CM Punk constantly preaches that because he is Straight Edge, "I'm better than you." I don't know if that's true, but when it comes to playing a heel character, Punk just might be able to boast that he is – to steal a line from Chris Jericho – "the best in the world at what I do."
Punk was simply awesome on the mic during the opening segment of Friday night's Smackdown. Rey Mysterio had brought his wife, son and daughter into the ring with him, and asked the crowd to join him in signing "Happy Birthday" to his 9-year-old daughter, Aalyah. The celebration was interrupted by The Straight Edge Society.Punk challenged Mysterio to a match at WrestleMania, but said that he first wanted to fight Mysterio right now. Punk went on to describe in graphic detail how he was going to destroy Mysterio in front of his family. He told Aalyah that he was going to make her father beg for mercy, and said to Mysterio's son, Dominic, that he was going to make his father squeal like a pig. Punk also suggestively referred to Mysterio's wife, Angie, as "beautiful and voluptuous" and told her she would have to put her hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.
The entire time this was going on, Mysterio stood in front of his family, repeatedly telling Punk "not now." Punk dropped to his knees and said that he was getting down on Mysterio's level. He slapped Mysterio across the face, but Mysterio refused to take the bait, and he and his family left the ring. Punk then proceeded to creepily sing "Happy Birthday" with a look of pure evil on his face. Brilliant.
One drawback to the scene was that I thought it made Mysterio look a bit weak that he didn't return to fight Punk once his family was safely up the ramp, but it did make viewers want to stay tuned because it was a pretty safe bet that Mysterio was going to attack Punk later in the show. That's exactly what happened, although the scuffle was quickly broken up and Punk ran to the back. It was just enough physical contact to whet the fans' appetite for another confrontation between the two.
As I was watching the segment – which was easily the best thing on the show – I kept thinking how Punk would get even more heat if Mysterio's 12-year-old son joined Punk's SES, reminiscent of the ECW angle in the late '90s when The Sandman's young son turned on his father and joined up with Raven. Would that angle be too extreme for the PG WWE?
Other thoughts on Friday's show:
Jericho finally got the better of Edge in a physical confrontation during Jericho's Highlight Reel. As Edge went to spear him yet again, Jericho was ready for it this time, smashing the charging Edge in the head with the world heavyweight title belt. By the way, the "spear" chant seems to be catching on to some degree. …
When Jericho turned heel in 2008, didn't he say that he would never do the Highlight Reel again? And I thought Jericho was an honest man. …
The third time was the charm for Drew McIntyre in his quest to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. As I expected, his loss to Matt Hardy last week was expunged from his record by Vince McMahon, just as his loss to Kane the previous week was. This time, McIntyre was matched up with an enhancement guy that he quickly squashed. As I said last week, I don't like this angle. Instead of putting heat on McIntyre for getting preferential treatment, I think it just makes him come off as someone the fans shouldn't take seriously. For a guy such as McIntyre who isn't really over yet, that doesn't make a lot of sense. …
Considering that The Miz lost to R-Truth, it didn't surprise me that The Big Show defeated John Morrison. At least Morrison got in a decent amount of offense before falling victim to the knockout punch. …
I liked the booking for The Miz/R-Truth match. R-Truth got a significant victory, while The Miz losing due to a distraction by Daniel Bryan furthered their angle. On a side note, Bryan's clothes looked a little disheveled when he came out to the ring. Perhaps The Miz needs to give him some fashion tips. …
Tiffany, now a wrestler, showed some fire during her non-title match against WWE women's champion Michelle McCool. ...
The fans were into Beth Phoenix as a babyface when she saved Tiffany, who was being attacked by McCool, Layla and Vickie Guerrero. …
Guerrero as a member of Simply Flawless should be pretty entertaining, but she needs to work on her selling. She looked as if she was barely conscious after taking a clothesline from Phoenix, but a few seconds later she was up and running full speed up the ramp. She must have John Cena's superhuman recuperative powers. ...
I couldn't believe WWE was giving us The Hart Dynasty versus Cryme Tyme for the umpteenth time, but fortunately it only lasted a little more than a minute before The Undertaker appeared and laid out all four men. It was at that point that I started my own chant: "Thank you, Taker" (clap, clap, clap-clap-clap).