Welcome to the Wednesday One Shot. Each week, we will present a quick "one shot" thought from each staff member about the previous week in each of the following areas: WWE, TNA and Other (MMA, Indies, etc).

WWE

Will Pruett: Money in the Bank was an amazing show. Monday Night Raw was not. As I am still trying to process the shocking ending with Triple H taking over for Vince McMahon, I don't know how to feel about the story. I'm hesitant to say that I dislike it, although the segment announcing it could have been much better. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I'm retaining my optimism as we march forward in this story.

Jake Barnett: CM Punk rocked the wrestling world again on Sunday with his performance at Money in the Bank. The WWE threw us a screwball Monday night with McMahon being removed from leadership by Triple H. Odds are that new authority figure Triple H ends up getting tangled with Punk, but the question remains whether is he willing to be the kind of character that will make that angle work. Time will tell.

Mark Gessnar: C.M. Punk, the most mainstream name in pro wrestling, has decided to leave WWE (storyline and/or reality). WWE has answered with Triple H taking Vince McMahon's role as the on-air figure head of the company. While you cannot replace Punk's work in the ring or on the mic, Hunter brings a new, unexpected presence to Monday Night Raw. This past Monday's show delivered passable-to-solid in-ring action with the tournament to crown a new WWE Champion, but it was not captivating television. Triple H coming out in the final segment was surprising. And while downtrodden and upset were not emotions that Hunter conveyed very well, it will be interesting to see where the company goes from here.

Ryan Kester: WWE failed to deliver a meaningful follow-up to the white hot MITB PPV. While I still believe they can recover, WWE has a lot of work to do in getting this angle back to where it once was.

Chris Shore: It's Wednesday, and I still have no idea what to think about C.M. Punk and Vince McMahon. There is an agreement between the two men. Anybody who thinks otherwise is the true definition of a mark. But I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is. I honestly do not remember the last time WWE had me in a position where there were so many possibly, neigh viable, paths they could take and I had no good feel for which way they are going. Bravo.

TNA

Will Pruett: Sting is the World Champion of TNA. Sting is a 52 year old wrestler who has not had a decent match in about three years. Sting is an icon pretending to be The Joker every week, complete with Heath Ledger-esque face paint. Sting is not doing this company any favors and the company desperately needs help. Until change comes, this product will continue to suffer.

Jake Barnett: Sting is in his fifties playing a rip off of a character that is no longer socially current, and has clown rapists doing his dirty work for him. Wrestling will matter when TNA hires competent and driven writers. Right now it feels like burnt out writers attempting to make magic with burnt out talent, and what ends up on screen is the Beer League Softball equivalent of Pro Wrestling.

Mark Gessnar: Was off on Thursday and ready to watch Impact. Then I found out there was a Friday Night Lights marathon on ESPN Classic which I would rather watch, so I recorded Impact on my DVR. Started watching Impact on Friday, but following the opening segment, realized I hadn't seen Dark Knight in quite some time so decided to watch the real Joker rather than Sting's horrendous knockoff.

On Saturday was going through my DVR and decided that a repeat of Zack and Kelly's wedding on Saved by the Bell: The College Years was more "must-see" than Impact. By Sunday, I was low on DVR space and needed to make sure I had enough room for this week's True Blood. Impact became a DVR casualty. Read spoilers and found out Sting won the title, why would I care or want to watch? Will Pruett, and this week's Jason Powell audio were more than enough to get my Impact fill.

Ryan Kester: Clowns. TNA added evil clowns to Sting's act. Thank the heavens it was only for one night, but it was bloody clowns. TNA is shamelessly ripping off the Joker character and it makes me reach for my remote every time I see it.

Chris Shore: As bad as the Joker Sting, complete with clowns, gimmick is, the things that is most offensive to me as a wrestling fan is who the clown were. From a storyline standpoint, Fortune makes some sense. But why would you take your top four babyfaces (arguably) and have them serve as the lackeys to a crazed 52 year old who would have been out wrestled by any of those four even in his prime?

Other (MMA, Indies, Etc)

Will Pruett: ROH - The tag team scene is ROH just keeps getting better, but I would be remiss if I didn't say I was worried about the development of Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly. These young wrestlers have continuously lost high profile matches all year and even though they are in line for a tag team title shot, they hardly look like threats. In building up their big four tag teams, I fear that Cole and O'Reilly have been sacrificed by ROH.

Jake Barnett: ROH - The first broadcast for Sinclair seems to be gelling into a pretty hot show. Can ROH flex its creative muscles and deliver stories that make fans buy into the ring product? They've shown flashes of brilliance before, but most of ROH on HDNet felt like old USWA broadcasts. I remain a skeptic that is very willing to have his mind changed.

Mark Gessnar: UFC - Injuries continue to affect main card after main card in the UFC. The last four UFC pay-per-views have all had alterations due to injury and August's PPV, UFC 133, in my hometown of Philadelphia, will be no different. Originally the card was set to feature Jon "Bones" Jones defending the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship versus Rashad Evans. Jones suffered a hand injury against Shogun at UFC.

The next main event was rumored to be Jose Aldo vs. Chad Mendes for the UFC Featherweight Championship. Aldo was injured at UFC 129. So the promoted main event was Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis. Davis suffered a knee injury last week. The main event is now Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz, the man who was fighting for his career last month. While injuries typically tend to hurt a card, Evans vs. Ortiz II is a much more enticing fight with more mainstream name recognition. Their first fight ended in a draw, this fight will end with a fighter unconscious on the mat.

Ryan Kester: ROH - I'm still looking for suggested matches to familiarize myself with ROH's history and some of the classics that promotion has delivered over the years. If you have legal links to some matches online or just want to suggest matches I should seek out, then please send them to me at ryan.kester@gmail.com.

Chris Shore: ROH - ROH is slated to announce who Davey Richard's first title defense will be against tomorrow to round out their TV taping main events. Who it is is of less importance than whether or not the show will follow a logical linear path. I realize you run the risk of giving away things when you tape multiple weeks at a time, but "them's the breaks" when you are still a small fledgling company. Hardcore fans may not find a problem with it, but fans who are new to the product will quickly grow frustrated by seeing live events and iPPVs using a different timeline than TV.

Thanks for reading. All comments can be sent to css3238@gmail.com.

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