By Jonathan Bain, PWTorch Specialist

I'd like to dedicate this week's column to my beloved dog Bonnie, who passed away this week at thirteen years old. Strange as it may be to dedicate a wrestling column to a pet, Bonnie knew a thing or two about wrestling and was the innovator of The Dog Splash! See you again soon Bon'.

Welcome to week three of Depth Perception!

This week on ECW it was announced that there will be a third Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, involving Mark Henry's ECW Championship. I said last week that I quite liked the idea of the Championship Scramble but I thought that two matches was plenty. It feels a little like overkill of the gimmick to have three all in night but hopefully they can make each match feel different. At least the ECW Championship is being presented as on par with the World Heavyweight and WWE Championship belts by having their own Scramble match and ECW will be represented on Pay-Per-View by a match longer than a minute this time!

Now, onto this week's Championship Rankings!

World Heavyweight Champion - C.M. Punk

C.M. Punk opened the show this week, defeating JBL for the third time one-on-one. This was an exciting way to start Raw and Punk was over with the crowd. It's a good win for him and I think it's safe to say has established him as the better man over JBL in the eyes of the fans. Even though Punk got a good win, I still had a small issue with him only appearing once, at the start of the show for his match, and not being featured at all later in the show. A follow-up interview later in the evening would have been good, but it's a small detail and doesn't change that the World Champion looked strong this week.

Challengers:

Batista: Batista cut a backstage promo declaring his feud with Kane as personal, the two later wrestled each other in the main event, which resulted in a DQ when Kane hit Batista in the leg with a steel chair. Batista recovered and returned the favour, mercilessly attacking Kane with the chair before falling over in pain. An intense showing from Batista this week, he looks strong heading into next week thanks to his aggression in the post-match angle.

Kane: Kane got himself DQ'd against Batista on Raw when he attacked him with a steel chair. Kane would end up on the receiving end of Batista's rage though, as The Animal speared him and repeatedly hit him with the chair. Kane also looks pretty strong this week thanks to the intense show-closing angle between him and Batista.

Rey Mysterio: (John Cena's replacement in the match) Firstly, how does GM Mike Adamle know that Rey Mysterio is healthy enough to wrestle at Unforgiven after everything Kane has said? Secondly, I'll have to wait until Rey appears to see where his Kane storyline is going and rate him as a challenger.

JBL: JBL suffered another loss to C.M. Punk this week and is losing momentum fast. Last week, I questioned why Layfield was receiving another title shot after his SummerSlam loss and adding this loss hasn't helped his case. JBL absolutely needs to beat one of his Unforgiven opponents next week.

WWE Champion - Triple H

Three weeks into the Depth Perception column and we saw our first Champion Vs. Champion match as WWE Champion, Triple H, wrestled United States Champion, Shelton Benjamin in Smackdown's main event! Triple H came across pretty well in the match, he was able to survive a distraction from The Great Khali and countered Shelton's Pay-Dirt finisher to hit the Pedigree for the win. Khali kept Triple H distracted after the match long enough for Shelton to hit Triple H with the United States title, leaving him unconscious in the ring. Khali then added insult to injury by hitting Triple H with his choke-bomb finisher. A mixed week for The Game, he picked up a good win but was also left battered in the ring by Khali and Shelton Benjamin.

Challengers:

Jeff Hardy: Jeff Hardy cut a good, short backstage promo on MVP before defeating him one-on-one to avenge his loss at SummerSlam. After the match, however, Shelton Benjamin came to the ring and delivered his finishing move, Pay Dirt, to Jeff. A pretty good week for Jeff, despite taking Shelton's finisher and almost breaking his neck after falling off the top rope during his match, but with wins over Khali last week and then over MVP this week, Hardy's getting some good momentum going with just a small road bump thanks to Shelton.

MVP: There was a very good video package on MVP and Jeff Hardy's feud this week and MVP come across as a dangerous competitor in it. MVP would go on to suffer a pinfall loss to Jeff Hardy, and then be on the receiving end of Shelton Benjamin's Pay Dirt after the match. Not the greatest week for MVP but a win next week would put him back on track.

Shelton Benjamin: Shelton Benjamin stormed the ring at the conclusion of Jeff Hardy Vs. MVP and left both men laid out after hitting them with Pay Dirt. Later in the night Shelton was defeated in a Champion Vs. Champion match by Triple H in the main event of Smackdown! After the match, he hit Triple H from behind with the United States Championship belt before standing tall over him. I think this was a pretty good week for Shelton, even though he lost, he was booked well against Triple H, was able to stand tall over him after the match and looked good hitting his finisher on MVP and Hardy.

The Brian Kendrick: The Brian Kendrick didn't wrestle on this week's show, instead he cut a backstage promo with Ezekial. He said he's going to get the last pin at Unforgiven and that there's a fine line between genius and insanity and if you can walk it, nothing can stand in your way. This was a good show of personality from the pair.

ECW Champion - Mark Henry

With the announcement of an ECW Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven, most of the ECW programme itself was dedicated to the men attempting to qualify, thus Mark Henry's role was limited. General Manager Theodore Long booked qualifying matches to name the four challengers for the match and Mark Henry let him know how he felt about it in a backstage segment. He told Long that he the Championship Scramble isn't fair. The GM basically said "too bad, life's not fair!" This was Henry's only appearance on the show. I would have liked more airtime for the Champion but it's understandable due to the focus on the challengers this week. A fine week for Mark Henry as long as this small role on the show is just a one-off. His inactivity and minor appearance will mean he moves down in the rankings though.

Challengers:

Matt Hardy: Following his loss last week on ECW to Mark Henry, Matt Hardy bounced back this week with a strong win over John Morrison in a very good match that I suggest viewing if you haven't already. Both Hardy and Morrison had a good showing here and Matt looks like a very strong threat to Mark Henry's title at the moment.

The Miz: The Miz qualified for the Championship Scramble match by defeating rising star, Evan Bourne. This is a good win for The Miz to have, Evan Bourne hasn't lost many matches since arriving in ECW and The Miz needed a big win like this. Plus, he didn't resort to cheating to get the pinfall, he just capitalised on Bourne's inexperience, so a good week for The Miz.

Chavo Guerrero: Chavo pinned Tommy Dreamer to earn his spot at Unforgiven, he was aided by Bam Neely's distraction of Dreamer. Fine from Chavo.

Finlay: Finlay wrestled his rival, Mike Knox in the main event of ECW this week for the final spot in the Championship Scramble match. With the help of Hornswoggle and two shillelaghs, Finlay got the win and will head on to Unforgiven. A fine week for Finlay.


Intercontinental Champion - Santino Marella

Santino's night started off bad for him as he cost Beth Phoenix her match against Kelly Kelly. In frustration, The Glamazon then attacked Santino, who ran away up the ramp. Later in the show, Santino defended his Intercontinental Championship against the former Champion, Kofi Kingston. Santino appeared to be in trouble as Kofi gained the upper hand but Beth Phoenix came out to ringside to trip Kofi face first into Santino's knee for Santino to get the pin and retain. Glamarella then kissed and made up. Santino continues to be a very funny comedy character but a pretty weak Champion, relying on The Glamazon to help him, but that's the storyline and if he keeps winning, he'll keep moving up the rankings. O.K week for him.

Challengers:

Kofi Kingston: I think it's way too early to say that Kofi is in trouble but he really should be beating Santino at this stage of his time on Raw. Of course, he's "protected" by Beth Phoenix' distraction but he can only be protected for so long. A win next week would be good for Kofi.

D-Lo Brown: D-Lo didn't appear on Raw this week so we'll have to wait and see if his challenge for the Intercontinental title will continue after last week's DQ finish between him and Santino.

United States Champion - Shelton Benjamin

A good week for The Gold Standard, he assaulted Jeff Hardy and MVP, two of his rivals in the Championship Scramble match, and hit them both with his Pay Dirt move. He then stood tall on the turnbuckle to celebrate. Later in the night Shelton would lose to Triple H in the main event but the loss wasn't too bad for him as he was booked very well in the match. Of course, losing to the WWE Champion is never a good thing but Shelton was booked strong. That wasn't the end of Benjamin's night, as I mentioned earlier, he left Triple H unconscious in the ring after the match by hitting him with the United States title. Shelton's profile was raised by being in the main event with the WWE Champion and holding his own. Along with his being able to stand tall over The Game after his match, his actions earlier against MVP and Jeff Hardy and his short, confident promo before his match, he did very well this week. He won't be able to move above Triple H in the rankings though, as I can't justify ranking him ahead of the man who beat him this week.

Challengers:

As Shelton Benjamin is currently involved in the WWE Championship picture with his main rivals, MVP and Jeff Hardy, please see the WWE Championship Challengers section for their respective weeks.

World Tag Team Champions - Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase

Rhodes and DiBiase were without their Championship belts this week, as a result of Cryme Tyme's theft of them last week on Raw. However, this didn't stop the Champions from defeating Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Jerry "The King" Lawler in a non-title match. After the match, Cody threatened Cryme Tyme, who appeared, with the tag titles, up in the luxury suite of the arena and made a challenge for a title match at Unforgiven, which DiBiase accepted on behalf of his team.
A good enough week for Rhodes and DiBiase to move up after last week's handicap match loss and they benefit from other Champion's not having very strong appearances, but I did think they bumped a little too much for Hacksaw…

Challengers:

Cryme Tyme: JTG and Shad officially challenged Rhodes and DiBiase for a match at Unforgiven and were granted one. Shad's promo from up in the luxury suite was bad but they made their point.

WWE Tag Team Champions - Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder

Hawkins and Ryder's first appearance on Smackdown! this week was backstage in Vickie Guerrero's office where they, along with the rest of LaFamilia, watched The Undertaker's in-ring promo on a television. Hawkins and Ryder left the room in fear with Chavo and Bam. Later in the night, Hawkins and Ryder were wrestling Jesse and Festus when The Big Show decided to interrupt the match and destroy all of the competitors, so that he could cut a promo on his being overlooked by Vickie Guerrero. Festus escaped Big Show's wrath as he was incapacitated at ringside thanks to the bell being rung for a DQ. This reminded me of when Stone Cold Steve Austin would interrupt matches just to raise hell and leave. I'm looking forward to the week where I get to say that Hawkins and Ryder actually looked good but that week was not this week.

Challengers:

Jesse and Festus: Jesse and Festus were involved in a match with Hawkins and Ryder when The Big Show came out and attacked Jesse, Hawkins and Ryder. Another bad week for Jesse and Festus.

Women's Champion - Beth Phoenix

Beth Phoenix lost on Raw this week to Kelly Kelly by roll-up after being distracted by Santino, accidentally. I'm a little bit frustrated by Beth Phoenix' loss this week, as Beth came out of last week looking very strong. None of the Raw Champions have been booked consistently strong the last few weeks and I had hoped The Glamazon would have remained strong for at least two weeks! With that said, Beth went on to cost Kofi Kingston his match with Santino before making up with Marella for his costing her the match against Kelly. From an entertainment point of view, Beth's character is coming along great, but she suffered a set-back as Champion this week.

Challengers:

Kelly Kelly: Last week I said that Kelly Kelly could be in for a Women's Championship match if she picked up a few more wins, well this week she defeated the Women's Champion herself one-on-one. A win over Beth Phoenix is good for anyone, distraction or not, so you would assume a title match will follow for Kelly.

Mickie James: No Mickie James this week, so perhaps she's going to be stepping out of the title picture for the moment so that Kelly Kelly can have a shot.

Diva's Champion - Michelle McCool

Michelle was backstage posing for a photoshoot when Maryse interrupted to talk trash. This backstage segment led into a Diva's tag team match, Michelle McCool and Maria Vs. Maryse and Natalya Neidhart. Once again, Michelle McCool suffered a loss when her partner, Maria, was pinned. Michelle has suffered three tag team losses in four weeks now and didn't actually wrestle last week. She fought back well in her brawl with Maryse but was caught by a cheap shot, she has not been booked as a strong Champion. Luckily for Michelle, she's not the weakest Champion on Smackdown! thanks to how lame Hawkins and Ryder have been made to look.

Challengers:

Maryse: I really like Maryse, I think she's doing a good job in her role at the moment on Smackdown! and this week, she not only got the pinfall victory for her team over Maria, but she also left the Diva's Champion, Michelle McCool, laid out after a brief brawl and then a cheap shot. Also, her promo on McCool backstage was good, a strong week for Maryse.

Natalya Neidhart: Natalya was on the winning team in the Diva's tag team match and helped hold back Michelle McCool so that Maryse could get a cheap shot in. Good for Natalya to be involved in another win but she seems to have taken a back seat to Maryse in the title hunt.

Brie Bella: I wanted to mention Brie Bella this week to note her Smackdown! debut. She defeated Victoria and we'll see where she goes from here. Also having successful debuts this week were R-Truth on Smackdown! and Primo Colon on Raw, I'll be able to write more about them if they're inserted into a Championship feud soon.

Championship Rankings Week Three

Rank 1. World Heavyweight Champion C.M. Punk (Up 3 positions)

Rank 2. WWE Champion Triple H (Down 1 position)

Rank 3. United States Champion Shelton Benjamin (Down 1 position)

Rank 4. World Tag Team Champions Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase (Up 3 positions)

Rank 5. Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella (Up 1 position)

Rank 6. Women's Champion Beth Phoenix (Down 3 position)

Rank 7. ECW Champion Mark Henry (Down 2 positions)

Rank 8. Diva's Champion Michelle McCool (No Change)

Rank 9. WWE Tag Team Champions Curt Hawkins and Zach Ryder (No Change)

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