Believe The HIPE - Year 2, Week 17 (4/23 - 4/29)

20:18 Publicado por Mario Galarza

1. Day 478 - My new favorite Tough Enough contestant

2. Day 479 - M & M got some problems

2.5 Day 480 - Raw Running Diary

4. Day 481 - Draftermath

5. Day 482 - The Cult Of Personality

Day 478

Can I say something to you fine folks in ReaderLand?

I love Tough Enough.

I was always a fan of the show in the past, even through all of its corny moments, and even with its poor track record of choosing winners (for the most part, people who didn't win, and sometimes people who didn't even get chosen as a finalist, went on to have much better success than the winners). This season, though, things have been kicked up a notch. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin is perfect for his role as host. Not only is he one of the biggest names in the history of the entire business, he could actually "go" when he stepped in between the ropes. Sometimes, people get it twisted because of the smashmouth, brawling style that he used as "Stone Cold", but if you pay close attention, or if you go back to his days as "Stunning" Steve Austin in WCW, you'd see that he knows his shit when it comes to technical wrestling, as well. As an added bonus to all of that, he's an old-school hardass that is intimidating enough to capture the attention of anyone on the show at the drop of a dime.

Before the season began, I told people that Jeremiah was my pick to win, and I'm going to stick with that prediction. He's got a unique enough look, has enough size (pause) and has shown some nice natural charisma with a southern accent that will stand out on the WWE roster. Things work out really well for him, even if he doesn't win the show.

Luke Robinson has jumped out to become one of the favorites, as well. He's already the favorite of the women watching the show, but as far as his in-ring ability goes, he's no slouch. He impresses in every physical activity, and he's performed well in the challenges. The one thing that works against him, so far, is that he hasn't exactly shown much of a personality, outside of the usual "come see how good I look" douchebaggery that a lot of people have. Unless he changes that, he'll be eaten alive later in his career.

The person on the show that has impressed me the most is someone I wasn't really expecting to. It's someone that nobody was expecting to impress them, if you listened to and read the opinions of people leading up to the show. That person?

Miss USA herself, Rima Fakih.

Yes, I'm serious. Nobody on the show has been able to show as much heart as Rima has. She'd be the first person to tell you that she doesn't have the level of training as the rest of the cast. In fact, before Tough Enough, she had never trained to be a wrestler. What we've been watching is her, literally, starting from scratch, which is a pretty unique experience in and of itself.

Like I said, her heart has been incredible to this point. She's been overmatched in just about everything, but she continues moving forward, never giving up, and has actually done pretty well for herself on occasion. During a buttcrack-of-dawn run, Rima was the first woman to finish, and finished ahead of several of the guys. That caught the attention of the show's trainers, who have already remarked on her heart and positive attitude. It's almost a complete opposite of what people expected coming into the season.

Miss USA on Tough Enough? She must be doing it for the publicity. World Wrestling Entertainment and the USA Network must be doing it for the mainstream media attention they'd get for having her on the show. She won't take anything seriously, and is only trying to get face time on television. She probably doesn't even like wrestling.

Those are all popular opinions that people had a few weeks back, and you know what? I'm not going to sit here and say they weren't warranted. A Miss USA beauty queen trying out for a television show that would make her a professional wrestler? It just didn't make a whole lot of sense to people. Sure, the world of pro wrestling has seen its fair share of beautiful women, a lot of whom happened to be models and things of that nature, but even then, it's usually the wrestling promotion that sees them and comes to them about trying to be a wrestler. For a beauty queen to go out of her own way to try and become a wrestler? Pure craziness. On the other side, of course WWE and the USA Network saw potential in having her on the show. They built the marketing of the show around her, so it's clear they knew what they had. However, even they probably had no idea what they had when they brought her onto the show. They probably figured, in the backs of their minds, that she'd be eye candy for a week or two, but she'd give up and that would be it.

Is she going to end up winning the show? Chances are, you'd have to assume that she won't. Heart can take you pretty far in life, but when it comes down to the final four, final three, final two, etc, in-ring skill is going to come into play, and unless she starts making tremendous strides soon, that will be her downfall. Like LoP's very own Mazza predicted in his Columns Forum piece on Ms. Fakih, I also think she'll end up with Florida Championship Wrestling, no matter what the end result of Tough Enough happens to be. There's too much potential, on both sides, for it not to happen. If she can get her in-ring skill to match her heart, she has a mighty fine career ahead of her. She's beautiful, and she has all the capabilities of achieving the goals she set out for herself coming into Tough Enough.. being a role model to girls all over the world, showing them that you can be tough and beautiful at the same time, and that the stereotype of "pretty girls" can be shattered.

I wish her all the luck in the world, and at this point, I'm definitely rooting for her.

Writer's Note: The brand new LoP Magazine is now officially available for purchase. On the site, you're able to preview the articles, and then you can sign up for a subscription, which will then take you to PayPal. Handle your business, and the rest of the mag will be available for your reading enjoyment. LoP writers like myself, Tito, Morpheus, Mazza, Rey Ca$h and many others have all spent a lot of time and effort in contributing to this project, so please support it by clicking the following link and doing your thing..

LoP Magazine

Writer's Note Part Deux: This is it. Hustle Madness 2011 is down to the main event. Two teams remaining. Which one gets your vote? Click the link to get your vote on..

Hustle Madness 2011 - Main Event

The HiPE Playlist: "Take On Me" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Written All Over Your Face" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Africa" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Return Of The Mack" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Look At Me Now" by Chris Brown, Busta Rhymes & Lil Wayne.. "Wolves In Sheep Clothing" by Fabolous & Paul Cain.. "You Are My Lady" by Freddie Jackson.. "When I'm With You" by Tony Terry.. "Nite & Day" by Al B. Sure.. "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green

Love is the shortest distance between hearts.

Hustle
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-Team Sleep--------------------------Day 479

I've put off on writing on this subject since the news began to come out immediately after WrestleMania, but because the story just won't go away, and I still get people asking me what my opinions are, so tonight, here on The HIPE Train, I take a look at the John Morrison/Melina/Trish Stratus situation.

Yeah, yeah.. I know.

I'll say this, right off top.. I'm a firm believer in the "where there's smoke, there's fire" line of thinking when it comes to rumors and speculation. With that said, I'm going to use this column as if all the rumors we've heard are true, just to make things easier. I'm sure that some of the rumors and stories are, at best, exaggerated, and at worst, untrue, but let's continue on, starting with John Morrison.

John Morrison is dating Melina. During the relationship, Morrison allowed Melina to have a sexual relationship with Batista, while Batista was still with the company. There's also rumors, although less circulated than the Batista one, that Morrison also allowed Melina to sleep with Mike Knox (!!!) and other unnamed wrestlers. Now, I totally understand the concept of "open relationships", and I get that a lot of people are in one of them right now. That's fine. There's one little problem, though. I can just about guarantee you that we would have heard something about Morrison sleeping with other women if that were the case. They don't even have to be Divas, although it would definitely get the word spread easier if they were. If Morrison was having sex with random ring rats in cities across the globe, we would have heard something by now. Someone, somewhere, would have said it in a shoot interview or passed the word anonymously to a website, and that would be that. All we've heard about is Melina hooking up with other men. I don't think this is an "open relationship" at all. I think this is Morrison allowing his girlfriend to sleep with other men. Perhaps it's because he doesn't want to anger her by saying "no". Perhaps it's because he feels he can make friends and allies backstage by sharing Melina with them. Perhaps it's because he's some sort of pervert that likes hearing about the stories after Melina is finished sleeping with so-and-so. Whatever it is, it would fit in with the reports that several people within the company were "upset" or "disappointed" with Morrison's actions. They wouldn't feel that way if it were any sort of "open relationship". No, I think it's Melina getting her thrills with other members of the WWE locker room, with John Morrison standing off to the side, doing nothing about it. That's sad. That's not how a man operates. That's not holding it down like midgets with ankle weights. All the parkour training in the world isn't going to get him away from this mess. I really and truly think this is the type of thing that is going to follow him for the rest of his career. Even if he wins a few WWE/World Titles and really does go on to become the "next Shawn Michaels" like people have been predicting him to for a few years, he won't be able to shake this. Hell, Shawn Michaels himself is an example of that. He was able to find God and turn his life around, but even with all of that, you still saw people talking about his past and the dirt that he did. Sad thing is.. both Michaels and Morrison have nobody but themselves to blame for that.

Let's move on to Melina now, like so many other men have done in the past. Her "rap sheet" is pretty crazy at this point. Let's take a look at the list, according to the article posted here on LoP earlier..

- She has beef with Lita dating back to Melina's rookie year with the company. The veteran Divas kicked her out of the locker room and made her get dressed in the hallway. Then she shows herself to be a hypocrite by doing the same thing to rookie Divas now that she's a veteran herself.

- She has beef with Sharmell after a backstage "altercation" at a Smackdown house show in 2006, which came a week after Sharmell's husband, Booker T, was involved in a fist fight with Batista during the commercial shoot for that year's SummerSlam event.

- She has beef with Candice Michelle after a back-and-forth series of blog postings on WWE.com in 2007. Melina supposedly stole one of Candice's signature moves. Melina posted a picture of her using the move way back in 2003, long before she was signed to a WWE deal. Candice responded by saying something that WWE.com didn't even publish, saying that it was "unsuitable". Candice also called Melina "jealous" after an episode of Raw where Melina said Candice had a "spare tire". Lots of catty shit.

- Tiffany gave an interview after being eliminated from the 2007 Diva Search and said that WWE personnel warned her about Melina. What the warning was about is pretty much up to our own interpretation, but I'd like to assume that they warned Tiffany about how big of a bitch Melina is.

- Maria Kanellis, in numerous interviews, has had nothing nice to say about Melina at all. Maria has called Melina a "whore" in interviews. She's openly asked why Melina still had a job. She said Melina was basically obsessed with trying to be bigger and better than Mickie James. She said Melina would get together with her opponents before matches and demand that her opponents only use certain moves during the match. Melina is one of the only Divas Maria has a total negative opinion on. She's had some things to say about Michelle McCool in her interviews, for example, but even then, she still compliments McCool's in-ring work and says that she's usually a really nice person. Melina gets no love.

- Brooke Adams/Miss Tessmacher has also had negative things to say about Melina in interviews. She states that, at the time of her WWE departure, she was the only Diva that liked Melina, even though Melina was a "rude, fake bitch to everyone". She says that she can't stand Melina now, after Melina supposedly lied to Layla and Kelly Kelly, trying to turn them against Brooke.

- Mickie James has beef with Melina that goes back years, going all the way back to their days with Ohio Valley Wrestling. They both accused each other of stealing moves and each other's "look" as far as in-ring gear is concerned. Melina even referred to Mickie as a "slut" on one occasion. If you saw Mickie's nude pictures from before her days with WWE, and you saw that her snizz looked like a day-old piece of Arby's roast beef thrown up against a wall, you might agree with the "slut" comment. However, at the same time, Melina questioning the promiscuity of anyone is like.. well.. a slut calling a ho a "skeezer". It just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Like I said earlier.. where there's smoke, there's fire. Even the most cynical of people would see all of those incidents and have their spidey senses start to tingle a bit. She's received so much heat with so many of her peers, past and present, that it's to the point where you have to ask yourself if it's worth it to keep her around at this point. This says more about the rest of the Divas than it does about her, but Melina's one of the best in-ring workers of the Divas on the roster right now. Even then, however, there are long stretches of time where you won't even see Melina on television, period, let alone doing something meaningful. There are Divas getting regular television time that couldn't even carry Melina's tampons, which makes one think that it's some sort of "punishment" geared towards her. Maybe they're worried that she'll go to TNA if they release her. Who knows?

The latest chapter to the John Morrison and Melina story came at WrestleMania. Morrison, of course, teamed with Trish Stratus and Snooki to take on the team of Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool and Layla. Melina was apparently upset that her WrestleMania "spot" was taken from her and given to Trish Stratus. Nevermind the fact that Melina is a heel and Trish is a face. Nevermind the fact that Melina wasn't even involved with any of the people in the match leading into WrestleMania, even before Trish returned. She felt that was "her" spot, and as the saying goes.. can't nobody tell her nothing. From there, the story says that Melina basically got into Morrison's ear, which turned Morrison against his own tag partner. He wouldn't pay any attention to Trish, wouldn't listen to any of her ideas for the match, and gave her the proverbial "cold shoulder" all week leading into WrestleMania, as well as at WrestleMania itself. That rubbed everyone the wrong way, as Trish Stratus is one of the more respected women in wrestling history, and for good reason. It painted Morrison as an even bigger puppet than people thought he was. It painted Melina as even more bitchy and manipulative than people thought she was. It did no good for either one of them.

What is to be done, though?

The first thing that jumps out is the upcoming WWE Draft. The most logical option would be to split Morrison and Melina up. Send one of them to Smackdown and keep the other on Raw. Releasing one of the more talented Divas you have is only going to help your competition, and releasing one of the top young stars in the world of wrestling is even worse. If I were working for TNA, I'd be putting even more rumors about Morrison out there, in hopes that Vince McMahon decides he can't take any more and kicks Morrison to the curb. They'd jump all over Morrison as soon as his no-compete clause expired, and they'd push him to the fucking moon. Vince McMahon knows that. Morrison's not going anywhere in that regard. If Vince grows tired of Morrison's bitchassness, he'll just de-push him for a while. It wouldn't stun me if Morrison is wrestling more on Superstars in the coming months before being brought back to Raw or Smackdown, depending on what happens in the Draft. Splitting them up would be good for both of them, more than likely. Melina could continue to have trains run on her, but with a different cast of characters, and Morrison would have an opportunity to stand on his own two feet for once. Morrison has a lot to gain and a lot to lose here. If he can prove to the WWE front office that he, in fact, is the owner of a set of testicles, he could very well be WWE/World Champion before the end of the summer. Technically, he could be the WWE Champion at this time next week. If that does happen, I want everyone to forget what I've said in this column and focus on something else. Focus on.. umm.. focus on Mickie James:

Just pay attention to what I said about Melina, I guess:

Try not to focus too much on Morrison, though:

LoP Magazine

Writer's Note Part Deux: This is it. Hustle Madness 2011 is down to the main event. Two teams remaining. Which one gets your vote? Click the link to get your vote on..

Hustle Madness 2011 - Main Event

The HiPE Playlist: "Africa" by Toto.. "Africa" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Something About You" by Level 42.. "Something About You" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Human" by Human League.. "Human" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Written All Over Your Face" by The Rude Boys.. "Written All Over Your Face" by Zo & Tigallo.. "Long Distance" by Bruno Mars.. "Y'all Don't Hear Me Tho" by Fabolous & Red Cafe.. "Phone Numbers" by Fabolous.. "War To Your Door" by Chamillionaire.. "Slow City Don" by Chamillionaire.. "Swim Good" by Frank Ocean.. "Dust" by Frank Ocean

Everybody think they married to a Playboy Bunny, but most of them married to rabbits.

-------------------------Day 480

9:00pm: Damn near didn't make it home in time from my shopping excursion, but here I am. WWE Draft tonight. Things should be very interesting, in one way or another.

9:00pm: lol @ a Battle Royal being joined in progress to start the show. That's a first. Raw VS Smackdown, with the winning brand getting the first draft pick tonight.

9:01pm: I'll give Kofi Kingston this much.. his "What stereotype? I legitimately love watermelon." ring attire really stands out. With all of the people in the ring, the first thing my eyeballs notice is the lime green and pink color scheme.

9:03pm: Raw guys team up to eliminate KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE. Smackdown guys team up to eliminate The Great Khali. Amazing how easily that works out here, and yet, the giants always take forever to be eliminated in the Royal Rumble.

9:05pm: Typical non-Rumble Battle Royal with the eliminations coming quickly. That's why I dislike Battle Royals, for the most part. The littlest thing eliminates people in these things.

9:07pm: Big Show is so large that his size has already faded his Smackdown t-shirt from a bright royal blue to damn near a baby blue of sorts. That's incredible, and will make me feel better about myself on days where I feel I need to lose weight.

9:10pm: lol @ Big Show turning Santino's hand around so that Santino was eliminated by his own Cobra finishing move.

9:11pm: Final four.. Big Show and Kofi Kingston for Smackdown, with Mason Ryan and Evan Bourne for Raw. Not looking good for Raw.

9:12pm: Nice little back-and-forth between Kingston and Bourne there, with both of them going all out to try and eliminate the other.

9:13pm: Big Show eliminates Bourne, then eliminates Ryan soon thereafter. Smackdown wins, and they get the first pick.

9:14pm: WHAT?!? John Cena is the first pick, and is now headed to Smackdown. That's absolutely stunning. In no way, shape or form did I expect Cena to change shows. That changes a lot of things. Hell, that changes damn near everything, on both shows.

9:20pm: "John Cena will bring the WWE Championship back to the Smack" - Wonderful.

9:22pm: Someone needs to tell Jerry Lawler to lay off of the Ed Hardy-like shirts. He looks like an idiot. It really doesn't help the creepy "pedophile" vibe that he often gives off, both on and off screen.

9:25pm: R-Truth's catchphrase went from "What's up?" to "Shut up!" to go with his heel turn. Oh, that clever Truth. Maybe he has an elementary-level education, after all. Probably not, though.

9:27pm: This is a very lively crowd. The Raleigh, North Carolina folks are as vocal as any WWE crowd we've seen in a while. It's a nice change of pace.

9:28pm: R-Truth telling people that they're not on beat just destroyed the Irony Meter and caused another 7.5 earthquake to hit off the coast of Japan.

9:29pm: Truth is talking to an imaginary little kid. He's also talking, as the imaginary little kid, to himself.

9:30pm: "Saranara" is not the way you say the word, you uneducated fuck. "Fustration" isn't the way you say that word. Every time you open your mouth, you do nothing but set black people back years and years. You're the exact reason why black people get made fun of to this day. Great African-American men have been assassinated throughout history for speaking their mind. Meanwhile, you're still able to spread #CoonBuffoonery all over the globe? Choke on a sunflower seed, you fuck.

9:33pm: The Rock's birthday party, live on Raw next week. That's going to be interesting. It won't be the same without Mick Foley and Yurple, though, I'll tell you that much.

9:37pm: Kharma is coming, and you know what? Every single Diva in the company is going to pay, and pay dearly.

9:38pm: Eve VS Layla, with another draft pick on the line.

9:39pm: Layla's a much better actress than Michelle McCool is, that's for sure.

9:39pm: Sure enough, the once-hot crowd completely died for this match, and didn't respond until Michael Cole interrupted the match. Get Eve alllll the way the fuck off of our televisions. Nobody gives a shit about her. Bring Kharma out and squash her for good.

9:41pm: Layla becoming a huge face in my book by beating the shit out of McCool. She's even doing so as she's crying her eyes out. Hit her again! Break her fucking leg so I don't have to see her anymore!

9:42pm: Rey Mysterio drafted to Raw. I'm going to guess this automatically means Sin Cara will end up on Smackdown. The company isn't dumb enough to ruin the big-money Mysterio/Cara match, are they?

9:44pm: The fact that we're going to get Jim Ross VS Michael Cole tonight scares the hell out of me. With the terrible track record of this feud and how it's been booked, that match is going to go 15 l-o-n-g minutes and bore everyone to tears.

9:48pm: Very intense promo from Cody Rhodes backstage. He's on one helluva roll right now. Over the last couple months, nobody on the WWE roster has been as impressive as Cody has been. Props to him.

9:50pm: Kofi Kingston VS Sheamus, with yet another draft pick on the line. Two matches in under an hour for both men.

9:53pm: *sigh* The matches are all going to be short tonight, aren't they? Gotta make room for Ross VS Cole, I guess. Kofi shockingly picks up the win.

9:54pm: Randy Orton drafted to Smackdown. You have got to be kidding me.

9:55pm: Uh-oh.. Orton has a beard growing out a bit. You know what that means.. heel turn. Sorry.. them's be the rules.

9:59pm: Well, here we go.. Michael Cole is on his way out for his match with Jim Ross, and just to make things even worse for everyone involved, Booker T is out on commentary. God forbid we only have two people covering the match, I guess.

10:02pm: Let me go ahead and take that last entry back. Lawler is in the corner for JR now. Of course, that just means Booker T has to talk some more. Wonderful.

10:03pm: No physical contact yet. Just walking around in circles, and Cole continuing to make fun of Ross' physique.

10:04pm: Still no physical contact.

10:06pm: Still no physical contact. I'm not kidding.

10:06pm: A single shove from Jim Ross, and now we get a "time out", complete with Cole sitting on a stool in the corner. They're going to turn the crowd against them soon if they aren't careful.

10:07pm: JR busted Cole's mouth open. That adds a little interest to this match, I guess. Right as I say that, Jack Swagger gets involved, drawing a disqualification. That means we've sat through all of this for nothing.

10:08pm: Cole's lip is already swollen and he's busted wide open. Damn. He's going to have to be sewn up.

10:10pm: Lawler and Ross VS Swagger and Cole at Extreme Rules is now a "Country Whipping" match, after both Ross and Cole received belt lashings in the post-match aftermath.

10:12pm: Damnit, Miz, you really need to tone down the facial expressions. I say it all the time, but it's the only thing holding you back from being a top guy. No matter how much charisma you have, and no matter how many good promos you cut, you still look like a teenager cutting fake promos in his bathroom mirror, acting like a tough guy. The shaking and the shivering works for people in the Iditarod or for Michael J. Fox, but it just makes you look dumb.

10:25pm: Thank you, DVR. I had to make a bathroom visit and then restart my laptop.

10:26pm: Randy Orton VS Dolph Ziggler, in a battle for two draft picks. Ziggler, to nobody's surprise, gets the jobber entrance, and doesn't stand a fucking chance in hell of winning this match.

10:29pm: Orton wins. Ziggler's a nobody now. Smackdown gets two more picks.

10:30pm: CM Punk is out to interrupt the selections, and he cuts a promo on Orton, starting off by saying that he and Orton are going to get extreme on each other this weekend. #StopThatThatsGay

10:32pm: I guess we're getting the new picks after the commercial break.

10:33pm: Mark Henry and Sin Cara are headed to Smackdown. Good move by the company to keep Mysterio and Cara on different brands. Good move to put Sin Cara on Smackdown, too, where post-production can really help and clean his matches up for a while.

10:34pm: Rey Mysterio VS Wade Bar-ruh, with two more picks on the line. You'd have to assume Mysterio wins this. His first match on Raw shouldn't be a loss, and Smackdown getting another two picks would make things really lopsided.

10:38pm: Another really short match. Mysterio wins. The United States Champion was pinned earlier, and now the Intercontinental Champion has been pinned. Ouch.

10:39pm: Big Show to Raw. Questionable decision, considering that he's one of the Tag Team Champions, so he was free to appear on both shows, anyway.

10:40pm: Alberto Del Rrrrrio to Raw. Alright, now that is a surprise. They must really see big things in ADR.

10:42pm: Now we get to hear Michael Cole do commentary with a wad of gauze in his mouth. Just when you thought his commentary couldn't get any worse, they throw a wrench into your plans, and it does get worse. In-cray-ab-lay.

10:44pm: CM Punk, Alberto Del Rrrrrio and The Miz VS Christian, Mark Henry and John Cena in tonight's main event, with the final draft pick on the line. That's a pretty big match. Very nice.

10:49pm: Punk, ADR and Miz is a heel team for the ages. The amount of heel heat they could get together is insane.

10:53pm: Mark Henry really sticks out in this match. I get that he's a new addition to the Smackdown roster, but damn, he just doesn't look like he belongs out there.

10:59pm: Punk just kicked the Maple Leaf right out of Christian's head. Ouch.

11:01pm: I'm still laughing at Mark Henry's shirt and how much of a lighter shade of blue it is than the rest of the Smackdown shirts.

11:02pm: It looks really funny seeing John Cena in a Smackdown shirt. Really, really funny.

11:04pm: Wait.. what?!? Mark Henry just got in the ring and turned heel by attacking Cena and Christian. Didn't see that coming at all.

11:05pm: The Miz pins John Cena. Again. Raw gets the final pick.

11:05pm: lol @ Punk kissing ADR on the cheek in celebration of Raw's victory

11:06pm: LMAO @ John Cena being drafted back to Raw with the final pick. SWERVE~!

#ThankYouEdge: The exchange between Evan Bourne and Kofi Kingston towards the end of the Battle Royal.. Big names actually being drafted this year.. Kharma.. Layla's "crazy bitch" act, beating Michelle McCool up while crying her eyes out.. Zack Ryder getting some television time, even if it's just being shown with the Raw locker room in a group shot.. Cody Rhodes continuing to shine.. Michael Cole getting his mouth busted open, even if it means it potentially took a broken hand by Jim Ross to do so.. The team of CM Punk, The Miz and Alberto Del Rrrrrio.. Mark Henry's heel turn (although this could easily be in the other section, depending on what happens with the entire thing).. John Cena being back on Raw

#FuckYouMattHardy: R-Truth still not being able to cut coherent promos, and not being smart enough to decide if he wanted to play along with the "What?" chants or not.. Eve.. Jim Ross VS Michael Cole.. Dolph Ziggler's continuing spiral into nothingness.. Both midcard champions being pinned cleanly.. The matches being far too short

Grade: B-, just because things got shaken up. Oh, and yes, I'll be breaking the Draft down more tomorrow, including the selections in the Supplemental Draft taking place in a few hours.

LoP Magazine

The HiPE Playlist: Raw.

Excuse me, Officer, but can you tell me if I'm black or white?

You're under arrest.

I guess I am black.

-------------------------Day 481

The 2011 WWE Draft is now in the books. The 2011 WWE Supplemental Draft is also in the books. That means it's time to take an official look at the new Raw and Smackdown rosters going forward. This is always a fun time of year for me. I have a lot to get into here, so I'll just start off by looking at the actual selections from Raw.

Regardless of all the crying within the Internet Wrestling Community, keeping John Cena on Raw was the only logical decision to make. You're not going to take the top star in the entire business, and move him to a taped show on Friday nights that gets half the ratings of your live show on Monday nights. Would Cena have helped the Smackdown ratings a bit? I have no doubt that he would have, but it wouldn't have made a huge difference to the point where both shows are competing on an even level. I'm eternally thankful that some of you have zero booking power in the world of wrestling, because you would have ran a billion-dollar business straight into the ground by now.

Rey Mysterio to Raw didn't necessarily make sense in the beginning of the night, but once Sin Cara was sent to Smackdown, it made perfect sense. I've said it a hundred times by now, but those two need to be kept away from each other for as long as possible. When they eventually team up, or face each other, it's going to bring major money, so you can't just have it happen on random episodes of television. Sin Cara to Smackdown works out well for everyone involved. While he continues to get himself better acclimated to the WWE scene, the company can take advantage of post-production and clean his matches up a bit. Mysterio, on the other hand, has been a Smackdown guy for two years now, and this move allows for fresher matches and feuds involving him. Good move on both sides.

The idea of sending Randy Orton to Smackdown was initially pretty surprising to me, but the more I think about it, the more it just makes sense. Regardless of my own personal opinions towards "Super Orton" and the way he's booked, there's no denying that he's one of the top stars in the business today. However, there's one problem with that.. he'll never be as big as John Cena is. He'll never bring out the emotion from the fans that Cena brings, whether he's a face or a heel. Because of that, it's for the best that Orton moves away from Cena and gets his own show. That's exactly what Smackdown will be.. Orton's show. With The Undertaker only making sporadic appearances during the year, Orton is the top star on the brand for the foreseeable future. This will be Orton's chance to prove that he can carry a show on his back, so it will be interesting to see how that works out.

Mark Henry's move to Smackdown didn't register with a lot of people.. until he turned heel at the end of Raw. Because of Smackdown's lack of top-flight heels (more on that later), Henry has a chance to shine on Friday nights that he certainly would not have had if he remained on Raw, heel turn or not. He's losing weight, and is motivated like he hasn't been in years, which are both promising signs for his not-too-distant future. I like the move, and I'm rooting for the guy. I'm not saying he should be a 20-time champion or anything, but everyone knows Vince McMahon loves loyalty and rewarding his workers that remain loyal to him and to the company. This could be Mark's reward for his loyalty before he eventually hangs up his wrestling boots (he's less than two months away from turning 40, after all).

As I mentioned in my Raw Running Diary, I don't see the point in drafting Big Show to Raw when he's one-half of the WWE Tag Team Champions, which means he's free to appear on both shows to begin with. It just seems like Big Show changes brands at least once every year. He's on Raw, he's on Smackdown, he's on ECW, he's on WCW, he's on AWA, he's on RoH, he's on CMLL, he's on FCW, he's on JCW.. he's everywhere. This is probably the selection I'm most indifferent towards. I just can't find a reason to care.

Alberto Del Rrrrrio to Raw. Wow. I'm still pretty surprised by this decision, but it does carry some good news for a lot of people in the IWC.. with all three participants in the WWE Title Triple Threat at Extreme Rules all being on the Raw roster, and now with one-half of the World Title Ladder Match at Extreme Rules being on the Raw roster, it just screams out that Christian will be winning the World Title and keeping it on Smackdown. It's not a guarantee, obviously. I suppose ADR could win the World Title, and then Theodore Long could swing a big trade to shake things up even further and to get the World Title "back on The Smack", but for now, we'll just let people be happy. Moving ADR to Raw at this stage might be a sign that someone has faith in him (although not enough faith to give him the World Title, obviously). As I've been saying, though, now that there are more Mexican wrestlers in the company, it was time that Raw got some of the Latino viewership that Smackdown has been getting for years. Mysterio and ADR on Monday nights goes a long way towards that.

I'm not going to comment on every single pick in the Supplemental Draft, but I do have some brief comments on a few of the moves, so let's keep things moving at a nice pace..

- Daniel Bryan to Smackdown is a fantastic move. The best technical wrestler on the roster sent to the brand that focuses more on in-ring action? Sounds like a winning idea to me.

- Jack Swagger to Raw might be a sign of a reward for Swagger, after all. As soon as he was placed into the Michael Cole/Jerry Lawler/Jim Ross storyline, people hoped and assumed that it would lead to some sort of nice push for him as a payoff. This could be it.

- William Regal to Smackdown, if Regal remains an in-ring competitor, is another fantastic move, for the same reasons that I mentioned for Daniel Bryan.

- Drew McIntyre to Raw is a move that needed to be made. McIntyre, perhaps more than just about anyone else on the roster, needed a fresh start. His booking has been criminally inconsistent, and this move could very well be what he needed to get things back on track.

- Kofi Kingston to Raw worries me a bit. It could be said that he was in need of change, as well, but he could have easily been a main eventer on Smackdown, even after the roster changes. On Raw, he has a longer journey to reach that point.

- Sheamus to Smackdown is an incredibly questionable move at face value. As it stands, both the United States and Intercontinental Champions are heels on the Smackdown roster. Either Sheamus or Wade Bar-ruh needs to drop their title to a Raw-bound worker, and they need to do it soon.

- Ted DiBiase to Smackdown probably doesn't mean much of anything, but it is worth noting that Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase are all on the same show again. I'm not saying a Legacy reunion is going to happen, and in fact, I'm totally against it, as Cody is clearly set to break out on his own. It's just fun to think about.

We've looked at the past, but now, it's time to look at the future of both brands. Just for shits and giggles, let's start with Smackdown, shall we? At the top of the Smackdown roster, you'll notice that the faces dominate the main event scene. Randy Orton, Christian and The Undertaker (when he's around) form a pretty solid group. KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE is a former multiple-time World Champion, so, depending on how long he decides to remain an active competitor, and how long he and Big Show remain the Tag Team Champions, he could easily be placed in the main event scene. If you want to throw in Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara down the road that gives you..

- Randy Orton
- Christian
- The Undertaker
- KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE
- Daniel Bryan
- Sin Cara

Now look at Smackdown's heel main event scene.. you have Cody Rhodes on the rise. You have the two midcard champions in Sheamus and Wade Bar-ruh. You have the potential for Mark Henry to be there. You have the potential for Ezekiel Jackson to be there. That's a lot of "potential". Technically, Sheamus is the only one that has proven they can hang with the top names in a main event setting.

- Cody Rhodes
- Sheamus
- Wade Bar-ruh
- Mark Henry
- Ezekiel Jackson

That's so lopsided towards the faces it's ridiculous. What that does is give further ammo to those who believe Randy Orton is going to turn heel, whether it's to re-form Legacy or not. Smackdown could really use a top-level main event heel, and Orton could fit that bill. Christian could have fit the bill had Edge not retired, but.. well.. you know. More on the top-level main event heel for Smackdown later.

For the sake of my own sanity, let's say the United States Title goes back to Raw at some point soon. Now, if you look at Smackdown's midcard scene, you'll see a deep roster. Any of the five heels I mentioned for the main event scene could be in contention for the Intercontinental Title. Take one of them and give them the World Title, or let them go after the World Title, and the other four are immediate contenders for the IC Title. If you switch to the faces I mentioned earlier, Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara are in this group, as well. If you're looking to add new names to the list, you have to focus more on names that need to be built up, which is basically what Smackdown is becoming at this point.. a show where damn near everyone on the roster has something to prove and require some sort of re-building. Ted DiBiase could be in this group. Yoshi Tatsu could be in this group. Chavo Guerrero could be in this group. William Regal could be in this group. Tyson Kidd could be in this group. Both Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater could be in this group. Trent Barreta could be in this group. That's a deep, interchangeable group of people rotating in and out to feud over a midcard title, but the key to it is to actually build some of those names up. Chavo Guerrero, for instance, is still one of the best workers on the entire roster, but the large majority of the WWE Universe isn't going to take him seriously as any sort of title contender today. The Smackdown writers have a lot on their plate, but the rewards for them if they do they're job well are worth the extra work, in my opinion.

Time for Raw? Let's make it happen. Same deal.. starting off with the face main event scene. Obviously, there's John Cena. If Triple H ever decides to return to wrestling, he's in the mix. If John Morrison grows a set and doesn't get de-pushed, he can continue to be right in the hunt. Rey Mysterio, whether anyone likes his World Title reigns or not, is always in contention. What I said about KAAAAANNNNNEEEEE earlier applies here for Big Show.. if he continues wrestling, and once his Tag Title reign is over, he's right in WWE Title contention, as well. Just for my own jollies, I'm going to throw Kofi Kingston's name in, too. That gives us..

- John Cena
- Triple H
- John Morrison
- Rey Mysterio
- Big Show
- Kofi Kingston

Raw's main event heel scene contains that incredible trio that was in Raw's main event this week.. The Miz, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rrrrrio. If Morrison is in the mix for the faces, you have to put R-Truth in the mix for the heels. Even though his individuality has been taken from him, Dolph Ziggler is still a former World Champion, so he's right there, too. That gives us..

- The Miz
- CM Punk
- Alberto Del Rrrrrio
- R-Truth
- Dolph Ziggler

As you can see, that's much more balanced than the Smackdown main event scene is. There are a lot of potential matchups in there, but there's a downside to that. We've pretty much seen them all. Cena VS ADR would be the freshest "big" feud we could get, and I only say that because I fear for The Miz if he had to feud with Triple H. Same goes for anyone, really. Look at how much it takes to defeat Triple H, especially when he's a face. For the time being, let's move on to Raw's midcard (United States Title, as indicated earlier) scene, first with the faces. Of the first group I mentioned, Kofi Kingston can be grouped in here, as can John Morrison and possibly even Rey Mysterio. Throw in Evan Bourne and possibly Santino, and you have a pretty decent group. If they ever decide they want to push Zack Ryder, I'd include him in the face group, as well, because he's got a big enough cult following to get pops when he appears. Technically, he's a heel, yes, but that will change if he ever gets television time. On the heel side of the fence, R-Truth and Dolph Ziggler can bounce from main event to upper midcard without much of a problem. This is where the depth comes into play, though. Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Tyler Reks (God knows someone in the company seems to have a hard-on for the guy), Mason Ryan (eventually), Skip Sheffield (when he returns, and if the reports about Vince McMahon being a huge fan of his are true), David Hart Smith (eventually), Goldust (if he decides not to retire once his injury is healed up) and Chris Masters all get thrown into the mix. That's another deep midcard scene. Raw's midcard scene has less people that need to be "made", though, but it still remains a solid scene that has countless directions they could go in.

Right now, at this very moment, Smackdown has all the potential in the world. There are a few names on the roster that need to built up, as I mentioned, but if that can happen, both the main event and midcard scene will thrive for an entire year. Raw is better set right now, but has less "fresh" matchups to give us. Before I get into any final comments and opinions.. remember earlier, when I mentioned how Smackdown needs a top-level main event heel? Well, there is a certain someone who was eliminated on Dancing With The Stars tonight that could fit that bill.

I'm not going to do a re-hash of the Chris Jericho column that I just did, but he's desperately needed as a heel on Smackdown right now. As I mentioned in that column, he's going to return to some big face pops, but he needs to do something almost immediately to turn the crowd against him right away, and he needs to do it against someone that is over enough with various cross-sections of the WWE Universe. If you look at the Smackdown main event faces I listed, there's only one full-timer that fits that description.. Christian. Had ADR not been drafted to Raw, having Jericho return to cost Christian his shot at the World Title would instantly make him hated, and it would give him a feud with someone that he does have some history with. Now, if Christian does win the World Title at Extreme Rules, he can face Jericho if Jericho can and will return immediately. If Jericho comes back as a heel on Smackdown, Orton can remain a face, although it wouldn't exactly be a bad thing if he turned, anyway, giving the show two legit main event heels to work with.

If we're talking about today, Raw came out looking better, in my opinion. They're more of a "sure" thing. However, within a few months, if Michael Hayes and his Band of Merry Men can work some magic, Smackdown is going to come out of this year's Draft smelling like roses, with the potential for great matches up and down the card. Here's to hoping.

Your turn, ReaderLand. Did Raw "win"? What about Smackdown? What do you see for the future of both brands? Holla at ya boy and let me know what's on your mind.

LoP Magazine

The HiPE Playlist: "Educated Fools" by Damian Marley, Bounty Killer & Treach.. "It Was Written" by Damian Marley, Stephen Marley, Capleton & Drag-on.. "Born To Be Wild" by Damian Marley.. "Me Name Jr Gong" by Damian Marley.. "One Cup Of Coffee" by Damian Marley.. "Welcome To Jamrock" by Damian Marley.. "Pimpa's Paradise" by Damian Marley, Stephen Marley & Black Thought.. "Road To Zion" by Damian Marley & Nas.. "The Master Has Come Back" by Damian Marley.. "Khaki Suit" by Damian Marley, Bounty Killer & Eek-A-Mouse

One good thing about music.. when it hits you, you feel no pain.

-------------------------Day 482

As a big fan of the independent wrestling scene, perhaps I'm a bit biased about this, but if you ask me, CM Punk is the best heel in the wrestling business today, especially considering that a lot of his gimmick isn't much of a gimmick at all. He goes out there and he's being himself.. he believes in the things he says, and he justifies the things he does. He does the little things to perfection.. his facial expressions, how he forms his sentences in his promos, the tone of his voice, etc.. and that's what separates him from the rest of the pack.

It's being reported that there is a bit of a problem on the horizon with Punk and his future with World Wrestling Entertainment. The story is that Punk wants some time off, and has not re-signed with the company yet. A bit of a "Chicken or Egg?" dilemma then comes up, depending on which side of the reports you want to believe. Is CM Punk upset with the company because he's being de-pushed? Is CM Punk being de-pushed because he's upset with the company? Is he even really upset? That's the thing with rumors and speculation on the internet.. anyone can chime in, and if enough people are listening/reading, that can really take off. I could say that Punk is upset with the company, but it's because they haven't signed his best friend, Samoa Joe, to a contract. If one person believes that, they'll pass it along. If one person believes that person, they'll pass it along. It continues on and on, until some fourth-rate website reports it as news. Then it picks up steam until the third-rate sites report it. I'm pretty sure you get the point. It's like a super-duper fun game of Telephone, where an original point is misheard and misunderstood, and by the time it gets to the end, it's not even remotely resembling what was originally said.

Let's look at Punk needing a break first. Would it really surprise anyone if Punk was, in fact, burned out? For one, there's the travel aspect of things. I've had the great fortune of being able to travel all over the world during my lifetime, and I'm exhausted after one long flight. I don't then have to travel to an arena and get beat up for a while before hopping on another flight a few hours later. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. With all of the cities, states and countries that these wrestlers visit on a regular basis, I'm surprised more of them don't experience burn out, to be honest. Punk's been with World Wrestling Entertainment since September of 2005, and let's not forget that, before WWE, Punk put in half a dozen years on the indy scene. Take that, and mix it up with the harder-hitting style that Punk's had to deal with for years, and you have a recipe for disaster if some breaks aren't sprinkled in here and there. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that his Straight Edge lifestyle means he's not out there getting drunk, high or zoned out on pills to mask a lot of his pains and ailments. He's only 32, but I'm sure he feels like twice that some mornings. That's the kind of shit that probably makes him come to work on the verge of delirium some days..

See? Nothing else can explain that.

As much as I enjoy CM Punk's work.. as much as I think the WWE product could suffer without him around.. as much as I'll, personally, miss him (pause).. I do think Punk needs a break. I'd much rather deal with a couple months of Punk-less product than a permanent future without him because he isn't able to wrestle anymore.. or something even worse. I've seen people absolutely up in arms about the entire thing, like Punk isn't "deserving" of some time off or something. Those people are clearly out of their minds. The only person who can judge CM Punk is his Father..

If he feels he needs some time off, no matter what the reason.. his body is breaking down, he wants to pursue other activities for a while, he needs rehab (lololololol), etc.. it should be given to him. That is.. as long as this isn't some sort of weird, bass-ackwards plan to be let out of his contract, making way for a return to TNA or the independent scene. That would be odd, to say the least.

Now, the fun stuff.. Punk's "frustration" with his character and the direction it happens to be going in. I don't buy this one like I do his request for some time away from the ring. If you've been paying any sort of attention through the last few years, Punk always seems to be in some sort of trouble with someone. He's "in the doghouse". He's "making enemies". He's "rubbing people the wrong way" (pause). With all that "trouble" he's in, what has it gotten him?

- Three World Title reigns
- An ECW Title reign
- A Tag Team Title reign
- An Intercontinental Title reign
- Back-to-back Money In The Bank victories

If that's the type of success someone in the "doghouse" can achieve, I think I've solved Zack Ryder's problem. In his next YouTube video, he should make a threat on the lives of Vince McMahon's grandchildren. Be as brutal and as graphic in his description as possible. That would surely piss Vince off, which would then mean a guaranteed four or five WWE/World Title reigns for the Long Island Iced Z.

Does Punk have a reason to be frustrated? I think so, yes. He was given a stable in the Straight Edge Society, and they weren't able to build any type of momentum at all, and the rug was pulled out from under them. He was given another stable in the NexSES, and everyone thought this would be it. They figured it would make up for the Straight Edge Society. It started off strong, but week in and week out, the group has been made to look pathetic, all at the hands of one man. That man, Randy Orton, single-handedly dismantled the group, and has seemingly defeated Punk 40 times so far in 2011. I have no doubt that Punk questions why he's even given these stables to lead if the company isn't going to do anything to make the stables look like a threat. Thing is.. I think he wonders to himself, or maybe even to his closest friends in the locker room, but that's it. I don't see him walking around backstage, looking all upset, disheveled and ready to drown his sorrows..

The conspiracy theorists are already out, too, saying that the move to send Beth Phoenix to Raw is a "please don't be mad at us" move by the company, since Punk and Beth are apparently in the middle of a pretty serious relationship that a lot of people knew nothing about before today. Why does there have to be the conspiracy, though? It was the WWE Draft. People change brands. That's pretty much the point of the Draft. Why couldn't this just be another random move? Hell, why couldn't this just be a bit of a reward for Punk, for him not complaining through all of the bullshit they've given him? That makes sense to me.

I've even seen some talk that Punk is upset over R-Truth's heel turn involving cigarette smoking, saying that it could make smoking look "cool" to the younger and more impressionable viewers out there. Sure, Punk doesn't smoke, but if he were to get upset over the storylines involving other people, he would have thrown a fit being involved with Jeff Hardy before Jeff left for TNA. Punk's in the wrong profession altogether if he's going to be that concerned about what other people are doing.

This Sunday is incredibly important in trying to figure out if things are rumors or actual factual. Punk, of course, will be facing Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules. If it's what they choose to do, it wouldn't be the first time in wrestling history that a Last Man Standing match was used to write someone out of storylines for an extended period of time. Obviously, Orton has a built-in weapon in the RKOP that has put people on the shelf before. It would be lazy writing, but it fits into the storyline, considering Orton has punted every other NexSES member in the head. If we see Punk get punted, the rumor mill will begin to churn like crazy. Is that leading to Punk's time off? Is that leading to Punk leaving the company? Is that further de-pushing for Punk because he won't re-sign with the company? Is that nothing more than continuing to make Orton look strong, sending him off to being "the man" on Smackdown? What if Punk wins, though? Then what? Will my long streak of questions continue? It's currently at eight, isn't it?

It's time to play "wait and see", folks. I still don't think you should believe everything you read on the internet, though. It's just not good for you.

Now, if you'll excuse me, cuttlefish is about to come out of my asshole.