By Chris Newth, PWTorch contributor

After taking a long look at the Orton-Triple H feud over the past few months, the focus should now shift to the Smackdown brand until Judgment Day. WWE's Friday night show features a rich selection of rivalries worthy of analysis—namely, Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, Michelle McCool vs. Gail Kim, John Morrison vs. Shelton Benjamin, CM Punk vs. Umaga, etc.—but their most intriguing feud is their headliner: Edge versus Jeff Hardy.

The reigning World Heavyweight Champion didn't know who his opponent would be for the title match at WWE's upcoming Judgment Day PPV until just last week when Jeff Hardy earned the opportunity by winning a Fatal Four-Way match to become the number one contender.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the entire storyline involves WWE's use of the Intercontinental Championship. Their incorporation of Rey Mysterio in the main event rivalry—the link with the Mysterio-Jericho IC Title feud hovering so close to the main event—gives both rivalries a lot of perceptual assistance. The Intercontinental Title's prestige is on the rise every time WWE shows how good the IC Champ is compared to the World Heavyweight contenders.

The show's use of Mysterio, Jericho, Hardy, and Edge has been very solid in the past few weeks, but this week was particularly strong. Rey Mysterio, perhaps the company's purest babyface, graciously credited Jeff Hardy for being the better man last week when Hardy earned a shot at the World Title. Chris Jericho, despite being in the same position as Mysterio having lost last week, decided to complain about the referee's decision and point blame instead of crediting Hardy.

The differences between Mysterio's and Jericho's characters were laid out from the outset of the show, and they enhanced the Edge-Hardy main event storyline by boosting the overall star power involved.

It would be fair to say that the feud that has been structured around the World Heavyweight Championship is not nearly developed enough yet. If I still gave my number ratings, I'd probably be handing out a healthy 7.5 out of 10 for the current Edge-Hardy program. But it has just begun, and WWE likely intends to stretch this thing out at least until their next PPV.

Edge brought up some nice history this week when talking to Hardy, mentioning that they both entered WWE at around the same time. There clearly exists great history between them back when they had rivaling tag teams. Keep in mind, this is one of those wrestling-based storylines that was instigated by Jeff Hardy winning a matchup in order to earn a title shot; it isn't a story-based feud with built-in emotion like the recent one on Raw between Orton and Triple H (which began with Orton attacking the Game's family).

However, the strongest link to the Edge-Hardy feud most certainly is their incredible mutual history, and WWE should utilize that to fuel an intense and emotional angle to the story.

The other strength, as alluded to earlier, is the link between this feud and the Mysterio-Jericho rivalry. Just take a look at the characters involved and you'll notice a lot of opportunity. Rey Mysterio has lost a lot of momentum after a less-than-stellar run on Monday Night Raw last year. He was buried under bigger stars on the top-heavy Raw roster. And Jeff Hardy isn't universally considered main event level, despite his recent success.

However, Edge is WWE's second biggest heel, trailing Randy Orton for the top spot. And Chris Jericho is also a great heel who is undoubtedly a headliner. So teaming Mysterio and Hardy up against the powerful Edge/Jericho force is a great strategic move on WWE's part. If their storylines remain separate but overlap in some way (which seems to be the case so far), then viewers will instantly rally behind fan-favorites Hardy and Mysterio, growing their support while intensifying the hatred for Smackdown's top two heels.

Overall, the Edge-Hardy feud has received a solid start, and after it presumably continues past Judgment Day, expect it to reach an explosive level if it's handled correctly. Also, look for Rey Mysterio to regain all of the momentum he lost while on Raw as he and Jericho battle for the already more prestigious Intercontinental Championship. WWE has the formula right, and they set up their Smackdown rivalry format very well. Now they just need to give it time and slowly raise the stakes and emotion and let the four players involved—Hardy, Edge, Jericho, and Mysterio—take it to the next level.



Comments? Suggestions? Thoughts on the storyline? Feel free to email me at newthtorch@hotmail.com

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