The Triple Threat 9.04.11: The 249th Edition – Nash vs. Punk, The Brand Extension, The Sin Cara Situation, More

Topic # 1 What are your thoughts on Triple H announcing that Smackdown stars will be on RAW on a regular basis? Do you think they should end the brand split?

David Martell: I am highly against this. What does this mean for the RAW midcard? By having Smackdown guys on RAW, people like Dolph Ziggler, Alex Riley, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne get less tv time. I am actually a fan of the brand split. WWE has way to many wrestlers on their roster to get rid of the brand split. The problem is, they aren’t making enough stars and taking enough risks. Unfortunately jobbing Daniel Bryan every week isn’t going to help him get over and its not going to get people to buy tickets to see him at the house shows. They have the right people, they just aren’t pushing them as hard as they should be. Have people beat the top guys clean. If you have someone like Dolph Ziggler beat John Cena clean, Dolph Ziggler would be instantly over. I think one of the biggest problems is that the WWE doesn’t use the draft wisely. Yeah, its good to have Cena and Orton on separate shows but what is the point of having Rey on RAW? Rey has always been a big draw for Smackdown and honestly it would be better for him to be on the B show. RAW doesn’t need to have all the top guys to have decent rating and decent ticket sales. Its all about building new stars. If you are going to keep John Cena and Randy Orton unstoppable, then you will never be able to build big stars.

Jacob San Antonio: You know, it wasn’t too long ago that I thought eliminating the brand split was a great idea. The roster, large though it may have been, didn’t really require two separate brands so long as the booking and writing was evenly distributed. That last bit there is exactly the problem I see with getting rid of the brands right now. As it is, RAW is the flagship show, with more promos, videos and whatever else they feel like taking away wrestling time for. The spotlight is firmly centered on its top talents, and its midcard is a ghostly afterthought. Smackdown isn’t that much better, but it’s shown in the past and present that it’s willing to showcase its undercard when they have the opportunity. Given that we’ve seen only one supershow on TV so far, there’s always the possibility that the formula they had won’t really change. However, I didn’t really enjoy what I saw from the RAW stars on Smackdown. A Cena squash match and the continuing misadventures of CM Punk’s angle gone astray were the only real additions to Smackdown, and I really wonder exactly why the WWE thought to add them in the first place. So despite everything I used to think, I am firmly against this dismantling of the brand split. The WWE has shown nothing so far that really entices me to the idea.

Zach Brown: I think this is a solid idea for now. It was refreshing to see the Smackdown stars on Raw this past week, but I wonder how long this will last. Will people be satisfied watching only one show if all their favorite wrestlers are on one show? Or will WWE make it to where if you want the full version of every storyline, you have to watch both shows? It’s an interesting experiment. I was never much for the brand extensions anyway. I mean it has it’s positives and negatives. On one hand, the WWE Draft is a fun event, and it’s really nothing without the different brands. What would a WWE draft matter if everyone is on every show? But on the other hand, if you fall behind on watching either show, it can be difficult to keep track of good storylines. Like I said, for now, it’s interesting enough. It does make me wonder if all the good wrestlers will get enough TV time. But we’ll have to see where it goes from here.

Topic # 2 What are your thoughts on the WWE scrapping the Kevin Nash vs. CM Punk match at Night of Champions and instead having Triple H vs. CM Punk? Do you think it is too soon for this match?

David Martell: I guess I can’t blame them for Kevin Nash not being cleared to wrestle. But then again, they should have had him cleared before they started the storyline. I think it is way too soon to have Triple H face off against Punk. Triple H still hasn’t turned heel and I think a heel Triple H would make this match so much more meaningful. With that said, I doubt this match will end cleanly. Kevin Nash is still around after all and this PPV could be the point were Triple H does make his heel turn. Triple H is so much better as a heel anyways and it would only make this storyline better. I wish they would of brought someone else out from Triple H’s past to go against Punk. How about X Pac? The man isn’t the most liked but I would love to see Punk rip on X Pac. Hell, the guy can still go in the ring too. I would have liked to see the Triple H vs. Punk match later on but these were the cards we were dealt.

Jacob San Antonio: I ask you: what’s the difference? Either way, CM Punk is going to outwrestle a veteran wrestler whose ego is bigger than any arena. To add insult to injury, I’m pretty certain Punk’s going to lose whatever feud he winds up being in. It makes absolutely no sense, given the insane amount of attention he garnered for the WWE over the past few months, but I’ve come to realize that the WWE simply does not work on logic. To be perfectly honest, I don’t see any possible way the WWE could sell me on this match. I simply do not want to see Punk wrestle either guy. He’s being wasted on a garbage feud that will amount to nothing by the end of the year. Don’t believe me? Let’s see just how long Punk can keep up the awesome promos. He’s running out of gas, and as soon as he’s not interesting to listen to anymore he’s headed right back to upper midcard. People are going to call me out on this, and that’s okay. There would be no feeling in the world greater than being wrong about this. I sincerely hope I’m just being extremely pessimistic.

Zach Brown: Well, from a match perspective, the match at Night of Champions looks worlds better. I mean did anyone honestly expect Punk vs. Nash to be a 5 star classic? Ever since that match was announced, I was having trouble imagining Nash and Punk working well together in the ring. Punk can bring the majority of people to great matches, but the man is not a miracle worker. The fact of the matter is, Nash is not a nimble guy. These days he is very slow moving, and has to be careful at all times. I don’t think that would work well with Punk’s style. And would he even be able to give Nash a GTS? I somehow doubt it. So Triple H is a much better offering. But that being said, Triple H facing Punk at Night of Champions kind of feels like Triple H is just trying to get into the spotlight by attaching himself to the hottest personality in the game right now. All I have to say is that Punk had better win at Night of Champions. Unfortunately, the match has screwy finish written all over it. But I don’t want Punk buried at this point because what would it prove? What would it do for anyone? Nothing. I just hope WWE makes the right decision at Night of Champions and doesn’t waste the momentum of CM Punk.

Topic # 3 Rumors have been going around that the WWE might get rid of Mistico and keep Hunico as Sin Cara. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: Well if that was the case, I would be pretty upset. I don’t really think they have given Mistico a big enough chance to learn the WWE style. I mean this is kind of what happens when you don’t put a guy though the developmental system. Mistico is a great wrestler, he just hasn’t quite learned the WWE style and it isn’t his fault. The thing is, Hunico is botching too. Hunico botched so bad they had to redue an entire match. If you are sending people like Daniel Bryan to developmental, then Mistico definitely should of went. With that said, it does seem like the WWE is going to go with this Good Sin Cara vs. Evil Sin Cara storyline. With Sin Cara attacking Daniel Bryan after their match, something is going to happen. I just hope that the good Sin Cara wears his Mistico gear that he wore at Money in the Bank. I just hope Mistico really get a shot at this because it would be an incredible loss to let a guy like him go.

Jacob San Antonio: Eh, I really doubt it. There’s no way the WWE lets go of Mistico right now. If they lose him at all, I expect it to be after Wrestlemania. With this recent heel turn of Hunico Cara, I’ve got my fingers crossed that we might see a Sin Cara/Sin Cara matchup later on down the road. There’s no way of knowing how that’ll happen, given how talkative both Sin Caras are, but it’d be a real treat to see in the ring. For all the time Mistico is taking off right now, I hope he works on his ring skills with the WWE style. His best match so far would be his Money in the Bank debut, and his presence was cut short from that one. He’s still got some work to do before he’s ready to come back and wow people again, so he might as well use his time wisely. In any case, I’m not too worried about how long Mistico’s got in the WWE. I’m just going to enjoy this Sin Cara character one way or the other.

Zach Brown: Honestly, I don’t know why WWE is doing this. Sure, Sin Cara kind of disappointed after his hotly anticipated debut, and he hasn’t really lived up to his potential. He can do some amazing things often in the ring, but botches a little too much. I’m not always positive about who’s fault the botches are. Maybe Sin Cara’s style is difficult for other wrestlers to become acclimated to. And Sin Cara’s first wellness violation along with his speaking to the press about not understanding his suspension certainly didn’t help things. But does he already deserve to be replaced? Hunico is decent, but in my opinion, he seems to botch just as much as Sin Cara was. I think that the only thing that this replacement issue has proven is that perhaps Hunico could be ready for the big time after a little bit more training or time in FCW. If Sin Cara was released already, that would be a massive disappointment to me. Let the guy grow into his own in WWE! Give him some time to get used to things! One of the main problems is that Sin Cara skipped developmental and went straight to the main roster. It was clearly the wrong decision because Sin Cara needed to learn the WWE style of wrestling a little more in my opinion. At the end of the day, I don’t believe that Hunico is any better than Sin Cara. I hope Sin Cara keeps his job and Hunico will be brought up permanently at some point as well. But no one should be fired in all honesty. WWE just ended up making things more confusing than they had to be.

Topic # 4 What are your thoughts on Matt Hardy‘s “suicide” video and his apology afterwards?

David Martell: How low can Matt Hardy get? This is just disrespectful to wrestling and most of all to his fans or what little fans he has left. Matt Hardy has some serious issues, there is no doubt about it and need some serious help and fast. I found it incredibly hard watching his apology video because it all just seemed fake to me. When he was reading off the stuff he wrote for his last goodbye video, all the “full time professional wrestler” bits just seemed added in. If he didn’t get such a big reaction with this, he would of just continued and I don’t think he would of added the whole full time wrestling shit. With that said, I am glad he is doing being a full time wrestler. Its not like there is any place for him to go at this point. Just please get some help Matt, I am tired of watching this train wreak.

Jacob San Antonio: I can’t repeat an entire response, but trust me when I say I want to just copy and paste the same things I said last
week. Matt needs help, and if his family and friends don’t reach out to him now we should be prepared for some crazier headlines as the weeks progress. I couldn’t begin to explain what I think is going on in Matt’s life, but if you look at his actions for the past year it paints a really weird picture. I think at this point everyone agrees that Matt wasn’t really used well in the WWE after Jeff left. He had an interesting heel turn going for him before the Punk/Hardy angle, and after that match Matt just didn’t look the same. He picked up on it, and started flipping out on Youtube every week about getting out of the WWE. After what can only be described as a series of baby tantrums, the WWE grants him his release and he eagerly awaits to join with his brother in TNA. Fast forward a few months, and Jeff is a complete mess yet again. Here comes Matt Hardy, and no one cares anymore. Matt gets released and goes crazy on the internet again. I think Matt has realized that it’s been some time since the Hardy Boyz have been relevant. Both Jeff and Matt’s relevance in the wrestling world is slipping, and Matt seems to have half a mind sober enough to realize it. I genuinely think all of his antics online are just his way of trying to strike out and create buzz about himself again like he had in years past. Only this time it’s not going to happen. Matt is going nowhere, and I think he knows it. Someone had better be keeping an eye on him.

Zach Brown: At the very least, Matt Hardy has learned a valuable lesson here. Not all wrestling personalities and/or works are appropriate, and he needs to think a little bit more about what he puts out into the world. I can understand that Matt put out his “suicide” video with the thought that it would generate buzz about him, but I don’t buy for a second that Matt didn’t think it could be taken that way. When someone reads things like “goodbye,” or that a person only has “a few hours and minutes left in this world,” they don’t immediately think, “Oh Matt Hardy means he is leaving wrestling.” I’m positive that he knew how most people would take it, and all characters and works in wrestling have their boundaries on what is tasteful and acceptable. Matt stepped over this line, and it was a huge mistake. That being said, after watching his apology video, I do feel that Matt regrets putting out the video 100%. I wish Matt had been a little more candid about the mistake he made with the car accident and apologized for it, because I think that it would have gained him a little bit more respect in the wrestling world. So now Matt has announced that he will cease being a full-time professional wrestler. I think that that is what Matt needs right now. He claims in his apology video that he is taking time off because of his injuries, but I think it’s much much more than that. He needs to take time off from everything, re-evaluate his life, and realize what is important. In all honesty, I used to think Matt was pathetic and was just a big joke in the wrestling world. Now, I just hope he’ll get better, because his life really is in shambles right now. The best think that could happen out of this is that Matt Hardy takes maybe a year off to get his life in order, comes back in good shape and continues his career with some wrestling company after they realize he’s serious. All that is not likely to happen, but maybe we could see Matt Hardy come back better than we’ve ever seen him. It’s not impossible. For now, Matt, I hope you get better soon.

Topic # 5 After watching Super Smackdown, do you think it would be wise for the WWE to keep Smackdown live on Tuesday nights?

David Martell: I really enjoyed this past weeks Super Smackdown show. I would enjoy having Smackdown live on Tuesdays. I think the ratings show that it would do better anyways. A 2.2 is a pretty damn good rating for a show on SyFy. It was fresh watching Smackdown knowing that I had no idea what was going to happen. There were no spoilers. It was fun. Wrestling is more fun to watch when there are no spoilers roaming around. It would make Smackdown more important to watch and the go home shows for PPVs would actually mean anything. I honestly have a hard time watching Smackdown before a PPV because I know nothing of importance ever happens. I hope the reaction this show got and the ratings will give WWE the idea to actually make this happen.

Jacob San Antonio: There’s no reason to keep Smackdown on Fridays. It’s been proven over and over again that Friday nights are a dangerous pit for ratings, and I think we’d see a healthy rise in Smackdown ratings if it got moved to Tuesday. SyFy is already pretty pleased with the show on Fridays, so the only real reason not to change things up would be some business decision they make. I think the WWE desperately wants to anything other than Fridays, but there’s no telling if SyFy feels the same way. As a fan, it’d make things way easier for me to see Smackdown on Tuesday night. I’d much rather prefer getting my wrestling compacted into two or three back to back days, rather than have it spread out over an entire week. As a business, the best move for the WWE would be to make the switch. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that SyFy agrees.

Zach Brown: I think Smackdown on Tuesday nights would be a welcome change. Super Smackdown was great this past week and I think it really proved that Smackdown deserves to be live every week. Honestly, I think that one of the major things that hurts Smackdown’s ratings is that it is pre-taped, and any smart wrestling fan can just look up spoilers and save themselves 2 hours. The whole reason that Raw is the A show and Smackdown is the B show is that Raw is live and Smackdown rarely ever is. Not to mention, Friday night is a bad timeslot anyway when most a large portion of America are out enjoying their Friday night with a movie, dinner, bars, etc. I think it would be a great thing for WWE to stake their claim on the first two nights of the week. I mean they’re already taping Smackdown on Tuesdays, so the only difference for them production-wise would be to broadcast it live. I think WWE should go for it. There’s no way that they would do worse than their Friday night ratings, so WWE has everything to gain from going live on Tuesdays. I hope they take the leap for good.

Our thoughts on Dolph Ziggler.

David Martell: Dolph Ziggler needs to be in the main event. I have no idea how a guy with this much talent and charisma is not in the main event scene. He was great when he was feuding with Edge for the World Title. Why not let this guy have a shot at the WWE Title picture. It would freshen things up. Ziggler is over, and when he gets the chance to cut promos on his own, he’s actually pretty good. He is able to have great matches every week. This past week on RAW his match with Orton was what stole the show. Lets not forget his great match earlier this year with Daniel Bryan. I honestly think he has out grown the mid card and it seems like he’s just floundering. The guy is gold and deserves his shot to be in the main event.

Jacob San Antonio: Looks like Dolph might be on his own again. Perfect timing, really. I was just hoping to see him try to make things work solo again. Of course the big question is how he’s going to turn out after the events of this Vicki/Swagger situation. Could we see Ziggler turn face? I’d rather he didn’t, but there’s no telling how the fans will react to a possible Ziggler/Swagger match. I know this sounds crazy, but I’ve been recently reassured of Ziggler’s mic skills after seeing him on Zack Ryder’s Youtube show. I think he’s got a good head for speaking, he’s just gotta sound natural on the microphone. Only way that’s going to happen is with practice, so whatever feud he’s getting wrapped into is the perfect opportunity. If he is turning this into a Swagger/Ziggler feud, I find it somewhat humorous that it’s a legitimate match between two former world champions. Anyway, I’ve got my eye on Ziggler for the next couple of weeks. It’ll be fun to see where he goes post-Vickie.

Zach Brown: Dolph Ziggler is the man. I believe he is one of WWE’s unsung heroes. He can typically have a great match with anyone these days, and there aren’t many people in the WWE that can make that claim. The only thing that is lacking for Dolph is his mic skills. I wish Dolph could just get on the mic and cut great promos without having anything to do with Vickie Guerrero. By the way, the storyline between him, Vickie, and Swagger right now is pretty stupid. Week after week, Dolph gets upset that Vickie supports Jack, and it’s just not leading anywhere interesting. Obviously Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler will be feuding soon, but they are too much alike in look, style, and gimmick for my money. Honestly, they should be teaming up rather than feuding. I really hope that WWE heads in that direction because neither man should be face right now in any scenario. But I digress. Often, I get the feeling that Dolph Ziggler is destined for the main event. He flirted with it a while ago, but I wish it were more serious than what it was. Hopefully Dolph continues on this path of delivering solid matches. I could see him winning Money in the Bank one day, and that could be the start of his real career in the main event. Who knows, we may see it happen one day.

That is all for this week. Fell free to comment at the bottom of the page and have a great week in wrestling. CYA!