Can They Be Champ? 5.16.07: Three New Former Champs

What a week.

I actually was at the Smackdown taping where Taker dropped the belt to Edge. I wasn’t planning on attending the taping at first, but when I realized that Taker was probably going to have to lose the belt in Pittsburgh, I figured it would be worth going to. Luckily, I was right.

Judgment Day is coming, and although I was initially afraid the card would suck (seeing how it was going to be headlined by a Great Khali match), it has actually shaped up pretty well. I’m really looking forward to Batista v. Edge, Michaels v. Orton, and Benoit v. MVP.

You may recall that awhile back I did a column predicting the next champions for all of the major world titles. Well, with McMahon winning the ECW World Championship and Edge winning the World Heavyweight Championship, I was 0-2. I mean… come on, who saw either of those coming? Injuries always cause the business to be wildly unpredictable. I don’t think anyone would have called Edge to win the big gold belt a couple of months ago. Besides, I did say Edge would win a world title soon. I just guessed the wrong one.

But Angle won the NWA World Championship, so that puts me at 1-2. Although shenanigans were involved, so he’ll probably be stripped of the title this Thursday. Still, a reign is a reign.

Of course, all of this means we now have three title reigns come to an end. Will it be their last? Well, we’re all about to find out.

Can Bobby Lashley be champ… again?

There are plenty of people who aren’t big fans of Mr. Lashley, myself included. He’s still pretty green in the ring, and his mic work leaves a lot to be desired. That said, we’re clearly a vocal minority, because Lashley always receives a pretty warm reception at live events. He is, as we would say, over.

Now, I know a lot of people are upset about Vince being the new ECW World Champion. I’m not. Vince has always been one of the top heels of the WWE, and putting any wrestler in a program with him has always been a good thing for that wrestler. Sure, it may never have reached Austin/McMahon heights again, but it always helps. Lashley winning the belt back from Vince is going to be a moment that crowd eats up.

And yes, I’m sure that Lahley will be winning the belt back from Vince. The whole Vince title run was created for two reasons:
1. To allow Lashley some time off from the ring while he takes it a little easy due to a shoulder injury.
2. To help Lashley look good by beating Vince, despite him cheating and whatnot.

So, can he be champ… again?

Yep, and he’ll probably win the belt back from Vince soon. Maybe even this Sunday at Judgment Day.

Can the Undertaker be champ… again?

This one is a bit tricky. Taker will be out for six to eight months, and considering Taker is coming to the end of his career, losing that much time is a huge blow. I think we had all assumed that this was going to be his last title run, and it was rumored to be a long one. Now, when he comes back, he’ll have more than a right to challenge for the title, but will he win it? That really depends on Taker, and on how much more he really feels he has left to give to the business.

It really is a shame his run had to end like it did. World Heavyweight Champions have had some bad luck with injuries lately (Batista, Mysterio, King Booker, and now Taker. Watch out, Edge…).

I’d like to think that Taker may get one more title run right before he retires. Maybe he’ll win it at his final match, and then it’ll immediately be vacant (like what they did for Trish’s last match).

So, can he be champ… again?

I really thought this one was going to be his last one. Unless Taker is planning to stick around longer than I would guess, or if the WWE feels like giving him a title right before he retires as a farewell gift, I can’t see it happening.

Can Christian Cage be champ… again?

Well, he’s TNA’s current top heel. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Christian will win the TNA World Championship again, and probably sooner rather than later. His latest run was pretty successful (one of the bright spots in a mildly disappointing 2007 for TNA thus far).

I’m sure he’ll be apart of the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversy. I’m not sure he’ll win it back that soon, but he could win it back from whoever wins that match (probably Angle).

I mean, it will probably be either Joe or Angle he takes the belt from. The top heel is going to have to take the belt from one of the top faces. Then he can transition it to another. We may actually be seeing a trifecta of titleholders in Angle, Joe, and Christian for some time to come.

So, can he be champ… again?

Yes. He’s their top heel; he’ll kind of need the belt again by necessity.

Well, I finally got my first hate mail. I thought I would share it with everyone:

Hi

I’ve read your contributions to 411 for some time, and I’ve always felt you were a damn good writer. So I was appalled by your racist comments in your last article.

“Now tell me, what charisma can a man who can not speak possibly have? The Great Khali mumbles like an idiot. He’s not speaking Indian, it’s just really, really bad English. I can’t believe they ever let him talk. “

For the record, Indian isn’t a language – they tend to speak things like Urdu.

So let’s see – I challenge you to write a full article in Urdu – and then put it against a transcript of one of Khali’s promos.

I suspect if you turn your nasty racist comments around, and switch the language to Urdu, then what charisma can a man who can not write possibly have?

I can’t believe 411 ever let a bigot like you have a column.

Khali may not be the greatest worker ever, but stick to commenting on his in ring work, rather than running off with disgusting racist slurs.

Rob.

Well, I can’t really say how I offended the guy. I guess it was because I didn’t know the intricacies of Indian languages. I’ll admit ignorance on that one, but I hardly think it qualifies me as a racist. I tried to ask this Rob to clarify, or at least tell me what exactly I said was a racial slur, but he wouldn’t respond to me.

I don’t mind people insulting me, but if you’re going to question my character, at least back it up with something cohesive.

Moving on, lots of people pointed out a big booboo I made last week:

The monobrowed Matt Stryker and Matt Striker are different people.
Teacher Striker did wrestle a couple of times for ROH after his firing
controversy – coming out to Hot For Teacher for a billion bonus points.

The Great Khazi (from the cockney slang for toilet, if you were
wondering) is an ex bodybuilder who’s let his shape go a bit. He used to
be scarily ripped as this photo shows…

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/DalipGiantSingh.jpg

I agree that he lacks personality, charisma and talent but at least he’s
better than Giant Gonzales – not selling every move as if a large pole
was being inserted up his rear end.

Will Geddes
Nottingham

Thanks to everyone who informed me about this Matt Stryker/Striker mix-up. I usually include every email I get in my columns, but considering I got about a dozen of them, I don’t think I really have the space. Thanks again, though, and I hope to hear from all of you again.

As far as Giant Gonzales, he may be worse, but did he ever headline any PPVs? I’m not really sure. If he did, than I’m going to say he’s just as much sad case as Khali.

the subject of this email says it all. think about how awesome this feud
would be. and i think it’s very possible. seeing as the last 2 people to beat
Kennedy were Matt Hardy and Edge, yet Edge was the one to take his title
shot. i think they (Matt and Edge) also have an unresolved issue involving a
certain “retired” diva. and hasn’t matt been on fire recently? i think he’s
joint first in 411’s wrestler of the week at the time of this email. yes he
is, i just checked.

obviously this wont be edge’s first Smackdown title feud, which is a good
thing as it gives edge the time he needs to dispatch Batista quickly while
Matt takes on and defeats some key superstars. then after judgment day matt
will approach edge.

maybe it’s the little fan boy inside me crying for this to happen… but I’m
excited for it already. more then i was when i saw the rock back on raw a
few months ago. and i think this could be a feud either one could win. If
edge wins, Kennedy will get his revenge. if matt wins, Kennedy will deserve
the right to face him (in 1 on 1 or triple threat with edge) the following
pip, as reports say he’ll only be out for 6-8 weeks now.

I’ll just hope and pray to JBL that the wwe isn’t stupid enough to miss this
opportunity. then again, they are giving Khali a title match. i hope you
share my enthusiasm about this.

toodles

-Alex

p.s. hi. better late then never
p.p.s yay for Steve for mentioning my previous email about Y2J. i thought
so.

I have to say that, in general, I’m really excited about all of the possible feuds Edge can have on Smackdown. Batista, Hardy, Kennedy, Benoit, MVP, Finlay… this could be great stuff. As far as Matt v. Edge, it seems like WWE.com is already hinting at it. This would be a great time for such a feud, and could help finally push Matt to the main event. Let’s hope the WWE is smart enough to do this.

why should The Great Khali never be champion? here’s why:

On May 28, 2001, Brian Ong died after receiving a flapjack by Singh in a training session.

-Kevin Stitt

Hey, I killed a man, and I was given a second chance.

Before anyone sends me more angry emails, yes, that was a joke.

Eyo.

-You did it. You managed to fit the suckatude of Khali into one column. Nice job.

-Write an article on VKM so they disband.

-Sacrifice looks good. of course you will be reading after it happens so tell me future people. Was it good who won the main event. TELL ME!

-Mr. Tuesday Night DOM

Thanks DOM. Mission accomplished, I guess

As for VKM, I’m not sure if I’m really up for the task. I mean, it’s a pretty simple problem. Their just incredibly stale and get stuck in horrible feuds. Besides, I don’t want to be stuck just writing columns on how much people suck. Though that could be fun.

I actually missed Sacrifice, but from I heard, the main event was a little disappointing. But I’ll go ahead and let you know, Angle won.

I had a pretty long correspondence going this week. I was lamenting about Kennedy getting injured and having to miss out on grabbing the title from Taker, resulting in Edge winning it instead, when he responded with this:

Well, as annoying as it may seem, who else could they give it to? Matt
Hardy? He’s all ready getting a push on SmackDown! when he and Jeff lose
the Tag Team Gold. Jeff Hardy? We know a youngster like him won’t ever
have a Spinning Championship (it just doesn’t look right, either).

King Booker? He’s held the WCW Cha — ern, the World Heavyweight
Championship last year. He’s better off battling Benoit for the U.S.
Championship.

C.M. Punk? I love him to death. But I couldn’t see ‘E’ giving Punk the
ball just so he could wear some ECW Gold. And he wouldn’t look right with
that big piece of Gold called the WHC around his waist anyway. Though, it
would be nice to see him kick Cena’s ass, lol.

Randy Orton? Meh. I tell you what: I’ve given that man a try, and I’ve
read all of the critics. Now I know what he did in that hotel incident was
obviously after WrestleMania. But how in the hell could he be Champion with
that kind of attitude? He’s better off with the I.C. Gold again.

Finlay? He’s just too boring with the younger crowd. He doesn’t appeal.
Sure, the Little Bastard/Hornswoggle would be great, but I think Finlay may
need some more time with the U.S. Gold before he’s pushed up.

But who am I? I’m just your typical viewer. Remember what Triple H said
about us kinds of people? We’ve never been behind the curtains, laced up
any boots, or stepped inside the squared circle, so, according to him, we
should STFU.

Well, he’s right. I just hope Kennedy gets his chance. Having him the next Royal Rumble would be smart, especially if Edge is still the champion. An Edge/Kennedy program for WM24 could be glorious.

I’ll go ahead and call it a day. Thanks for the great emails, everyone. I’ve actually been getting a lot of feedback, and I appreciate more than you guys know. Keep it up, and keep the dream alive!