Suspensions and SmackDown Thoughts
The WWE over the last 48 hours has had to make some of the toughest decisions they have ever had to make. When you suspend 10 of your performers, and word continues to be that some of the names on the list are top names, then the roster and shows are going to take a hit. Many names have been talked about as far as being suspended, and some of the names are for sure going to make storylines pretty tough to continue. How about Randy Orton, who is reportedly one of the suspended? How can you possibly keep the heat on him with John Cena when Randy won't be around for a month? I guess if you are desperate enough to keep it going, you can do promos, but trust me, that won't be enough to keep the fans overall interest.
Then there is John Morrison, the ECW Champ. The company has for some reason been in love with him and his new character, and now it looks as if he is going to sit for 30 days as well. How do you take away the champion of a brand for 30 days? That is going to be an interesting call, and with a match with C.M. Punk somewhere down the road, you would think that for the 4th month in a row we would have seen that match at Unforgiven. Morrison right now is ECW like Cena is RAW, and now he's gone for a month, not a good deal.
The company has already let one go - as Friday they fired Simon Dean, or the real life Mike Bucci. He hasn't been on TV forever, and was a talent guy down in OWV. There was a lot of stock in what he was doing, and the company had put a lot of trust in him. Why he was on substances that would enhance his look is beyond me, as his in-ring days for the most part appear to be over. There will likley be more firings, but this is the first, and it's the one for now that is making the headlines.
As for SmackDown on Friday night, they are quickly pushing Rey Mysterio back in the title picture, as he became the #1 contender for Khali's heavyweight title. He beat Batista via DQ when Finley came in, and then Batista pushed the ref. Then Mysterio beat Finley to win the spot, and they ended the show with Khali basically mocking Mysterio. Then Batista came in and laid out Khali. I think maybe this might lead to a 3-way with Batista, Mysterio and Khali at Unforgiven, but the thing there is what if Batista is gone 30 days? Then I guess you have Mysterio and Khali.
They seem to want to push Mysterio right back in the title picture, maybe because they think that will boost ratings, like it did when they gave him the belt after WrestleMania 22 for a few months. If that is the case, I have no problem with it, but if it's just another challenger to lose to Khali, then give me a break. They never really ended the Khali-Batista feud, as Batista actually deserves another shot after winning at SummerSlam via DQ.
The other story of the night was MVP and Matt Hardy teamming and winning the tag belts. This might be one of those old Rock and Mick Foley deals where at first the two guys don't like each other, but then learn to handle each other. Or this could be a deal where they eventually turn on each other, and then just go back to feuding for the US title. I like the storyline, and for one don't have a problem with it. At least on TV as well people seemed to like cheering for MVP. Interesting.
So we'll have to wait and see what comes of the latest round of suspensions, and what that does to TV. The list of who's gone is going to become very obvious in the next week with TV, so we'll have a better idea of what storylines have to be switched around, and how they deal with Unforgiven in September is going to be interesting as well.
