CALDWELL'S TAKE CORNER CUBE MONDAY 5/5 - WWE's Week of Cliffhangers should lead to Week of Resolution May 5, 2008 - 12:10:39 PM

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By James Caldwell, Torch columnist

Updated Monday, May 5, 2008 (Cinco de Mayo)

Last week, WWE went for the big cliffhanging endings to Raw, ECW, and Smackdown. Who won the WWE Title match? Why did Adamle walk off the set? What's the status of the World Heavyweight Title? Why is Trevor Murdoch singing country songs? OK, scratch the last one.

Last week's endings, which were more suitable for weekday soap operas or "Lost", should become clearer this week. After all, WWE has another PPV in an absurd 13 days, with tonight's Raw starting a Week of Resolution to set up PPV matches.

Somehow, WWE is going to connect the dots on William Regal cutting off Raw to Triple H vs. Randy Orton in a steel cage match being signed for Judgment Day. Point A and Point B seem quite distant from each other, so the intrigue is for the journey.

It's like using Yahoo Maps to adjust the route from A to B and create all kinds of odd journeys with deviations off the suggested route. WWE could throw a few twists in the route tonight, as has been suggested Vince McMahon will return in some capacity to sober up William Regal, who was drunk with power on Raw.

History indicates that's a strong possibility. When WWE's ratings have slipped in the past, they've usually given up on developing the undercard with McMahon putting himself back on TV in attempt to boost ratings. This time around, I'm hoping for a more disciplined approach to developing the personalities of the mid-card wrestlers. It's simply impossible to believe fans are going to jump for joy at the prospect of a Super Crazy vs. Paul Burchill match if there is no reason to care about the individuals.

As for ECW, they celebrate 100 episodes of TV with the main angle being... the fate of the announcers. My, ECW, how you have grown. Of course, I didn't expect ECW to stay on the air after Week 1, which was one of the worst episodes of TV wrestling ever, so at least they made it this far. I just thought the top angle 99 episodes later would involve actual wrestlers, not a terrible announcer.

Really, there's not much else on the ECW front to be intrigued about in the Week of Resolution. C.M. Punk is apparently starting a program with Chuck Palumbo, as they wrestled on the weekend house show tour in Canada. Meanwhile, Chavo and Kane are still doing whatever they're doing. I'm just waiting for Tony Chimel to grab a headset and call a match. Chimel and Tazz. Let's make it happen.

As for Smackdown, they have a vacant World Title, which sounds all-too familiar to last year when Taker dropped the belt due to injury. This time around, it's just to set up a fresh program for Smackdown when ratings are slipping and they're a few months away from moving to a new network.

Based on the ratings, they have to try harder to grab the attention of viewers during the competitive NBA Playoffs and the start of a new baseball season. MLB is proclaiming record attendance during the first few weeks of the season, so that's certainly affecting viewership with many Smackdown viewers at the ballpark on Friday nights.

The Week of Resolution on Smackdown will set up the next round of programs to be featured on the brand. If they're going to strip Taker of the belt, it would be a waste of time to simply throw it back on Edge. It doesn't make Edge more credible of a champion, and it doesn't elevate mid-card wrestlers when they could use a day in the spotlight competing for the title.

Whether it's a tournament, battle royale, Tear-a-dome, or Deuces Wild Lethal Lottery Battle Bowl Reverse Battle Royale, WWE simply need to find a way to elevate the second and third tier Smackdown players by putting them in the title conversation.

Should be an interesting week for Raw, ECW, and Smackdown. The intrigue is there. The cliffhangers are in place. Now it's up to WWE to deliver a suitable payoff after leaving viewers hanging last week.

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