Analyzing Smackdown!

Who gets first crack at Brock?

There's a lot of commotion surrounding the WWE champ these days. The Pain
has his hands full trying to exact revenge on Chris Benoit, dodge the
Hardcore Holly bullet and to top it all off, his boss is being accosted by
that punk, John Cena. With six weeks until the next SD pay-per view and no
real confrontation yet between Holly and Lesnar, it looks as though they may
continue the Benoit feud on TV until the 1-month mark, lift Holly's
suspension and set him up to face Lesnar at the PPV. I still maintain that
Holly is nowhere near ready for a title push and after making him tap at
Survivor Series, Benoit's credibility is as high as ever. Even if he doesn't
win it, the time is ripe for Benoit to once again chase the WWE
Championship.

New faces, angry internet fans

So many people are quick to point out how Nathan Jones and Matt Morgan don't
deserve their spot on the roster and don't add anything to the show, yet
their solution usually isn't anything more than putting their favorite
wrestler in the same place. But if WWE did that, they'd complain about how
their intelligence is being insulted because they completely ignored an old
gimmick. See the problem? One of the reasons they'd use Jones and Morgan
(aside from their look) is that they're fresh additions. Jones really didn't
go anywhere in his first run as Undertaker's pupil and Morgan has a
perfectly clean slate. So enjoy the new car smell while you can, because two
turns from now you'll hear complaints about how they're using Morgan the
same way you do now about Sean O'Haire.

Hip-Hop Heel to Hip-Hop Hero

Cena's transition from heel to face went about as smoothly as possible. Such
transitions are the number one reason a wrestler's charisma is so important;
people like the Rock, Chris Jericho and apparently Cena can easily work both
sides of the fence without changing how they act; all they have to do is
change targets.

Cena crossed into some dangerous territory, though, when he went straight
for Vince McMahon. With the recent trend of Vince positioning himself as the
end-all, be-all in the Smackdown world, Cena looks to be headed for a very
major push very soon, possibly for the WWE title. The problem is it's far
too soon, and Cena should work his way up in the eyes of the fans and Brock
himself. His last encounter with Lesnar was a clear case of Cena biting off
more than he could chew, but WWE will lose a lot of story potential if they
rocket him right to the top. It's understandable since Cena is basically
their new poster boy for the younger audience and Smackdown in general. The
solution lies in the US title. Now is the perfect time to show new fans,
whose interests are (hopefully) being aroused by Cena, just what the guy can
do by having him topple the Big Show for the US Title. A long run with the
secondary belt, ended only by interference from Lesnar, would make the
perfect setup to a title match at the pre-Wrestlemania Smackdown PPV.


More Cruiserweight Craziness

The cruiserweight division is in dire straits. Top performers like Funaki,
Nunzio, Spanky, and Paul London continue to rot on Velocity while Rey
Mysterio predictably comes out as the first participant in the first match
each week. Tajiri and Jamie Noble's feud has nearly run its course; with
Nidia "blind" Tajiri's henchmen will continue to feed the tainted wins to
their boss. If the belt is to be taken seriously, WWE needs to push
Velocity> more or jump-start things with Noble as champ. His last run should
be enough evidence that he has character as well as wrestling ability, and
since sports entertainment is supposedly a character-driven business, it
only makes sense to put the belt on him soon. He's the only viable contender
right now and if WWE waits any longer, the feud will stale.

The future of Tag Teams

An Eddie-Chavo feud seems to be in the near future; judging from Chavo's
actions this week, it looks like he's headed for a drug or painkiller-based
downward spiral and through a lot of tough love, Eddie will bring him back
from rock bottom. That leaves the tag team division lacking a clear face
team; Ron Simmons has been off TV, probably due to personal reasons or an
injury, counting out the APA. That either leaves TWGTT turning face, or Matt
Morgan and Nathan Jones taking the belts to bring all the gold to camp
Lesnar (both unlikely). John Cena and Chris Benoit could be contenders but
both are in the midst of singles pushes. The SD tag division needs something
new, which leads me to suggest...

A Ronin MFer

Matt Hardy's departure to RAW could easily be turned into a whole new
beginning for Shannon Moore. With his leader gone, this is the perfect
opportunity for him to really break out and bring some depth to his
character. Why not pair him up with someone new, but have him be the leader
this time? Using all the principles and techniques of Mattitude, Shannon
could mentor another young superstar and have an MFer (Moore follower),
Moore-on or whatever nickname he wants. Shannon was highly entertaining as
Hardy's stooge and doesn't deserve to be confined to the land of the jobbers
(Velocity) for the rest of his career. With a sidekick, Moore could head up
a fresh new face tag team and bring balance to the division while Eddie and
Chavo feud.