Edge Wins the World Heavyweight Championship

At the start of this week, things looked very bleak for the SmackDown brand. The Undertaker, the World Heavyweight Champion, was suffering from a severe arm injury that will require him to take several months off. Mr. Kennedy, a youngster moving his way up to the main event via his Money in the Bank title shot (a guaranteed championship match whenever he wants to use it within the next year) was injured over the weekend and it appeared that he would also be missing several months. In addition to losing these two stars for a lengthy period, the brand was still reeling from the losses of both their most popular star, Rey Mysterio, and their biggest villain, King Booker.

With the injury to Mr. Kennedy, the WWE quickly hatched a plan that will pay great benefits for all wrestling fans. On Monday night, RAW Superstar Edge goaded SmackDown Superstar Mr. Kennedy into defending the title shot. Edge beat Mr. Kennedy and took possession of the Money in the Bank title shot. On Tuesday night, the Undertaker defended his title against Batista in a Steel Cage Match. That match ended in a draw but after it ended, the “World’s Strongest Man” Mark Henry returned from his injury and further beat up the Undertaker. Edge then came out, cashed in the Money in the Bank title shot, and easily beat the Undertaker.

What does this mean for SmackDown?
Without doing this move, SmackDown would have been in huge trouble. With Edge moving to SmackDown, he immediately becomes the number one villain on the show. That spot was a huge void for the SmackDown brand even prior to all of these injuries. Edge is now set up for an immediate feud with Batista. One man is the former champion that gave his all in two battles with the Undertaker that ended in a draw while the other man won the title in the most cowardly fashion imaginable. Mr. Kennedy will be returning in a few months and he will be looking for revenge on Edge for stealing his Money in the Bank title shot. Of course the Undertaker will be back in the fall and he will also want revenge. And let’s not forget that Rey Mysterio will be back in the summer and is also a former World Heavyweight Champion. That is four potential main event feuds that look to be far better than anything that would have happened on SmackDown even if all these injuries never took place.

What does this mean for RAW?
While the gain for SmackDown of having Edge switch brands is huge, it is really not that much of a loss for RAW. Edge was in limbo on the show as the Great Khali was recently thrust into a feud for the WWE Championship with John Cena and his feud with Randy Orton seemed to be in jeopardy due to Randy Orton’s promised punishment for his unprofessional conduct while in Europe last month. Another thing that will soften the blow of losing Edge is that Triple H will be returning in several weeks.

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