Punk Cashes In

I wrote on Monday how the WWE had both of its World titles on the Smackdown brand and wondered how they would get one of the belts back onto the main show - Raw.

Well, I didn't have to wait too long.

They managed to get the World title from Edge in an angle that saw the champion enter the ring while Jim Ross was saying goodbye to the Raw viewers and taunt the commentator. Edge's cronies - Hawkins and Ryder - then ejected JR from the building while their leader berated the crowd drawing their attention to the fact that Raw doesn't have a champion anymore.

The segment was about to end with Edge near the curtain about to leave when Batista's music played. Edge scurried backwards and was then given a major beating by The Animal who had been cheated out of a victory the night before.

Edge was left laying in the middle of the ring.

CM Punk's music then played and he came out holding the briefcase containing a contract which he won at WrestleMania which allowed him to get a title shot at any time within a year of winning it. He cashed in his Money in the Bank there and then.

Moments later, Raw had a new World champion.

It was one of the most refreshing angles in a while.

I didn't envision CM Punk winning either of the two titles because I didn't feel the company were behind him as much as they should have been. I just thought he would cash in the contract but fail in his attempt just to prove that the Money in the Bank winner doesn't always walk away from his title shot as champion.

The most interesting part of having a new guy on top is to see whether business will pick up. Ratings did sort of increase if you consider that last week's rating was higher because of curiosity over the draft. The most telling thing will be where next week's ratings come in.

There may potentially be a good few months ahead for wrestling fans. It seems that the WWE are looking to feature newer people in the top storylines and that's not a bad thing at all.

Note - I put the clip of this angle onto Youtube but I don't know how long it will be before it is pulled. You can check it out here : http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=3nfBq63LDWU