New Champs & New Competition

   Rey Mysterio and Alberto Del Rio were both drafted from Smackdown to Raw in the 2011 WWE Draft. As two popular, tough superstars I like how they immediately walked down the ramp to the ring to state their reasons why they should face John Cena for the WWE Championship at Over The Limit. However they would soon be joined by two superstars that did a fantastic job in the opening skit of Monday Night Raw last night, The Miz and R-Truth. So at this point we have four popular WWE superstars in the ring arguing about a title shot. This new "crazy man" character has brought out some impressive microphone skills and storylines for R-Truth. The anger on his face from when the anonymous Raw General Manager explained that Miz, Mysterio, and Del Rio would be in a triple threat match to be the #1 contender was incredible. Although Truth won't be in the WWE title picture he will be very successful in terms of his character and storylines. I was very surprised to see Del Rio's personal ring announcer to drop kick Alex Riley out of the ring in a minor brawl that broke out in the opening skit of Raw. It gave the audience a sneak peak of The Miz and Del Rio squaring off for the first time. I always say this, new combinations of superstars in matches creates excitement.

   If I was a guest on the Aftermath show on The Score network with Renee Paquette, Arda Ocal, and Brent Furtney my win would be the main event triple threat match. It was one of those matches where the superstars kept you on your toes. There was tremendous excitement with lots of near-falls. These are the kinds of matches that Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston will be involved in to make sure there is some high flying action, that's why they were both drafted to Monday Night Raw. Although that was the best I have seen Alberto Del Rio in a match in a long time I even agree with The Miz winning to get his rematch. The WWE built his character and popularity for so long, they even gave him a WrestleMania main event victory so why give him a defeat from Del Rio or Mysterio. The royal rumble match winner Del Rio has lost his matches at the previous two Pay-Per-View events (WrestleMania and Extreme Rules). John Cena took advantage of having the option of the type of match, he selected the "I Quit" match. Cena has an impressive record in these matches, he has defeated superstars like J.B.L. and Batista in this kind of match. Over The Limit is a very fitting title for the next PPV event.

   Kofi Kingston and Jack Swagger are also two new superstars to the Raw roster. After Kingston won the United States Championship from Sheamus at Extreme Rules he was put in a match on Raw to defend it against Jack Swagger. Like I said in the previous paragraph Mysterio and Kingston are here to make Monday Night Raw even more exciting with some incredible athleticism. Kingston certainly didn't disappoint the WWE universe as the match kept the audience interested eversince the beginning. I could see this being a spectacular rivalry... the agile, high flyer against the brawling, amateur wrestler character. Jack Swagger has the look and physique to be a successful WWE superstar as a villain, but if he can improve his charisma and voice on the microphone he can begin climbing to bigger accomplishments. Kofi Kingston would pick up the victory after Swagger was distracted by Jerry "The King" Lawler returning to ring side at an attempt to get some revenge on Michael Cole for his awful comments said earlier.

   Michael Cole's charisma and speaking skills on the microphone are what is giving him so much success as a broadcaster and in the storylines. Het gets under everyone's skin and that's what his character is at this point. Just when I thought the alliance with Jack Swagger and Michael Cole was over it somehow keeps going. Cole early in the show explained what he did for Mother's day, then asked Lawler what he did for Mother's day. He then dropped his jaw in a sarcastic fashion to show he was being disrespectful about the comments, but sarcastically apologized for "forgetting" of Lawler's mother passing away in February. Swagger would pull of another rescue for Michael Cole by coming out and physically man handling Lawler. This storyline is getting old to me and I feel like it's taking up the air time that could be used displaying some young talent more often like Evan Bourne or Dolph Ziggler. However I do also want to see Jerry Lawler finally get a victory over Michael Cole so he doesn't "retire" undefated as a WWE superstar. The stipulation of Lawler personally inducting Cole into the WWE Hall of Fame and handing over his own Hall of Fame ring i'll admit is a great way to put some more excitement towards ths match at Over The Limit.

   One thing that as caught my attention recently was the amazing strength Mason Ryan from The New Nexus keeps displaying. The WWE continues to give Mason the credit he deserves for his size and power. Last night on Raw one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions Kane had a score to settle with him after Mason Ryan clearly over powered Kane in a physical confrontation on last week's Raw. After the WWE put Ezekiel Jackson in The Corre they wanted to add a power house superstar to The New Nexus, so they hired Mason Ryan. If I recall correctly he just randomly showed up one day and joined CM Punk's Nexus after dominating other superstars in the ring. I loved seeing the big guys go at it but the ending should have been a decisive victory for either of the two men. Big Show punched CM Punk's lights out in the middle of the match, this caused The New Nexus to come to the ring and start a brawl with the Tag Team Champions. It was great to see Big Show and Kane double chokeslam Mason Ryan, and then see Kane throw his hands down to torch the tops of the ring posts.

   I was so upset to see Christian lose the World Heavyweight Championship just five days after winning it in a ladder match at Extreme Rules. His speech was inspiring at the beginning of the episode of Friday Night Smackdown. He explained that it took him 17 years to win the World Heavyweight title. I do think Randy Orton deserved a World Championship down the road from now, but I feel like Christian should been given the chance to live the dream with the title for a longer period of time. In my opinion I think Orton didn't want to be sent to Smackdown in the WWE Draft so I think the WWE offered him the World Heavyweight Championship and Orton agreed to the terms. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but Orton doesn't seem like he is playing the "vicious viper" character over the last two weeks. I wonder if the WWE is slowly transitioning him into a normal, calm, collected character. I find that the "vicious viper" character is the role he should play for the rest of his WWE career, nobody can do it as good as Randy can.

Images from: http://www.videofacedown.com/john-cena-vs-the-miz-wwe-championship-may-03-2011-wwe-raw-hq.html, http://wwe-collections.blogspot.com/2011/02/heart-of-wwe-kofi-kingston-stills.html, http://www.wwe.com/shows/extremerules/2011/lawler-ross-cole-swagger, http://checklocallistening.blogspot.com/2011/03/wwe-wrestlemania_3522.html, and http://www.randyorton4u.com/tag/randy-orton/.

Written by: Tyler McMurter