Hail Christian, Mega-Heel!

Last week was a roller coaster ride for Christian and his fans.  The charasmatic Canadian reached his career’s summit at Extreme Rules on Sunday, and just two days later, he found his fate reversed at the Smackdown tapings.  Inexplicably, his title reign was cut short and he pulled the job to Randy Orton, a calamity that left some fans scratching their heads and others flipping the channel in disgust.

So, what’s next for Captain Charisma?  He was clearly dejected in the ring following his loss.  Perhaps he’s had enough of the WWE ratrace and will be following in his former partner’s footsteps and hanging up his boots.  If he sticks around, he stands little chance at regaining the Championship the way things sit now – WWE isn’t big on face-vs-face programs, and when they do run one, it’s usually with absolute mega-stars.  So what does the Blue Brand have left to offer Christian?  A feud with Mark Henry?  A couple of matches with Sheamus?

If you’re anything like me, you probably think that these outcomes are absolutely unacceptable.  He’s Christian after all, one of the men who revolutionized tag team wrestling and helped transition the WWE from one era into another in the opening years of the 21st century.  We’ve been watching him mature in and out of the ring for the past twelve years, surely it can’t end like this.

He never should have lost the belt last week, but he did, and now the best we can do is pick up the pieces.  At this stage in the game, the course is set.  There’s only one logical thing to do with Christian: transform him into a super-heel. 

Christian is one of the few guys who I like regardless of what side of the fence he’s on – heel, face, it doesn’t matter.  The guy has my unconditional support.  That being said, he’s always been better as a bad guy.  Edge & Christian are fondly remembered by even the face-loving portions of the wrestling community despite the fact that they spent most of their time as heels.  From the Brood, to their first TLC win, to the days of Team E.C.K., they were seldom fan favorites.  After they went their separate ways, Christian engaged Chris Jericho in a feud that saw him fine-tune his heel persona.  Pairing up with Trish Stratus, Christian cornered the market on sleazy.  He was a heel that was fun to boo, who could generate heat the way it was meant to be generated.  He didn’t need to resort to today’s prevalent tactics of repetitiveness or flat-out annoyance (I’m looking at you Cole and Vickie) to get a response from the crowd.  He’s just got a great mind for the business and can manipulate a crowd though his often hilarious interviews.  So, we’ve established that Christian is a more than adequate villain.  But why SHOULD he revert back to his old despicable ways now?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZXXilNs7IY]

As long as Randy Orton is the champ, Christian’s future as a babyface is bleak.  As previously mentioned, the likelihood of a face-vs-face program between the two is slim to none, and there’s not a heel champion in the forseeable future for Christian to feud with.  In fact, Smackdown seems to be in the midst of a great main event heel draught right now.  With the transfer of Alberto Del Rio to Raw and the recent de-push of Sheamus, there isn’t a bona fide main event bad guy on the brand.  Who better to fill the void than Christian?  Nobody, that’s who.  So we know that Christian is capable of being a full-fledged heel, and it’s easy to see how a turn would benefit he and Smackdown as a whole.  So how should it go down?

When Christian lost the title last week, he was visibly disheartened.  After all, his lifelong dream had just came crumbling down upon him.  Not knowing how to deal with such misery, the downtrodden Christian should regretfully announce his retirement this week or next.  He can give a heartfelt speech about realizing that he just can’t cut it at a satisfactory level, noting that he’s doing a disservice to himself and his peeps to continue on if he can’t be the best.  Randy Orton, jerk that he is, will make it clear that Christian’s problems are of little concern to him when questioned about the situation.  It’s not in Orton’s character to be sympathetic, so don’t expect that to change.  At any rate, after his “retirement,” a few vignettes could run about his walking away from the business.  Very Shawn Michaels losing his smile-esque stuff.  Members of the WWE Universe could weigh in with their thoughts on the matter, and for the most part, nobody would be as sympathetic for Christian as they were with Edge.  Edge was forced out, after all, whereas Christian simply walked away.

And then it’s announced.  On an episode of Monday Night Raw, Edge will return for one night only to host a special edition of The Cutting Edge.  His guest: none other than his former parter, Christian.  When the time came for the interview, Edge would encourage Christian to step back into the ring.  He’d remind him that there are brighter days ahead, that he could still go after the World Title, and that the WWE Universe missed him.  He’d tell him that Christian can do what Edge no longer can, and that he should focus his energies on becoming champion again.  Despite the good nature of Edge’s encouraging words, Christian wouldn’t take kindly to the advice.  Having spent the bulk of his career in Edge’s shadow, he’d tell Edge that winning championships doesn’t come as easy to everybody as it does to him (Edge).  In a fit of frustration, Christian would reveal his jealousy of his former partner’s success and admit that he felt he could never live up to Edge’s career since he couldn’t even retain the World Title one time.  After shouting his grievances in Edge’s direction, Christian would collect himself and calm down.  Edge would apologize that Christian felt that way, noting that he had no idea such an issue existed.  The two would embrace.  And Christian would knee him right in the groin.  When Edge fell to his knees, he’d be the victim of a chair shot to the head.  Christian would look at the devastation he reaped, give the crowd a satisfied smirk, and make his exit.

With one chairshot, Christian becomes one of the most hated members of the WWE Universe.  This would probably be the end of Edge’s involvement for a while, and Christian would return to Smackdown with a new fire lit under him.  He’d realize that comparing himself to his former partner has hindered his success for years.  He and Edge are different people, with different needs.  He doesn’t need the approval of the crowd, or the rush of hearing his move’s name chanted.  All he needs is the title, and he’ll stop at nothing to achieve it.  Fed up with the lack of sympathy from his peers, he puts the entire roster on notice.  Viciously attacking stars ranging from Sin Cara to Daniel Bryan, Christian’s warpath cannot be stopped.  Sitting atop Christian’s hit list would be the man who set all of this in motion, the man who took the title that was rightfully belonged to Christian, and the man who showed no remorse for his actions.  Randy Orton.

Naturally, this would lead to a World Title match with Randy Orton either at SummerSlam or Survivor Series, depending on how long it took for the events to transpire.  Even if he fell short of his goal the first time, eventually Christian would recapture the gold, and he’d reign as one of the great heel champions of our generation.  Should Edge ever get the itch to return to the road, he could help Christian win or retain his title and begin managing him, similar to what Mick Foley did for Edge years ago after Edge savagely attacked him.  I see no reason that a heel Christian can’t main event WrestleMania 28.

This is how I would book things, but unfortunately, I of course have no power to do so.  I’d love to see the WWE take a similar route, but in reality, I’m sure there are other roundabout ways to reach the primary objective.  As long as I see this scene again, I’ll be content…