WWF Raw - 11/1/99

WWF Monday Night Raw
November 1st 1999

-From Washington D.C. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are calling the action.

-The Rock, sore from a recent abduction at the hands of D-Generation X, starts the show with an in-ring promo. He's looking forward to checking Steve Austin and Triple H back into the Smackdown Hotel at Survivor Series and sings for the crowd. Rock shifts his attention to the "blemish on his buttocks more popularly known as Road Dogg" and calls him out for a match.

The Rock vs. Road Dogg
Rock meets Dogg in the aisle and directs him to the ring. Dogg dry-humps Rock and gets clotheslined to ringside for the insult. Road Dogg flees to the back, where Rock foolishly walks into a DX ambush. The match is called off at about 1:00. A pack of referees and Mr. McMahon run in to restore order, but Rock looks finished.
Winner via DQ: The Rock

WWF Smackdown -10/28/99

WWF Smackdown
October 28th 1999

-From Springfield, MA. Our hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry lawler.

-D-Generation X, reunited after breaking up the previous spring, come to the ring to a babyface reaction, despite WWF Champion Triple H firmly entrenched as the top heel in the company. The fans do end up chanting "a-hole" at HHH once he starts talking about being better than Rock and Austin. X-Pac takes a turn on the mic and teases that DX will be bigger than ever with a new member joining. Billy Gunn and Road Dogg challenger Austin and Rock to singles matches later on. Triple H calls out Mr. McMahon to come bow before them. Vince responds on the stage, simply telling DX to suck it. Triple H defiantly announces that DX are taking over. Good reintroduction for DX in a segment that didn't overstay it's welcome.

WWF Raw 10/25/99

WWF Monday Night Raw
October 25, 1999

-From Providence, RI. Our hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

-The New Age Outlaws lobby Mr. McMahon for title and grudge matches but everyone is busy tonight. Triple H interrupts, upset that he's scheduled to face Mankind. The Outlaws and Triple H bicker, leading to Triple H goading them into facing Steve Austin and The Rock.

-The Godfather can't find his hos! He breaks down a door and finds them all over Mark Henry. Godfather is disgusted that Henry would hog all the hos for himself.

The Godfather (with Mark Henry and the hos) vs. Viscera (with Mideon)
I wish Raw would start with a match more often, as shaking up the format even slightly makes the show feel more alive. Jim Ross was able to say this will be a great matchup with a straight face, so kudos to him. Viscera wants the Godfather's hos if he wins and offers Henry all the hos he could ever want. This is now a "Winner takes hos" match, and Henry's loyalties are put to the test. Bell rings and Mideon is quickly ejected for interfering. Godfather sets up the Ho Train, but Henry knocks him down by the hair, and Viscera splashes for the win at 2:11. Completely nothing match, just serving up a plot twist.
Winner: Viscera

WWF Smackdown 10/21/99

WWF Smackdown 
October 21, 1999

-From Louisville, KY. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler are calling the action.

-Mankind comes to the ring and reacts to The Rock seemingly throwing out his book, which conveniently gives him the the chance to make a sales pitch for the viewing audience. Mankind sits his "big fat ass" down on the apron for a sit-out until Mr. McMahon gives him some attention. Vince shows up and listens to Mick rant about how all the fans forgot about his accomplishments while he was trying to have fun in a Rock n' Sock jacket. He's not okay with The Rock ahead of him in line for the WWF title and wants to kick his ass tonight and take his place in future main events. The Rock comes to the ring, doesn't like what he's hearing from Mick, and proceeds to verbally put him in his place as only The Rock can. Rock accepts Mick's challenge for later and Mick calls him an insecure little boy before taking off. Rock stays behind with Vince looking to find out if he's the only #1 contender, and they're interrupted by Val Venis, who is trying to claw his way into the main event scene. Val wants to face Stone Cold, so Austin marches his way to the ring. Austin makes a a face at Rock before knocking Venis out of the ring.

WWF Raw 10/18/99

WWF Monday Night Raw
October 18th 1999

-From Columbus, OH. Our valiant hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.

-The Rock comes to the ring to talk, and he sure does have a lot to say about what happened at No Mercy. He's sporting taped ribs after getting assaulted with a sledgehammer by Triple H. The Rock is gunning for the WWF title at Survivor Series, in honor of the peoples' ribs. The crowd just adores him. Rock wants everyone to know that when he hit Stone Cold with the sledgehammer, he was aiming for Triple H. Now he'll just have to settle for shining up the hammer and sexually assaulting The Game with it at Survivor Series. That's not really what The Rock said, just how I interpreted it. Austin joins him in the ring and this actually gives me chills. Austin has a bone to pick with Rock for declaring himself #1 contender, as well as being stupid enough to cost him the WWF title. They're about to fight when Mr. McMahon interrupts to ruin the moment. Vince wants to know what Triple H wants to do. HHH shows up and flaunts his success in properly annoying fashion. Of course, this results in Vince making a triple threat main event for Survivor Series. This was actually a rather great opening segment, with all four guys feeling larger than life.

WWF Smackdown 10/14/99

WWF Smackdown
October 14th 1999

-From Birmingham, AL. Our hosts are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler.

-Mankind visits Mr. McMahon in search of a favor. Apparently, Vince once told Mick to leave him alone, and he did, therefore he's owed something in return. He wants a shot at the Tag Team Championship for the Rock n' Sock Connection. Vince agrees, but doesn't think Rock will want the match.

-The New Age Outlaws come out to a huge ovation. They're simultaneously feuding with the heel Holly Cousins and babyface Rock n' Sock Connection, but they're always babyfaces for their entrance and mic work. They're interrupted by a somber looking Triple H, sporting a fake bruised face. I think we're supposed to think he got attacked by the rattle snake on Raw. He cuts a sob story promo about how this has been his dream but never imagined the business would turn into having to kill yourself for the fans. He says this is the last time anyone will ever see him, teasing a retirement. Before he goes, he wants Mr. McMahon to come look him in the eyes and know never to put anyone in his situation again. A concerned looking Vince shows up and listens to HHH's speech. The segment drags on forever before just ending with HHH saying he'll forfeit the title later.

WWF Monday Night Raw 10-11-99

WWF Monday Night Raw
October 11th 1999

-Seeing as I'm back on board with WWE Network for Payback, I might as well get a classic Raw review out of it.

-From a monster-sized crowd in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA, WWF's business is continuing to soar. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are calling the action.

-Mr. McMahon comes to the ring and enjoys a moment with the fans before introducing Stone Cold Steve Austin to a big ovation. Austin is fed up with being on the sidelines thanks to Triple H and wasn't scared by HHH stomping a rattlesnake in a symbolic gesture. As per usual, Austin doesn't want to wait for the pay-per-view and calls out The Game. Soon enough, WWF Champion Triple H comes to the stage for a rebuttal, effectively insulting the fans and vowing to retain against Austin. HHH teases a brawl but picks on Jim Ross some more, resulting in Ross attacking him from behind. The distraction sets up Austin pummeling HHH all over the ringside area. Austin holds HHH in place for some J.R. shots, but Chyna runs in for the save. Austin pulls Chyna off Ross and clocks her in the face. HHH escapes and challenges Austin and J.R. to wrestle him and Chyna later on. At age 31, this is no longer my cup of tea, but my inner 14 year old thought this was great.

Retro Rowe: WWE Wrestlemania 22

WWE WrestleMania XXII
by SamoaRowe

April 2nd 2006

-From Chicago, IL. Our hosts are Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, and Tazz. 

World Tag Team Championship:
Big Show and Kane © vs. Carlito and Chris Masters

After a full year of being shoved down our throats, Masters still isn’t over. He squares off with Kane, who quickly nails a drop-kick. Big Show dismantles Masters with his open hand slaps. Masters rakes the face to force a tag to Carlito. Show crotches Carlito on the ropes and press slams Masters. Show tosses Carlito over the ropes onto Masters. Kane delivers a flying clothesline onto both challengers on the floor. Carlito comes back with a drop-kick to the knee of Big Show. Masters and Carlito nail a flapjack on Show to take control. Show reverses a double suplex and takes in a fresh Kane. Kane plows through the challengers as if they were a couple of jobbers. Masters sneaks in the Masterlock but Show breaks it with his boot. Backstabber on Kane and Masters saves Carlito from a choke slam. Kane builds some momentum and finishes Carlito with a choke slam at 6:40. This was more or less a squash, *¼.
Winners and still World Tag Team Champions: Big Show and Kane

Retro Rowe: WWE Taboo Tuesday 2005 Review

WWE Taboo Tuesday

November 1, 2005

by Samoa Rowe

-Follow me on Twitter: @SamoaRowe

-From San Diego, CA. Our hosts are Joey Styles and Jerry Lawler.

Edge (with Lita) and Chris Masters vs. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio

Fans got to vote for Smackdown superstars to face Edge and Masters. This is stemming from Eric Bischoff turning the lights off on the Smackdown roster at the Raw Homecoming special. Before the bell can ring, Lita and Edge back out of the match, as Edge doesn’t feel he has to prove himself against Matt Hardy again. Edge doesn’t care about Raw and introduces his replacement: Snitsky.

Snitsky and Chris Masters vs. Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio

Masters takes advantage of Snitsky’s surprise arrival and attacks Rey from behind. Snitsky tags but his slam is reversed by Rey. Snitsky rebounds and slams Mysterio. The Raw team isolates Rey with fast tags and power moves. At the 3 minute mark, Matt gets a hot tag and unloads on both opponents. Snitsky blocks the Twist of Fate, but Matt catches him with a superplex. Masters breaks the cover and sets Matt up for a Snitsky big boot. It’s Matt’s turn to get isolated for a beating. Matt desperately hits a flying clothesline on Masters, but Snitsky prevents a tag. Matt counters with an inverted DDT and gets the hot tag. Mysterio explodes with a series of rapid fire flying attacks. Snitsky tosses Rey into the Masterlock! Matt saves Rey and clears the ring for stereo dives to the floor! Rey almost overshots a flying sunset flip, but Hardy clotheslines Masters into place for a convincing near fall. Masters nails an interesting slam on Rey for another close fall. Masters suffers a 619, Twist of Fate, and springboard splash. Rey pins Masters at 13:40! Rey and Matt carried a couple of stiffs to a hot opener, ***.
Winners: Rey Mysterio and Matt Hardy

Retro Rowe: WWF No Way Out 2000

WWF No Way Out

February 27, 2000

by Samoa Rowe

-Follow me on Twitter: @SamoaRowe

-From Hartford, CT. Our hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

-I had an extremely difficult time picking my first show to review on WWE Network, but this one just kept calling out to me.

Intercontinental Championship:
Chris Jericho © (with Chyna) vs. European Champion Kurt Angle

Angle cuts a short patronizing promo, promising to return to Hartford later on as the hero they all deserve. Jericho responds by calling “Kirk Angel” an ignoramus. The crowd is red hot for Jericho at the opening bell. They keep a fast pace, with Jericho dropping Angle over the ropes for the drop-kick off the top. Jericho misses a clothesline and hits the ring post, but he rebounds with a moonsault off the ring steps! Angle crotches Jericho on the top rope for a belly to belly superplex. Jericho rebounds with a double underhook backbreaker, but Angle retaliates with a German suplex for 2. Angle goes to work on the hurt arm, but Jericho surprises with a spin heel kick. Jericho makes a comeback, complete with a dead lift power bomb. Angle rolls into a cross arm breaker! Angle nails the Olympic Slam but is too slow to cover and gets 2. Jericho avoids a belt shot and applies the Walls! Angle escapes and tries another belt shot, but Jericho inadvertently knocks him into Chyna against the steps. Angle blocks the Lionsault with a title belt and wins the match at 10:11. They packed a lot of action into a short amount of time, the cheap finish works in the context of Angle’s ongoing story, **¾.
Winner and new Intercontinental Champion: Kurt Angle

Looking Back: 2000

2000 was a significant year. The world didn't end due to any Y2K nonsense, Al Gore and George W. Bush fought to a time limit draw, and MTV still occasionally played music videos while you were awake.

2000 was significant for me in on a personal level. I was a freshmen in high school, I got my first job in the summer, and my grandmother died late in the year. It was a time of transition and change.

It was also the first year that I became something of a hardcore wrestling fan. I had enjoyed wrestling for a few years up to that point. My jumping in point was the WCW/nWo: World Tour video game for the Nintendo 64. I might be embarassed to say that this game introduced me to Eddy Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Chris Benoit, and Rey Mysterio Jr. It also got me interested in wrestling on more than a channel surfing level. I missed most of the good stuff during the Monday Night Wars because I did not have cable. I would instead watch Shotgun Saturday Night on my local ABC affiliate. By the time I finally got cable, in January 2000, WCW was in shambles but the World Wrestling Federation was still red hot. I hadn't kept up with WWF happenings for a few months, so when I started watching again my initial thoughts included:

-Whoa, Triple H is the World champion? Didn't see that coming! That's not sarcasm either, I honestly didn't think he was World championship material. Keep in mind, he mainly stuck out in my mind as one of many DX members during that era. He was the guy who couldn't win a match without Chyna butting in. Furthermore, sweet little Stephanie McMahon had turned heel and was now ruling the show as HHH's wife! And speaking of Chyna...

-Chyna now had her own mini-me! She was on her own and had The Kat shadowing her. Even stranger, The Kat was the Women's Champion, but get this, she legitimately could not wrestle. I don't think I saw her wrestle a single match other than to drop the title to Jacquelyn. During this time, The Kat was the real-life girlfriend of Jerry "The King" Lawler and he would drool all over her (as he did with divas in general) on commentary. Nothing was creepier than Lawler, who was already in his later forties by this point, admiring "Ms. Kitty."

-Chris Jericho had jumped to the WWF and was on a roll. By April, he was my favorite wrestler in the company and I was eagerly hoping he'd get elevated to main event status. At the time, I thought he could rival The Rock in popularity, and there were times in 2000 when that actually was the case. Chris Jericho was also the wrestler who made me appreciate actual work-rate of matches. His series against Kurt Angle, and then Chris Benoit absolutely captivated me. This was a time when I thought Big Show and Rock lumbering through a punch-fest at No Way Out was exciting. Then at Backlash, Jericho and Benoit tore the house down and I realized that their high-speed, technically sound matches were far more enjoyable to me. I can probably thank Jericho and Benoit for being the hooks that kept me into wrestling longer than just a high school phase.

-This guy I had never heard of, some Olympic gold medal winner, you know him as Kurt Angle, had arrived on the scene. He was gloriously obnoxious. He carried around his gold medals and flaunted them at every chance. He lectured us on his moral superiority, and preached his "three I's" of "integrity, intelligence, and intensity." Angle made himself out to be a complete and utter boy scout of Ned Flanders proportions, but at the same time he was a cowardly heel and a sore loser. This is the Kurt Angle that I remember the most fondly as he was incredibly entertaining.

-Edge and Christian had broken off from Gangrel. They were building steam in a great series of matches against hot opponents like the Hardy Boys and the Dudley Boys. Gangrel had fallen off the radar, along with out Attitude Era staples like Val Venis, D'Lo Brown, and The Godfather. Venis would get a short-lived push later in the year with Trish Stratus as his valet, but would then get lost in the shuffle as a member of Right to Censor. D'Lo Brown and Godfather were cruising along as a makeshift tag team but Godfather would also head to RTC while Brown would wind up in a go-nowhere tag team with Chaz.

-Mick Foley made the transformation from Mankind into Cactus Jack to really elevate his WWF title feud against Triple H. Their Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out was heart-wrenching for me, as Foley was my favorite wrestler at the time. I could not believe when Foley was forced to retire after that match but it was also the first time that I really took Triple H seriously as a champion. I ate up the entire build to Wrestlemania 16 and really enjoyed the way the scheduled main event kept changing. After No Way Out, it was going to be Triple H vs. Big Show, to which The Rock accurately said would suck. The Rock got himself back in the match and later Linda McMahon would put the freshly retired Mick Foley into it as well. It might not have been a great Wrestlemania event, but I loved the build and the follow up heading into the Backlash pay-per-view.

-Shortly after the Royal Rumble, the Radicalz jumped ship from WCW. I'll never forget the excitement of Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn, and Dean Malenko showing up in the front row. Shortly after, they attacked members of DX who had gotten into their faces. I loved the way that Raw and Smackdown always ended with a great cliff-hanger during this time. On Smackdown, the Radicalz all lost matches that had contracts on the line. I would then spend the entire weekend anticipating Raw because I didn't want them to leave. Then Raw would air and not only would the Radicalz get their contracts, but they would backstab Mick Foley in the process. Now I wanted to see them get their collective asses kicked. It was a great time to be a fan.

WWF Pay-per-view Posters - 2000

Time for a walk down memory lane. 2000 was the first year that I was a hardcore wrestling fan. Back then, I eagerly anticipated the pay-per-view events, even though I couldn't usually afford to buy them. It was a big deal back then to find out what the results of the shows were, as they often had big repercussions on the next night's Raw leading into Smackdown. Those were the days. So, here are the posters:

Vengeance

This Sunday, World Wrestling Entertainment presents Vengeance, a "Night of Champions." The hype for this show has been on the back-burner thanks to the continuing fake news coverage over the death of Mr. McMahon (which CNBC claims could make WWE vulnerable to lawsuits over the fact that they are a publicly traded company and have issued press releases in an attempt to blur the lines between fiction and real life). Also add to the fact that Vengeance is right on the heels of One Night Stand and the recent news that Backlash did a poor buyrate, this show appears to be doomed. So what exactly is going wrong in WWE land with this show and what could have been done to fix this?

1) Mick Foley is stepping out of retirement (again) and is main eventing his first pay-per-view since Wrestlemania 16 (back in April 2000). This is a stunt clearly designed to boost the buyrate, but is this really an effective plan in the year 2007? WWE needs to realize that Foley has been an inactive talent for seven years now. In perspective, seven years before 2000 was 1993, where Yokozuna and Lex Luger were headlining for the World Wrestling Federation. That's an awful long time in the wrestling world, and the fanbase has clearly shifted. When Foley came out on the draft episode of Raw and announced that he was accepting the open challenge for Vengeance, you could practically hear crickets in the audience. No one really seemed to care, and I think Foley noticed it. I am a huge Foley mark, but it is time to face reality now.

You may have noticed that in the past two years, Raw (as well as Smackdown) has been enjoying larger attendance at shows. However, these are not the same fans who were turned off by the product in 2002 and 2003 and have magically returned. These are new fans, who have been sucked in by the buzz coming from the current stars, most notably John Cena and Edge. When they see Foley on Raw, they are all aware that he used to be a big star, but to them he is just an out of shape retiree with a bad hair cut. They are also conditioned to seeing Foley show up mainly to put people over. That is admirable on Foley's behalf, but a lot of the newer fans unfortunately see him as a loser in the process.

2) Stephanie McMahon on Raw. With less than a week before a pay-per-view, you know, the shows that cost viewers 40 bucks a pop to witness, Stephanie comes out and makes a big announcement about the NEXT episode of Raw. Yeah, it's going to be three hours and have all three brands (two weeks after the last three hour episode and draft that was supposedly going to reestablish the lines between brands) so the show is going to be a big deal. However, it makes a state of mind in the fans that they have something big to look forward to next Monday, on free television, so they can skip paying $40 for Vengeance on Sunday, and maybe they'll pick it up later for $16 at Wal-Mart or watch it on WWE 24/7.

Stephanie also faces the same challenge that Foley does. The current fanbase isn't that familiar wtih her. Some longterm fans will remember her as the helpless victim of The Undertaker in 1999, or Triple H's scheming wife in 2000, and maybe some of the newer fans can remember when she was the sympathetic general manager of Smackdown in 2002 and 2003. But most of the new fans, who jumped on board in the past two years, only know her as Vince's daughter, and might even remember her as the obnoxious loud-mouth who tried getting herself over again when Raw returned to USA. But based on her nonexistant crowd reaction on the last Raw, it is clear to me that the fans don't remember her or just don't care about her anymore, or a mixture of both.

3) The "Night of Champions" concept is a pretty cool idea, but it also exposes how poorly the WWE has been booking the championship belts. The issue is that many of the titles have been booked into oblivion or are being held by superstars who aren't really being pushed. Let's take a look at the titles.

WWE Champion: John Cena. This is the best booked title in the WWE today, which is a good thing because the title dates back to 1963. Cena has been a great champion during his third reign, and I don't see any reason why he should drop it at Vengeance. The match itself, with a collection of former champions just thrown in there, screams "fantasy booking," and has the potential to be a real cluster-fuck. However, there is a strong chance that Cena's reign could be up this time, and that gives the match a much needed injection of excitement. This match will probably be the main draw for this show, for obvious reasons.

World Heavyweight Champion: Edge. The rumors have been that Edge is going to be a longterm champion, which many have assumed this means that he'll be holding the belt until Wrestlemania time. Edge was a great choice to hold this belt when Undertaker got hurt, because he brings a fresh touch to Smackdown and it gives him an opportunity to run with the ball, something that wasn't going to happen for him on Raw. My only issue with the match on Sunday is that Edge has been feuding with Batista for months now, and they have not produced anything memorable as far as storytelling goes and reactions to their pay-per-view bouts have been lukewarm at best. I'm eager for Edge to retain the title and feud with a returning Rey Mysterio later this year, while Batista finally gets his feud with Mark Henry off the ground (assuming that Henry doesn't go down with ANOTHER injury).

ECW World Championship: Vacant. Chris Benoit and CM Punk are going to wrestle at Vengeance for this title, and that is a legitimate dream match amongst the internet crowd. If this match delivers, it will be automatically worth picking up on DVD, no matter how awful the rest of the show is. The winner should be Chris Benoit at this point, mainly because he's never held the ECW title, and he would make the ECW brand seem legitimate.

Intercontinental Champion: Santino Marella. The IC title has sunken really low in 2007. It was making a comeback last year, during the great Jeff Hardy/Johnny Nitro feud, but since Umaga won the title in February (by absolutely squashing Hardy) the title has been off the radar again. Umaga barely defended the title and Marella winning it was a neat, if not completely random moment. Marella has had some okay-ish title defenses, but he isn't catching on the way WWE hoped, and it seems that his time is up on Sunday. If Umaga takes the belt, I really hope they do something with it this time, because the IC title has too much history behind it to simply be forgotten about now.

United States Champion: MVP. Smackdown has treated the U.S. title the way Raw should be treating the IC title. They aren't just using the title to get MVP over, but they are also using MVP to add to the title's prestige. That is something that WWE forgets to do with most of their championships. MVP won the title at the end of a tremendous feud with Chris Benoit, and I dearly hope he doesn't lose to Flair on Sunday.

World Tag Team Champions: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch. This title is making a comeback of sorts, as Jeff and Matt Hardy did a lot to bring attention back to the gold. Cade and Murdoch have been booked much better now than they were during their first reign (they won the title almost immediately after debuting and lost to little fanfare against Big Show and Kane less than two months later). There is no reason for the Hardy's to take the title back on Sunday, as they are both on seperate shows and it is high time to reestablish the lines between brands.

WWE Tag Team Champions: Deuce and Domino. This belt is really hurting right now. London and Kendrick reigned for 11 months, but I can hardly remember anything they were involved in during the last five months of the reign. Deuce and Domino randomly took the titles on a throway episode of Smackdown and have done nothing of note since either. They don't even have scheduled opponents for Vengeance, with many predicting the Majors Brothers will be getting the shot. This is also only the second pay-per-view appearance by Deuce and Domino, with their first being all the way back at No Way Out in February. My question is why put the tag titles on a team that they don't even think enough of to schedule on pay-per-views on a regular basis, that it took a "Night of Champions" theme just to get them on the show?

Women's Champion: Melina. This title almost always gets included on pay-per-views, but that suggests that it is more prestigious than it really is. The Women's title match is almost always the piss break match, as it is routinely poor quality and frequently is placed on the card in between main event matches. Candice Michelle has a very real chance of taking the title on Sunday, and would be the first Diva Search contestant to win the gold. Melina has not been taking off as champion too well, but at least she is someone who WWE thinks enough of to have regularly portrayed on television, unlike former champions such as Molly Holly (she was practically invisible in her 2003 run) and Gail Kim.

Cruiserweight Champion: Chavo Guerrero. And we end here, on the most depressing championship in all of the WWE. Why is Chavo Guerrero the champ? To push him? To reward him for his hard work? No, the reason Chavo is the champ is because they had NOTHING else for him to do. His push towards the U.S. title flopped and his character was dead in the water, thanks to the tasteless feud against Rey Mysterio (even though Chavo won that feud, his character was damaged badly). So Chavo won the title at No Way Out, as the surprise entrant to a cruiserweight open, just after Jimmy Wang Yang had unceremoniously ended the year-plus reign of Gregory Helms. Since then, Chavo has been barely used on television and has been featured on ZERO pay-per-views, that is until this "Night of Champions" theme forced Smackdown to push the cruiserweight division again in recent weeks. Again, I want to ask the WWE why is it that they would put a championship on someone they did not plan on utilizing in any meaningful way.

Final Thoughts: So there you have it, this "Night of Champions" concept has exposed how poorly WWE has been booking the titles. Thanks to the theme, they are presenting a pay-per-view full of participants who are barely ever on pay-per-views, yet they are somehow the champions or the top contenders. WWE officials and writers probably don't care about this situation, but it would be my deep hope that they will learn a lesson from Vengeance and that things will improve from here.