CHEAP HEAT: A STORYLINE WE'VE SEEN PLENTY OF TIMES BEFORE

by Matt Loede, Let's Wrestle

I hate to say this wrestling fans, but it appears that we've seen this storyline before. I am of course referring to the storyline that seems to be playing out on Monday night RAW, where Triple H, who is playing the hero in the storyline, wants to get his beloved WWE Title back. In his way is the evil Mr.McMahon, who is going to do whatever it takes to stop HHH from getting it, including screwing him over every chance he gets. The storyline played out Monday when HHH's Royal Rumble spot was on the line in a match against long-time pal Ric Flair, and commish William Regal got HHH DQ'ed on purpose, thus stopping him from being in the Rumble.

How this appears to be playing out is that HHH will now have to scratch and claw and win his WWE title shot in the No Way Out PPV elimination chamber match that will take place in the final PPV before WrestleMania 24 in Las Vegas. Now with that said, there appears to be a shift going on from the originally booked Triple H vs Batista match at Mania to now it being Randy Orton as WWE Champ (with likely Mr.McMahon's backing) vs Triple H. It's a match we've seen before, and frankly I am a bit surprised that they think that match would be a main draw at the biggest show of the year, but who knows.

On the other side, the same thing is happening with the Undertaker, and now the evil combo of assistant GM Vicki Guerrero and now champ Edge will be playing the role at stopping Taker from earning his rematch for the Heavyweight Title. This may lead to Taker winning, for the second straight year, the Royal Rumble, and then using his title match and cashing it in against Edge at Mania. However it plays out, this is one that we have seen over and over. Case in point:

1. Mr.McMahon vs Steve Austin
2. Triple H and Stephanie vs Mick Foley
3. Mr.McMahon vs The Rock
4. Mr.McMahon vs Shawn Michaels

And so on and so on. Usually the storyline drags on for a month or two with finally in the end the good guy coming back and winning the title, laying out McMahon, and everyone goes home happy. I wouldn't doubt we see it again on both brands when the biggest show of the year takes place in March in Orlando.

* With the shift of JBL going to RAW, the SmackDown announcing team has now been switched up to Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman. I am not in favor of this move at all, as we have heard "Coach" in the past on broadcasts, and he is a better backstage interviewer than he is a color guy or play-by-play man. My choice would have been to go back to Tazz, and just have him do double duty on SmackDown and ECW.

* Speaking of ECW, the feud they are putting together with C.M. Punk and Chavo Guerrero is going to be a good one. Both guys are similar in size, and have great in-ring talent. The program that I am also looking forward to seeing is Punk vs Shelton Benjamin, which from what we've learned may be the program at WrestleMania.

* Always a good idea to make the Royal Rumble bigger than it is by making guys have to qualify by winning matches to be in it. We saw that this last week with Umaga beating Jim Duggan on RAW. Usually you can tell going in who is going to win those qualifying matches, but it still makes it more interesting.

* Speaking of the Rumble, it took Madison Square Garden about five and a half hours to sell out for the event. The top ticket price for the event is $404 per ticket, which is second highest charged for a WWE event ever next to WrestleMania, where face for the top tickets is $750.