By Rick Velazquez 

Antonio Cesaro is referred to many as “a breath of fresh air”, simply because he’s original and definitely distinguished from the rest of the roster. His abilities in and out of the ring have become a success with most fans, even those who didn’t know Cesaro prior to him arriving in the WWE. However, as of late “The Swiss Superman” has felt a sudden speed bump on his road to success.

On the April 15th edition of RAW, Cesaro’s eight month United States Championship reign came to a screeching halt. Antonio lost his championship to Kofi Kingston, in what was a random match that was unannounced for that night’s show. This match resulted in really…another meaningless mid-card championship reign for Kingston. Many thought this was a sign for bigger things coming for Cesaro, such as a future major championship reign, or even the Money in the Bank contract coming up in July. These assertions diminished when Cesaro lost cleanly to R-Truth the following week on RAW, just mere minutes after Cesaro yodeled his way down the ramp and into the ring.

These two major losses left a vast amount of people in doubt. Cesaro definitely fits the mold WWE seeks in top tier superstars; the look, the physique, the wrestling ability, the mic ability. The man has it all, but doesn’t seem to be high in the minds of the backstage officials. As of right now, these are the three reasons why I believe WWE is booking Cesaro this way.

Hot segment to kick off the show featuring Paul Heyman and Triple H. As stated last week, I'm not high on the idea of another rematch between Brock Lesnar and HHH, but if anyone can make it worth watching, it's Heyman. His verbal exchange with Triple H was fun while it lasted and the Pedigree from The Game was a nice treat for the live London crowd. This was an opener that served its purpose in setting up a marquee match for next month's Extreme Rules event while also setting the tone for the rest of the show.

Good match between Antonio Cesaro and R-Truth. It's sad to see Truth reverting back to his rapping gimmick, as it was in England two years back that he shockingly turned heel. Cesaro's losing ways continued, which shouldn't come as any surprise given his win-loss record since the start of the year. If Cesaro eventually invokes his rematch clause for the rematch for the United States Championship, it's a mistake to not have him look like a threat against Kofi Kingston. His yodeling gimmick is absolutely atrocious, aside from the fact that it managed to garner a significant amount of heat from those in attendance.

Brief match with Damien Sandow defeating Brodus Clay. There wasn't anything necessarily wrong with the bout, but it was too short to mean anything. Seeing Sandow score a victory is always great, but how much credibility does it give him if it's over someone like Clay? He's capable of much bigger things than being relegated to a throwaway tag team feud with Tons of Funk.

Great match between World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler and Chris Jericho. These two always work well together and their chemistry is never anything short of amazing. It was given great time with the near-falls were quite convincing. Fandango's entrance music distracting Jericho was smart booking, as it allows Ziggler to score a big victory over a notable name while Y2J loses nothing in defeat. Sure, I'm a bit disappointed Jericho won't be involved in the World title match at Extreme Rules, but I hope to see these two fighting over the golden prize at some point down the line.

Fine match with Tensai defeating Cody Rhodes. This was pretty much a rehash of the Brodus Clay vs. Damien Sandow match from earlier only with different competitors. Tensai showcased impressive abilities in the brief bout, but it's a shame that his comedic gimmick is what is holding him back at the moment. I feel just as bad for Rhodes, who was once seen as a future World Champion. He's still young and has his entire career ahead of him, but he has been irrelevant for over a year at this point and doesn't look to be moving up the card any time soon.

By CJ Blaze

Part 3: WWE and NXT
 
Daniel Bryan made his WWE television debut along with seven other rookies on February 23, 2010. His mentor was The Miz. In the main event of the debut episode, Bryan went under to the World Heavyweight Champion, Chris Jericho. After several weeks of competing, Bryan was 0-5. He didn’t even get his first win until May on an episode of Raw. The next night on NXT, both Bryan and Michael Tarver were eliminated from the competition.

Daniel continued to appear on NXT, but he was only being interviewed. On May 31 edition of Raw, Daniel Bryan picked up a singles victory over his former mentor, The Miz. On June 11, all of the NXT competitors attacked John Cena and CM Punk in the main event of Raw. This invasion led to the formation of The Nexus.

Fine match between Fandango and Santino Marella. Fandango's pre-match promo was much better than what he delivered on Raw, while Santino's comedy was harmless at best. The match lasted mere minutes, but it served its purpose in furthering Fandango's strong momentum. A win over Santino may not mean much nowadays, but it was a short and sweet contest, nonetheless.

Good match between Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett and United States Champion Kofi Kingston. The two worked a well wrestled matchup that kept a consistent pace throughout. Champion vs. Champion matches hardly mean anything anymore, but at least Kingston's victory came in a way that didn't do much damage to Barrett. Nonetheless, both Kingston and Barrett are in desperate need of wins at this point, so pitting them against one another right now was not the smartest move.

Excellent match between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. They developed awesome chemistry with one another and the suspenseful near-falls down the stretch kept the action exciting. It was given great time  and seemed to outshine their WrestleMania match. Del Rio needed to regain some lost momentum by winning here, while Swagger looked strong in defeat.

By Austin Ward

It is not ironic that I write my first article about WWE Champions being booked poorly a night after three of them lost, it’s definitely intentional. As I’ve rummaged through ideas of what to possibly write about, this week's Raw made it very easy for me. It’s happened all too much recently, a superstar wins a championship and gains tons of momentum but then goes on to lose numerous matches and eventually loses the title. So here is the sad story of the booking of WWE Champions… 

As I’ve said, three champions were defeated on this week's Raw. While Antonio Cesaro doesn’t count in some people’s books since he is no longer champion, I am including him since he was the champion going in. Antonio Cesaro (United States Champion), Wade Barrett (Intercontinental Champion), and of all people Dolph Ziggler (World Heavyweight Champion) all came out on the losing end. It makes no sense for WWE to do this, the only thing this does is bring down the credibility of a championship. Why they consistently do it, I don’t know. But I do know it needs to stop soon.