The State of WWE Superstars

Randy Orton: Suspended
Chris Jericho: Suspended
Rey Misterio: Suspended
Mark Henry: Injured
Brock Lesnar: On Hiatus

Weren't we all excited about where WWE was headed just last month?

But Sin Cara's back!

And Raw's rating was a very low 2.7, according to the Wrestling Observer.

Possible explanation #1: They've spent the past few months turning Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston, R Truth, Jack Swagger, and Dolph Ziggler- aka, the guys who wrestle every week- into losers. At least a quarter of the show is built around John Laurinitus (who doesn't wrestle) and John Cena (who does wrestle, but is overexposed). In the past months, Laurinitus has sent three wrestlers after Cena- Lesnar is only on for a few shows, Tensai was a bust, so now we're up to the Big Show. You've trained the audience to think that the only thing that really matters is Cena and him fighting the power, so the audience knows to tune out the rest of the show.

Possible explanation #2: Punk and Bryan can't draw.

While I agree with everything said, I am liking the "new" Big Show and it's potential. I was also probably in the minority as I truly enjoyed watching him make the Funkasuarus extinct. That Doink comment was awesome.

It's unfortunate they didn't do this like Mark Henry and build to this. But my guess is this is to feed Show to Super Cena rather than rebuild the Big Show and make him someone who might be more than what he's been the last ten years.

I still find amusing how they spent a year building Laurinitus versus Punk and now Cena is the focus of Big Johnny.

The Chris Jericho suspension is, of course, bullshit. Since when do cheap heel tactics (especially at house shows) have to be PC? I guess the Brazilian media gave this a lot more attention than anybody thought and Vince decided not to pick this fight.

Nobody gave them much trouble at German house shows when Triple H (about 7 years or so apart) JBL gave a Nazi salute. People booed and that was it. Brazil should "grow up" and Vince should have told them that Jericho's action was "artistic license" or something.

Apart from that, I have not missed Rey at all since he is one of my least favorite superstarts, Randy Orton could actually use a break since his current face character is pretty boring, Mark Henry's run last year was very entertaining but I would not really call him "must-see TV" and Brock will be more of a special attraction. I missed the PPV and as far as TV appearances go, I loved Heyman back more than him.

I hope that this means Ziggler and the Miz get some serious screentime, some more FCW people get called up and that they try something with the tag-division, hopefully.

The Big Show turn was not so great but seeing that Tensai has not worked at all so far (please remove that stupid face "tattoo"!) they did not really have much choice.

The Chris Jericho suspension is, of course, bullshit. Since when do cheap heel tactics (especially at house shows) have to be PC?

They do have to be legal. Regardless of what you think of stupid laws, you agree to abide by them when you enter a country. Considering Jericho commited a felony in front of thousands of witnesses, he got off easy.

Of course, CM Punk got of even easier, as he was surely in on the whole thing (when has he ever brought a flag to ringside before?)

My first though, on hearing that Randy Orton got a Wellness Policy suspension...

Vintage Orton!

My second, and more serious thought - the guy's on his second strike now, which means when he comes back he's one screw up away from being potentially fired at any time. The need to create new main eventers only becomes even more pronounced when you consider they can hardly lean on Orton as a top guy to the extent they had before. (Hell, with the money he makes, I wouldn't be surprised if someone in Stamford is thinking about letting him walk to TNA and become their headache.)

They do have to be legal. Regardless of what you think of stupid laws, you agree to abide by them when you enter a country. Considering Jericho commited a felony in front of thousands of witnesses, he got off easy.

Of course, CM Punk got of even easier, as he was surely in on the whole thing (when has he ever brought a flag to ringside before?)

See, I do not know the laws of Brazil but would "insulting the flag" be illegal in a play or a movie?

This felony, after all, took place in a fictional context.

They do have to be legal. Regardless of what you think of stupid laws, you agree to abide by them when you enter a country. Considering Jericho commited a felony in front of thousands of witnesses, he got off easy.

Of course, CM Punk got of even easier, as he was surely in on the whole thing (when has he ever brought a flag to ringside before?)

See, I do not know the laws of Brazil but would "insulting the flag" be illegal in a play or a movie?

This felony, after all, took place in a fictional context.

I know as much as you Guest-san, on the specifics of Brazilian law. But I believe that the scenario you refer to would only be valid for a simulated crime. All the murders that took place on The Sopranos weren't illegal because no actual person was being killed.

In this case, both in WWE storyline and reality, an actual Brazilian flag was desecrated. If they used something similar to, but not actually the same as, a real flag, then I would agree that a simulated illegal act for performance purposes might not be a problem.

Well, the WWE gave Jeff Hardy the World Title after he had two strikes, so they've played that gamble before.

As for 'create main eventers', the WWE actually has several guys that could step into the main event role- Ziggler, Bryan, Rhodes, Miz, Barrett. For as much as we criticize the '50/50 booking', it does keep several guys right under the main event level who could, in theory, be elevated to the top level.

My question is- given where these guys are now, how long would it take for any of them to be considered top-level by the fans. If Dolph Ziggler went on a three week binge where he beat faces cleanly and then won the title, would the fans buy it?

And is the bigger problem not buying any of these guys as main event title holders, but having the fans buy any of them as faces? Right now it seems every guy that could be elevated to the main event is a heel.

Well, the WWE gave Jeff Hardy the World Title after he had two strikes, so they've played that gamble before.

But weren't there only a few months left in Jeff Hardy's contract at the time? Much like Kerry Von Erich, they never trusted him to be anything more than a transitional champion, never put him in position to be The Man .

Every other two strike wrestler has been significantly de-pushed (William Regal, anyone?), so I would guess that Orton starts putting over a lot of those guys you mentioned in the months to come...assuming that Orton will come back to do those jobs. He went AWOL on the Marines, so I'm sure he'd have no issue with doing that to WWE.

Today, I found out Sara Del Rey was hired to a developmental contract by the WWE.

I'm excited again.

If the WWE is embracing social media...

...does that mean Zack Ryder's Internet championship is the most legitimate title in the company?!?

SIIIIIIIIIIICK!

Well, the Internet Championship match for Wrestlemania XXIX is already set, so it does seem to be getting the most attention...

Today, I found out Sara Del Rey was hired to a developmental contract by the WWE.

I'm excited again.

Is it wrong I want her butting heads with Antonio Cesareo/Oksana?