Column Posted by Aaron Hurt on 3:31:31 PM Jul 13, 2008
It's said that nature abhors a vacuum, and now that Monday Night Raw Starring Triple H has been put on hiatus, the copious amount of time his Game-ness monopolized has been quickly been given to guys like Punk, Kofi, Cryme Time, Dibiase Jr., and others. Lo and behold, it seems that a number of fans can almost be bothered to care again. Some feel that pulling the trigger on Kofi Kingston was a little premature; however there are other factors to consider. Jericho doesn't need a title in his feud with Shawn Michaels and the only reason he had it in the first place was Jeff Hardy's suspension. Given another six months, Kofi's IC title win might have felt a little more significant. On the other hand, C.M. Punk becoming World Champ was a watershed event and bound to overshadow almost anything. And to those who want to declare Punk a so-called "transitional champion", remember that after Edge beat Cena for his first major title in Jan. '06 he held it for only three weeks before losing it back to Cena at the Royal Rumble. The point is that regardless of how or why, Raw's sudden youth movement is paying instant dividends.Over in TNA, the Knockout's division will be without one of its new key players for the next few weeks after Moose suffered a broken leg at a recent Indy show. While it will take a little steam out of things, let's hope this is only a temporary setback. The World X Cup action in recent weeks has given Impact a little more variety by featuring an array of international talent and diverse styles largely missing from TNA. How well things are wrapped-up in the big PPV finale remains to be seen but this could be a great opportunity to do something epic. Similar to when Eddie Guerrero and Benoit simultaneously held World titles in 2004, two excellent WRESTLERS like Samoa Joe and C.M. Punk are the standard bearers for their respective organizations. WWE has looked quite strong since Wrestlemania, and TNA is slowly trying to adapt their program with more straightforward methods in and out of the ring. As fans, let's all make sure to enjoy it while it lasts.
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