Shades Of Gray #20

This week's column is full of "Quick Hits." I'll discuss CM Punk's reign as World Heavyweight Champion, his steel cage match with Chris Jericho on "Raw," the TNA version of Millionaire's Club vs. New Blood, the Kevin Nash-Samoa Joe feud, and much more. The "Links of the Week" will catch you up on all the highlights from the past week's television shows, including the steel cage match, Mick Foley's TNA "debut," and Triple H vs. MVP. And make sure to check out "Extras" for clips of a drunken Jake "The Snake" Roberts, with a Bound For Glory match and WrestleMania match thrown in for good measure.

Quick Hits

If WWE’s plan all along was to give CM Punk only a transitional run as World Heavyweight Champion (ie a couple months), then they did so in the best way possible. The run elevated him to a higher level – in other words, I can see him facing main-eventers realistically now (such as a feud with Randy Orton when he returns from injury), whereas before he was jobbing like there was no tomorrow. I could definitely see another championship run (or more) in his future. Plus, he was protected by never actually “losing” the title, and Jericho won the cage match Monday night by accident.

Speaking of the cage match, I thought it was one of the better ones in recent memory. There was some solid action, and some great false finishes, particularly when Punk nearly escaped out of the cage from the Walls of Jericho.

I do have a couple problems with the match, though. First of all, a cage match should never be given away for free on TV, especially one for the World Heavyweight title which easily could have been a PPV main event. Second of all, it would have been better to place the match at the end of the show. Then, after Jericho squeaked out the victory, HBK could have appeared on the stage with the ladder. This would have prevented Mike Adamle from butchering another promo too.

Overall, though, I thought “Raw” was a solid show, although WWE must be disappointed with the 2.6 rating. It appears as if Monday Night Football, even more than in previous years, is going to negatively affect the flag ship show’s ratings. Vince McMahon will surely hope for games less entertaining than the thriller the Eagles and Cowboys put on Monday night. The Chargers-Jets game should be another entertaining one, though, if the Chargers’ previous two games are any indication. (Side note: the Chargers really need a fucking win).

As much as people like to knock Brian Gerwitz and the “Raw” creative team, they have been able to develop mid-card comedy acts very well. Santino Marella, Charlie Haas and Jamie Noble (to a lesser extent) are current examples. Gerwitz also wrote a lot for Edge and Christian during their numerous reigns as tag team champions.

Do something with Shawn Spears, WWE. It just astounds me that they'd sign someone, have him toil in development for two and half years, only to call him up with a shitty name and not use him for 4 weeks. It doesn't make sense. There's no way you can tell me there isn't a spot for him on "ECW," or any other show for that matter. If you didn't have a plan for him, then why even call him up at all?

So that’s what TNA promoted on their website as “Mick Foley’s TNA debut”? I hardly consider that a debut. Foley did more during the surprise appearance at the Long Island house show he attended. The fans deserve better than that.

I liked the emotion Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle showed in their promos that closed out “IMPACT!”. There’s a problem, though. The thesis (for lack of a better term) of Jarrett’s promo was that the older wrestlers needed to move aside in order to give the young guys a chance to shine. So why did they use this time to introduce Mick Foley?

Reports suggest that Kevin Nash has agreed on a new deal with TNA, so it looks like we’ll (eventually) get a solution to the Samoa Joe-Kevin Nash storyline after months and months of teasing. Nash was quoted recently as saying he wouldn't mind one final run in the fed before he hangs them up. In my opinion, this was just Nash trying to get more money from TNA because he knew they invested a lot of time into his feud with Joe - Nash couldn’t work the full WWE schedule at this point in his career, anyways. My guess is that he’ll cost Joe his match with Sting at Bound For Glory and join the “veteran” side in the feud.

I liked the emotion showed by Joe and Sting in their promos on “iMPACT!” too, even if Sting’s ambiguous face/heel status is confusing. They should put on an entertaining match at TNA’s biggest PPV of the year (that is, before Nash/Russo ruin it with a run-in).

Am I the only one who likes the Prince Justice Brotherhood League? Sure, Eric Young and Christopher Daniels are capable of holding down larger roles in the company, but at least they have a consistent spot on TV every week. And I think their promos are funny as hell. I guess that’s the half-full approach.

Doesn’t there need to be press in order for there to be a press conference? The so-called press conference announcing that Matt Morgan’s DNA was being flown into outer space was cheesy. Why was Don West there? What the fuck is this DNA gimmick all about, anyways? So many questions, with very few answers – typical TNA.

"SmackDown!" sucks without Edge. Enough said.

Links of the Week

1. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho in a steel cage match for the World Heavyweight Championship (Part 1; Part 2).

2. Rey Mysterio takes on Kane in the “main event” of “Raw.”

3. Mike Adamle announces Chris Jericho’s opponent for No Mercy.

4. “ECW” Champion Matt Hardy and Mike Knox opened up Tuesday night’s show with a non-title match (Part 1; Part 2).

5. Mark Henry vs. Finlay in the main event of “ECW” (Part 1; Part 2).

6. Christian Cage and A.J. Styles take on Chris Sabin and the disrespectful Alex Shelley.

7. Jeff Jarrett’s first promo in TNA for nearly 2 years (see if you can spot Mick Foley’s TNA debut).

8. R-Truth gets an upset victory over Shelton Benjamin. Is it just me, or is Ron Killings over? (Part 1; Part 2)

9. Two high-flyers, Jeff Hardy and THE Brian Kendrick, face off on “SmackDown!”

10. WWE giving away for free what will certainly be a PPV main event somewhere down the line: Triple H vs. MVP (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3).

Extras

1. You’ve probably seen this clip, but in case you haven’t, here’s the footage of Jake “The Snake” Roberts wasted at an indy show in Ohio (More aftershow footage here).

2. More depressing shit from Jake – “high”lights from Roberts in Beyond The Mat (Part 1; Part 2).

3. What the hell? Here’s another funny Jake “The Snake” clip.

4. This is pretty funny too.

5. Onto real WWE legends: Bastion Booger vs. Marty Jannetty.

6. In anticipation of Bound For Glory, TNA is showing the full match of last year's main event: Sting vs. Kurt Angle.

7. Chris Harris' first appearance since being released by WWE - and he gets a little emotional.

8. Here's a funny fan-made video chronicling Braden Walker's "run" in the fed.

9. Let's finish on a good note: Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania XXIV (Part 1; Part 2; Part 3).

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