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RANDOM THOUGHTS ON ORTON, CHAMPIONS, BROWN, ECW AND MORE

Randy Orton must be out of the doghouse – At Unforgiven, Randy Orton defeated Carlito in a match between the two of them. There were rumors that Carlito was being positioned for a series of title shots against Edge, but since Edge is no longer champion; Carlito’s run will have to wait. Also, since Carlito just lost to Randy Orton, who was fighting to get back in Vince’s good graces, Orton might be in line as Cena’s next contender while Carlito’s feud with Edge might just be a fight between the present and the future.

And while we are on the subject… - With Cena defeating Edge, this means that Cena will not be going to Smackdown any time soon. Smackdown will just have to fend for itself with the talent that they have. Booker T is a credible champion, but his list of contenders leaves a little to get excited about. The United States title could have been interesting if creative had not sent all of Kennedy’s contenders after Booker. Batista is not what he used to be, so Finlay was given the assignment of reviving Batista’s career. If Finlay can’t do it, then maybe Batista is a waste. Good thing the Boogeyman & Benoit are coming back soon and Mark Henry cannot return soon enough. These men would make Smackdown worth watching again.

Speaking of Smackdown champions – The team of KC James and Idol Stevens are being represented by Michelle McCool. To counter McCool, the team of Brian Kendrick & Paul London, the tag team champions, have started coming to the with Ashley in tow. Do not be surprised if the Pitbull team of Kid Kash & Jaime Noble start bringing Kristal to the ring with them. As visually interesting as this would be, the tag team division on Smackdown needs to be about the titles and not about the women that are coming to the ring with the teams. The three teams have been involved in some matches that lately have been worth watching, but as soon as the feud becomes about the women and not about the titles, Smackdown will be brought down another notch, and that is a notch that SD can afford to lose.

TNA, the new ECW – For those who have forgotten or are confused by the new WWECW, Tod Gordon & Paul Heyman’s ECW was about athleticism, violence, interesting story lines, compelling characters and guys going all out to give the fans their money’s worth. Take away Jeff Jarrett’s strangle hold on the NWA World Title, and TNA seems to be exhibiting all of the characteristics of the original ECW. They are what ECW was and as long as they avoid the trap that helped to bury WCW and is currently destroying WWE, the lack of creation of new stars, TNA should be able to prosper for a long time to come.

DX versus NW-No – There have been reports that Scott Hall and or Sean Waltman are in discussions with WWE or TNA for possible returns to mainstream wrestling. Both of these men have personality problems that prevent them from being workable commodities in any wrestling organization. They both feel as if they should still be the center of attention and have difficulty putting over younger, more deserving stars, just like their Kilq compatriot Kevin Nash does. None of these men will bring any long term value to a federation that is trying to grow itself. If a group is just starting out and needs names to put themselves on the map, then these three Kilq members would be perfect, but in a group that is trying to survive and its life depends on the constant creation of new stars to replenish their lineup, these men should be nowhere near.

This is not about the ECW originals – I could care less if Steven Richards or Justin Credible get used. I just have a problem with the fact that the entire show is about “either you are with Paul Heyman or you are against him”. RVD, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer & The Sandman, the lead ECW originals, are currently involved in a feud against Heyman and his cronies; Big Show, Mike Knox, Test, Steven Richards & Bob Holly. How long will it be before Shannon Moore is recruited by Heyman and Dreamer & Sabu are running to the ring to save CM Punk? I understand that with an hour show, it is difficult to maintain multiple story lines, but only having one story line for the entire federation makes the show more difficult to watch than if they had 10 different feuds that were thrown together. I did not forget about Balls Mahoney versus Kevin “The Vampire” Fertig, because in order to forget about it, I would first have to care about it, which I do not. Maybe the originals need to be featured more. A good Al Snow/Danny Doring match might be worth watching after all.

Monty Brown…It ain’t worth it – There have also been rumblings that Vince is waiting to see how the Monty Brown/TNA situation plays itself out so that Brown can be signed by WWE. Brown, who by now should have had at least one world title run, is unhappy about the fact that he is not higher in the rankings within TNA. He feels that he should be a title contender and not just an also-ran, and he might be looking to make a change. Vince would love to have Brown on the WWE roster, but Brown should be very careful. If it is a world title that Brown is looking for, he should realize that guys like RVD & Booker T took years before they won their titles, and Booker’s title, it could be argued, came out of necessity because the federation was short on talent with the injuries to Batista, Mark Henry & Chris Benoit. However, Brown might fall into that “they didn’t use him right but I can make him a star” category like Triple H & Kevin Nash. However, Brown is already a name so Vince cannot repackage Brown and give him a gimmick such that the fans would not immediately recognize him. So, it seems likely that he would end up like Booker & RVD and Monty, it ain’t worth it.

Send comments, complaints or questions to me @ ericej@netzero.net

Eric E. Jenkins is an author who has written a semi-biographical book covering the last 20 years in professional wrestling through the eyes of a fan entitled “Reflections of a Professional wrestling Fan: My 30 Years ‘In’ the Business”. He is currently writing “Dead Too Soon”, a book chronicling the careers of and paying tribute to many of the wrestling stars who passed away very young.

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