Earlier than expected and better late than never

From my Top Ten Cases: Best current WWE performers blog entry (9/4/08):

If WWE has any sense, they'll make Chris Jericho the #1 heel on Raw. He brings FAR more to the table than Randy Orton ever will. Ideally, CM Punk will retain his title at Unforgiven, only to drop it to Jericho at the next Pay-Per-View or even Survivor Series.

Well, not three days later the WWE shockingly put the World Championship on Chris Jericho. At Unforgiven, CM Punk (then-World Heavyweight Champion) was removed from the Championship Scramble match after being sidelined by Randy Orton and his second generation cronies. He was replaced by surprise entrant Chris Jericho, who had earlier lost -- via referee decision -- in a hellacious battle with arch nemesis Shawn Michaels.




While it's disappointing that CM Punk's title reign must come to an end, how could you not be excited about Chris Jericho getting what he so richly deserves? He has been absolutely phenomenal the past several months, completely reinventing his character. I know I ranked him as #3 in the latest Top Ten Cases, but I'm totally willing to re-examine that decision. This title reign came much earlier than expected -- and that's when I was optimistic and figured that WWE would grant him a reign at all -- but I'm thrilled that it's happening.


I truly hope that they give Jericho a lengthy title reign. Even if they allow him to hold the championship until, say, No Way Out, he can have some memorable World Championship feuds with CM Punk, Rey Mysterio, Batista, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena.


From my "....what's in Kane's bag?" blog entry (7/23/08):

I foresee Kane opening the bag, revealing the mask, and grimacing sinisterly before putting it back on. It would actually be kinda neat seeing a hybrid of the two Kane characters, with the Big Red Monster wearing the mask, but remaining bald and shirtless.

Well, I was wrong about that. Turns out there was a mask inside his bag, but it belonged to Rey Mysterio (?!?!?) I was really disappointed, because more than anything else, Kane's character has become so incredibly stale. I mean, hell, he hasn't changed his appearance AT ALL in the past six years. He's been wearing the same exact pair of tights since 2002. I mean, hell, reverse the colors. Or change the stitches from red to white. Do SOMETHING different. I will grant him this, though. He did at least return to a variation of his original theme music.




Anyway, this past Monday on Raw, Kane began taunting Rey Mysterio on the Titantron. Near the end of his spiel, he alluded to next week and then revealed his classic red mask. Could this perhaps mean that we will see that "hybrid Kane" after all? It may be two somewhat months after my initial prediction, but I sure hope so.


Actually, a bald Kane, with full red mask, and black, shirtless tights could look pretty cool. I sure as hell hope he dons that mask next week.