Triple H

The Future Is Bright For CM Punk

For those of you who follow the behind the scenes stuff, CM Punk's future is now brighter than ever after WWE fired one of his many backstage enemies.

CM Punk Tattoo Shirt

Punked Out A couple of days ago, we reported that WWE had fired ECW head writer, Dave Lagana. That bit of news came as music to the ears of the CM Punk supporters. You see, Dave Lagana wasn't a big fan of CM Punk. In fact, he pushed for other wrestlers to be the ECW Heavyweight Championship over CM Punk. It's been said that John Morrison wouldn't even have held the belt if not for Dave Lagana. The recent title switch that saw Chavo Guerrero winning the belt has also been credited to Dave Lagana pushing management to get the belt off of CM Punk. At the Vengeance pay per view, wrestling fans were caught by surprise when John Morrison won the vacant ECW Heavyweight Championship in his match against CM Punk. Very few people felt that he deserved the belt at the time, especially since he was still using the Johnny Nitro gimmick. From all of the stories that we've heard, it sounds like Dave Lagana had it out for CM Punk. The Straight Edge Superstar is obviously the most over wrestler on the ECW brand for the last year or so. For the head writer to be against him, something must have happened between the two. Now that he's gone, it'll be intereting to see how far CM Punk gets pushed.

The Next Step

Obviously, the short term "next step" would be for CM Punk to win the ECW Heavyweight Championship back from Chavo Guerrero. It could happen as soon as No Way Out or it could happen at Wrestlemania.

It's the next step after the belt that everyone is interested in.

One of the biggest criticisms of CM Punk's first ECW Heavyweight Championshp reign was that he wasn't given good feuds and good opponents to help solidify him as a champion.

CM Punk's title defenses against Elijah Burke and the Miz were basically one time deals. The writers didn't really build up the program that much since it was basically for just one match at a pay per view. His feud with Big Daddy V lasted a bit longer, but the feud ended up giving the man formerly known as Viscera more credibility than the champion.

If the writing team is now fully behind CM Punk, then the best thing they can do for him would be to build up a slew of credible opponents for him to defend the championship against. The ECW Heavyweight Championship gains so much more credibility if CM Punk were to engage in well written programs against the likes of Chavo Guerrero, Shelton Benjamin, Elijah Burke, John Morrison, the Miz, and whatever heel they want to build up from the Smackdown brand.

If done right, then CM Punk could be ready for a nice big push on Smackdown within a year or so.

Closing Thoughts

We'll wait a few months to see how much things will change in ECW.

Bobby Lashley

It has not been officially confirmed by the WWE website that Bobby Lashley is no longer with the company. No word yet on what's next for Bobby Lashley.

Paul Burchill

Paul Burchill will be debuting on Monday Night Raw next week. All eyes will be on this debut because of the accompanying incest storyline that he's doing.

Jeff Hardy

Next week's episode of Monday Night Raw will be headlined by the dream matchup between Shawn Michaels and Jeff Hardy. Should be good.

Wrestler like Alex Shelley have been informed by management to not accept Friday night indy bookings after TNA iMPACT! moves their taping schedule.

Ace Steel

Ace Steel was one of the many wrestlers who were released from the WWE developmental program yesterday. Looks like WWE is cleaning house again.

WWE has offered Alycia Lane a job. She was recently fired from her job as a Philadelphia news anchor after being charged with assault against a cop.

Shane McMahon

There are talks that WWE will finally be releasing a new DVD featuring Shane McMahon at the end of the year. Should be a fun DVD to own.

MVP

WWE United States Heavyweight Champion MVP is currently the longest reigning champion among the current champions in the company.