Alex Riley Walks On His Own

Last week, Alex Riley attacked Miz. This week, he got some of Miz again, as well as Michael Cole himself. More importantly, he got a good reaction. He also did his beatings better than Layla did against Michelle McCool a few weeks ago.

It is no surprise that I am loving this. I love seeing new, fresh wrestlers getting pushed. I don't have anything against Alex Riley. I rolled my eyes a little when the WWE was blatantly using him as an extension of Miz to make him look like a stronger heel and more of a threat to overcome, but that is more of a criticism for the WWE, not Riley.

The only question now is whether Riley is just being built up so Miz has something to do, or is this thing the start of something great for Riley? If Riley was not getting that reaction he was getting, I would say that he was just being built up to feed to Miz. But there are a whole lot of spots for someone like Alex Riley to be pushed, unlike the divas. I am not predicting he will be beating John Cena for the WWE title in a few months. I doubt he will get the kind of big push Eddie Guerrero got. But the WWE can really freshen up the midcard with how they use Alex Riley.

Christian/Orton: Week 4

Sheamus won a triple threat match to get a shot at Randy Orton's title. The minor "screw job" finish was Orton distracting the ref, unintentionally, while Christian had the pin. Christian complained to the ref, allowing Sheamus to regroup to get the win.

No tears for Christian yet. Sheamus will get his shot next week. In other words, he is still just a pawn in the elaborate storyline between Orton and Christian. A feud between Orton and Sheamus does not seem to be developing. Earning title shot, followed by getting title shot. Remember the one Diva's Championship reign of Mickie James? This is how it was booked. Contenders were built poorly. Lack of good feuds didn't help Mickie look good either. Then again, the WWE didn't want to build Mickie or any other diva being used on Raw at this moment. As for Orton in the present scenario, he is still part of the elaborate storyline, which Mickie did not have during that reign. In other words, no tears for Orton either. He is not being booked as a filler champion. Both Orton and Christian are still being built up for whatever coming. Guys like Sheamus and Mark Henry are still the odd men out.

Am I entertained yet? Well, I will say I am a little intrigued. How will Christian handle Orton "screwing" him? What will it take for Christian to finally snap? In a swerve, they could have Christian "accidentally" cost Orton the match. Does that mean the title will have to change hands? I don't think so. DQ. Anyway, have Orton be the one who snaps and attacks Christian. I doubt this will happen, but the WWE did write Michelle McCool to finally turn heel after losing her title to Maryse because of a little issue with Maria, who was ref in the match. Again, I doubt the WWE will do this. They seem to be putting the attention more on this being Christian's dream being shattered. They seem to be pushing him to be the one who snaps. Aside from the bit of intrigue, I am still bored. Orton can jump in the air all he wants, whether to do an RKO or just act like one of those jumping vipers you see all the time, but the story is still kind of dry. More importantly, I doubt still that they can make Christian's second title win mean as much as the first should have. The whole thing seems too forced.

Velvet Sky: Knockout Centerpiece

TNA's Knockout division has been going in the wrong direction for about a year now. To put it simply, it has been turning into a diva division. They have phased out certain female wrestlers who did not have a certain look and have not been giving the women that much time to compete on Impact recently and not always pushing the best wrestlers the right way.

Even on its worst night, the division still has a few positives above the WWE diva division. Among them, I find it interesting that TNA really does try to find some kind of storyline or use for almost all their female talent. If they cannot find that use, they release them eventually. Nevertheless, they do not keep them around to simply be random jobbers, extras in large tag matches that do absolutely nothing, or random, meaningless backstage segments. For the most part, I like this.

Right now, I want to talk about what I do not like about what has been going on recently. Who in the bloody hell is Velvet Sky supposed to be feuding with? She has issues with Karen Jarrett, a storyline with Winter and Angelina, I saw her randomly attack Sarita and Rosita at Lockdown, and now ODB returns just to feud with Velvet? This mess is going all over the place. Nowhere are her feuds being developed properly. If her last encounter with Winter and Angelina was supposed to be the end of that feud, for now anyway, it was weak. The build was not really there. As I just said, I have nothing against TNA trying to find a use for as many as their women as possible, but I believe this is too much for a woman who is not even one of the greatest wrestlers they have. She would fit more with the "diva" image than proving wrestling matters. I know, that is the point of her coming feud with ODB, but her overuse was there before this and I do not see why it will go away that easily after it ends. While so much is devoted to build this woman's character, not enough is being done for other women. They are being pushed a lot more linearly than Velvet.

In the end, there is a reason that the Knockout segment no longer typically gets the most viewers of any given Impact. Aside from TNA women's involvement in the Jarrett/Angle elaborate storyline, which TNA is purposely pushing and treating as a top draw itself anyway, and so it would be the women who are benefiting from that rub more than Jarrett and Angle getting the ratings for the segment because of the women, a women's match or extended promo has not had the highest quarter hour rating for the show since February. By the way things are going, a match may not be stealing the show on Impact again for a while. Wrestling matters?

R-Truth Elevated Further

Had John Morrison not gotten hurt, what would R-Truth going over him have really have done for Truth? They are both on pretty much the same level. But R-Truth instead got to look good against Rey Mysterio. Rey Mysterio! R-Truth has been booked to get rubs from main-eventers before, but this current booking is a good sign that his heel push really is being elevated.

And then he is in a tag match that also features WWE Champion John Cena? Main event. Very impressive again. And I like this. Fresh pushes. Then again, do not get too excited for R-Truth. Only a matter of time before he ends up like Miz. What about Miz? Topic for another time. Until then, I would rather see Truth pushed than Punk right now. It can work well with Morrison's eventual return.

Christian/Orton: Week 3

First, RIP "Macho Man" Randy Savage.

Now, with Randy "Pitch Perfect" Orton going crazy over Smackdown ratings being at the lowest it has been all year, we head into Christian's PPV rematch for the World title. What happened on Smackdown this week to further the storyline? Orton and Christian each saw singles competition against the two men they beat in tag action the previous week. Sheamus and Mark Henry are your heel jobbers here. Moreover, the finish to the separate matches for Orton and Christian was pretty much the same. The one in the match is needing help, the other teases whether to help or not, but ends up making the save anyway. There are two reasons I did not like this. First, it is so basic. It is simple. It was dry booking. For me, it is boring. I am sure more could have been done to shake things up. Second, they are pretty much teasing the question of whether one of them will turn heel. Which one? How? When? People are expecting it, but does that mean the WWE really has to beg the question like this? I prefer surprise turns. Even if this one will not be one of those, this hyping over a heel turn seems like a lame way to throw attention off the fact that poor booking was the root of the whole controversy here. Now they are trying to make it look like the issue, the bigger storyline, is a heel turn? People have a right to be more hyped for Christian's first World title win in the WWE and his first reign than for the possibility that he may be the one turning heel.

Who will walk out with the title after the PPV? I could say that it would be stupid to hand someone a title for a brief period and just have them lose it with minimal kayfabe controversy, but the WWE just pulled that with Christian a few weeks ago. Let me repeat what I have mentioned a while ago, this excuse that Christian should not have had to defend the title so soon after winning it is a stupid kayfabe reason to push a kayfabe controversy. Being screwed over by Money in the Bank or an authority figure who hates you and makes you defend it when you are not ready are strong kayfabe reasons for a title reign ending abruptly. I have already gone into this, so I will not repeat more. I see Orton retaining and Christian turning heel. Christian just winning it back clean would be kind of flat. What would have been the point of the whole thing? Orton turns heel? Why? Because he lost to Christian clean? I'm not buying it. The WWE is selling this as Christian's moment being ruined, so it makes more sense for him to turn heel after failing to regain it after the trivial excuses of not being prepared are out the door.

Overall, this "bigger storyline" continues to be built lamely. Orton and Christian are doing there thing, but the structure of this storyline is not yet at that epic level. The turn better be worth it.

Is Poor Kelly Kelly Being Bullied By Mean Old Kharma?

A few weeks ago, I said to keep your eye on Kelly Kelly. That was right after Kelly made her return to Raw and Kharma made her first appearance on that brand. Let me go back a little further. A few weeks before that, when Brie Bella was booked to win the title, I made the observation that the WWE diva division was at the level it was back in 1999/2000. Now let me pull this all into the same frame.

A few weeks after Brie, a non-centerpiece eye-candy diva, won the title, Kelly Kelly is drafted to Raw. Have you seen the focus Kelly Kelly has gotten since then? The WWE is developing her to be the centerpiece. In other words, they are developing her to follow in the steps of Sable, Trish Stratus, Candice Michelle, Maryse, and Michelle McCool. How do you want to call it? Since the WWE is developing this woman to be centerpiece, does that mean Kelly is automatically the centerpiece now? You can say that. Speaking for myself, I am not ready to call her a centerpiece until they officially do put the butterfly title on her. In the end, it did not take the WWE long to put a woman they can build to be centerpiece on Raw after I said the division was going the wrong way from what they would have liked. And I need not mention McCool's departure. Overpushing a centerpiece that cannot get monster over to match is just painful and does not do the division any favors.

Let me bring in the two other women in this current mess. You have Kharma and Brie. You can count Nikki in with Brie, but they are even more interchangeable and united than LayCool. Kelly Kelly can easily beat Brie. The WWE has already sold that message. With that, it is easy to believe Kelly Kelly can win the Diva's Championship. The current diva with the title is not that credible, even with twin magic. What can beating Brie Bella really do for making Kelly Kelly look like an awesome wrestler? Aside from winning the title and the basics of match quality that you would expect, Kelly Kelly does not really look as credible as she would climbing a tougher, more credible mountain. That mountain would be Kharma. Credible jobber. Scratch that. There are still a few ways this storyline can go. Kelly and Kharma can form a partnership. They do not have to face off in some epic encounter that the WWE is building up to. Yeah, and John Cena did not have to be written to go over a well-built stable like Nexus, leaving them on a steady path of mediocrity since then. Whether friends or foes, Kharma is still there for the benefit of Kelly Kelly in this current set up. If the WWE chooses to bring in the Raw divas who do have wrestling ability into this picture, then the story may take a different focus. It would be somewhat respectable if they build this to get Beth Phoenix involved, but I doubt it. Just too much focus on Kelly Kelly. As I have said before, this angle of Kharma squashing divas cannot go on for much longer. What happens after? Things look better for Kelly Kelly than Kharma Kharma. Kelly has already gotten more attention on her these past few weeks than Eve and Brie. That "feud" got killed off easily, didn't it?

Swagger Finally Free Of Stupidity?

Swagger was featured twice on Raw tonight. The first was during Michael Cole's segment with Jerry Lawler. Cole put his foot in his mouth and it seems to be the end of his partnership with Jack Swagger. That is a good thing.

Later on, in the main event, Jack Swagger was the one who took on John Cena. Even better than breaking away from Cole. He dominated Cena, like so many others who have gone on to lose in the end, and did look impressive.

Unless the WWE pulls some kind of swerve at puts Swagger right back with Cole for the PPV, which I doubt and am hopeful will not happen, Jack Swagger can finally start being credible again. He has been going downhill in terms of pushes go since Undertaker got injured last year and the WWE cooked up that Kane storyline, which resulted in Kane winning the title. He never really got over, so nothing was lost in that respect too much. And he still has credibility that speaks for itself. He is a great worker and has two title reigns in his past. Forgot the ECW title reign? I am hoping they do not turn him completely serious like they did last year. Still allow him to show some charisma. That will help him. Just don't make him a joke. Keep him near the main event. He can be the next Angle.

Wade Barrett Vs. Zeke?

Time for the monthly rant about where Corre and/or Nexus is going. The most interesting storyline in the WWE last year continues to exist, but exist in mediocrity at best.

Wade Barrett, the former leader of Nexus, current Intercontinental Champion, and a guy who can say he was in a few PPV main events in just his rookie year, is feuding with a member of his own group? Before that, they were teasing even bigger tension within the Corre. I know Zeke was the last ECW Champion in the WWE and is a powerhouse. That means he should be getting a push now? The group should be pushed as a unit, not slowly falling to pieces. I know very well the main event is booked up on Smackdown. Edge was feuding with Del Rio before. Christian and Orton are currently heading towards a huge storyline before Christian rejoins the midcard. No space for Barrett. He was in the Elimination Chamber title match, but it really wasn't so much about him. Point is, I can understand not overpushing Wade or his gang. That does not mean that they cannot make an elaborate midcard storyline for these guys that does not involve Zeke getting pushed outside the group. I would have rather there be a title feud between Barrett and Daniel Bryan. There is a story there. I know there may not be a ton of options for Corre to terrorize at the moment, so a good midcard feud would be good. This feud with Zeke is not good in my eyes because it is breaking the group up, giving a push to one member at the expense of the others, and I just do not buy the entertainment value. I don't think Zeke deserves the push. Barrett or the group as a whole should be built to look good right now. A strong heel stable will be good to feud against for whoever ends up top face between Christian and Orton.

Just a small mention about Raw's version of this, New Nexus. Mason Ryan, the Batista clone, is getting the spotlight there? Are you serious? Mason Ryan? CM Punk has been slightly put on ice so Ryan can get the attention. New Nexus has been pathetic since Punk took it over. Blame the WWE, not Punk. Nevertheless, pushing this group's version of Zeke is not really something I am looking forward to. I never liked Batista. Thing is, it was easy to accept him as a main-eventer because they teamed him with Triple H and Flair so soon after he left Smackdown and started getting pushed on his own. They formed Evolution, which was quite possibly the greatest stable in the history of the WWE when you consider every member held numerous World titles, tag titles, won the Rumble, got the rubs and the hype, and so on. New Nexus is pathetic compared to them. Trying to push Mason Ryan to be another Batista, if that is really there goal, is going to be painful to sit through. Punk isn't giving him a good rub. Ryan does not seem interesting enough on his own to make this something I will like. Much like Zeke, he's another muscle head who can slam Big Show. Wow! Once you see Cena do it every year or two, it just doesn't look as impressive when the WWE tries to overhype guys even bigger than Cena doing it.

Christian/Orton: Week 2

The WWE took some time out on Raw to talk about the title change on Smackdown. In addition to that, this week's Smackdown is taped and ready to go. How is the drama between Randy Orton and Christian progressing?

Let me start with the message they were conveying in the little mention and video for Christian losing the title to Orton last week. First of all, this is not some kind of shot at Christian to humiliate him further. No. This is just meant to set the tone of the storyline. That out of the way, let me tell you what I do not like. What is the premise for the controversy? Why should we feel bad for Christian according to the storyline and kayfabe? Because he had to defend the title so soon after he won it and he lost it? That is what was unfair? Not in my book. What I am not happy with was the WWE's booking decision, not so much this weak kayfabe message. I think a lot of fans out there have the same feeling. Let me go back to the WWE trying to sell this as unfair to Christian. That is stupid. John Cena had to defend the title the very night after he won it. Kane lost his first World title the night after he won it. Mankind has a title reign that lasted that long as well. A lot of wrestlers defend a title the night after they win it. Some even lose it the night after they win it. That alone is not a screw job or reason to feel sympathy for the loser. Getting screwed over by Money in the Bank or when Batista beat Cena for the title after Cena had just won an Elimination Chamber match, things like that can make you feel some sympathy for the loser. Christian's reign not only lasted longer than some of what I just mentioned, he was not actually screwed in the match itself. Both he and Orton had competed days before at Extreme Rules. Neither were 100% fresh in that respect. Orton did not cheat to win. I'll ask again, what is the kayfabe reason for the controversy? Why should people feel bad for Christian? The WWE is not providing a good enough reason to cover up that the real reason people are upset goes beyond kayfabe.

Then again, all this just makes it easier to turn Christian heel, right? If someone does turn heel, he has all the wrong reasons on his side to be face? He was not really screwed (in kayfabe), as I just pointed out. Smackdown needs a top heel, so they will turn Christian heel. Fine. Let me repeat my major concerns. First, they will not make his second title win mean as much as his first should have. Second, they will still book whatever reign he gets poorly. Third, he will eventually be dashed aside like a CM Punk. I will see how the WWE does. Can they make the crappy first reign lead to something better for Christian and the fans?

Those were my major concerns. Let me talk about one of my minor concerns. Will they make the feud entertaining and interesting as it builds up. From just reading spoilers and not yet seeing how things play out on this week's Smackdown, it seems they are still pushing both Orton and Christian as faces. They go over Mark Henry and Sheamus in a tag match. Christian will have a rematch in a few weeks. It looks like they are going to draw the heel turn out, much like they did for CM Punk when he feuded with Jeff Hardy. I prefer out of nowhere heel turns myself, but drawn out ones can be good too. Michelle McCool's was not, but that is because she lacked the charisma to pull off being a good heel, face, tweener, or whatever. Even with a gimmick and constant storylines, she was failing to get over. CM Punk is a successful heel. By the way, I am not talking about in terms of winning titles. The goal is to connect with fans and this guy is capable of that. Problem is, when was the last time he really accomplished something great in terms of booking. This is what I think would happen to a heel Christian. He will become a midcard former World Champ like Punk very quickly. I should have confidence in the WWE, but their booking of Christian so far will not be forgotten. Back to my main point, is this entertaining and interesting? Christian congratulates Orton, heels come out to try to cause trouble, match is made, faces win, and no turn as of yet. Once again, it has not aired yet, so a lot of details about how the two main players interact has not been seen. Just speaking prematurely (never good to do) from what I read in spoilers, this seems boring. I really hope they do not push this sympathy thing for Christian too much. I have a hard time feeling bad for this guy in kayfabe. In reality, once again, I feel bad for the booking of his reign. This guy has beaten men who have held World titles before. He has put on good matches. But to sell him as if he may not be good enough to hang in the main event? I'm not buying it. I doubt this will get ratings very high. It is not interesting.

I am not talking about the option of turning Orton back into a heel, but it would be a nice swerve if they did pull that. If it comes, I'll discuss it then. Until then, just from week 2 of this "bigger storyline", I am not impressed with where this is heading for Christian.

Why Even Bother With Ziggler On Raw?

Dolph Ziggler, who held a world title for a few seconds back on Smackdown after not even actually beating anybody for it, defeated Santino Marella on Raw tonight. Only a matter of time before he's on top of the mountain again. He may even hold it for about as long as Christian did next time!

Sarcasm aside, it is pathetic. They obviously have nothing for him. A break up angle with Vickie? Feuding with Kofi Kingston? What does this guy really have to look forward to in the short run? One thing for sure, it is not a main-event push. Miz and R-Truth are getting the major pushes there. Even Alberto Del Rio is higher up than Ziggler.

What really annoyed me about his match tonight was the commentators. They were overhyping him needlessly. If he was in a feud or match that mattered, or was getting a real push, this hype would make sense. But in a filler like this, it just did not convince me. I have nothing against his wrestling ability. However, he obviously cannot start gaining viewers by facing Raw wrestlers like Santino. He will not get over without a good storyline and attention from that. He does not need to do much more convincing to get fans of straight wrestling on his side. Teenage girls probably love him for obvious reasons. But if he is going to get over with the rest, he needs to show character. Commentators kissing his backside will not do it.

With the way Ziggler seems lost in the shuffle, I would say a trade would do him good, but the ship has already sailed on that. Raw has its priorities. Smackdown has its priorities. Ziggler is not a major player. Who will get the depush so he does become a major player? Will the push he gets get the job done? Time will tell.