The Triple Threat 9.26.10: The 205th Edition – Christian, Orton As Champ, Santino, More

David Martell: Well this is definitely sad to hear. This will be a big blow to Smackdown since he is one of the most consistently good performers. Not to mention he was about to start a good feud with Alberto Del Rio. Yeah, he would of probably lost out on the feud but we could of saw some great matches. Hopefully Christian will have a big return and maybe even be able to dabble in the main event for a change but that is just wishful thinking. I hope he has a speedy recovery and I can’t wait to see him back in the ring.

Zach Brown: Sucks. Plain and simple. Christian is an awesome performer and it’s really unfortunate to see him get derailed like this. He had a feud going with Alberto Del Rio but it wasn’t anything mindblowing, and Alberto can just go back to feuding with Rey. And besides constantly having solid matches, I really think that Christian has been underutilized on Smackdown lately. He should be in the main event by now in my opinion. But the thing that’s unfortunate besides him getting injured is also the fact that I doubt he can have any sort of surprise return like so many main eventers do when they get injured. WWE simply hasn’t given Christian the main event status needed to have a worthwhile re-debut after his injury. He will most likely just be back on the show all of a sudden, recovered from the injury. And that sucks. I think the only way he could re-debut strong is to come back in a surprise match against Edge. And even that wouldn’t guarantee him a better spot in the company after all is said and done. Overall, I hope Christian gets well soon and comes back strong. But this derailment makes me upset because it makes me realize how poorly WWE was using him in the first place.

Topic # 2 How do you feel about Daniel Bryan winning the US Title?

David Martell: This was definitely the right move to make. Daniel Bryan needed this win to make him look more legit to the average WWE fan and Miz needed to lose the belt so he can eventually focus on the main event. I am loving the interactions between the two and I love the excuses the Miz gives to tapping out. I am sure they are going to have one more match to end the feud at Hell in a Cell. The real question is, who will Daniel Bryan feud with next? I would love to see him feud with Chris Jericho in the future at some point. I think that feud would have the most potential. Either way, as long as he faces off against a decent wrestler, we should have some good matches in store.

Zach Brown: This was expected, but exciting nonetheless. Bryan is getting over as a submission specialist, and Miz is moving on to bigger and better things. It made total sense for Miz to drop the title to Bryan who is obviously more talented in the ring, and the right choice to pass the title on to. It’s remarkable that Bryan can now walk on screen in a backstage segment, say nearly nothing charismatic, and still get a huge pop like nobody’s business. But that being said, they need to stop beating him down after matches and letting him win clean. It was his first match back as champion…he needs to look dominant in my opinion. Yes, he’s been tapping out Miz and Alex Riley, but it seems like he also gets beaten down every week nowadays as well. But oh well. I’m happy that Bryan is champ and I hope he holds onto the belt for a solid 6 months or longer. Hopefully he’ll get to bust out the Cattle Mutilation sometime in the future. Then he will really be the ultimate submission wrestler in WWE.

Topic # 3 What are your thoughts on Randy Orton winning the WWE Title?

David Martell: He was the most obvious choice to win the title at Night of Champions. Orton is the most over guy in the WWE at this point and sometimes what the fans want the fans get. Lets just hope that him having the belt will be as exciting as him chasing the belt because that almost always ends up being the problem with a face champion. I am hoping that the feud with Sheamus will end at Hell in a Cell because we really need something fresh. I would love for the Miz to cash in on Orton because that could be a hot feud to end out the year. To me that is the best way to go.

Zach Brown: I guess this was the obvious choice to win the Six Pack Challenge, but not the one I favored. Even though I wanted Jericho to win, it’s obvious now that Jericho couldn’t have won the match since he was so dead set on taking time off. But I really would have enjoyed seeing Wade Barrett win here. Everyone else in that match besides Sheamus had held the title numerous times with solid reigns nearly each time. It would have been great to see Barrett win since he has looked awesome on Raw as leader of probably one of the best factions in the last five years or so. Oh, and it would have also been nice to see since Barret…you know…wasted his NXT title shot to be in that match. And it might be nice to build some fresh talent and put them in the main event. But no, Orton won. Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge Orton fan. And I can’t deny that they are making Orton look like a world beater right now. They really make him look awesome when five different people are part of a post match frenzy, and Orton ends up RKOing them all. It’s simply bad ass and reminds me a lot of when Stone Cold would do the exact same thing. But I would have rather seen Barrett win the gold because Orton doesn’t need the belt in my opinion. He would have been awesome without it right now, and the Nexus could have used the boost. In the end, I’m okay with Orton being champ. He looks unstoppable right now, and it seems like he’s the most over that he’s ever been. But I even would have rather seen Sheamus retain the title instead because I prefer the younger guys to be built up instead of already established guys add yet another title reign to their list.

Topic # 4 How do you feel about Drew McIntyre and DASHING Cody Rhodes winning the Tag Titles?

David Martell: There really isn’t anyone else to put the belts on at this point. I think Drew McIntyre and DASHING Cody Rhodes will be great tag champs. I always found heel champs more interesting anyways because it is almost always about the chase for the face team. The Hart Dynasty were good when they were going for the belts but after they won they just fizzled out. While the Hart Dynasty is feuding with Rhodes and McIntyre, the WWE needs to make their other tag teams more prominent in the mean time. You can’t just have two teams feuding forever, you need to mix things up or the tag titles are never going to mean a thing. We can only hope for the best.

Zach Brown: This is great to see. Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre look like a great team in my opinion. Sure they could have possibly gotten just as over on their own with their respective gimmicks, but they seem to have similar “holier than thou” attitudes, and it works. And as of late, The Hart Dynasty had been pretty bland. It was only when they got on commentary with Michael Cole after they lost the titles did it seem like they were showing any sort of personality. But even then, I think Drew and Cody are much more interesting characters, and are great choices to hold the belts. Hell, I think even Santino and Koslov would have been entertaining choices as tag champs. But I digress. Even though they just started out, Cody and Drew might be the beginning of a new power team in WWE if done right. Only time will tell.

Our thoughts on Santino.

David Martell: Its hard not to like Santino. He plays his part to perfection. He is the comedy act, that is it. He is not a great wrestler by any means but he makes people laugh and there is nothing wrong with that. Don’t get me wrong, I use to hate the guy. When he first started I couldn’t stand him, the fact that he even had the IC belt was sickening although the Honk-O-Meter was hilarious. His whole stint as Santina was god awful as well. I have to say that I wouldn’t mind him winning the tag belts with Koslov. They are the odd couple tag team, much like Goldust and Booker T but not nearly as good of course. They could work as tag champs in a small run and people could really get behind them. It is too bad that they are just floundering. The reaction Santino got at Night of Champions should show the WWE that the people want to see them. Santino is in a good position but I do wish him and Koslov would play a more prominent role in the tag division.

Zach Brown: I actually like Santino somewhat. He is hilarious, and WWE has made the right decision on what his role should be: more of a comedy personality and not a serious wrestler. Every time that Santino has had a serious wrestling match, he gets exposed as being somewhat limited. When he was having serious matches early on as Intercontinental Champion, the shock value of pinning Umaga for the title on his first night was wearing off, and people really started disliking him (myself included) because he was bad in the ring. Wrestling less and going the comedy route was the right decision. His accent is funny, his jokes aren’t annoying, his character is enjoyable, and watching him set up The Cobra makes me laugh every time. His countdown toward beating Honky Tonk Man for the longest IC title was absolutely hilarious, as were most of his backstage segments. But his Santina character was not in my opinion. While Santino winning the Diva Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 25 was funny to see, it was also kind of a slap in the face to all the women wrestlers in WWE. And then they dragged out that character for far too long. Thank God Trump “fired” that character. Now that he is back in the ring more regularly and is teaming with Koslov, he’s funny once again and gets a huge pop. It’s remarkable how much staying power Santino has had in WWE, especially knowing how limited of a wrestler he is. Overall, I’m happy that Santino has a good spot in WWE doing what he does. Just keep him out of serious matches, and everything is gravy.

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