in kayfabe. They are already teasing that direction, but run with it. Have her make life miserable for faces on Smackdown. Develop her as something the fans would really like to see fired even more than she just was on Raw. Make her more intriguing. Fans might tune in just to see what Vickie would do next and who will finally stop her reign of terror. Even though fans didn't like her during her recent run as Raw GM, she really didn't have that strong of a reign of terror, especially in the last few months.

How would I like to have seen the Smackdown GM situation handled? Very simple answer to that. Let Booker T and Teddy Long finish their feud. There was tension between the two before Booker T left. There's more than one way to get rid of one GM and name another. Having it done by authority figures above the GM is one way. That already happened recently on Raw. You can also have it settled in some kind of match. John Laurinaitis knows about that. Why not have a representative for Booker T face a representative for Teddy Long? If the WWE is not going to settle the issues between Vince McMahon and Triple H at Summerslam, a Smackdown power struggle culminating at the big summer PPV would not have been bad. Booker T can even represent himself by competing. In the end, my point is simply that it would have been nice if they mixed things up a little better with recent GM changes.

If I would not have had Vickie be a GM again so fast, where would I have put her if she still wanted to stick around? Make her a manager of a wrestler again. Vickie's career would just be going through this cycle of manager and authority figure, but what else is there for her? Who would she manage? I have seen some people mention Vickie teaming with Ryback. I like that idea. He's a heel that they are currently interested in featuring. Giving him Vickie as a manager might have made him look more interesting after he's lost so much credibility.

John Cena Gives Daniel Bryan A Title Shot

It was only a matter of time before John Cena stole my gimmick of randomly mentioning Jinder Mahal. He'll do anything to be over with his haters.

Speaking of being over, Daniel Bryan is probably the most over guy on the active roster right now. When the WWE ran this idea that Cena could choose his own opponent for Summerslam and Cena left it up to the fans, it was obvious Daniel Bryan was going to get picked. That segment on Raw once again puts over Cena's character. He cares about the fans and is willing to give other people opportunities.

One thing I notice is some people talking like Daniel Bryan has waited such a long time for this opportunity. They make it sound like he never gets opportunities and has been mistreated for so long. I am not going to deny his overness and what he is capable of doing in the ring, which is reason enough to give him a shot at the WWE Championship, but I don't feel the story for Daniel Bryan right now is that he is a guy who never got the golden opportunity and John Cena finally gave it to him. Go back to 2012. That would be last year. Daniel Bryan got more than one opportunity at the WWE Championship, not to mention holding the World's Heavyweight Championship that year and later winning the tag titles and having a lengthy reign with it that just ended a few months ago. When it comes to getting shots at the WWE Championship, I believe there are some credible individuals who have had longer droughts than Daniel Bryan. When was the last time Christian had a shot at the WWE Championship? Has Kofi Kingston ever had a singles match for the WWE Championship? People might want to say he blew it when he was feuding with Orton, but I really doubt they were grooming Kofi Kingston for a 1-on-1 title shot back then. When was the last time The Great Khali had any kind of title shot? The Great Khali? Okay, forget that one. Point is, there are guys who have been getting less than Daniel Bryan who have been around a long time, are loyal, are good in the ring, and are over. Again, I am not saying Daniel Bryan doesn't deserve a title shot, but I am not going to say that this is a guy who never gets opportunities to be a success.

Randy Orton: Win Briefcase, Get Injured

I was originally going to talk about John Cena and Daniel Bryan today. With recent developments, I changed my mind to talking about TNA's KO division. After even more recent developments, I am going to talk about Randy Orton. Time will tell when I get to the other two topics.

Randy Orton, the guy who won the briefcase for the WWE Championship title shot just this week, has been injured. WWE.com is reporting that he was injured during Smackdown tapings on Tuesday. How bad is he hurt? That is the question. Orton himself is downplaying it, so it may not be a big deal. The fact that the WWE themselves already reported it kind of makes it possible that they will work it into an angle, regardless of how hurt he is. They could play it as Orton being unable to compete, then he strikes with a cash-in when the time is right.

Of course, it's more interesting to consider what happens if things are really bad. Worst-case scenario, it is a serious injury. That does not mean the WWE has to take the briefcase away from Orton now. He just won it. The briefcase is good for a year. There is a lot of time for him to heal. Unless he's retiring due to the injury, which is doubtful, there is no need to kill his current push.

For the sake of discussion, what if they do decide to give the briefcase to someone else? Who gets it? If he was still around, you would send in Edge in a situation like this. He has taken the briefcase away from an injured wrestler before. How about Big Show? Ryback? It would make sense for a heel to take it away from Orton. You can list the faces who could take the briefcase, but I think a heel needs some big attention right now.

If the WWE is losing Orton for a while, top faces is probably the one position in which they have great depth. They have guys like Sheamus, Christian, and Rob Van Dam around, in addition to Cena, Daniel Bryan, CM Punk, and whoever else I am missing that are currently in a real feuds. They have a lot of potential. No need to panic in terms of face stars. The real issue is what happens to the briefcase.

Sandow Has A Briefcase

I have thought for a long time that Damien Sandow should have a midcard title run. The WWE took it a step further. They had him win the World's Heavyweight Championship contract briefcase. I wouldn't have gone that far with him. Not yet. He doesn't really have the credibility for a big push with a World title. If they are serious about following through with him, they will most likely be injecting a lot into him. They didn't start on Raw. And he really didn't look amazing in his feud against Sheamus. Aside from that, I can't think of a good feud with stars above him in which he really looked good. He feuded for the tag titles against Kane and Daniel Bryan. I don't think he really gained much ground there. Almost none of the guys involved in that Money in the Bank ladder match had amazing credibility, but there were guys deserving it more than Damien Sandow.

Sandow is now officially split from Cody Rhodes. They had been teasing it prior to the PPV. Cody Rhodes then attacked Sandow on Raw. Cody Rhodes going face? Should Cody Rhodes take the briefcase away from Sandow or just be used to put over Sandow? There is also the possibility that Cody could win the feud and not take the briefcase. Cody Rhodes is one of those guys I feel deserved the briefcase more than Sandow. He has more credibility than him. He has beaten main-eventers before. He has won titles in the WWE. Is the WWE trying to develop Cody Rhodes to be a top star? Not having him win the briefcase at the PPV could be a roundabout way of developing him to be a top star and eventually give him the briefcase from Sandow. And yet, I wouldn't do it. The WWE is short on top heels. With Mark Henry potentially turning face, that is one less top heel. If Sandow is the heel they handed the briefcase, they need to run with him. Again, he's not the guy I would have chosen, but they need to develop new heels and he is in that position right now.