It has been pretty hot outside, so it is always nice to go hit the water to cool off. Except it was not likely to be something Damien Sandow intended to do at the close of SmackDown, jumping into the gulf of Mexico only to watch his beloved Money in the Bank briefcase sink beneath the waves.
The Blue Branded case now joins other notable MacGuffins such as the WWE Championship, the Intercontinental title, Kurt Angle’s Medals, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Edge who have all been subjected to being thrown into some sort of body of water to further a storyline. I am sure there are more but these come to mind (and easily found on WWE.com). An angle like this, between Rhodes and Sandow really pushes the rivalry to the forefront of WWE programming. They already announced Cena defending the WWE Title aginst Daniel Bryan as one big match, it would be little surprise of Rhodes vs. Sandow with a stipulation involving the MITB briefcase is the next big match revealed.
Ryback defeated The Brooklyn Brawler recently. Good push for Ryback. Really, who is next? “Iron” Mike Sharpe? Jim Brunzell? 3MB?
I showed a friend the trailer for the new WWE video game, with the promo to unlock the Ultimate Warrior. He then asked me why Sting was in the promo… #facepalm #toomanyoldwrestlers
Big press for Diamond Dallas Page lately, saving both Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Scott “Too Drunk” Hall. It seems DDP has been turning lives around, and is bent on saving decrepit wrestlers from punching the ticket to the big arena in the sky. Good for him. Really. DDP should get more press, and I am damn shocked WWE does not try to push more after-career wellness for former stars. While guys like Tito Santana, Ricky Steamboat, and Roddy Piper still look good, you have guys like Greg Valentine whose face looks like it is melting off. I met “The Hammer” at NYCC last October, and the guy was a mess. Did not even know where he was. Just begged me for $5 just to sign a trading card. We need more guys like DDP out there.
Ziggler will inevitably feud with Langston. Will be a good match. After that is said and done… It’s TITLE SHOT TIME!
John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan is the big talk. Forget the dumb angle where Cena “picked” Bryan as his opponent. Ignore it. We all know Bryan is the future of WWE. Right up there with Ziggler, Punk, Del Rio, Sheamus, Ryder, The Wyatts, Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and others. Yes, I included Zack Ryder. Give him another chance, you will see. Anyway, will Bryan win the belt? If not, Bryan may fall to the same thing which happened to Ryback. Multiple matches with Cena, and inevitably Cena hulks-up and wins over and over. If this same fate should befall Daniel Bryan, we will have a problem. Bryan should win, but I fear it would only serve to push forward a new storyline, of Randy Orton cashing his MITB shot and winning, thus also turning him uber-heel. Which is a good thing for him, but a bad thing for Bryan.
Titus O’Neal is a monster. This is a guy who needs either a new tag partner or perhaps a singles push. A major singles push. He has the look, the mic skills, the in-ring skill, and all the skills to be a singles champion. His current lackey, Darren Young does not exude those skills. He really does not. If he does, I just do not see it.
It really was a light week in the land of WWE, but once again, a calm before the storm. I expect this week to reveal more SummerSlam hype. Punk vs. Brock will continue to build thanks to the vocal brilliance of Paul Heyman.
A true, “Rabbi of Wrestling.”
