Reality From Ringside #30
September 14, 2009
By: Doug Lackey of WrestleView.com
Breaking Point 2009: The Hangover
There is something I need to come out and admit to all of you loyal ?realists?: Coming up with a column topic is very difficult. It is tremendously complicated looking through a week’s worth of wrestling news items, picking the most noteworthy of them all and dissecting it from every angle imaginable.
But what do you do when the story of the week turns out to be so noteworthy that every single columnist from every website has an opinion on it and turns your own into just another sheet of paper in a bulging folder?
Even though it has been only three days since the story broke, fans begin to become numb to the story and its noteworthiness becomes little to nothing worth mentioning.
That is the time when you look at your calendar, you realize there is a pay-per-view event slated, and the feeling of becoming another voice in the theater of public opinion on Jeff Hardy’s arrest is lessened.
WWE’s first-ever advertised submissions-only pay-per-view ?Breaking Point? has come and gone, and just like ?Summerslam? before it, has left us with many questions that need answering.
After pressing the ?buy? button on my remote, I suddenly had feelings of regret. Did I just give Vince McMahon forty of my hard-earned dollars for nothing? Looking up and down the card, I could not think of a true reason why I wanted to see this event, unlike ?Summerslam? which had the intrigue of Jeff Hardy’s final PPV match and Legacy’s potential ?push match? against the ?un-push-able? Degeneration-X.
With my wallet feeling much lighter and the refrigerator slimming down by a few beers, I can say that Vince can keep my money. Yet again, it has left us all with questions lingering from this hangover? Where do we go from here? How do Vince and WWE Creative capitalize from this program? ?Reality? has now sunk in?
Has MVP and Mark Henry been effectively ushered into the upper-echelon of WWE Talent?
The Unified Tag Team Title match between MVP and Henry and the champions Chris Jericho and Big Show was definitely a great way to kick off the pay-per-view. A solid match overall showcasing the talent of all those involved.
However, with Jericho and Show retaining the titles and putting MVP and Henry’s matching attire to shame because of such, what do they do now? Will we see another match between the two teams in the near future and the inevitable title change occurs? After the bell rings and the belts are lofted high by either team, where does this leave all four involved?
If Jericho were to return to Smackdown, who would he feud with? Would he contend for the World Title, Intercontinental Title, or no title at all?
If Show returns to Raw sans Tag Team Title, who does he have to feud with? Does he return to vying for the United States Title even though Kofi Kingston and The Miz had a very entertaining performance? Do you sacrifice the two rising talents just to maintain the one already established as such?
However, the questions left for Mark Henry and MVP with Tag Titles in hand are much easier to answer. Who do they have to feud with? How does this help their ascension through the ranks? Vladimir Kozlov/Ezekiel Jackson? The Hart Dynasty? there are many other teams that can be formed consisting of slowly rising talent that can help improve MVP and Henry’s own stature while at the same time legitimizing the others?.
Would Degeneration-X/Legacy III really be beneficial to all involved?
No one would have predicted that Shawn Michaels would cleanly submit to Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in their Submissions Count Anywhere match. No one would have assumed either that Rhodes would have such a commanding performance with his flailing attacks and made-for-camera reactions throughout the entire contest with all of the hype surrounding DiBiase and the highly-anticipated, over-theorized breakup of the Legacy faction.
With the next pay-per-view event, the obnoxiously titled and stipulated ?Hell in a Cell?, looming on the horizon, is DX/Legacy III inside the structure advantageous? It most certainly seems so due to the fashion Legacy defeated DX in their match, effectively splitting Triple-H and Michaels up throughout the contest. Inside HiaC, the teams contained, it would seem only logical to push this rubber match.
So you do hold DX/Legacy III? regardless of the outcome, what do you do afterwards? Does a stable break apart due to the aftermath? Which of the four involved would be sent up the ranks to contest the WWE Champion?
Don?t just name DiBiase or Rhodes as the number one contender just because you think it would ?look cool?? it takes time for either one to be effectively pushed and lead to the eventual breakup. This can?t be done within the span of a typical 2-hour ?Raw? program, we?re talking 4 months at least.
For how much longer should Christian be ECW Champion and remain in ECW?
Mega-Christians everywhere have been crying out for him to be sent to another brand. The Peeps are demanding that he be sent elsewhere to combat for a ?more worthy? title? one to quench their thirst for seeing their ?former world champion? actually hold a credible World Title.
It’s no surprise that Vince McMahon has never held Christian in high regard; inside reports (that I often refute but can generally agree with through booking) discuss that. While some would believe that it is because McMahon is not a fan of Christian’s size or work in the ring, I believe it is something much more cynical and all that more entertaining.
In my eyes, Christian has been the personification of the ?internet fan? in McMahon’s vision. Placing him in a brand inferior to the other two, feuds with ring veterans that aren?t as highly regarded as others, and performing on a network in a timeslot that is not exactly beneficial to his ascension within WWE’s roster as a whole.
Christian’s status within the WWE roster has always been McMahon’s middle finger to the ?internet fan?.
After foreseeable feuds with William Regal’s henchmen (Kozlov and Jackson), Christian should assume the role that Matt Hardy once held while combating Jack Swagger. After three months? time, Christian should become one of those workers in the ring that help to elevate the younger crop of talent.
Sheamus? Zack Ryder? Bryan Danielson? Nigel McGuiness? The possibilities are endless.
The biggest question to this theory? Would ?The Peeps? be satisfied with their spokesman feuding with the talent they love to fawn over rather than just becoming a ?legitimate? World Champion for the sake of argument?
Will you be watching WWE television for the next three weeks?
Why do I ask this question? Very simple? in three weeks? time we have another first-ever WWE stipulation-specific pay-per-view ?Hell in a Cell?.
Take your picks of what the matches will be inside the edifice: DX/Legacy, Randy Orton/John Cena, Undertaker/CM Punk. You know what the main event is. You know what is at stake. Is there any point in watching the televised programs leading to the pay-per-view?
After watching ?Breaking Point?, you can pretty much discern the drama leading into the cell. What possible storylines would you be missing? What would you be in the dark about the day ?Hell in a Cell? is available to watch/purchase?
If I were not writing for this great website and did not have so many friends that enjoy watching professional wrestling, I can honestly say I would not mind taking a 3-week break from wrestling. I would not be missing anything. I would not be oblivious come October the fourth.
Will you be watching? The forthcoming Neilson ratings will determine that and whether this grand pay-per-view renaming experiment WWE is undertaking was worth it. Was the increase in pay-per-view buys worth the sacrifice of television ratings and advertising revenue?
Until next time, mouth-breathers!
Annoy me with your assumptions and affronts… adore me with your adulations and acknowledgements: Reality from Ringside.
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