Monday, March 19, 2007

More Wrestlemania discussion: Money In The Bank

Edge vs. Finlay vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Ken Kennedy vs. King Booker vs. CM (Chick Magnet ... betcha didn't know that, did'ya?) Punk vs. Randy Orton

A ladder match, winner gets a one year open contract where they can meet any brand's champion, at any point in time.

Let's look at it.

The stats are as follows:
- Edge has never lost at 'Mania;
- The winner of Money In The Bank has gone on to win the title they challenged for (Edge & Rob Van Dam);
- The changing of the title to the MITB winner has resulted in a spike in ratings (although, for RVD's win it was short-lived, due to his love of marihuana).

There's only three options they have here, in my book. Edge wins to keep his own streak alive; CM Punk wins and switches brands; or, Kennedy wins.

I know I'm all "Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy," but I see in that fucker a lot of what I really liked about Curt Hennig, and anyone that knows me, knows that I love me some Curt Hennig as a wrestler. Watch his match against Batista at the Rumble ... if he'd kicked out of the Batista Bomb, the building would have gone Hiroshima. Imagine if Kennedy (or whoever, really) wins, and goes on to tackle, and defeat, the winner of the Smackdown or Raw title match, at Mania. A nice little Mania moment. Plus, as he's becoming more popular, it would be a ratings boost.

CM Punk wins, there's no way on God's green earth why, storyline wise, to Joe Casual, that he'd want to stick around ECW. So I'm counting on, if he wins, he makes a jump to Smackdown. Punk is a good wrestler, but he falls in that RVD area, where he gets more entertaining the more he gets to stall, jaw with fans, etc. RVD in ECW = CM Punk in ROH. Plus, Punk is charismatic & skilled in the ring, so he'd make good ratings too.

Edge, we've discussed a bit already. If he wins the match, I see a jump to Smackdown also. It would be nice to see some fresh stuff with Edge, like vs. Finlay, vs. Matt Hardy, vs. Benoit, vs. the Boogeyman. Okay, maybe not fresh, or even halfway interesting, but it would probably mean another personality would go to Raw, and we'd get some interesting shake-ups in the rosters. Plus, heel with a title is always more fun to watch than a face, 'cause the title should always be the source of pursuit. I don't want to see Cena & Michaels defeat every tag team on the roster in one night, I wanted to see Umaga unmercifully beat the shit out of Cena until he couldn't move and had to take about four weeks off to sell the injury. Meanwhile, Umaga beats the shit out of everyone, and then the fans have to wait until Cena "heals," makes it to Mania and wins. Yay, wrestling!! Then have Edge come down and beat Cena, again. Edge vs. Cena ... like that's ever happened.

Using the ratings & liklihood scale: Neither of the Hardys will win. Orton shouldn't win, 'cause thanks to the Undertaker, Triple H, and Hogan, no one gives a fuck about the guy who can't back up his shit in the big matches. Finlay wouldn't win, but that would be really interesting ... until you realize, oh shit, it's Finlay, what the fuck are we gonna do? Booker T might win, but I'd be very surprised.

Now, another talking point is -similar in scope to the Undertaker question - how many wins should the MITB winner (whoever it will ever be) have against champions, until the first MITB winner loses on his one shot? In other words, 'cause that question reads unnecessarily convoluted, Edge had to win the title, or the MITB honor would have been a joke from the outset. RVD won, in controversial fashion, for the sake of Extreme. Presumably, the MITB winner this year will win a title. So how many times do you see the MITB winner becoming champion, until he, y'know, doesn't?

Now, I need sleep.

3 comments:

Ron said...

Edge just got busted for steroids as part of a big investigation. Check with SI.com for details. They also found info on Angle, Eddie G., Rey Rey, Orton, and Hurricane. Expect storylines to be rewritten quickly.

Nate said...

Yep ... Kennedy or Punk.

Rev. Joshua said...

To clarify, Edge and Shane Helms were alleged to have ordered HGH, which isn't the same as steroids. Of course, the difference won't matter if Vince decides he doesn't want to rehash the steroid trials of the early 90s and starts firing at will.

To the actual MITB question, looking at the participants in this year's match, I would say this would be a good year to have the MITB winner fail to net a championship. Let Kennedy or Punk use the MITB in a great match in which they come up just short to establish them as top-tier talent without putting the title on them. The rub itself is just as good as a championship for a younger or less-tenured worker; Edge and RVD pretty much had to capitalize on their opportunites at those points in their respective careers.

If the WWE waits too long to book a MITB not to win the title with the shot, the loss might be an albatross around the neck of the unfortunate worker. Especially if the worker is particularly popular; fans will expect yet another MITB victory only to come up short.