By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

As The Bash commences tonight, let's pore over WWE's lead-in week regarding their most intriguing storyline, CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy.

An abbreviated recap: In between his appreciable craving for KFC's grilled chicken, Punk oversaw a six-man tag team matchup pitting Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, and the Great Khali against Edge, Chris Jericho, and Dolph Ziggler. The match saw Hardy score the pinfall victory over Ziggler after landing his patented Swanton Bomb. Later in the week on Smackdown, after Punk had taken a significant and surprising loss against rising star John Morrison, the heel team of Edge and Jericho soundly defeated Hardy and Mysterio in a Rage in the Cage Match.

The intricacies of this budding Punk-Hardy feud give it a lot more buoyant intrigue when compared to Raw's main event rivalry between Orton and Triple H, which clearly doesn't need as much revisiting as WWE is granting it.

So far, Smackdown's headlining storyline is fresh and exciting, and we can see most of the tension and emotion emanating from CM Punk's unpredictable character. As I noted last week, Punk is the brand's new latent heel; he's basically shielding some of his insidious, selfish, and pompous tendencies under the guise of a good sportsman.

And WWE has been banking on Punk's combustible character all week. On Raw, he sounded extremely confident when discussion of his upcoming title match with Jeff Hardy came up. In fact, he was almost too confident, hinting perhaps at some underlying arrogance that many viewers probably sensed. On Smackdown, his post-match monologue praising Jeff Hardy despite his loss seemed odd. Jim Ross noted that he perceived sarcasm in Punk's voice. I'm not sure if the tone he struck was sarcastic, but his facial expressions seemed to hint at some possible tongue-in-cheek congratulations.

Those comments at the end of Smackdown this week are exactly why CM Punk is the brand's bona fide star. It's as though he's picking up where Edge left off so that the Rated-R Superstar can take a hiatus from the spotlight and return with greater fervor once Punk firmly establishes his role on the show. Until then, WWE is playing it smart by temporarily stashing Edge to the side so that Punk can shine even more brightly without fear of being eclipsed by a guy who's already proven he's a main event star.

Jeff Hardy, on the other hand, is also playing his role perfectly. He's the guy representing most people in the crowd. He distrusts CM Punk and isn't sure what to make of him. Well, that's exactly how a lot of WWE fans feel at the moment because WWE hasn't pulled the trigger on Punk's heel turn just yet. Hardy's confused expression at the end of Smackdown in response to Punk's unexpected congratulations resonated with a lot of viewers at home who aren't sure what Punk's true agenda entails.

Overall, this well-crafted storyline is being propelled by CM Punk's versatile character, who seems to be leaning in a nefarious direction while still maintaining just enough of his former babyface traits to keep the skepticism rolling. Although Punk's uncertain stance would be pretty untenable to continue long-term, it's certainly worth exploiting while WWE stages his current World Heavyweight Championship reign.

Ideally, this Punk-Hardy altercation will only be the prelude to a much more expansive feud between the two. Jeff Hardy already is considered Smackdown's biggest babyface, and this program with Punk is helping to mold a similarly exciting character for the Straight Edge Superstar. There certainly exists ample fuel to warrant a strong continuation, at least until their next PPV event a month from now: Night of Champions.


Comments? Suggestions? Thoughts on the storyline? Feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com

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