The Best Of The Rest 8.20.08: Volume 55 – The Pro’s & Con’s of the E’s Brand Champions

Hello all and welcome back to the “Best Of The Rest!” We’re coming off the heels of SummerSlam which drew criticism from some for the way some of the title matches on the show were carried out. It isn’t odd to consider the champion of a brand to be the face of that brand, and for the champion to look weak… well wouldn’t that make the brand look weak? I especially referring to the way the ECW title match was carried out, but on the same hand I thought the Raw and SmackDown title matches were carried out about as well as they could be. The company is not always to blame for a weak champion however; sometimes the guy who is given the ball just can’t deliver. Each champ has different pro’s & con’s and in this week’s column at would like to look at those of today current champions. We’ll look at the faces of the E, and there is no better way to start than with the big gold belt, so let’s get down to it!

WWE World Heavyweight Champion:
CM Punk

Pro’s:
The most important Pro, he is a fresh face. For the past couple years it’s been the John Cena show and that was about all that seemed to matter. Now we have a fresh face to represent the top brand of sports entertainment. And it’s not like he came in the same mold as Cena or Triple H, this is a new look for a WWE world champion. In addition to a new look, Punk brings an all around new style to the title and to the fore front on Raw as a whole. Also, as I had written about in the past, the fact that Punk came from a strong following on the indy’s straight to the big gold belt both builds creditability to the E and their ability to give wrestlers props and respect for their hard work and re-news some fans, like my self’s, faith in the E and their ability to freshen things up. While this may only be a temporary title run, it has definitely served as a big Pro in the freshening up department.

Con’s:
The booking, plain and simple. CM Punk has seemed to have the worst title run since Rey Rey held the title back in 2006. He has looked bad not only in his non-title match, but even in his title match against Batista at the Great American Bash. During his run he’s held a convincing win over Snitsky, that’s the mark of a great champion. But I will say that his win over JBL at SummerSlam did do a little to build him back up and make his title run seem like it has hope. But it seems that that short burst of hope may vanish as now Punk is set to defend his title in a match that nearly guarantees he won’t be leaving as champ. He’ll be in match with, as fellow Triple Threater Zach Brown refers to them, all the usual suspects and the gist of the match seems to be similar to the hardcore battle royal from WrestleMania XVI and we all saw how that one worked out for the champ going in. I just feel that the E isn’t giving the treatment to Punk that they would to a champion that they care about or have any plans for. Of course Punk could completely dominant this scramble match and I’d be totally humbled.

WWE Champion:
Triple H

Pro’s:
Let’s start with the most obvious… he’s Triple H. I can have all the dislike I would like for him and the political power he has exhibited at times, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is still one of the best on the SmackDown roster. Trips is pretty much one of the only wrestlers on that brand who could successfully carry that title. Another accolade you gotta give to H is the fact that he works well with just about anyone. I’m not saying he wrestled the Great Khali to a classic or anything like that, but Trips can make nearly any feud or match work. We’re talking about a guy who has worked with everyone from the Ultimate Warrior to The Rock to Steve Austin to Big Show to Vinny Mac and always seems to pull out entertaining matches. He may phone-in his performances on Raw and SmackDown sometimes, but in true champion form when it comes to his title defenses he usually does everything in his power to make the title match seem head and shoulders above the rest.

Con’s:
One of your biggest up’s can also be one of your biggest downs and that tends to always be the case when Triple H is champion. This is something we’ve seen way too many times in recent memory, and I for one have grown tired of it. I gave Trips credit for his ability to be a strong champion, but you can only see the same thing so many times. Trips is still one of the top draws but after a while people got tired of the red and yellow and if the title keeps staying in the same spot some fans may grow tired of the King of Kings. Another con, or maybe a limitation, is being the champ on SmackDown right now. SmackDown got absolutely raped in the draft this year and now because of that there is only a handful of “main event guys” on the roster right now. Because of this Triple H may just get caught in a cycle of title defense until finally losing in to someone who gets stuck in another cycle until the next draft.

ECW Champion:
Mark Henry

Pro’s:
He is a monster character and that can be used to the up most. Similar to the likes of Umaga, Big Show, etc. this kind of wrestler could be used to establish a very intriguing champion. Not to make any direct comparisons, but the likes of Andre The Giant have always made for the most exciting characters in the sense of “who can beat him?” or “will he ever lose?” While I don’t really think Mark Henry is one of the top wrestlers around or that he really posses any talent that makes him stand out, he has the ability to play the monster character well and if he were to be used this way, the story surrounding the ECW title could become far more interesting.

Con’s:
The biggest con to think of first of all is the fact that the E doesn’t seem to care about the “ECW” brand whatsoever and it has come across with their champions more than anything. The person they have put the ECW strap on may in fact be one of the best guys on the roster, but it doesn’t mean much if you’re not booked well and the belt isn’t made out to see important. Who the champ has wrestled is a huge con to his title run. Now like I said, a monster champion who squashes his opponents very quickly can lead to some interesting results but when we’re suppose to buy into every match this “monster” has all his opponents blend together. I love Tommy Dreamer to death, but why are we suppose to believe in him getting any offense against the humungous Henry? The only quality, threat imposing opponent that Henry has been handed thus far was Matt Hardy, and that was also the highest profile match of his title run and the E gave it under 1 minute with a DQ finish. Wow.

Well that’s all for me this week.

Remember feedback, as always, is welcome at [email protected] or directly below.

*This Week’s YouTube Sendoff*

Oh, Sebastian.

Take care, and I’ll catch you next time.

-Alex