So with all that in mind, lets take a look at some of the WWE's happenings this week, with some of my insight added at the end.
Brock Lesnar has "nuclear heat" for showing up at UFC event
Any kind of Brock Lesnar news needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The WWE knows that people can find out information on the Internet now and they are trying to leak some false stories out there in order to get people talking. These seems like one of those stories. Dave Meltzer says that people in the WWE were furious over Lesnar's appearance at the last UFC PPV. Apparently people had no idea Lesnar was going to be there.
In my opinion, the WWE knew exactly what they were getting when they signed Lesnar. Brock Lesnar is out for the well being of only Brock Lesnar and he will do whatever makes him the most money. Does Brock Lesnar have to clear everything he does with the WWE? Absolutely not. I think the WWE is trying to blow this story out of proportion for the simple fact of gaining more publicity and make it more newsworthy when Lesnar returns to WWE TV. I really don't think Brock Lesnar is going anywhere in the year he is under contract with the WWE. And if the WWE decided to walk away from Lesnar's contract, it would be one of the worst failures in the WWE history. Lesnar vs Triple H will happen at SummerSlam. I would expect Lesnar to wrestle four more matches after SummerSlam: Hell In A Cell, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and Wrestlemania. My guess for his opponents:
Hell In A Cell: HHH Rematch
Survivor Series: C.M. Punk
Royal Rumble: John Cena for the WWE Title
Wrestlemania: The Undertaker
Again, the new 'hot rumor" is that the WWE is looking to book Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Do I agree with that? No. I still think Rock vs Brock should happen. Its the biggest match the WWE could do. Brock Lesnar should not end the Streak. The Undertaker is rumored to be appearing on the 1000th episode of RAW in July, and if they want to do Lesnar/Taker, they could easily have Lesnar take him out at the show to start the build. But that is all I have in the weekly Brock Lesnar Rumor Department.
Could Randy Orton Be On His Way Out?
No. I think it would be a dumb move by the WWE if they did that. But apparently there is a small group of people in the WWE that think dumping Orton would be a good move because of his high salary. Apparently Orton had a meeting with Vince McMahon and Triple H, and the meeting was said to be less than cordial. But what is the problem in all of this? There is no one to replace Orton on the roster right now. He is the #3 face in the entire WWE, and you don't have anyone to move into that spot right now. Rey Mysterio won't be around much longer. Sheamus could have been the guy, but the WWE ruined that with everything that happened at Wrestlemania.
As I said last week, I have liked what Orton has done for the most part in the last year. His feud with Christian was one of the best of his career, then he helped put over Mark Henry as a threat and lost two matches in a row to Henry in route to Henry winning the World Title. He also had a good program with Wade Barrett in the fall. My guess is that they were building to a Randy Orton/Sheamus match at SummerSlam. Orton's suspension has also caused the WWE to move C.M. Punk to Smackdown House Show's until Randy Orton returns. That obviously shows the lack of faith the WWE has in Sheamus, Sin Cara, and Christian to carry the brand as a whole.
Now, would Randy Orton leave and go to TNA? You know they would offer Orton a contract, the only thing you have to wonder is how quickly they would ruin Orton. Orton has apparently been problematic backstage recently and I'm sure he would be exactly the same in TNA. They don't exactly have the strongest of leaders in that locker room. I really don't think Orton is going anywhere, especially with the lack of depth on the WWE's roster. Orton might not return at the level he once was, but he will still be a valuable asset to the WWE in the coming years.
First 3 Hour RAW to Be Like a PPV
The problem with this, of course, is that the WWE has a PPV a week before this 3 hour RAW. If the WWE wanted to make this three hour RAW important, then they should've either not have had a PPV in July or move it up a week in the calendar. The good thing for the WWE is that the PPV is Money in the Bank, and that normally does the best buys of any "B" PPV, although it may not beat out Extreme Rules from this year.
If I were a betting man, I would say that there will be at least one Money in the Bank cash in on this show just to shake things up. I already mentioned that the Undertaker will apparently be on. We might finally see the debut of Dean Ambrosse. The normal legends will appear, and I would expect an appearance by Steve Austin and possibly The Rock, either live or via satellite.
Now while this may help the initial show, the problem is you know the WWE won't keep that trend up for every RAW going forward. But this may be the show the WWE uses to launch its new "summer mega storyline." Vince McMahon is pushing for the WWE writers to come up with something similar to what happened with Nexus in 2010 and C.M. Punk in 2011. I don't know what they could have up their sleeve this year, but then again, no one saw those two things coming and they were quite the pleasant surprise.
A New WWE Title In the Works?
C.M. Punk made mention of this early this week, and then photos leaked online of what appears to be the start of or the new design for the WWE Championship.
Personally, I'm not a fan of it. The main reason being that it is way too similar to the World Heavyweight Title. Now if that is something going on the side of the belt, then I'm ok with it. But having two title belts with similar designs can't be a good thing. The winged eagle belt from the 1990s has always been my favorite, but the WWE won't bring that back for some reason. A new design has been sorely needed for quite some time now, but they need to do something different. Not make it similar to their current World Title.
Vince McMahon to Return On RAW; Triple H Returns at No Way Out
Lets start with the guy that walks funny.
Oh wait, they both kind of do. Ok then lets start with Vince. This is a clear sign to get the ratings up. They have been under a 3.0 the last two weeks. Its a good thing that the WWE has been hyping this up for a while that Vince will start the show. Normally the first hour has a low rating and saying that Vince McMahon will start the show should help the rating. But doesn't Triple H have power over John Laurinaitis now? Didn't Vince get a vote of no confidence from the Board of Directors? So who's in charge? Who really knows? In all likelihood I don't think John Laurinaitis gets fired. Normally when Vince returns something big happens, so I would expect something like that to happen here. I don't know what. I wouldn't expect him to explode in a limo, or have the stage collapse on him, but expect something weird.
Then the WWE sent out a text message Monday saying that Triple H will appear at No Way Out to address everything going on with Brock Lesnar and his future with the WWE. Just like Vince returning is an attempt to spike the ratings, Triple H appearing at No Way Out is an attempt to get a few extra PPV buys with the belief that Brock Lesnar might show up. A promo to help a PPV buyrate? That's a sign of desperation to me. I don't know how much that will help. I don't think Brock Lesnar will appear on the actual show. I really don't think he will return until the 1000th episode of RAW. To me, its the smart thing to do. If anything, Paul Heyman will come out and interrupt Triple H's promo.
That's all I have this week. My RAW Review will be live as always Monday. That's the one thing that will not change with my schedule, barring something coming up. No Way Out Preview Thursday. Live No Way Out Results Sunday. I'm also probably starting my NFL Previews in July, so get ready!
Until Next Time
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
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