Orton/Shelton, Orton/Edge, Christian's Challenge

[Zack Malibu 0]

Last week, we saw Edge interrupt Orton's victory promo, and tell Randy (in as many words) that he didn't like him.

 

This week, Shelton Benjamin runs Randy off after Orton spits in the face of Harley Race.

 

The question is, which feud are we going to see out of these angles? Was the Edge confrontation just to segue into making the tag match? It would seem that with Triple H going away for a bit, and him wanting to work with Edge down the line, that Edge/Orton would be the logical choice. On the other hand, Orton/Benjamin is a feud of two guys who are getting over very well with the crowd, and both would have everything to gain from a major rivalry (a la Rock/HHH from '98). IMO Orton/Edge would be a better match, but Benjamin is very good in his own right, plus both have trained/worked together in OVW.

 

When the tag team with Benoit runs its course, what is Edge to do then? He blew through Kane. Flair isn't/shouldn't be working in solo matches right now. Rhyno's a face (and still not doing anything of note). Batista is a possibility. If he turns heel, and Edge/Michaels feud would be huge, IMO.

 

Now, from Edge, we move onto his "brother", Christian, who has resurrected himself by playing the perfect foil to Jericho in this storyline. He got the girl, he's got the muscle, and last night, he mentioned that he wanted to be World Champion. While it's obvious the feud with Jericho isn't done yet (probably one more major match left to fully blow it off), was the comment just an off hand one by Xian, or is the WWE planning on a Benoit/Christian feud? Personally, I think that now is the time to capitalize on Christian's heat, and a run against Benoit would serve to cement him as a serious upper midcard player. The matches will be good, Xian is good on the mic, and you've got Trish and Tomko with Christian to extend the story a bit (odds are stacked against Benoit, Tomko can work tags against Benoit and ??, etc.). However, Michaels is getting the shot next week, and Triple H is still whining about wanting a shot. So when exactly does Christian expect to get his due?

 

It seems like we're seeing hints of good things to come, it's just a matter of when, exactly. Any more thoughts on where these angles could be headed?

[AndrewTS 0]

I wonder if they're ever going to have enough confidence in Benoit's drawing power to stick him in a main event without HHH or HBK in it.

 

If they were to run a Benoit/Christian program, I don't believe it would close a PPV.

 

Christian's just not good enough to warrant a main event push anyway, as far as I'm concerned.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I wonder if they're ever going to have enough confidence in Benoit's drawing power to stick him in a main event without HHH or HBK in it.

 

If they were to run a Benoit/Christian program, I don't believe it would close a PPV.

 

Christian's just not good enough to warrant a main event push anyway, as far as I'm concerned.

Benoit/Christian certainly could close a PPV, IMO, especially if Eddie/JBL is the main event of Judgement Day.

 

Christian's got the personality, the skill, plus the secondary characters that would be important to work false finishes. He'd mesh well with Benoit, and a story of Benoit going 3 on 1 would sell it as a hot main event.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I'd rather see Guerrero / Bradshaw than Benoit / Christian.

 

Anyway, I'm sure they're saving Shelton / Randy for Bad Blood. I can't wait.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Edge vs Michaels in the Weakest Offense of All Time Feud? I think not.

 

I say HHH runs DQ in the Title Match next week, setting up HHH vs HBK for a shot at the title @ Bad Blood.

 

I'm semi-psyched on Orton/Benjy, though. This will be Benjamins first real test and his first real feud. I've got faith in him, but not so much faith in Orton.

 

On a side note, it made my heart sad to see Harley Race throw that pussy-ass punch last night. The Harley race I know would've punched Randy right in the nose and then made the lil bitch beg for more. And Randy would because it's Harley fuckin Race.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I'd rather see Guerrero / Bradshaw than Benoit / Christian.

????

 

Dude...no. Just no.

 

I love Eddie and all, but no way. JBL isn't ready for the US Title, nevermind WWE Title shots.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Edge/Batista could be a disaster. Batista has been looking good in the tag matches, but I'm not sure I'd want to put him in a singles feud just yet. He can be carried by a better worker, but I don't really think Edge falls into the category of "can carry lesser workers".

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Edge has yet to graduate to "carrier". And a Michaels feud isn't a good place to start. Having said that, they'll probably put him in a feud w/ Flair to give Edge a "rub" which means "dick" and "all". Any kind of worth Flair had went out the window when he jobbed to Rico clean.

[Zack Malibu 0]

That's the thing. I can't see them doing a three way for the IC Title, especially coming off the three way feud over the World Title. The only other heel left for Edge to face sans Evolution members would be Christian, but they're best kept apart for a while. I don't see Jericho going heel anytime soon, so Edge vs. heel Michaels could definitely work.

 

As for Orton, no matter who he feuds with, I say botched interference from Flair causes him to drop the IC, keeping him strong in the meantime. Then he turns on Flair and forms his own version of Evolution to combat the legend (Flair) and the legends protege coming out for revenge (Triple H).

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I was actually thinking the exact opposite.

 

Orton, Batista and Flair turn on HHH and lay him out with Orton taking over leadership duties of Evolution, which allows HHH to go off and make movies.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I don't think they'll all turn on him. Orton, Batista, then possibly Maven and a heel Shane Helms (after dropping Rosey and the Hurricane moniker) could be a good heel version of Evolution sans Triple H and Flair. Then you could have Trips and Flair having to help each other out, since no one on the face side (Benoit, Edge, Shelton, Michaels if he still is) is willing to give them assistance due to their past.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I really think they need to turn Edge heel and feud him with Benoit. That would seem to be the only way to get HHH or Michaels out of the ME for one of these shows since Orton isn't ready to ME a PPV yet.

[Guest Jack Potts]

Benjamin and Orton need to battle for that belt. It's been a long time since WWE built a strong program around a secondary belt (partly because they went out of their way to eliminate these belts the last couple years.) Having two young guys, like Shelton Benjamin and Randy Orton, develop a solid feud over the IC belt is a tried and trued way to build future stars.

 

Orton-Benjamin would have echoes of, arguably, the last great IC feud: HHH and The Rock. You can't even put those two guys in the same ring now without fans thinking they'll reignite their past rivalry. Think about the lengths they go through to keep HHH out of the picture whenever The Rock is around.

 

Edge is not quite beyond the IC belt, but WWE would be better served by building a simmering feud between Orton and Benjamin that could be stoked to a five-alarm feud at any time in the future.

[Guest Fook]

I can see these matches for Bad Blood:

 

Benoit vs Christian (World title)

Orton vs Edge vs Benjamin (IC title)

HHH vs HBK (HIAC)

[Guest El Satanico]

Sooner or later they will probably end up doing HHH vs. HBK for a shot at Beniot. That's when they could do Beniot vs. Christian. Unless the match goes over huge, It would just be a one off match before he goes back to Jericho.

[Zack Malibu 0]

Jericho/Christian can't go on much longer. The problem with RAW is the babyface side is very heavy (Benoit, Michaels, Edge, Shelton, Jericho) while Evolution are the top heels and have already had matches/feuds with those guys. Title-wise, no one would buy Batista in a main event program yet (perhaps he could feud with Jericho since Jericho can carry opponents), Flair has his injuries to tend to, Trips is off making movies for a while, Orton's got Shelton and/or Edge. Plus, it seems every week it's interchangeable that someone from Evolution will take on one of the top faces. Christian vs. Benoit, or even a Christian/Michaels feud would be fresh, and I think Christian could make it work.

[Aero 0]

I wouldn't mind seeing a Benoit-Christian feud. It would definitely be better suited as a Raw-only program in the period where Smackdown is building to a PPV, like now, but obviously, Benoit is finishing up with HBK & HHH, first.

 

As for Orton, I think they're going with the Edge feud first. Maybe have Edge feud with Orton up to Bad Blood, but have HHH cost him the match, setting up the feud that they've wanted to do since March, between HHH & Edge at Summerslam. Build Orton's feud with Shelton up to Summerslam, and have Shelton be the one to finally win the IC title off of Orton. That can leave a Benoit vs. Jericho main event for Summerslam, rumored to be in Canada. That might just be wishful thinking, though.

[Guest El Satanico]

Beniot vs. Jericho face vs. face at Summerslam in Canada would have some crazy crowd participation and would make for a great match.

[Jericho2000Mark 0]

Personally, I would like to see Edge & Christian Reunite, but have them booked as a Main Event stable, rather than just another Tag Team. Maybe they can do a gimmick where they "share" Trish(which should get her over as a slut even more). Edge as a face is terribly bland, and the reaction to him since his return has been lukewarm...at best. Even Benjamin is more over! Orton-Edge was guaranteed to SUCK ever since Edge cut his "I don't like you" promo. While Benjamin-Orton has looked very promising so far. They should also continue the Matt Hardy-Kane fued, leading to some sort of gimmick match at Bad Blood.

 

I also like the idea of a Micheals-Triple H HIAC match...as long as it isn't the Main Event.

 

I don't know about you guys, but a Benoit & Jericho vs Edge & Christian Main Event for Bad Blood sounds pretty good to me. They can add the stipulation, where if Edge or Christian pin Benoit or Jericho, they win the World Title and Tag Titles, and if Benoit or Jericho pin Edge or Christian, they win the Tag Titles(Both Edge & Benoit would still be holding their half of the Tag Titles). So the top matches for Bad Blood would be...

 

World Title & Tag Titles Match:

Chris Jericho & Chris Benoit vs Edge & Christian

 

HIAC Match:

Triple H vs Shawn Micheals

 

WWE I.C Title Match:

Randy Orton vs Shelton Benjamin

 

Stipulation Match:

Matt Hardy vs Kane

[LivingLegendGaryColeman 0]

wow, kinda surprised. I know Christian isn't a smark darling, but I am surprised he wouldn't be considered moreso of a lesser evil in a WWE world where Hardcore Holly and JBL main event PPVs.

 

Looks like more people are starting to sway for Christian in some form or another, but I think it would be good. Given his history, his recent history and his current entourage, this could be the step to build another big heel that they desperately need right now.

[King Cucaracha 0]

If they've thought about turning Flair, then the Harley Race segment might have been the start. Everyone who watched Mania saw that Flair respects Race, and there's a future there that the majority of fans know about already. Flair could get mad at Orton for spitting in Race's face and disrespecting legends, and tell him about it. And then Batista and Orton turn on him.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see that happen personally, if Orton wasn't in two mini-feuds already.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Edge vs Michaels in the Weakest Offense of All Time Feud? I think not.

 

I say HHH runs DQ in the Title Match next week, setting up HHH vs HBK for a shot at the title @ Bad Blood.

 

I'm semi-psyched on Orton/Benjy, though. This will be Benjamins first real test and his first real feud. I've got faith in him, but not so much faith in Orton.

 

On a side note, it made my heart sad to see Harley Race throw that pussy-ass punch last night. The Harley race I know would've punched Randy right in the nose and then made the lil bitch beg for more. And Randy would because it's Harley fuckin Race.

Meh. He gimmicked it to make sure he wouldn't make contact.

 

Harley by all accounts can still pack a good punch.

[HollywoodSpikeJenkins 0]

They've given Christian his own stable and with his current string of great matches with Jericho, he's bound to get a program with his fellow Canadian, Benoit.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Maybe. I think they've got him stamped as a midcarder 4 life.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

I could see Xian getting a main event push right now, and to be honest I think it would be a good thing. Think about it, they could establish Christian as a total asshole heel. Benoit would get a convincing win against a solid competitor, and it would further establish Benoit as champion and that's exactly what he needs now. He definately needs a one on one title defense(seeing as his main defense was a WM rematch), and weather Xian won or lost he could really be made into a top heel with him and Benoit feuding for the better part of a month until the next PPV. The only reason why I could see anyone's problem with this would be kinda the same argument about JBL on SD(except JBL sucks in the ring), and that is that the guy is yet to be a credible main eventer. However in this case, I feel that Christian would be credible after a solid RAW program with Benoit.

[Guest Goodear]

For good reason... I don't know if people go under hypnosis or something but Christian really isn't any better than either one of the Dudley Boyz at this point. The guy has two credible offensive moves and a whole lot of stalling/resting spots that simply don't carry the action well enough for a main event heel. The sad fact is that Christian isn't any better now than he was when they first broke up E & C and that simply doesn't help him as far as getting to the World Title scene is concerned.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Jericho should bring back Ralphus as his "heavy".

 

... Just sayin.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

Jericho should bring back Ralphus as his "heavy".

 

... Just sayin.

And the Jericholic Ninja.

 

Oh, how I long for the days of Jericho fighting for justice against the evil dictatorship of Jo Jo Dillion.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

 

What could Christian do against THIS? At best, Tomko would trip and fall and cause Ralphus to wave his finger.. AT BEST.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

IF Xtian was to ME then he needs to dump the restholds and start getting a new offense over. And not a suplex offense. Those are done to death.