Right well it’s now been a whole two years since I started this report and things can only go up from here. There are a few different entries on the chart what with the WWE trying to shake things up with the annual draft after Wrestlemania. There have been a couple of heel turns lately, but no one turning face, I’m starting to get a little bit worried that Raw is going the way that Smackdown did last year in the way of having enough faces to satisfy the sheer amount of upcoming heels in the promotion. Still for now who knows, everything might change in the near future, for now let’s just get on with the report…

Weekly Top Ten:

1st Place: R-Truth (10/10)

R-Truth storms to the top of the chart this week by confirming his heel turn with a great promo on Raw. From start to finish the promo was a great example of audience antagonism, from turning his catchphrase-come-cheap-pop of “What’s Up?!” to “Shut up!”, to berating the pretend little Jimmy for not putting any titles round his waist. Truth used some classic heel motives, namely blaming the crowd for his lack of success as a face, but I hope he also capitalises on the same smoking angle that he used last week as while it has be controversial, it is different and that will make him stand out, which is always a good thing in the world of professional wrestling.,

2nd Place: The Miz (9/10)

The Miz may be being slightly overshadowed by other events in the WWE at the moment but that doesn’t stop him from carrying on a great wave of momentum as he gets a main event win over John Cena this week on Raw. I’m quite convinced that the Miz will be able to retain his WWE title at Extreme Rules, unless the WWE really are planning on playing the long game with John Cena and the Rock for the title at Wrestlemania. That would be a terrible way to play things in my opinion, a better way would be to turn Cena heel over the coming year and then try to get out of there match, claiming that if it’s not for the title then what’s the point, only to eventually be goaded into accepting the match after all. It would buy some time and add heat to Cena’s heel persona, which he needs so badly.

3rd Place: Michael Cole (8/10)

Hopefully this is the last time that the living tool of an announcer that is Michael Cole will be able to appear on the chart. I don’t think there is a single person that doesn’t want to see Cole get battered at Extreme Rules, and in some ways you have to give it to him in that he is one of the few heels to have legitimate heat from the whole crowd in a long time. Still he is a poor man’s Andy Kaufman and I don’t think any of the older or more educated fans will be able to forget that, so the sooner this angle is over, the better.

4th Place: Mark Henry (7/10)

A solid heel turn from the World’s Strongest Man this week, although fact is that his face tur was more a blip where he did bugger all for months on end, so it is more like a return to his usual form. I wouldn’t expect this to lead to much more than a futile shot at the title, perhaps quite soon if Christian becomes the new World Heavyweight Champion. Still I wouldn’t count on Henry making too many appearances higher than this on the chart from now on.

5th Place: Alberto Del Rio (6/10)

The other man who might be the World Heavyweight Champion after Extreme Rules; Alberto Del Rio. It is unlikely that the WWE would be so daring as to legitimately give Raw both world titles and have Smackdown with the US and IC titles. Although I honestly think that wouldn’t be the worst thing as Smackdown is supposed to be the ‘B-Show’ anyway and also having them as the pinnacle of the promotion would perhaps raise the worth of the US and IC back up to some real level of respectability again. Also given the amount of mid-card talent on Smackdown it might make sense as well, still I’m betting that’s not how things worked out after Extreme Rules, but we will just have to see.

6th Place: Jack Swagger (5/10)

Michael Cole’s trainer has certainly paid his dues on Smackdown for his early World title win and hopefully now is set to rise up the ranks on Raw after shedding the disgusting growth that is Michael Cole after Extreme Rules. Swagger might have lost to Sin Cara this week but he has a tremendous upside and hopefully will get into a feud with a couple of major faces on Raw. Although outside of John Cena I am struggling to think of any anymore, uh-oh.

7th Place: Cody Rhodes (4/10)

The man with the paper bags is back and this time he looks to be getting one over on Mysterio. Still judging by Mysterio’s track record it is unlikely that he will allow his departure from Smackdown to end with a loss to Rhodes at Extreme Rules, so I am expecting the pint-sized bastard to bury the once dashing one in their Falls Count Anywhere match. Perhaps we will be surprised and Rhodes will get the push he so sorely deserves and might finally make it into the main event picture on Smackdown.

8th Place: Sheamus (3/10)

The US champ left Raw in a losing effort to Kofi Kingston, but he more than paid Kingston back in his last appearance on Smackdown, making the Celtic Warrior’s arrival all the more impacting. I’m still not sure how the WWE is handling having the IC and US title on Smackdown at the same time. I’m thinking that Kingston will beat either Sheamus or Barrett at Extreme Rules to take one title over to Raw, but I am seriously hoping they don’t as Raw doesn’t pay enough attention to these mid-card titles and I honestly think that Smackdown can handle having both. It might shake competition up somewhat, that is at least until the inevitable unification of the two titles as the WWE can’t stand having two similar titles in the mix for too long as it is too confusing for their writers.

9th Place: Zack Ryder (2/10)

One man still dominating in his own way, on Superstars at least, is Zack Ryder, who is fully utilising the tools that social networking provides to get his name out there. I still think the WWE won’t be giving him a legitimate shot any time soon, but he is still beating guys like David Hart Smith on Superstars, and that is good enough for now for the Long Island Iced Zee.

10th Place: Tyson Kidd (1/10)

Hart’s former partner is having similar success on Superstars, beating Trent Barretta, the locker room’s personal punching bag, this week. Kidd has also made the move to Smackdown, which might bode well for him with the addition of Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan, along with a face turn in the wings for Justin Gabriel, Smackdown nearly has a decent cruiserweight division again. Now if only the show could find itself with an extra belt that they could convert into some type of X-Division-Cruiserweight title hybrid…hmm.

2011-2012 Season Top Ten: Overall Top Ten:

1st Place: Michael Cole (27/40) – 1st Place: C.M. Punk (580/1040)

2nd Place: Alberto Del Rio (25/40) – 2nd Place: Chris Jericho (564/1040)

3rd Place: Jack Swagger (21/40) – 3rd Place: The Miz (562/1040)

4th Place: Cody Rhodes (19/40) – 4th Place: Jack Swagger (329/1040)

5th Place: The Miz (18/40) – 5th Place: Dolph Ziggler (287/1040)

6th Place: R-Truth (16/40) – 6th Place: Sheamus (257/1040)

7th Place: Sheamus (12/40) – 7th Place: Cody Rhodes (257/1040)

8th Place: Wade Barrett (12/40) – 8th Place: Randy Orton (224/1040)

9th Place: Ezekiel Jackson (11/40) – 9th Place: Alberto Del Rio (220/1040)

10th Place: Justin Gabriel (8/40) – 10th Place: Wade Barrett (215/1040)

Weekly Filler:

The Face-Off: Cena Back to Raw

I think that everyone was displeased with this at the end of Raw. It just made the whole thing feel cheap as the move of Cena from Raw to Smackdown was a great shock at the start of the show and for the whole show it made everything seem like there could be a new beginning, like the WWE might be changing, and then it was just like they pulled the rug out from under us and laughed. It all comes down again to the WWE having this obsession with showing up the fans, teasing fans with situations and then going back on them simply to show the fans who’s boss. This is an idiotic practice because in a time where the viewer ship is at an all time low, it’s a good idea to give the fans what they want to see. Every fan wants to see a change in Cena, even the little ones that don’t know they do want to see it and will enjoy it if it ever happens. But the WWE’s move on Monday makes this all the less likely.

Face the Facts: Santino Self-Cobra & Bourne vs. Kingston in the Battle Royal

These were just some well choreographed moments in a match to start off Raw. First in Santino getting his comeuppance, even if it was from the Largest Athlete in the World, who gets to bury people on a regular basis. Still it’s nice to see Santino not be able to get away with an annoying move. And second there is Kingston and Bourne, who just had a really nice exchange on the apron of flips and sweeps, I’m looking forward to seeing the two of them square off or team up in the near future.

On the Rise: William Regal on NXT

Aside from being a bit mental and making some confusing statements about women, William Regal has been doing a decent job as commentator on NXT. His remarks that Grisham deserves to be where he is are great. And the best part has to be the remark he made while watching the ‘Know Your Pro’ competition, which is always a shambles. He said while watching the debacle that he “understands why Michael Cole went the way he did.” I loved that Regal was suggesting that it was NXT that turned Michael Cole into the ridiculous character he is today, perhaps mostly because in some ways I reckon Regal is right, there was so little going on during NXT that the commentators had more storyline written for them than the actual rookies themselves.

Flat-Footed: Karen Jarrett’s Interrogation on Impact

I just found this ludicrous and boring. I don’t understand why any of the Knock-Outs would even give Karen Jarrett the time of day, let alone let her interrogate them. The segment went on for ages and was completely pointless. The whole angle seems a bit lame as we’ve already had a bunch of great matches between Jeff Jarrett and Angle, without having to tag along the angle of a ’Mrs. Angle’ to face Karen. This just feels a little like Cowboy Bob Orton coming into the Orton-Undertaker feud a few years ago, it just seems like a desperate attempt to extend the feud despite the fact that it probably should have ended already.

Well that’s it for this week. It is a dark day on the chart where Michael Cole has gotten into first place on the overall chart. Then again it is the start of the year and I highly doubt that Cole will be able to maintain such a commanding lead over all the rest of the heels in the WWE. Next up will be the aftermath of Extreme Rules, which could change the heel landscape on the report completely, although perhaps not. For now though this is James Wright signing off.

One last thing is that I’ve started doing solo articles again for the new online Fightlife magazine, headed up by fellow writer on this site; Spartacus. Check out a preview of the magazine here: http://fightlifemag.presspublisher.us/ Fightlife Magazine comes out on the 4th of May and is a mere $5 for the full issue, including several articles by yours truly, so check it out!

Source: wrestlingtruth.com