Today's Rundown: Chris Jericho, C.M. Punk, Second generation faction, Manu, Batista, Triple H, Jeff Hardy, Vladimir Kozlov, Pittsburgh Steelers, Steely McBeams

Chris Jericho as the World Heavyweight Champion: This is a huge buy, albeit a reluctant one. There are times when more than one person is capable of and deserving of a run as world champion. This is one of those times, however, it is difficult to argue against Jericho being the champion right now. He and Shawn Michaels have been the best thing going on Raw. I would love to see Jericho vs. Michaels for the title at Wrestlemania XXV.

C.M. Punk loses the title without wrestling: I am selling this. I see what WWE was trying to do here. They wanted to keep Punk strong while starting his feud with the second generation faction. However, Punk is all about the world title. He should be clawing and scratching at the chance to win back his title. Yes, he will face Jericho on Monday, but he is out of the title picture. It would have been nice to see an extended program with these two and wait until Randy Orton is ready to go to start Punk's new feud.

Second generation stable: I am buying these guys big time. I love stables. They immediately make guys more interesting and their interaction with each other allows their personalities to develop. Also, it helps build new stars more effectively. If there is more than one stable, matches between them have an extra aura of importance surrounding them. The sky is the limit here for Dibiase, Rhodes, and Manu.

Manu: I am buying him overall. He is a fantastic worker (no surprise there) and he adds something different and exciting to the aforementioned stable. I do not like his near identical look to Umaga. I also do not like how it has not been explained that he can speak English just fine and Umaga cannot. Nonetheless, Manu is being put in a high profile spot right away and I am excited to see him relish in the opportunity.

Batista: I am selling him right now. I wrote an entire blog a couple of months back about how many times he has lost title matches at pay-per-views over the past two and a half years. It looks as though he will get the first crack at Chris Jericho, but I would be shocked to see him win the title. Thus, he will fail to win the title yet again. Honestly, I would have absolutely loved to see him turn heel and head up the new heel faction with Orton.

Triple H's personality: I am buying his smartass abilities and tongue in cheek comments. I am selling his degrading of the other wrestlers on Smackdown. A good face champion makes their opponents look good and like a legitimate threat to win the title. Luckily, most wrestling fans are smart enough to take these comments with a grain of salt, but I wish Triple H would try and make news stars as opposed to simply brightening his own.

Jeff Hardy as WWE Champion: I am buying this and although I would like to see it happen at a bigger show, I hope he wins the title at No Mercy.

Vladimir Kozlov attacks Jeff Hardy: I am buying this too. Kozlov is new blood in the main event scene and a damn good heel too. I hope they keep the title away from him, but I like that he is actually making good on his threats to find better competition.

The Steelers and the McBeams: I am buying both of my teams after week one of the NFL season. With the Colts, Chargers, and Jaguars losing, along with Tom Brady going down for the year, everyone has the Steelers going to the Super Bowl. Not so fast. They looked fantastic in week one, but they still play the toughest schedule in the NFL. However, Steeler fans have a lot to be optimistic about.

My McBeams lost Reggie Wayne (trade) and Marques Colston (injury), so the wide receiver crew is reeling. I was able to trade for Braylon Edwards, so we will be fine. Since I am going to hold onto Colston and wait out his injury, I absolutely cannot lose anyone else. I hope Brian Westbrook and Willie Parker stay healthy. Knock on wood.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: