Tuesday, JULY 1 - 1:20 P.M.

-It looks like Vince McMahon is pulling back on the stage stunt followup. Shane McMahon's announcement at the beginning of the show simply acknowledged the storyline, yet did nothing to further it. The nice thing about this storyline is that Vince can easily pull the plug if he recognizes that the fans don't care.

He could simply return to television, say he was lucky to avoid serious injury, and move forward. The alternative is that Vince sits out for a while and then shocks us with his appearance when he returns. A former WWE writer told me recently that Brian Gewrirtz pitched the idea in the past of Vince growing a scruffy beard and playing a Howard Hughes-like character.

I guess we'll have a better idea of whether that's the plan the next time we see Vince appear on television. I'm fine with a long break from Vince. The Raw brand was fun last night and the Vince character has been stale for a long time.

-WWE is finally shaking things up. C.M. Punk is the new World Champion. We're finally seeing someone other than Triple H, John Cena, and Randy Orton get a run with the World Title on the Raw side of things and it's totally refreshing.

My biggest concern coming out of the draft was that WWE would simply move the top guys around and have them feud with one another. This company desperately needs new stars and they took a step in the right direction last night.

I complained after WrestleMania that the three singles champions were Hunter, Undertaker, and Kane. They were all throwbacks to the Attitude Era. Suddenly, the champions on the Raw side are Punk, Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, and Kofi Kingston. I have no idea how long the youth movement will last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does.

-I'm not sure what to make of the Smackdown brand just yet. There's a logjam at the top with political powerhouses Triple H and Undertaker both expected to appear on the brand. I'm also concerned by the decision to have Hunter wear the Smackdown version of the World Title.

Edge seemed like a better candidate to wear the strap on Smackdown if for no other reason than he had so many fresh babyface opponents to work with in Hunter, Taker, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, Big Show, and possibly even MVP.

Hunter still gets the big pops from the live crowd. He sells a lot of merchandise. There's no denying that he's over. However, there's just something about seeing him wear one of the World Titles that makes his brand feel stale, as I believe it sends the message to casual viewers who tune in occasionally that nothing has really changed.

Perhaps things will be different now that he's switched brands, though. It's been a while since the Smackdown viewers who don't watch Raw on a regular basis have seen him, let alone seen him as the champion. Plus, so many changes were made around him via the draft that Smackdown should feel like a fresh brand even if he does have the title.

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