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CALDWELL: Where does WWE go from here following the Breaking Point PPV? Sep 14, 2009 - 2:01:40 PM
WWE's Breaking Point PPV delivered enough PPV-worthy action last night to be considered a mild thumbs up. Evaluation may vary, though, depending on what you thought of WWE's angle in the main event that ended the PPV on a head-scratching and perhaps annoying note.
Of course, follow-up is key. The problem with ending a PPV with a storyline involving the Smackdown brand is you can't do instant follow-up on Raw the next night. Instead, we wait until Tuesday for the taping results, then wait until the developments air on Friday. WWE can make up for that if the angle is really that darn good, like waiting for Rey Mysterio vs. John Morrison.
So, where does WWE go from here? WWE has less than three weeks until the next PPV featuring the exact same top stars in similar match-ups, so Breaking Point will be quickly forgotten on tonight's Raw to begin selling Hell in a Cell on October 4.
Randy Orton has a re-match, which could be done on tonight's Raw to move somewhere else for Hell in a Cell, but that's unlikely when WWE only has three weeks in-between "off-brand" PPVs. Orton vs. Cena at Hell in a Cell seems likely.
DX vs. Legacy will be interesting. Triple H and Shawn Michaels could be scripted to continue acting like ten-year-olds and pretend like nothing happened last night when they lost to Legacy. Wouldn't surprise me, as that seemed to be the tone after Legacy was booked to push them to the limit at Summerslam.
Or, WWE will actually try to build on Legacy's victory and start planting seeds for something new down the road, such as HBK and Hunter splitting off or adding a new member or doing something different.
The other factor in play is Batista's announcement. Will it be a standalone segment or will he be incorporated into the DX vs. Legacy program after WWE drew attention to Legacy taking Batista out earlier this year to write him off storylines during the TV promos for Batista's return?
Meanwhile, Smackdown was reduced to a non-factor on last night's PPV with the removal of Jeff Hardy and Rey Mysterio. Dolph Ziggler was given crap and told to make a crap sandwich. They had Khali vs. Kane in a bowling shoe ugly match. And they finished with Punk vs. Taker.
The direction of Smackdown's top storyline will be cleared up this week, but we're looking at a re-match between C.M. Punk and The Undertaker in Taker's specialty HIAC gimmick match. The storyline still isn't clear on why or how Taker was given a title shot after returning from his post-WM25 vacation, which could factor into Teddy Long's storyline decision-making. Or perhaps they'll continue to ignore that apparently trivial matter.
The ECW brand doesn't seem to be done with Christian vs. William Regal yet. It seems like the perfect time for a two-week mini-tournament that the ECW brand likes to pull out once in a while to tease the idea of new competitors for the ECW Title, only to return to the same challenger to the current champion.
ECW is slowly developing some heels to challenge for Christian down the line, but they're not ready for an ECW main event feud yet. Christian vs. Regal with a strong mid-card seems to be the formula for ECW leading to Hell in a Cell.
Overall, WWE is looking at repeat action going into the next PPV barring a major shift in storylines starting on tonight's Raw. They're not prepared to run PPVs every three weeks without repeating the same main event feuds. They haven't developed mid-card stars they can rotate into PPV main events every three-or-four weeks.
On October 4, it looks like WWE is just going to ask their viewers to pay for tweaks of what they paid for on September 13. Raw TV tonight should at least be worth watching to see how WWE plays up Randy Orton's character trying to kill John Cena last night, Legacy's victory over DX, and what Batista will have to offer. Perhaps WWE will have him join Legacy and there will be something new to write about.
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