It’s another week of the heel report and as we work our way to Extreme Rules there has been a major change in the WWE title match with the inclusion of John Morrison and the misusing of R-Truth. His much needed heel turn comes at an advantageous time with the draft on Monday and will almost certainly see the annoying, but hopefully surprising, rapper being trade over to Smackdown. My only question now is whether the draft will effect some of the matches for Extreme Rules. Still uncertainties aside, let’s get on with the report…

Weekly Top Ten:

1st Place: Cody Rhodes (10/10)

The former ‘Dashing One’ rockets into first place this week after a great promo on Smackdown. Sure he might have lost his match against Mysterio, but it was by a quick pin and Rhodes certainly took it to the pint-sized prick after the match. Not only did he deliver a great promo with conviction, but also started something that could actually work. Those paper bags are ridiculously easy to produce and if the gimmick is kept up we could see arenas being full of fans covering up their ugly faces.

2nd Place: Jack Swagger (9/10)

Second place goes to the All-American American Jack Swagger, partially for his squash match on Smackdown, but mostly for his part in the travesty that was Michael Cole’s “Knighthood”. Taking out both of their opponents at Extreme Rules, Swagger looks to be in a dominant position and will hopefully earn his way back into the main event after this whole Cole thing blows over.

3rd Place: Michael Cole (8/10)

Speaking of blowing, it’s the man himself, Sir Michael Cole. Heel or face, Cole has been acting like a massive tool for the better part of a couple of years now and this was the icing on the cake. I’m so split by the Extreme Rules match because on the one hand I want Swagger to win to help his career. Also I can’t stand the King or JR, sure they were good about ten years ago, but since then they have gone downhill rapidly. But on the other hand I can’t abide by anything but Michael Cole being destroyed and put out of commission, hopefully for good, in the announce booth at least.

4th Place: The Miz (7/10)

The Awesome one showed just how awesome he was this week, perhaps not in the ring, but in his promo and his 2nd appearance on Blue Peter. The fact is that the Miz actually is a really good spokesman for the WWE, and he does the company proud. I would compare him to Chris Jericho in terms of his appeal to the general public. Now Cena might be a half-decent spokesman as well, but he’s just too All-American to go over in what is now an international focused company. I honestly think that Miz’s outside appeal will keep him as champion for a long time to come, I’ve never seen a champion have more interviews and TV spots outside of the company in my life, and that can only be a good thing.

5th Place: R-Truth (6/10)

Coming straight in at number five is the newly turned R-Truth, this was perhaps the best thing that could have happened. Sure he lost his title shot at Extreme Rules, and that is why he isn’t higher up on the chart, but he now has a fresh character and the Triple Threat match is how it should be with the two biggest rivals of the Miz try to take his title away. This is a match now where if, and when, the Miz wins it will completely justify him as champion, shutting up all the critics. This is unless Super Cena’s ego gets the better of him and somehow we are left with the Chump again as Champ. But as I said before I honestly think the Miz is a better all-round representative of the company, especially for the international market, and like it or not that is a big part on who gets to be champion and for how long.

6th Place: Wade Barrett (5/10)

The Bare-Knuckle fighter was lucky to be in his home country of England this week as otherwise I am concerned that he might not have been so lucky in his title retention against Kingston. Still things seem to be looking up for the English Rose as The Corre appear to be breaking up, and with Barrett as IC champion it means he could go on to have some good solo feuds in the near future.

7th Place: Sheamus (4/10)

The United States champion faired well this week as well, knocking the block off of one Santino Marella. Sheamus’ new attire and winning streak are good for the Celtic Warrior as it gives him a new lease of life. I’m also hoping that Sheamus, along with Barrett, being company favourites to a point, will bring some prestige back to the mid-card belts by defending them in hard fought matches. It would help them get over and as I said, bring some much needed prestige back to the belts.

8th Place: Maryse (3/10)

Perhaps the French Femme Fatale may have only gotten a win over Natalya on Superstars this week but as I’ve said in the past; she sells her character so well throughout her matches that she always racks up the points when she steps between the ropes and is victorious. There is also her draw on NXT, where she is arguably the focus of most of the show, and with good reason!

9th Place: C.M. Punk (2/10)

The Straight-Edge leader of the New Nexus got royally screwed this week on Raw, but he saves himself by having just an excellent match against Orton, despite in a losing effort. Punk and Orton work together so well that it seems like their matches are becoming instant classics, with this last one being arguably even better than their match at ‘Mania. Also the chants of ‘RKO’ and ‘GTS’ were great, as well as the ‘Randy Or-ton’ and ‘C.M. Pu-nk’. This is what you want from a match, a clearly defined good guy and bad guy but both are over enough to get a massive pop at every turn. Not a match where the bad guy and good guy are booed in equal measure like in a Cena match, sure there is a reaction, but it’s mostly a negative reaction, and while that’s something, it’s not ideal.

10th Place: Dolph Ziggler (1/10)

The not-so-Platinum Playboy comes last on the chart this week after having a squash match against the still recovering Evan Bourne. Ziggler doesn’t seem happy with his new look and it kind of ruined his gimmick of being a preening pre-Madonna. I’m not sure who’s idea it was to make such a change to his character, but clearly they are a couple of shirts short of a full load.

2011-2012 Season Top Ten: Overall Top Ten:

1st Place: Alberto Del Rio (19/30) – 1st Place: C.M. Punk (580/1030)

2nd Place: Michael Cole (19/30) – 2nd Place: Chris Jericho (564/1030)

3rd Place: Jack Swagger (16/30) – 3rd Place: The Miz (553/1030)

4th Place: Cody Rhodes (15/30) – 4th Place: Jack Swagger (324/1030)

5th Place: Wade Barrett (12/30) – 5th Place: Dolph Ziggler (287/1030)

6th Place: Ezekiel Jackson (11/30) – 6th Place: Sheamus (254/1030)

7th Place: The Miz (9/30) – 7th Place: Cody Rhodes (253/1030)

8th Place: Sheamus (9/30) – 8th Place: Randy Orton (224/1030)

9th Place: Justin Gabriel (8/30) – 9th Place: Wade Barrett (215/1030)

10th Place: Ted DiBiase (8/30) – 10th Place: Alberto Del Rio (214/1030)

Weekly Filler:

The Face-Off: Jay Lethal Being Fired

This was a ridiculous move by TNA, did you hear the crowd pop for Lethal when he came out at Lockdown? It’s idiotic to see that kind of reaction and decide to get rid of the one guy in the whole X-Division who gets the biggest reaction from the fans. It was especially brutal how they sent him off, sure it was a PPV match, but it was an elimination match with eight men where he was the second eliminated. I honestly think that whoever is actually in charge of the company is seriously as nutty as Vincent Kennedy McMahon himself.

Face the Facts: TNA Lockdown

Having said all this I have to admit that despite whatever shape TNA might be in, this year, like every year, Lockdown was a superb PPV. It was full of solid and entertaining matches, feuds were ended and extended, and some content was even set up for the following Impact. One criticism might be that the TNA title match wasn’t last on the card, this is evidence of Hogan and Bischoff putting their own stuff with Immortal before the TNA title, which says a lot about their attitude towards the company. Don’t get me wrong, the Lethal Lockdown match is an important match and it was a good match. But you have one match with your three biggest stars of the moment vying for the main title in your company. And then you have another one between two factions that include Bully Ray and Matt Hardy. Sure the other guys in the match were all good wrestlers and most of them were TNA originals, but it’s still not exactly putting over your title, or your main event contenders. Then again you could argue that they are putting forward the company by not putting guys who came from the outside in the main event, but then don’t have them be the only ones going after the TNA title. Anyway, generally all around the PPV was entertaining and well structured, apart from a couple of niggles.

On the Rise: Punk vs. Orton

Just for a second I’d like to praise this rivalry once again, first for it’s matches and second for it’s pitting two of my favourite heels against each other. Although in some ways some of the rivalry was spoilt by the New Nexus. It’s funny because what with the New Nexus being destroyed before Wrestlemania it’s like the WWE knows that they spoil it and are actually doing something about it. Take their match last week, sure the New Nexus ran down, but only after the match was over, in a way you get the feeling that the WWE are giving the privilege to the two of them to actually have a match without its ending being spoilt. It seems like not many Superstars get that same privilege these days.

Flat-Footed: The Corre’s Title Loss

Well you could say at least it was only Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater’s tag title belts, but it is just another example of a potentially good faction that has been buried and threatened to split up before its even really began. Is it me or does it seem like the WWE has ADHD at the moment? They can’t seem to stick with anything, the only things that last for months on end are title reigns, and that’s usually just because they are left undefended and perch round a Superstars waist for weeks at a time. Still at least this might provide room for three of the four to go on to better things and leave one certain ginger guy out in the cold.

That’s all for this week, I’m looking forward to the draft on Monday, my personal hope is that Smackdown gets a couple of top faces as it’s in desperate need of them at the moment. I’m also hoping though for no title to switch promotions as there’s been too much of that in recent years. If the division is getting stale then the writers need to put more effort into creating some decent rivalries, rather than just falling back on the safety net of changing the title’s brand to generate new competition. Still whatever happens we are guaranteed at least some new rivalries in the coming months. This is James Wright signing off.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com