Impact rolls along and the WWE are trying their hardest to destroy the buy rate for Bound For Glory with PPVs like Hell in a Cell, and for the most part I would think they are succeeding. Us here in merry old England will be getting Bound For Glory for free but I would guess that any fan who watches both promotions and actually pays for their PPVs will have ordered Hell in a Cell and be watching Vengeance as well over seeing Bound For Glory and what will be an embarrassment of a match between Sting and Hogan. Basically the only thing worth paying for is seeing Robert Roode win the TNA title and most of us aren’t even sure if that will happen. Still enough of my current bias, let’s get on with the report…

Weekly Top Ten:

1st Place: Alberto Del Rio (10/10)

The new WWE champion and head of the heel report is the Mexican sensation; Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio pulled a fast one at Hell in a Cell, locking the then current champion Cena out of the cell before taking down Punk to secure his second title reign in the space of a month. Many people are questioning why Del Rio dropped the belt to Cena for two weeks and there are several explanations that could be the case, from knocking off Ric Flair to emphasis on the Mexican tour, whatever the case Del Rio is champion again and I for one hope his new title reign can last longer than his last one did.

2nd Place: Mark Henry (9/10)

The World’s Strongest Champion managed to retain his title against Randy Orton at Helll in a Cell and although he didn’t manage to cripple him after the match he was able to get the Viper off his back for the foreseeable future. Now instead he has the returning Big Show to worry about, and I’d take an angry giant over a Viper any day of the week. Fact is that Henry looks in good shape to keep his title at least until Survivor Series, unless the WWE decide to arbitrarily have the title change hands again, but when have they ever…oh wait, maybe Henry’s title reign isn’t so secure after all.

3rd Place: Cody Rhodes (8/10)

Sure he ate two losses this week, but he also defended his fancy new belt in trousers and expensive shoes. Rhodes is clearly on the rise in the company, being paired off with Orton from week to week and actually coming out of some of their confrontations on top, even if it is b dishonest means. You’d have to imagine that along with Sheamus, Rhodes is in line for a title shot by the end of the year.

4th Place: Beth Phoenix (7/10)

Another new champion in the WWE and one who surely deserved her win the most. After months of being embarrassed by Kelly Kelly, Beth finally managed to topple her as Divas champion. Sure Kelly Kelly might have gotten the best of her on Raw by going mental, but the torture that the Divas of Doom have begun dishing out on women like Alicia Fox mean that Phoenix might be a main stay in the chart from now on.

5th Place: Dolph Ziggler (6/10)

The US champion comes next as two losses are made up for by a bunch of promo time and a decent win over Air-Boom on Smackdown where he and his partner laid an almighty beat down on the tag team champions before the match had even begun. Ziggler is unlikely to be getting a Miz-like push where he will be allowed to hold the US and the tag team titles at the same time, but who knows, it might happen/

6th Place: Jack Swagger (5/10)

Jack Swagger certainly has gone up in the world, it’s not the same as competing for the World title but getting a shot at the tag team titles is better than acting as Michael Cole’s valet that’s for sure. His pairing with Ziggler could take him far if it doesn’t simply degenerate into a lacklustre feud between the two with neither man actually being turned face, which just plain wouldn’t work at this point.

7th Place: Christian (4/10)

Captain Charisma comes from a short feud with Sheamus to being a major player in the predominant storyline running across both brands, not too bad for a man that looked to be on his way out of the main event scene. No doubt Christian will still be on the losing end of battles with Sheamus for months to come, but at least now he can do so with the knowledge that he has something else to back him up and keep him in the limelight for a little bit longer. Still with Henry as champion I wouldn’t be so sure if we will see that whole ‘one more match’ gimmick being used anytime soon, not by Christian at least.

8th Place: R-Truth (3/10)

The first of the invaders to make it onto the list. I’m glad that the WWE aren’t over-egging this gimmick like they did with C.M. Punk, bringing him back way too early. Instead saving the Miz and R-Truth for the Hell in a Cell PPV. Of course I might be speaking too soon and with Survivor Series just round the corner I’m guessing that they will be reinstated for the traditional Survivor Series match at least.

9th Place: The Miz (2/10)

Potential booking problems aside this angle shows us one thing and that’s that the WWE is finally taking notice of how social networking and online marketing can be used not only to promote the show but in storylines as well. Having a superstar broadcast something on Youtube is the modern equivalent to having them ‘live via satellite’, only more convincing.

10th Place: David Otunga (1/10)

David Otunga: Attorney at Law! Otunga has gotten a new lease of life with this angle, allowing him to get airtime without having to step into the ring. Now it’s not like we will see Otunga going for the WWE title anytime soon, and a good job too, but at least he is being a little bit more interesting now.

2011-2012 Season Top Ten: Overall Top Ten:

1st Place: R-Truth (164/270) – 1st Place: The Miz (692/1270)

2nd Place: The Miz (148/270) – 2nd Place: C.M. Punk (666/1270)

3rd Place: Cody Rhodes (130/270) – 3rd Place: Chris Jericho (564/1270)

4th Place: Alberto Del Rio (127/270) – 4th Place: Jack Swagger (367/1270)

5th Place: Christian (117/270) – 5th Place: Cody Rhodes (367/1270)

6th Place: Mark Henry (115/270) – 6th Place: Dolph Ziggler (331/1270)

7th Place: C.M. Punk (88/270) – 7th Place: Alberto Del Rio (322/1270)

8th Place: Wade Barrett (70/270) – 8th Place: Sheamus (294/1270)

9th Place: Jack Swagger (59/270) – 9th Place: Wade Barrett (273/1270)

10th Place: Sheamus (51/270) – 10th Place: Randy Orton (224/1270)

Weekly Filler:

The Face-Off: Longing Looks

This is a small gripe but it’s just something I noticed at Hell in a Cell, all the guys like Orton and Del Rio seemed to just stare off into the distance during their promos, this just looks terrible. Looking off camera like that makes everything seem so cheesy and rehearsed, it is the mark of a man who has read his script and doesn’t know what to do now. The WWE needs to be more organic in these times of fakery, where TV shows like Made in Chelsea and The Hills are taking the idea of a scripted reality soap opera and turning it into something even more trashy than the WWE. Wrestling needs to make a stand about being scripted but seeming real and being effected by real world issues and politics, as well as utilising real life personalities to bring characters to life, so less scripting, more improv please.

Face the Facts: Company Walk Out

While there are several holes to the superstars only boycotting Raw in protest of Triple H as COO, and walking out now when things are nowhere near as bad as they have been, I’m still for this angle. First of all Triple H is nowhere near Smackdown, just like Vince McMahon wasn’t for the last few years, so I can understand the focus on Raw, although why the superstars haven’t protested against Teddie Long is beyond me, the man is a terrible GM. Also I would say that while things have been much worse I can understand why the walk out has happened now when you factor in Punk’s recent outbursts and the fact that Triple H is new and hesitant to running the company this time, basically Triple H just looks weak and the superstars are capitalising on this, the reason it never happened before is because no one in charge has really been undermined like this before, except by Triple H himself perhaps. Still there are questions but I am willing to look past them since so far the angle has led to Ryder being in contact with Triple H, even being dropped by the Cerebral Assassin is a good sign for the guy. Also Hawkins and Rex got some time on NXT, McGillicutty is finally free to be a singles wrestler, not to mention that the top upcoming heels in the WWE have all banded together to make a perfect Survivor Series team. The point is that no matter what the faults are with this angle it still represents change in the WWE, it’s not the same old same old, and at this point that is a very good thing.

On the Rise: Curt Hawkins

An interesting product of this whole angle of the WWE being out of control is that Curt Hawkins got some time on the mic on NXT. I was pleasantly surprised by this as he seemed to be natural and entertaining. It seemed like he and Rex were allowed to go out there nearly unscripted. Hawkins was great not only in his delivery but in his reactions to others as well, doing impressions of Triple H while Rex talked and subtly making fun of the Uso’s DWI while they were talking. Basically this guy stole the show and hopefully he will be around for some time to show if his skills can improve still further.

Flat-Footed: Hulk Hogan Retiring

This was just ridiculous, they tried so hard to make everyone believe that this angle was real and the sad thing is that I wanted to believe it was true. That’s not a good thing, when the possibility of your retirement makes fans hopefully with anticipation, it’s not exactly the best end to your storied career. Unfortunately it was all a work and the inevitable let down came this week on Impact where Hogan took about two seconds to be found out via security camera, a gimmick that is as old as TNA’s plotlines. While the WWE makes some mistakes at least they are trying to look to the future, all TNA seems to be able to do is look to the past and keep rehashing old WCW storylines and wrestlers. I don’t think any sensible person is really looking forward to Sting vs. Hogan since it will most likely be as bad as the Sting-Flair match and this time it will be on TNA’s grandest stage. The whole thing just stinks.

That’s all for this week, Hell in a Cell was a pleasant surprise, both in terms of matches and results. Perhaps this is a good omen for Vengeance and Survivor Series to follow suit as decent PPVs as well, although I would be hard pressed to say that any PPV was worth the money these days since they are so damned expensive. Still October might be a month to remember with Bound For Glory airing, that is if Robert Roode wins the TNA title. We will just have to see if it actually pans out, for now this is James Wright signing off.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com