The Triple Threat 1.01.12: CM Punk & Ratings, Randy Orton’s Injury, More

David Martell: I really hope that this is just a rumor. You can’t have the title on John Cena forever. What happens if Cena gets injured? You have to make new stars and the thing is, it takes time. CM Punk is obviously popular. He sells a ton of merch and he gets people talking. I feel like the low ratings might be because of the lack of strong heels on RAW. No offense but Del Rio isn’t over and Miz lost his flare a long time ago. Ziggler is getting there, but I think it will be a bit longer before he can be that top heel. People want interesting storylines. The other problem I see is that they completely toned down Punk. What happened to all those ground breaking promos? Where is the pipe bomb? It hasn’t been around for months. Bring back what got people excited during the summer. Its all about the storylines. People want to see compelling TV and right now we aren’t getting that.

Jacob San Antonio: Completely ridiculous. If they were this concerned about ratings, they never would have given Del Rio the belt in the first place. Simply put, Monday Night Football is a beast that will not be matched by the WWE. Especially with the last few weeks of the regular NFL season still holding interesting developments, each game is going to be sucking in a lot of viewers. That Raw’s experienced a slight dip recently should be attributed to that, and accusing Punk’s reign of being the cause is complete lunacy. Punk, despite being no stranger to world titles, is still a relatively fresh face at the top level of the WWE Roster. He’s bringing something new to the title scene, and I’d argue that the best parts of Raw recently have been the segments that Punk has been a part of. MNF is just a ratings juggernaut, and the top brass at the WWE are morons if they think otherwise. Throw your John Cenas, your HHHs, and even your Undertakers at an episode of Raw competing with MNF, and I guarantee that you won’t see results improve any.

Sean Garmer: Well here is the internet for you always wanting to spread rumors so we can start hating about things that have not happened yet. The low ratings numbers are not because of CM Punk as much as people want them to be. Even Monday Night Football didn’t draw a huge rating last week. This is the holiday season, kids are on vacation, and teens have better stuff to do than watch TV. They don’t give breaks to all those TV shows during this time period because of the staff, it’s just like the summer, people are not at home that much. WWE understands this and will be looking to his crowd reactions in the next couple weeks and how they draw at house shows. Ratings are always important but if the big networks are willing to give up to the holidays, I think WWE will too. I wouldn’t be surprised if they still try to make Rock vs. Cena for the WWE title and Punk loses at Elimination Chamber or a little after that. It’s not like Punk vs. Jericho for the WWE Title would be a bad match either if they kept the title on Punk. Punk isn’t just a “smarky wonder” the general public fans love him too. I think these next few weeks are going to be important to determine what Punk’s title status will be. If the fans in the south show him just as much love as he gets in the northern “smarky” towns then I don’t see why you take the title off him. I wouldn’t worry about ratings until the middle of January leading up to the Royal Rumble. If by then ratings don’t start to go up as the lead up to the “Road to Wrestlemania” begins, then I think that’s a huge worry not just for Punk but for everybody.

Topic # 2 Randy Orton recently got a severe back injury and could be out for several months. What does this mean for the WWE?

David Martell: This is bad news for Smackdown definitely if he is out past Wrestlemania. Without Smackdown’s biggest draw, what will be their big Mania match? I was assuming that it would have been Orton vs. Bryan for the World Title at Wrestlemania but this changes everything. Some people believe that his injury isn’t as bad as the WWE is making it out to be. After all they have done similar things before. With Orton out of the picture, I am thinking that Sheamus will end up winning the Royal Rumble and go on to face Daniel Bryan. That’s if the WWE has enough faith to let Bryan hold on to the title for that long. Daniel Bryan and other top stars on Smackdown are going to have to step it up in his absence.

Jacob San Antonio: Half work, maybe? I think Orton might actually be hurt, but I don’t think it’s nearly as serious as the WWE is claiming. If it gives Orton some time off for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, I don’t see why this wouldn’t be a setup for a surprise return. I doubt we’d see Orton show up in time for the Rumble, especially with “It Begins” guy coming in soon, but what’s to say we don’t see another surprise entry in the Elimination Chamber? In any case, I think some time off for Orton is a good thing. He’s been improving steadily this year, but you never want to risk burning out the audience with overexposure. If Orton does make a surprise return, I think it’d garner a bigger reaction than normal. He’s really developed a sound following as a face, and it’d be a sight to see the crowd flip out over a shortened recovery time.

Sean Garmer: WWE should be used to this by now Randy always gets some kind of injury bug during the year. These guys go through a ton of pain and minor injuries throughout the whole calendar they are bound to turn into some long term injury. Daniel Bryan will not get any better moment than right now to prove he can be at the top of the heap. Orton is not going to be out too long, so it’s not that big a deal. Your biggest full time star is going to be out for a little bit, and you have to take the reigns as champion. WWE should also use this time to find something for Sheamus to do besides just beat up the Smackdown scrub squad. He is their biggest star with Randy out, and even though we’ve already seen it, I think making him the next road block in the Barrett Barrage wouldn’t be a bad choice. I mean who else do they have? Henry and Big Show will probably face Bryan in a triple threat at the Rumble, and then Big Show will be getting ready to face Shaq after the Elimination Chamber. WWE has February kind of setup for them because of the elimination chamber. So all they have to do is make things interesting until the Rumble. I think putting Sheamus in the best feud he could have with Barrett gives you another interesting story. I like what Sheamus did on Smackdown with Slater about the Rumble. Having him face another possible real candidate to win it like Barrett all the way up to it is better. Even better might be a 1up story line. Where Sheamus keep beating up lesser guys to try to show why they would dominate at the Rumble leading to a mini feud between them over the actual event. They already started the Goldie vs. Cody feud with Booker in the middle, so that will keep up some interest as well.

Topic # 3 Bobby Lashley recently stated that he wouldn‘t mind coming back to the WWE. How do you feel about this?

David Martell: Well I guess when your MMA career isn’t going the way you planned it, going back to wrestling doesn’t sound so bad. I was never a huge fan of Lashleys but I thought he was a decent enough wrestler. He was never good on the mic but I still believe he has a place in the WWE. He really wasn’t in the WWE long enough to make an imprint so I imagine not everyone would remember the guy. He would need time to get built up again but I really don’t think he would be that top star the WWE wanted him to be years ago. I welcome his return.

Jacob San Antonio: The funny thing about a guy like Lashley coming back is that he doesn’t realize he’d be treated differently. For what it’s worth, the WWE tried to make someone big out of Bobby, and the experiment failed. I don’t think the WWE would suffer for bringing him back, but Lashley sure would. If he’d even make back it into the ring, he’d be nothing more than a glorified midcarder. These are things that happen when you’re given a big shot and you blow it, with or without quitting afterwards.

Sean Garmer: The bigger story might be Brock Lesnar returning after he retired after losing his match on Friday. I don’t know if you rush Brock into a big time Wrestlemania match with Undertaker though. Brock is a great athlete no doubt, but he has to get back into the wrestling groove and there’s also a different type of endurance you have to have for WWE as opposed for UFC where a fight might only last five minutes. (UFC matches can obviously last a shorter time or longer time as well; I’m not trying to rag on UFC.) I just don’t want to see Brock go out there at Wrestlemania against one of the best in the industry ever and be gased after the first ten minutes either. Could they have a match at Summerslam? Hell yeah. WWE will have to pay some big bucks to bring him back, but a TV only schedule wouldn’t be bad for him considering his health issues.

As for Lashley, Vince would jump at the chance to have this guy back in WWE. He was actually a draw for crowds before he left for MMA. He is still going to have to do something about his voice so people can take him seriously, no offense to him personally. However, Lashley was getting better as a wrestler before he left and I think he still has a lot to prove in this arena. Lashley against Sheamus would be a sight to see, and I think he could have pretty good feuds with wrestling guys like Punk and Bryan. I never have a problem with people that are good at performing making a return to sports entertainment. Lashley is still a young guy and is a big time athlete, he isn’t Kevin Nash coming back to make some money. I don’t have any issue with this at all, Lashley was one of my favorites before he left and I’d love to see him back in WWE.

Topic # 4 It begins 2012 is finally upon us. Who do you think is the man behind the videos?

David Martell: BROCK LESNAR! Ok, not really, unless you really believe he took a dive in his UFC match just to come back to the WWE. Will Brock come back to the WWE? I think its highly likely at this point but there is no way in hell he is returning on Monday. My roommate and I like to make jokes about who might be returning. Maybe its Stephanie McMahon and Shane. After all Steph has lost 80 pounds and looks to be in great shape. How about Skip Sheffield. He had those cryptic twitter messages that made it seem his return was coming soon. Sting? I mean he screwed us over last year, will he do it again? Its got to be the Undertaker. Its too obvious. I mean it makes no sense for him to return this way but it also didn’t make sense last February. In all seriousness, it has to be Chris Jericho. He is trying so hard to piss people off on twitter about never coming back to the WWE. He even said he would no longer tweet about wrestling. Why would someone who has so much love for wrestling start acting like such a dick to all his fans? Jericho has always been cryptic about his returns but this time around he is changing things up. We wont get that face Jericho this time around. I am thinking more on the lines of psychotic heel Jericho. I think Jericho makes the most sense although a Taker swerve is still likely.

Jacob San Antonio: If there were any justice in this world, it would be the Shockmaster. Since there isn’t, I’m resigned to seeing Chris Jericho walk on stage come Monday. Oh sure, it could be Taker, or maybe even the recently beaten and retired Brock Lesnar, but I’d really rather prefer Jericho. Taker doesn’t need a long time to start and further a feud, so he’s still got time to come back and get all serious again. Lesnar is a disrespectful, money-chasing pile of garbage, so I’d really prefer he perishes the thought of coming back to the WWE. I know Lesnar was over when he was around, but I just cannot think of any reasons as to why you’d let this guy come back in after leaving on such bad terms. If it’s for crossover appeal from UFC fans, I assure you Lesnar will lose those fans quickly if he’s serious about quitting. That aside, I want it to be Jericho. He’s driven me mad with his belligerent tweets over the past few months, but if the rumors of a Jericho/Punk feud are true I’ll reconsider ignoring the guy. Going for the complete dark horse though, I won’t deny that a tiny part of me hopes Shane McMahon comes back. That tiny part of me is the one that enjoys terrible ideas.

Sean Garmer: It wasn’t at first because I was for sure it was Taker coming back again. WWE did a great job building anticipation for the return of Chris Jericho by making it seem like it was Taker instead. Unless it’s Lesnar or Undertaker I think I would be really disappointed for it to be someone like Brodus Clay or an older guy that has no business coming back. I think we shouldn’t be surprised it’s Jericho with him making hints about it on TV shows but then denying it on twitter. It kinda stinks this day and age it’s hard to be surprised anymore, but I’m glad Y2J will be back. I think there really isn’t any other place to go but straight to the top for him too. Punk says a lot of the same things Jericho does about wanting to save WWE and also proclaims to be “Best in the World.” So that should be enough for these two to want to start a feud against one another. These two might be the only ones besides maybe Daniel Bryan; that could give HBK vs. Taker a run for best match at mania. With the way WWE has been letting Punk have his way lately in matches and on the microphone, it’s the only logical conclusion to have Jericho step in and take all the press away from Punk.

Topic # 5 Layla is set to return soon. Your thoughts?

David Martell: The Diva’s division really need someone to make it interesting again and I think Layla could help out a lot. Layla is actually a quality Diva that could be a great face going against the likes of Beth Phoenix and Natalya. She actually not that bad in the ring to be honest. She was the best part of LayCool and she helped make the Diva’s division actually interesting. Well its time for her to do that once again, at least until Kharma can return.

Jacob San Antonio: Regardless of how much I enjoyed Layla before she got injured, it’s a little sad to see her return and realize how much the women’s division should improve. Beth Phoenix and Natalya are both splendid wrestlers, but for whatever reason the WWE insists on jobbing them out every week. With Layla coming back, at least I can see some decent wrestling instead of another last minute rollup win. It’s hard to say how things will change with Layla back. Personally, I just want a couple of good matches against Beth Phoenix. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, I guess.

Sean Garmer: This is good because I’m getting tired of the same circle of Divas facing off every week. Why they just decided to make the Bella Twins backstage fodder is beyond me, in fact they could have helped pin-up strong be a more dominant group and make it a true faction type deal. I wonder if they are going to do the Kaitlyn turn or not. Layla has shown she can pull off being a heel pretty well. So if they decided to add her to the mix instead of Kaitlyn I wouldn’t be opposed to it. With Tamina turning good girl last night I wonder where they are heading with this division. The division needs some kind of spark until Kharma can comeback and I think Layla might just be that person. Whatever side of the fight she winds up on is irrelevant as long as they don’t make her the new fall girl so they can try to build Natalya back up. For some reason I just don’t feel like they will try to have her rally the troops for the face divas. I think they still want to leave that spot open for Kharma when she comes back, so don’t be surprised if Layla is the new member of the divas of doom.

Our thoughts on Hunico.

David Martell: Hunico is one of those people who has a lot of in ring talent but is hampered by a terrible gimmick. Adding a body guard usually isn’t the answer on how to make you legit. A low rider bike wont help either. Honestly, he should of just kept some kind of mask on because people actually like Luchadores. A heel Luchadore in the WWE would be awesome in my opinion. Yeah, I didn’t care for the Sin Cara Negro vs. Sin Cara Azul but Sin Cara was a bust and having another Luchadore wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Hunico looks like someone who should be in TNA instead of the WWE.

Jacob San Antonio: Poor, poor Hunico. Why did you let Vince convince you to change your character into…that? From evil masked villain to offensive stereotype? Really? I think the biggest thing hurting Hunico right now is his image, and after that it’s probably inexperience with the mic. He’s a decent enough wrestler, one that’s exciting to see in the ring, but he just doesn’t have a good character. I mean, it’s 2011. I thought we had put Konan behind us. Oh no, I just realized. Hunico as Hunico, Rehab Matt Hardy as Scott Hall, and Kevin Nash as…uh, Kevin Nash. Could see 2011 see the return of the Wolfpac!?!? It begins.

Sean Garmer: I like that they gave Huncio some guy to come out to the ring with, but I still don’t get him. So he loses the mask and now he is supposed to be some luchadore gangster? I hate it when they make stereotypes like this. Just because it almost worked with Crime Tyme doesn’t mean that they need to try it with a different race. Huncio has proven he has improved a little in the ring since his Dark Sin Cara days, I just don’t think this silent destroyer thing works for him. Actually if they have him talk his english and spanish and have that other guy be an enforcer type it might work. However, I think you have to build up that lesser division first. I think they need to use guys like Gabriel, Slater, move Sin Cara back to Smackdown, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyson Kidd, even Dibiase and Regal could fit in with this group. Make a crusierweight division or something similar so that you can build guys like Huncio. Because I don’t care if this guy has some muscle or not? Who is supposed to scare with his ghetto outfit and lucha moves. Other than Bryan, all the main guys are some rough dudes and it is very hard for me to believe that he could even be a IC title caliber guy with the way things are presently constructed. If you make the people that are around him important, than it will matter when he goes through them one by one. Then you can put him up against Dibaise, Rhodes, Booker, Goldust, and whoever else is considered Smackdowns Midcard. I just don’t see how Huncio as he is presently constructed, is supposed to make me think he can do something.

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