As soon as Mike Adamle announced on Raw Monday that there was going to be a five-man Championship Scramble for the world heavyweight title at Unforgiven, I’m betting that most viewers knew exactly who the four men were that would be challenging champion CM Punk. Excluding Chris Jericho and Shawn Michaels – who will likely face each other at the pay-per-view – John Cena, Batista, JBL and Kane are the top stars on Raw, and, not surprisingly, they are all in the title match.
WWE decided to get more creative with the Smackdown version of the Championship Scramble, which is for the WWE title. Rather than being handpicked, the participants had to win qualifying matches on last night’s show. And instead of putting together a match comprised of the usual suspects (neither The Undertaker nor Edge, who was off the show selling the angle from SummerSlam, are in it), WWE made the bold move to include MVP, Shelton Benjamin and The Brian Kendrick in the contest along with champion Triple H and the ever-popular Jeff Hardy.
Before I give WWE too much credit for thinking outside the box, however, I do need to point out that Mr. Kennedy and Umaga would probably have been in the match if they weren’t injured. Still, WWE could have opted for guys such as The Big Show, The Great Khali, Finlay and Kozlov, and they chose to go with wrestlers who have more upside.
No matter the outcome of the match, it should give a rub to MVP, Benjamin and Kendrick. A main event-level push for MVP is overdue, and a case can be made that the same goes for Benjamin. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Kendrick. Hopefully, this is a sign that WWE believes Kendrick, despite his lack of size, can hang with the big boys.
Other thoughts on last night’s show:
A babyface turn for Vickie Guerrero and the rest of La Familia doesn’t seem to be the plan, which is for the best. It will be interesting to see what happens next with her and The Undertaker, who said he was coming for her soul. I hate when that happens. I’m also curious as to how things will be resolved between Guerrero and her “husband” Edge when he returns. With The Undertaker-Edge feud having run its course, both guys need fresh opponents. …
It looks as if the seeds were planted for a Triple H-Hardy feud, as Triple H’s outside interference led to Hardy defeating Khali and qualifying for the Scramble. Triple H had a strange look on his face after he realized that he had given Hardy a big assist. …
Had I not read the spoilers for the show earlier this week, I would have bet anything that Kozlov was going to win the battle royal and land a spot in the Scramble. He ended up being the first man out. I liked how the finish was done, with Kendrick winning because Ezekiel caught him after he was thrown over the top rope, and his feet never hit the floor. A tainted victory like that will get Kendrick more heel heat. …
Benjamin and Finlay had a good, physical match. If Benjamin could just show a little more personality on the mic, there really would be no stopping him. …
I’m not sure if the Kenny Dykstra/Triple H stuff is going to lead to a push for Dykstra or if it signifies that Dykstra is in the doghouse and WWE is just going to have Triple H humiliate him on TV every week. …
