By Jonathan Bain, PWTorch Specialist

DEPTH PERCEPTION 10/12: Champion Power Rankings and a Depth Chart of Their Contenders
By Jonathan Bain, PWTorch Specialist

Welcome to week nine of Depth Perception! An extremely busy week in WWE, No Mercy was a good show and featured two outstanding Championship matches in Triple H vs. Jeff Hardy and Chris Jericho vs. Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match. We also were treated to a rare WWE Championship match on Smackdown which saw Triple H defend against The Big Show. Matches for Cyber Sunday have started to be announced and there are some interesting voting options. I'll be writing more about Cyber Sunday in the coming weeks but as for now, onto this week's Championship Rankings!

World Heavyweight Champion - Chris Jericho

Chris Jericho's victory over Shawn Michaels in the Ladder match at No Mercy was great for him, the image of him and HBK on top of the ladder, both holding one end of the World Heavyweight Championship each as it was unfastened from the rung above the ring was fantastic. Jericho now has the last laugh in his feud with Michaels, as Jericho moves onto feuding with Batista and Shawn heads into a new storyline seemingly with Lance Cade. Jericho opened Raw with a fantastic promo. He sold the effects of his match with Shawn Michaels and showed off his chipped tooth. He also announced that as Mike Adamle was away in a meeting with Shane McMahon, Jericho had been named General Manager for the night. Batista came out and challenged Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jericho told Batista he'd beat him and that the name Batista would be synonymous with failure and told him to leave. Batista spinebustered Jericho before leaving. Jericho, as the acting General Manager for the night in Mike Adamle's absence, booked Batista against JBL for The Animal's number one contendership and made himself the special referee. Jericho continued to stack the deck as he named William Regal the special time keeper and Randy Orton the special commentator for the match. Jericho did the typical heel special referee stuff, slow counts and fast counts, ignoring heel tactics and so on, but was speared by Batista late in the match. Mike Adamle returned from his meeting with Shane McMahon and sent referee Mike Chioda to officiate in Jericho's place. After the match, which Batista won, Adamle told Jericho that he'd face Batista at Cyber Sunday and the fans can vote on the special referee out of Randy Orton, Shawn Michaels or Stone Cold Steve Austin. Jericho wasn't happy at all with this decision as Raw went off air. A mixed week for Jericho, a good win at No Mercy but he didn't have a great night on Raw as he failed to cost Batista his title shot.

Challengers:

Batista: Batista dominated JBL at No Mercy to become the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship, on Raw he interrupted Chris Jericho's promo and challenged him. Jericho told Batista to leave his ring, so The Animal hit Jericho with a spinebuster. Later in the night, Batista was forced by Jericho to put his number one contendership on the line against JBL with William Regal at ringside as the time keeper, Randy Orton on commentary and Jericho as the referee. Batista managed to defeat JBL despite the stacked deck and thanks to Mike Adamle bringing out Mike Chioda, got a fair referee in the end. Batista will face Jericho at Cyber Sunday.

Shawn Michaels: Shawn gave a fantastic performance in the Ladder match at No Mercy and came extremely close to winning the World Heavyweight Championship but Lance Cade's interruption cost him the gold. The next night on Raw, Chris Jericho booked Shawn Michaels in a No DQ match against Cade. Backstage, Shawn told Todd Grisham that he'd show everyone that he's still got plenty of gas left in the tank. Later in the show, Michaels mercilessly took a steel chair to Lance Cade and hit him several times before pinning him. Shawn then continued his brutal attack and destroyed Cade with the chair. Great acting from HBK on Raw as he snapped on Cade, I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens next week.

WWE Champion - Triple H

Triple H came extremely close to losing his WWE Championship twice in the last seven days. At No Mercy, he took a Twist of Fate and Swanton Bomb from Jeff Hardy and seemed to be done for, but Triple H managed to turn Jeff's cover into a roll up of his own to retain the title. On Smackdown, Triple H had to defend his Championship against The Big Show and was in trouble once again, after receiving a chokeslam from Big Show, who was then about to finish The Game with his punch. Triple H was saved by The Undertaker, who turned out of the lights and then fought Big Show off to the back. Triple H was then attacked by Vladimir Kozlov but was able to counter the attack with the help of Jeff Hardy. Jeff then hit Triple H with the Twist of Fate and left him unconscious in the ring again. A strange week for The Game, his win was very good over Jeff at No Mercy because he showed that even with Jeff on top form, Triple H was just that little bit better. Being saved by The Undertaker made Triple H look a bit weak because it seemed that he was sure to lose on Smackdown but it's not Triple H's fault that Undertaker came out. Taking the fight to Kozlov was good for the WWE Champion but once again he was left face down in the ring by Jeff Hardy. Because of how close Triple H came both times to losing his title, he'll move down this week, especially as Big Show really had him beat and would probably be the WWE Champion if not for The Undertaker's interference.

Challengers:

The Big Show: Following his knockout victory over The Undertaker, (that's something I didn't think I'd ever write in this column) The Big Show was granted a WWE Championship match on Smackdown by his friend, the General Manager of Smackdown, Vickie Guerrero. Big Show was introduced by Vickie at the start of the show to cut an in-ring promo in which he talked about knocking out The Undertaker and focusing on doing the same to Triple H. Big Show's punch has been put over pretty well, he talked it up on Smackdown and the video packages shown throughout the night made it look devastating. Big Show was about to finish Triple H in the main event with his punch but the lights went out and The Undertaker came out to attack Big Show.

Jeff Hardy: Sunday night at No Mercy, J.R. had this to say about Jeff, "You can't get any closer and not be WWE Champion." Jeff did come extremely close, he had Triple H beat but The Game managed to get the roll up victory. J.R's quote is great line to keep Jeff in the hunt for the title but it's the sort of thing that puts into the fan's minds that a superstar can't "win the big one". You can only come close so many times before people lose interest. I'd love to see Jeff given the chance to shine as WWE Champion but I understand the reasons why WWE are hesitant to do so. Jeff's performance at No Mercy was great even though he lost and on Smackdown he looked good in his pinfall win over MVP. After the match, however, Vladimir Kozlov came out to fight Jeff. Jeff tried to take the fight to Kozlov but was once again put down by a headbutt. Earlier in the show, Jeff told Triple H in the locker room that he'd be challenging the winner of Triple H vs. The Big Show. At the end of the show, after Kozlov had attacked Triple H, Jeff came out and together with The Game, cleared Kozlov from the ring before Jeff hit Triple H with the Twist of Fate. Next week Jeff Hardy takes on Vladimir Kozlov. That should be very interesting.

Vladimir Kozlov: Vladimir Kozlov went face to face with Triple H backstage at No Mercy and 'congratulated' him on his win over Jeff Hardy. On Smackdown, Kozlov interrupted The Big Show's promo and announced he'd be challenging the winner of Triple H vs. The Big Show. Later in the show, Kozlov walked to the ring after Jeff Hardy's match and hit him with his head-butt finishing move. He did the same to Triple H later in the night but was fought off by The Game, with the help of Jeff Hardy. The undefeated Kozlov has been making his presence felt for weeks and he's been put over very strongly. On a side note, I'd very much like to see Vladimir Kozlov take on Umaga when he returns from injury, I think that would be an interesting match-up.

ECW Champion - Matt Hardy

Matt Hardy got a huge win over Mark Henry at No Mercy to finally silence the World's Strongest Man's complaints about never being pinned to lose his title. The next night on Raw, Matt teamed with Rey Mysterio in a losing effort against Mark Henry and Kane. Matt actually took the pinfall loss for his team when he was knocked off the top rope and was chokeslammmed by Kane. On ECW, Matt Hardy tried to help Jamie Noble, who was being assaulted after his match with Mark Henry. Hardy hit Tony Atlas with a Twist of Fate but was caught off guard by Mark Henry, who hit him with a World's Strongest Slam and then two splashes. It's a shame that Matt Hardy had such a strong performance at No Mercy but lost some of that momentum over the next two nights.

Challengers:

Mark Henry: Mark Henry failed to regain the ECW Championship when he was pinned by Matt Hardy at No Mercy but the next night on Raw he was on the winning side when he teamed with Kane to defeat Rey Mysterio and rival Matt Hardy. On ECW, Mark Henry told Theodore Long that he wanted to wrestle Matt Hardy but was denied. Jamie Noble, who had been in the GM's office before Henry burst in, tried to impress Long's assistant, Tiffany, by standing up to Henry and was booked to face the World's Strongest Man. Mark Henry absolutely squashed Noble and pinned him with a World's Strongest Slam. After the match, he continued to beat down Noble but Matt Hardy came out to make the save. Hardy hit Tony Atlas with the Twist of Fate but was caught off guard by Mark Henry, who hit him with a World Strongest Slam and followed up with two splashes. Three matches, two wins this week for Mark Henry, but unfortunately for him, he lost the most important match.

Intercontinental Champion - Santino Marella

At No Mercy, Santino tried to assist Beth Phoenix in her match against Candice Michelle and it almost backfired. On Raw, Santino cut a promo before his match, he said he is trying to be more American, so he's chosen a favourite NBA team, the Oklahoma Thunder. He then told "Mickie Noble" that he was going to rain down on them. Santino got the win for him and Beth Phoenix over Jamie Noble and Mickie James, when he pinned Jamie Noble with a roll up following Beth's distraction. Santino was forced to escape through the crowd when Noble attempted to attack him after the match. A pretty good win for Santino despite the distraction. It was announced that at Cyber Sunday, Santino will defend his title against either Roddy Piper, Goldust or Honkey Tonk Man.

Challengers:

Roddy Piper, Goldust or Honkey Tonk Man: Fans will get to vote on who Santino will face out of these three.

United States Champion - Shelton Benjamin

The Gold Standard didn't get to wrestle at No Mercy but was in action against R-Truth on Smackdown. In his pre-entrance promo, Shelton said that unlike the failing economy, The Gold Standard never fails. Unfortunately this week, he did fail as he lost to R-Truth for the second time in recent weeks. I'm disappointed to see Shelton on this losing streak, the last time he won a match was five weeks ago and he desperately needs a big win soon. Shelton was booked strong in the match with R-Truth this week but he was caught with a unique cradle roll-up. The only thing saving Shelton from being ranked bottom this week is that Michelle McCool wasn't on any of the shows and her name wasn't even mentioned at all.

Challengers:

R-Truth: Before his match against Shelton Benjamin on Smackdown, R-Truth was shown backstage talking to Funaki. Truth asked him what his full name was and he replied that it was Kung-Fu-Naki. Truth performed a freestyle rap about Funaki before leaving for his match, Funaki was left amazed. That was a strange segment but I do enjoy seeing R-Truth get to show off his fun personality. R-Truth then went on to defeat Shelton Benjamin by pinfall to remain undefeated against The Gold Standard. I expect R-Truth will receive a United States Championship match soon.

World Tag Team Champions - Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

Team Priceless didn't have a match at No Mercy but they did cut an in-ring promo at the PPV. They interrupted MVP and Randy Orton and insulted both men. Orton left the ring and as MVP was leaving, CM Punk and Kofi Kingston came out and attacked DiBiase, Rhodes and Manu and cleared them from the ring. DiBiase, Rhodes and Manu used their underhanded tactics to secure two victories this week, as on Raw, Rhodes' distraction helped DiBiase to pin Kofi Kingston one on one and on ECW, DiBiase and Rhodes teamed with The Miz and John Morrison to defeat CM Punk, Kofi Kingston, Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz after Manu's distraction. Really good week for these guys, two matches and two wins.

Challengers:

CM Punk and Kofi Kingston: A busy week for these guys. At No Mercy CM Punk and Kofi Kingston came out at the end of Team Priceless' promo and rushed the ring with MVP to attack them. Kofi and CM Punk played a prank on MVP by letting him run in first and get beaten up but then they entered the ring and cleared Priceless from it. On Raw, Kofi Kingston lost to Ted DiBiase after he was distracted by Cody Rhodes. On ECW, CM Punk and Kofi teamed with Ricky Ortiz and Evan Bourne to face Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, John Morrison and The Miz. Punk took the loss for his team after being distracted by Manu and DiBiase and hit by Morrison's finisher. Not a very good week for this team, especially Kofi who lost two matches.

WWE Tag Team Champions - Carlito and Primo

Carlito and Primo teamed with Jesse and Festus on Smackdown to defeat the team of Curt Hawkins, Zack Ryder, Kenny Dykstra and Ryan Braddock in an eight-man tag team match. Festus picked up the win for his team when he pinned Kenny Dykstra following a flapjack. Good week for Carlito and Primo, who are undefeated against Hawkins and Ryder. I wish I could write more about them this week but they didn't receive any mic time or backstage segments.

Challengers:

Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder: Hurricane Helms was right, the team of Hawkins, Ryder, Dykstra and Braddock strikes fear into the hearts of absolutely nobody. Here's four guys who haven't won a single match since Depth Perception started nine weeks ago, and they didn't even win many before that either. It's a shame for Kenny Dykstra actually, as he has so much potential. This four man team lost to the team of Carlito, Primo, Jesse and Festus on Smackdown after Festus hit Dykstra with a flapjack for the pinfall. I'm actually really surprised it wasn't Braddock taking the job.

Jesse and Festus: Following their win in the eight-man tag team match on Smackdown, Jesse escorted Festus away from Maria, who was at ringside as the guest ring announcer for their match. Festus stared at Maria and the camera focused on her reaction as Jesse and Festus left, so it appears we're going to see some kind of angle involving those three.

Women's Champion - Beth Phoenix

Another great week for The Glamazon, Sunday at No Mercy, she defeated rival Candice Michelle to retain the Women's Championship and then on Raw she team with Santino in a quick win over Jamie Noble and Mickie James. Santino got the pinfall for his team over Noble after Beth had distracted him. At No Mercy, Santino attempted to help Beth but almost cost her once again like we've seen in recent weeks. Beth wasn't pleased but retained her title regardless. Two wins out of two for Beth which is enough for her to keep her top spot from last week.

Challengers:

Candice Michelle: Candice lost clean to Beth Phoenix at No Mercy and wasn't on Raw. A bad week for Candice Michelle but perhaps after she gets rid of all her ring rust over the next few weeks or months then she'll be ready for another shot.

Kelly Kelly: Kelly Kelly pinned Jillian Hall with a victory roll on Raw. A lot has been said about Cryme Tyme and The Miz and Morrison's commentary on this match and I agree that it distracted from the two ladies' hard work in the ring, but it was also very funny. As for Kelly, I'd really like to see her challenge Beth Phoenix next.

Diva's Champion - Michelle McCool

The Diva's Champion didn't appear on WWE television at all this week but at least she's not on such a bad losing streak as Shelton Benjamin who should be bottom of the Championship Rankings this week but because there was absolutely no mention of Michelle McCool, I can't put her anywhere else than at the bottom of the rankings. A few weeks ago when Matt Hardy wasn't on the show, the announcers still took some time to discuss him, which is why he wasn't bottom that week, but Michelle's name wasn't even mentioned.

Challengers:

Maryse: Like Michelle, Maryse didn't appear on WWE television this week.

Brie Bella: The beautiful Brie Bella was in action this week against Natalya Neidhart on Smackdown and defeated her by pinfall after a distraction from 'the other Brie Bella' under the ring. A good win for Brie, she's a part of the show that I enjoy and I like how each week they drop more clues about Brie's twin and are slowly progressing to an eventual reveal. Good to see WWE pacing themselves with this storyline and not going for the reveal too soon.

Championship Rankings Week Nine

Rank 1. Women's Champion Beth Phoenix (No Change)
Rank 2. World Tag Team Champions Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes (Up 3 Positions)
Rank 3. World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho (Up 1 Position)
Rank 4. WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo (Down 1 Position)
Rank 5. WWE Champion Triple H (Down 3 Positions)
Rank 6. ECW Champion Matt Hardy (No Change)
Rank 7. Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella (Up 1 Position)
Rank 8. United States Champion Shelton Benjamin (Down 1 Position)
Rank 9. Diva's Champion Michelle McCool (No Change)

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