He doesn’t drink, smoke or do drugs. His only addiction is competition. That’s the creed the straight edge extremist lives by, but as of late, CM Punk has been itching for a chance to face John Morrison with the ECW heavyweight title on the line and just when it seems that he’s on the verge of golden glory, Punk’s championship aspirations slip through his fingers.

Why is it that Punk chokes whenever the gold is at stake? Up until last night at Summer Slam, Morrison has defeated Punk cleanly in the middle of the ring and even when the champ tries to cheat, something he has failed to do right, he still defeats him cleanly. The matches that Punk was defeated in cleanly weren’t stellar matches at all. The two don’t seem to have great chemistry and often seem to be going through the motions.

Ruled Out

Being ruled out of title contention usually occurs when a number one contender for the heavyweight championship is successfully defeated three times by the champion. It has happened to former champions, John Bradshaw Layfield and Dave Batista and now it’s only right that the same thing happen to Punk. It’s time for ECW General Manager, Armando Estrada to rule CM Punk out of title contention. The rule is usually enacted when it fits a storyline and now is the perfect time. By doing so, Estrada can generate more heel heat by seemingly protecting the brand’s champion all the while preventing Punk from achieving his goal of winning the title.

With the recent demoralizing defeats that he has endured, Punk’s credibility has come into question and fans don’t buy him as a viable contender to the championship anymore when the chances of him winning the match are “extremely” low.

In Good Company

While Punk is definitely disappointed in himself and the constant deferment of his championship aspirations, he should take solace in being in the company of some great superstars that were once shared his plight.
Following his defeat at WrestleMania XIX and after being stuck in a comedic tag team role on Raw with no foreseeable hope of seeing heavyweight gold again, the five time WCW champion, Booker T was traded to Smackdown where he went on to strengthen and redirect his career, anoint himself royalty after winning the King of the Ring tournament, and springboard into the main event scene where he captured the first heavyweight championship of his WWE career.

Edge, who had only received a sampler of a championship reign during his tenure on Raw, found hope and a longer championship reign upon conniving the Money in the Bank briefcase from an injured Mr. Kennedy on Raw and cashing it in the very next night on Smackdown, winning his second heavyweight championship by defeating the Undertaker following the conclusion of a gruesome cage match.

“Brand” New Options

What we do know is that the Raw brand is completely stacked at the moment and the injury-riddled Smackdown and short-staffed ECW brands are in dire need of help and fresh faces. Perhaps the writers can be creative enough to have the general managers make a “four or five superstar trade” involving all three brands. This would be a perfect way to right some of the wrongs of the draft by moving some superstars. A possible idea would be to move Big Daddy V to Smackdown, which is the rumored plan, while moving CM Punk to Raw or Smackdown and having Raw give a few main event superstars, including the returning Jeff Hardy, to ECW in exchange for one or two future draft picks.

The trade would provide fresh faces and new feuds for all three shows and enhance the credibility of the brands’ general managers. Punk, if moved to Raw, could immediately jump into the Intercontinental title hunt with Carlito, Kennedy, Marella, etc. If moved to Smackdown, one could only dream of the matches that would take place between Punk and Matt Hardy, MVP, Batista, and the Undertaker.

The end result of the blockbuster trade would strengthen the lackluster midcard on Raw, provide new challengers for Morrison’s title in ECW, and restore the injury-prone Smackdown brand back to its once great wrestling-oriented trademark.

It’s a win-win for all parties involved.

The Smackdown brand has always been known as a superstar harvesting ground that is raided every year in the annual draft by Raw and now ECW. It is common knowledge that of three brands, Smackdown is the wrestling-oriented brand.

Smackdown has groomed and developed some up and coming superstars and interesting gimmicks, including Mr. Kennedy, Montel Vontavious Porter, King Booker, The Boogeyman, The Miz, Paul London & Brian Kendrick. With the exception of MVP, all were taken away from the brand in the draft.

With SummerSlam this coming Sunday, WWE has an excellent opportunity to strengthen its Smackdown heavyweight division and elevate one of their superstars into the main event making him a bonafide superstar. After putting him out of action for almost a year, Chavo Guerrero will be facing the returning Rey Mysterio at the “Biggest Party of the Summer” and if booked properly, this feud can do more than just springboard Rey Mysterio back into the title picture.

Chavo Guerrero has been doing an amazing job carrying this feud for the last month, but even before the vignettes began airing for Mysterio’s return, Chavo has consistently been putting on stellar matches. His ring work has improved greatly over the years and now can carry his opponents in matches with his ring savvy and match pacing.

The writing staff has done several things right since the development of this feud. 1) Unlike most heels that have to deal with the consequences of a returning superstar that they’ve put out of action, they booked Guerrero as more than looking forward to the return of Mysterio and possibility of re-injuring the former heavyweight champion. 2) They also booked Guerrero in a skit that mocked Mysterio. One of the things that I found unique about this segment was the use of Mysterio’s mask and how Chavo talks to it, often placing it on opponents and attacking them as if they’re Mysterio. It’s eerily similar to the way Chavo’s uncle, Eddie, reacted in his feud with Mysterio a few years ago.

Speaking of Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio greatly benefited from their feud as it elevated him to main event level and served as the initial starting point of his quest to win a heavyweight championship. By defeating a former heavyweight champion, in the matter in which he did, made Mysterio main event material in the eyes of the fans. Now it is time for Mysterio to return the favor and help elevate Chavo the same way Eddie did for Mysterio.

Should Chavo win the match at SummerSlam? If the writing staff chooses to end the feud at the pay per view, then yes, Chavo should pick up the win. Mysterio hasn’t wrestled in singles competition in almost a year, while Chavo has been at the top of his game and was just recently the cruiserweight champion. It would be really hard to believe that Mysterio could come back off an injury and defeat one of the most consistent in-ring superstars on the brand. Besides, the win would do more for Chavo than it would for Mysterio.

Now, if the writing staff chooses to do the right thing and extend the rivalry, then Rey should pick up the win at SummerSlam, to avenge the loss from last year. Have Guerrero and Mysterio put on wrestling clinics for the next few months with each of them exchanging wins over one another. Following the conclusion of their initial feud, move Chavo into high profile matches with the main eveners on Smackdown. He has to be involved with big time superstars to be perceived as a big time superstar.

Guerrero has been in the shadow of his uncle, Eddie, since their days in World Championship Wrestling. I don’t know if Chavo will ever escape the shadow that Eddie has cast, but if booked properly, this could quite possibly be his best chance to at least begin casting a shadow of his own, with Mysterio providing the light.